Powering mount (5v) and dew control (12v)

[Moonshane]

Hi All. I like small and convenient and wonder if the link below would be ok to do both at the same time? I currently use phone banks to power my mount so if this would only be ok for 12v that would be fine. As i am only using smaller dew bands (max of 4) drawing maybe half an amp each I think this would give me perhaps a full night  (6 hours plus) of observing?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HTZATQO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1lQrAbRXQYSZB

Any comments appreciated

Cheers

Shane

[ian_bird]

Volts or Amps?

Don't think I have ever come across a mount that runs off of 5 volts. A mount that needs 12 volts and draws 5 amps however...... that I have seen.

Cheers

Ian

[Alien 13]

11 minutes ago, ian_bird said:

Volts or Amps?

Don't think I have ever come across a mount that runs off of 5 volts. A mount that needs 12 volts and draws 5 amps however...... that I have seen.

Cheers

Ian

The standard motors on the EQ3-2 AND EQ5 are quite happy running off 5V or the 5.2V that most power banks provide.

Alan

[Alien 13]

18 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

Hi All. I like small and convenient and wonder if the link below would be ok to do both at the same time? I currently use phone banks to power my mount so if this would only be ok for 12v that would be fine. As i am only using smaller dew bands (max of 4) drawing maybe half an amp each I think this would give me perhaps a full night  (6 hours plus) of observing?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HTZATQO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1lQrAbRXQYSZB

Any comments appreciated

Cheers

Shane

It should work but I would still use a separate supply for the mount..

Alan

[mikeyj1]

Hi Shane

a couple of comments:

- Star Adventurer runs off 5v (there you go Ian..)

- EQ5 with motors rather than synscan runs on 6v battery pack but will have a range below that ( i see Alan answered that now )

- AZ/EQ5 and 6 GT runs off 12v (11-16v range)

so it would work, but (!) most of these battery packs switch off if not drawing power continually, so check that first.  A friend ended up with an extra circuit just to increase the current draw, so not so straightforward.

Having said that, once powered it does the mount for several nights.  Dew heaters would run at full power unless you have a controller, so will draw more than normal, and need to check that the are rated for straight 12v excitation.. to avoid toasting everything

 

Mike

[ian_bird]

2 minutes ago, mikeyj1 said:

Hi Shane

a couple of comments:

- Star Adventurer runs off 5v (there you go Ian..)

- EQ5 with motors rather than synscan runs on 6v battery pack but will have a range below that

Well you live and learn!

I should have asked which mount. 

Thanks Mike.

Both my mounts (CG-5 and CGEM-DX) throw a rather large hissy fit if they get less than 12 volts. 

Cheers

Ian

[mikeyj1]

Here is a psu i got from ebay for ~£20 which has 12, 9 and 5v i use it for powering the camera and the nexstar mount, used for 3 nights without going below 50%...no dewheater though

item number: 381792410613

[Alien 13]

The standard 6V motor systems on the SW mounts come with a case that holds 4 D cells now if you use rechargeable batteries you only get 4.8V, I have examined the SW circuits and there are no voltage regulators and the chips on the circuit board are fine at a nominal 5V, in fact it is very easy to kill these boards with any excess voltage.

Alan

[Moonshane]

15 minutes ago, mikeyj1 said:

Hi Shane

a couple of comments:

- Star Adventurer runs off 5v (there you go Ian..)

- EQ5 with motors rather than synscan runs on 6v battery pack but will have a range below that ( i see Alan answered that now )

- AZ/EQ5 and 6 GT runs off 12v (11-16v range)

so it would work, but (!) most of these battery packs switch off if not drawing power continually, so check that first.  A friend ended up with an extra circuit just to increase the current draw, so not so straightforward.

Having said that, once powered it does the mount for several nights.  Dew heaters would run at full power unless you have a controller, so will draw more than normal, and need to check that the are rated for straight 12v excitation.. to avoid toasting everything

 

Mike

Cheers all. Yes my mount is an EQ5  so 5v works fine.

I think I'll keep things separate. I will be using a controller so perhaps will be ok. I don' mind paying extra for the e.g. Skywatcher one but they are big and heavy and if this does the job will be a nice light option.

[hughgilhespie]

Hi Moonshane,

The battery pack doesn't say if it's Lead Acid or Lithium. If it is Lead Acid you really, really don't want to discharge it by more than about 50% so your actual useable capacity will be around 6-7 amp-hours. If you use 1.5 amps for dew straps and say 0.5 amps average for the mount then you will be down to 3 to 4 hours use. The battery will keep on going past 3-4 hours but it will have a very short life used this way.

For Lithium batteries, you should be OK to go to 80% depth of discharge and you would probably get your 6 hours per night.

Regards, Hugh

[Moonshane]

Thanks Hugh that's really helpful. I'll ask them and report back.