Portable Control Centre

[cjdawson]

Over the last couple of years my scope has completely changed. I've decided that my power box is far to big to be practical.  The 70Ah battery inside is comming to the end of it's life, and my needs have changed (don't they always)

I want to create a new box for keeping my kit together and organised.    This isn't going to be power box, as my needs are completely different now, hence why it's a portable control centre.

So what's going to be in the box?

• Laptop
• Startech USB 3 powered hub
• AutoStar (for my Meade scope)
• 12V power for laptop
• Power distribution panel.
• Storage for my A3 flat panel
• Storage for my scopes anti-vibration feet
• Storage for the bolts for the wedge, to attach to tripod and scope
• Storage for all the cables.
• Storage for my autofocuser control box and cable.

 

The idea of this box is to bring together all the parts of my scope that are currently a complete mess.

Notice that there's no battery, or power supply in this box.   I've decided to deliberatly leave those out as I want the option of powering everything from my new Tracer battery (24Ah) or a mains power supply.

The first mini project is going to be an extention block.  I've decided that I want to use GX16-2 connector to plug and log everything together.

 

The first mini project is to make an 8 way extension socket.   Once this is made, I'll have all the parts that will go into the box, so then can decide on the layout and construction of the box itself.

I thought initially of using a couple of 15Amp choc blocks, making a bus bar out of one side and connecting the others together - each input would then be wired up to a GX16-2 socket.   However, i'm looking at this and it's going to be quite large.

The GX16-2 sockets that I have are panel mount and I'm wondering if I can do something smaller to accomplish the same thing.

 

 

 

[cjdawson]

Maybe I could simply strip some wire and solder it direct to the already mounted sockets.  I could leave the insulation in place, and cut strips out to make room for the connections. 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

A thought.... if you can replace the laptop, with a small form factor pc, and depending on the brand, you'll get more USB ports, even USB 3.0, so could do away with the USB hub....

[Paul73]

Good plan. My study regularly looks like like a bomb has exploded in a low budget Heath Robinsonesque astro emporium. So am considering something similar. A modular approach might work if you have several configurations. Core box, plus box a,b or c depending on the flavour of outing!!

Paul

[Paul73]

20 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

A thought.... if you can replace the laptop, with a small form factor pc, and depending on the brand, you'll get more USB ports, even USB 3.0, so could do away with the USB hub....

They look awfully tempting. Anything that cuts down on the wires and keeps the expensive laptop out of the damp / harms way, has got to be a good thing.

[cjdawson]

3 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

A thought.... if you can replace the laptop, with a small form factor pc, and depending on the brand, you'll get more USB ports, even USB 3.0, so could do away with the USB hub....

For me there's not a chance of replacing the laptop. Besides, I actually love the laptop that I have and with my Startech USB hub and that the power supply is only 45watt, it's a great machine, and with the fact that I've got a 12v power supply for it makes it a great choice to using at my scope.

 

3 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Good plan. My study regularly looks like like a bomb has exploded in a low budget Heath Robinsonesque astro emporium. So am considering something similar. A modular approach might work if you have several configurations. Core box, plus box a,b or c depending on the flavour of outing!!

Paul

That's sort of the plan.  Although in my case it's more for breaking it down into manageable chunks for transport than for reconfiguration.

[cjdawson]

First mini project is completed....  Here's my 8 way GX16-2 extension socket.

I've added a plug to a Mini-T bar for my Tracer LiFePo4 battery.  I'm going to add a plug to my 12v PSU as well, so that I can switch between them as desired.

I've then got 7 more plugs which can be used for anything.    At the moment I've got one for the USB Hub, one for the Scope (including dew heaters, camera and focusser), one for the laptop power supply and one for a 12V auto socket.

That leaves plenty of room for expansion, so should probably never manage to fill it.

 

[Grant]

5 hours ago, cjdawson said:

First mini project is completed....  Here's my 8 way GX16-2 extension socket.

I've added a plug to a Mini-T bar for my Tracer LiFePo4 battery.  I'm going to add a plug to my 12v PSU as well, so that I can switch between them as desired.

I've then got 7 more plugs which can be used for anything.    At the moment I've got one for the USB Hub, one for the Scope (including dew heaters, camera and focusser), one for the laptop power supply and one for a 12V auto socket.

That leaves plenty of room for expansion, so should probably never manage to fill it.

 

Looks nice and neat!

Just watch out on current draw though - the GX16-2 sockets and plugs are rated to 5 amps and if you start pulling from all of those at once, you may exceed your power in connector.

[cjdawson]

1 hour ago, Grant said:

Looks nice and neat!

Just watch out on current draw though - the GX16-2 sockets and plugs are rated to 5 amps and if you start pulling from all of those at once, you may exceed your power in connector.

Yep.   This is something that I'll be checking and double checking as I go.  Actually, that's another mini project.  I'm going to use an ebay special volt and ammeter so that I can optionally put in a module to monitor the current.

[cjdawson]

Gave it a go last night and it's the first time that a project has not worked.     Think I broke a USB hub in the process.   The cabling isn't capable of delivering enough power, it was a moment to see the lights go dim on my Autostar, that's never happened before.

As I don't want to stress, I think I'm going to return to the car socket way of doing it.  Should be less hassle in the long run and it's more main stream.   I'll just have to make sure to seat them properly.

[cjdawson]

I've managed to repair most of the damage that was caused.   I lost an SSD drive when the hub blew up, luckily it was old and there wasn't anything on it.  Everything else survived OK.

For plan B, I've switched to one of these

https://www.halfords.com/technology/mobile-phone-accessories/multisockets/halfords-4-way-multi-socket

I've used them in the past, for various things without a problem.

My laptop is powered from one of these.   I'd modified one, by removing the 12v plug (and fuse) so bought a replacement as I think I broke it.

https://www.coywood.co.uk/hp-pavilion-15-car-charger-for-90w-65w-45w-15572-p.asp   

 

And as for the USB hub, I've got a new one from StarTech

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SCE4E0I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Last night I tested out that everything will plug in and power up, but I've not yet run a full load test on it.  That's a job for the weekend.  Fingers crossed that everything works going forward.