Using Powerpack with Star Adventurer

[kendg]

I've been having a problem with using a cell phone powerpack with my Star Adventurer.

I've tried 3 different ones with no real success. The capcity of the packs are 6000, 12000 and 26800 mAH so there is lots of power.

I can connect them to the S.A. and they power it but after a short time they stop powering it. If I connect a wireless cell phone charger to the pack to draw a bit of power then it powers the S.A. just fine.

Any suggestions as to what sort of small low power USB device I can connect to the powerpack to keep the S.A. powered? Or something else to use instead of a powerpack?

 

Thanks

[PhotoGav]

I had similar problems powering my Star Adventurer with a mobile phone charger power bank. It kept on switching off, very irritating! I now use a Skywatcher 7Ah PowerTank with a USB lead to the Star Adventurer. It works perfectly. Not as small and convenient as the power bank, but it works!

[kendg]

Yup. that's what I figured. I guess it'll be just batteries for me, not about to take my PowerTank as checked luggage 

I'll keep searching for a nice small solution and post it if I find one.

[PhotoGav]

Thankfully it doesn't seem to draw much power, so the batteries do last quite a while. I'm interested to hear what you come up with though. Good luck and happy travels!

[Shelster1973]

I power mine from an Anker Power Bank and have had no issues with the mount turning off.  The bank does power down if the mount is switched off and then you need to press the on button the bank, but that is the only thing.  Have had it running for several hours on the bank and not seen any random mount power offs.

[Davey-T]

As Gav said the batteries last for ages and it works OK with rechargeable ones even with the lower voltage they supply.

Dave

[Alien 13]

Some power banks will shut down if there is not enough standing current, the ones I have (pound/discount shop) work fine with my EQ3-2 but I expect the intelligent ones might be the problem. There is a fix if you are electronically minded either by adding a small constant load or switching one in every few seconds, this blog provides some details https://www.dorkbotpdx.org/blog/paul/battery_pack_load

Alan

P.S. I have to say that the power to weight ratio of these devices means I use them for most everything now, even powering my Canon DSLR and emergency lights, oh and any projects I have on the go.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Alien 13

[kendg]

I wonder if there is a USB powered red LED light.

That might do the trick. I'll have to check into it.

[Alien 13]

9 minutes ago, kendg said:

I wonder if there is a USB powered red LED light.

That might do the trick. I'll have to check into it.

There are lots of them 

You would need a 1 way to 2 way splitter or a battery bank with two outputs (most of the higher power ones do)

Alan

Edited December 8, 2017 by Alien 13

[jzax]

On 6/12/2017 at 16:01, kendg said:

I've been having a problem with using a cell phone powerpack with my Star Adventurer.

I've tried 3 different ones with no real success. The capcity of the packs are 6000, 12000 and 26800 mAH so there is lots of power.

I can connect them to the S.A. and they power it but after a short time they stop powering it. If I connect a wireless cell phone charger to the pack to draw a bit of power then it powers the S.A. just fine.

Any suggestions as to what sort of small low power USB device I can connect to the powerpack to keep the S.A. powered? Or something else to use instead of a powerpack?

 

Thanks

I also had this problem when trying to power my Star Adventurer with my nice 22 Ah Ravpower USB powerpack. Apparently, the mount draws little power and the powerpack shuts down after a while, thinking "there is nothing to charge"... Looks like most modern powerpacks have this threshold minimum current to stay alive... Obviously, a fast solution is to connect more things at the same time (a USB lamp, etc.)

Apparently, there are some powerbanks around that have the option of "always on" (such as the Voltaic), but I discovered that the Amateur Radio Shop Sotabeams UK sells a little cheap adjustable "pass-through" device that cures the problem.

I bought it and it works beautifully

https://www.sotabeams.co.uk/usb-battery-pack-keep-alive-load/

Clear Skies!

[robindurant]

I have Tracer 12volt Power Pack which I used successfully on an iOpton Star Tracker, can I use it on a Star Adventurer or must I use 6v. I hate internal AA Batteries, prefer remote but like others the ones I’ve used keep cutting out

[robindurant]

On 06/12/2017 at 15:35, PhotoGav said:

I had similar problems powering my Star Adventurer with a mobile phone charger power bank. It kept on switching off, very irritating! I now use a Skywatcher 7Ah PowerTank with a USB lead to the Star Adventurer. It works perfectly. Not as small and convenient as the power bank, but it works!

Is this not 12v?

[Davey-T]

47 minutes ago, robindurant said:

Is this not 12v?

Most power supplies / jump starters have USB power sockets.

Dave

[PhotoGav]

2 hours ago, robindurant said:

Is this not 12v?

I use a USB adapter that plugs into the 12v cigar socket on my old power tank. I guess it is down rating the power supply to whatever USB power is. I've just done a quick bit of research and apparently USB power is 5v... there you go!

[tooth_dr]

I am thinking of powering my SWSA off a USB powerpack.  Seems they can turn off when using the SA on it's on due to low current draw.  I was wondering if I used a USB dew heater at the same time, would this stop this from happening?

[Shelster1973]

1 hour ago, tooth_dr said:

I am thinking of powering my SWSA off a USB powerpack.  Seems they can turn off when using the SA on it's on due to low current draw.  I was wondering if I used a USB dew heater at the same time, would this stop this from happening?

This is exactly what I do and have never had a time when the power pack turns off.

[Alien 13]

9 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

I am thinking of powering my SWSA off a USB powerpack.  Seems they can turn off when using the SA on it's on due to low current draw.  I was wondering if I used a USB dew heater at the same time, would this stop this from happening?

I think a USB dew heater would be ideal for a SA setup and as said it will stop a power bank turning off.

Alan

[RandomCamden]

New to the Star Adventurer and appreciate this is an old thread, but THANKS!!! Couldn't figure out why my 13000mAh Anker was powering off after 30 seconds.

With the lens warmer plugged in too, it stays on all the time... Thanks for this invaluable tip!!!

[Davey-T]

9 minutes ago, RandomCamden said:

New to the Star Adventurer and appreciate this is an old thread, but THANKS!!! Couldn't figure out why my 13000mAh Anker was powering off after 30 seconds.

With the lens warmer plugged in too, it stays on all the time... Thanks for this invaluable tip!!!

Welcome to SGL the best source for astro' related info though some of it may be contradictory 😂

Dave

Edited February 28, 2020 by Davey-T

[jbugman]

On 08/12/2017 at 11:58, Shelster1973 said:

I power mine from an Anker Power Bank and have had no issues with the mount turning off.  The bank does power down if the mount is switched off and then you need to press the on button the bank, but that is the only thing.  Have had it running for several hours on the bank and not seen any random mount power offs.

Hello,

are you still using this rather cheap Anker power bank without any problems? Only need it for an hour or two a night and this seems ideal

Anyone else running a similar power bank without a problem?

thanks

[Jammy]

I know this is a bit of an old thread but I've just bought this device which stops power bank batteries turning off.

It's called a USB battery pack keep-alive load by Sotabeams .co.uk which is an amateur radio stockist in the UK.

https://www.sotabeams.co.uk/usb-battery-pack-keep-alive-load/

I bought both an assembled and a kit version.  The kit was really easy to solder together with full instructions on their website.

Just trying it out now and it works fine.  It works by adding just enough current to stop the battery going to sleep.

Definitely something to consider if anyone has a similar problem.

[micovn]

On 12/12/2017 at 04:47, jzax said:

I also had this problem when trying to power my Star Adventurer with my nice 22 Ah Ravpower USB powerpack. Apparently, the mount draws little power and the powerpack shuts down after a while, thinking "there is nothing to charge"... Looks like most modern powerpacks have this threshold minimum current to stay alive... Obviously, a fast solution is to connect more things at the same time (a USB lamp, etc.)

Apparently, there are some powerbanks around that have the option of "always on" (such as the Voltaic), but I discovered that the Amateur Radio Shop Sotabeams UK sells a little cheap adjustable "pass-through" device that cures the problem.

I bought it and it works beautifully

https://www.sotabeams.co.uk/usb-battery-pack-keep-alive-load/

Clear Skies!

Thanks everyone for the invaluable information! I landed on this discussion after a google search about my celestron power pack switching off after few seconds when supplying the star adventurer..it was literally driving me crazy! Especially considering that a cheap 2600mAh usb power pack was working perfectly.  Now it all makes sense..I've just plugged my phone and the power pack is not going to sleep anymore!

[Mayank R]

I know this is a very old topic but just in case someone comes here from Google Search, most power banks have a low power mode to charge smart watches, bluetooth headphones etc. In most power banks, you activate the low power mode by double pressing the power button. In this mode, the power bank does not rely on current sensing circuit and will stay on for a predefined hours, 2 hours in my case. After that it will auto shutdown and you'll have to do it again. But still good enough juice from a 10$ power bank.