Field Power Pack (Battery Box)

[1CM69]

Hi all,

I've been trying to make the most of the bad weather lately with catching up on some projects.

For a long time now I have been meaning to build myself a Field Power Pack & at last, finally got around to it and got it finished.

I didn't take any step by step photos, too engrossed & forgot until I was nearly done.

The battery I am using is Hankook DC31 Leisure Battery 100ah in a NOCO HM318BK Battery Box

There was enough room all around the battery when in the box to be able to wrap it completely, (aside from terminals & vent), with two layers of foam camping mat for insulation.

I used a large waterproof junction box mounted to the top of the battery box to house the Master Switch, NOCO charging point connector, DSLR 12v to 8.2v converter, USB power outlet, Laptop connection as well as a fuse board etc...

I also installed a combined Voltmeter/Ammeter with 50A shunt - although I have found that using a separate far more accurate multimeter, the Ammeter reading is out by 0.3a but this is a constant discrepancy, so I can work with that.

There is also a Weipu SP21 9 pin connector installed on this junction box and to this I have wired a common GND for all accessories along with individual +ve feeds for Dew Heater controller, 4 x 12v power outlets & 1 x DSLR power outlet.

Between this 9 pin connector and my scope mounted hub I constructed a 2.5m cable from 7 x 2.5mm cable to reduce voltage drop over distance, this has to terminate in short 0.5mm tails in order to fit the solder cups of the SP21 plugs.

I know, 0.5mm cable, tiny but still rated at 11a max https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/11-amp-single-core-thin-wall-auto-cable.html amazingly.

Now to the scope mounted hub, here I have used an instrument project case to house everything, my dew heater is a HitecAstro 4 channel one which I already owned & I managed to salvage the decal from . I haven't used the two 12v 2.1mmx5.5mm ports on the dew controller, I wanted to keep each power feed separately on it's own fuse.

There are 5 power outlets all switch controlled on the hub, 4 of them are GX16-2 aviation type connectors and 12v, there is 1 GX12-2 aviation type connector which is the 8.2v feed for my DSLR.

I have also changed the power connector on my scope, I've lost count the number of times that I had accidentally pulled the original type out, now it's screwed in.

For charging & maintaining the battery, when not in use it is permanently connected to a NOCO Genius 7200 

Anyhow, here are some pics and I'll happily answer questions regarding parts & suppliers etc.

 

 

 

 

[RayD]

Good job, very neat.

[1CM69]

9 minutes ago, RayD said:

Good job, very neat.

Thank you

[wookie1965]

Well that puts mine to shame, nice build. I`m not jealous at all

[1CM69]

8 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Well that puts mine to shame, nice build. I`m not jealous at all

Thanks