Powering Your Rig

[AstroHunter]

Hey everyone

So I'm now the proud owner of an HEQ5 and Skywatcher 72ED, once Santa has been I'll also have a couple of dew straps and controller. My question is, what do you guys use to power your equipment? I'm looking for something fairly inexpensive. I don't like the idea of a dew covered extension cabled plugged into my garage, is this what other people do? I have a 13amp plug for my mount and my laptop, and I will have a 12v cable for my dew controller. I've looked into the Celestron PowerTank but that doesn't have anywhere to plug my mount or laptop in. I've also looked at a car jump starter as I've found one with a 13A plug and 12v outputs, again not sure if this is ideal as I know plenty of people don't recommend lead acid batteries.

Thanks

Nick

[AbsolutelyN]

I had same issue about a year ago. Started with a Tracer battery which is great but the one I had was not powerful enough to go all night once adding dew heaters etc. I found this thread invaluable:

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by AbsolutelyN

[joe aguiar]

guess I cant help u much I use zero power. I have also never owned a power tank or powered items. to me its too much trouble and more items to carry outside.

I have only used the c rechargeable battiers on my 12 meade lx90 and I have had it least 12 years and never ran out of power, same for both my se mount I have never run outta power off battiers. for my dual axis drive mount it powered by 4d's battiers which again is enough.

power tanks to me is heavy is another item to carry outside and in and keep that powered. to me I rather have an extension cord so I guess I cant be much help to u as iam on the other side of the fence.

joejaguar

[x6gas]

I have an outside power outlet which I use to run a weather-proof extension cable.  This connects (via an IP66 connector) to a "really useful" box that houses a 12v power supply and other bits of kit with cables running on to the mount and the scope.

I found car batteries don't work too well but I do intend to try a leisure battery for my mobile set-up.

[wimvb]

I use a Meanwell 12V 150 W switched power supply to which I've fitted 4 pc 12V car outlets with fuses (5A each). All diy. I use it to power the mount, ZWO camera, strip heaters and a small fan. Never had issues with it.

[dannybgoode]

I’ve got a dirty great big 30amp 12v supply I use for my amateur radios. No way is that thing ever getting overloaded   

Its also entirely impractical for anything but home use as it’s a proper transformer and not switchmode so weighs in at 10kg or so. 
 

Proper beast it is...

[Froeng]

Hi All,

i have been running my Vixen mount off a Halfords jump starter battery for about 6 years. Just recently it started to show signs of ageing ( not enough output!).

hence, I bought the below battery a couple of weeks ago. Have tested it indoors, but not under real conditions, yet.

although the amphour rating is only 10 amphours (rather then 17), the discharge output is supposed to be very even, ie the voltage stays above 12v much longer than the jump starter. It is a LiFePo4 type, which is safer than LiIon...

Edited December 2, 2019 by Froeng

[Star101]

If I take my NEQ6 and scope somewhere there is no mains power. I take my Ring 12v 17Ah 2.0L Engine Power Pack with Inverter. I has USB, 12V cig socket and 3 pin 240V AC socket. So I can plug most things into it. It generally lasts me with my NEQ6, Cameras and laptop about 6 hours. Long enough for most sessions.

I actually used it to help start a Hybrid car last weekend too   That was interesting in itself   ( Youtube is a godsend  lol  

[Ships and Stars]

I bought a Yuasa 70ah deep cycle leisure battery from Tanya Battery for £62. It's a mobile powerhouse. Not heavy by leisure battery standards and has a nice handle which covers the terminals when not in use. 

[DaveL59]

19 minutes ago, Froeng said:

Hi All,

i have been running my Vixen mount off a Halfords jump starter battery for about 6 years. Just recently it started to show signs of ageing ( not enough output!).

hence, I bought the below battery a couple of weeks ago. Have tested it indoors, but not under real conditions, yet.

although the amphour rating is only 10 amphours (rather then 17), the discharge output is supposed to be very even, ie the voltage stays above 12v much longer than the jump starter. It is a LiFePo4 type, which is safer than LiIon...

Nice battery, the 10AH will give around the same performance as 17AH lead but not suffer the sulfating issues, had considered updating my UPS's to use those but the cost is huge vs 17AH lead so parked that idea for now.

Edited December 2, 2019 by DaveL59

[Froeng]

Just now, DaveL59 said:

Nice battery, the 10AH will give around the same performance as 17AH lead, had considered updating my UPS's to use those but the cost is huge vs 17AH lead so parked that idea for now.

Unfortunately, they are not cheap, but given their expected lifespan and nos of cycles, this should be the last battery I buy! 2000 cycles, Each of which should be able to accommodate 4 four hour observing sessions = 8000 nights. (Mount uses ~0.5A/h)

If I achieve 20 observing nights a year (which I usually don’t due to weather, family and work), this battery will last me 400 years... 

😎

[discardedastro]

On 29/11/2019 at 12:37, AstroHunter said:

I don't like the idea of a dew covered extension cabled plugged into my garage, is this what other people do?

I use AC power from some external sockets. It's perfectly safe, so long as you throw an RCD on the garage end - if there's any shorting it'll trip and revert to safe. I've never had an RCD trip and there's no significant safety issues with mains and dew, but use sealed boxes to house the exterior connection from mains to your 12V supply of choice (I use a Nevada one) if you're paranoid.

As for 12V batteries, I've got a Halfords leisure battery which should do fine - I use it for camping but wanted something that'd work for the odd dark skies trip to the middle of nowhere. I'll throw some M6 terminals on and hard-wire my DC barrel jack lead which feeds everything but the mount and a cigar lighter socket for the mount. The other thing I need is 230V for my inverter to charge the laptop, so that'll just get connected directly also.

[MarsG76]

Protecting your power from dew is important, especially if you're using 240V... I use a 240V power generator when travelling away from home and it has worked great.. not only powered my scope but also the Kettle....

 

[cletrac1922]

Nick

First of all welcome from Land Down Under

I use a car jump start to power my ED80 on a EQ5pro mount

Have run it for over a week at astro festivals, and out couple of times per month with my club doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups

Attached pic of my ED80

Scope in background with my Dob is a Meade LX90 also using jump start pack

John

[DaveL59]

16 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

Protecting your power from dew is important, especially if you're using 240V... I use a 240V power generator when travelling away from home and it has worked great.. not only powered my scope but also the Kettle....

 

worth remembering too that skin resistance is low once wet, so dew can increase risk, even 12v connectors can lead to some shocks you might not expect

[MarsG76]

13 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

worth remembering too that skin resistance is low once wet, so dew can increase risk, even 12v connectors can lead to some shocks you might not expect

Oh yeah.... hence the circuit breakers on generators.

 

[DaveL59]

yep RCD's a must if using mains outdoors, but not so sure they'd trip if the 12v side of a PSU causes a shock from damp fingers being in contact, given there's a degree of isolation between the 12v side and the mains RCD.

[AstroHunter]

Thanks for the replies everyone, really helpful 😊I’m going to buy a jump starter for now and one day upgrade to a leisure battery with an inverter i think 

Nick

[Carbon Brush]

Yes a jump starter is low cost entry. However, the batteries in them are often made down to last penny and don't last that well.
If it fails soon outside of the 12 months warranty, it is not unepxected.

I would recommend buying a multimeter so you can check that the (presumably supplied) charger is doing the job properly.
Some don't and wreck the battery if left on for too long.

If (when) you upgrade. A leisure battery is heavy. You will need to budget for fusing, terminals/plugs and a decent charger.
Whether weight matters depends on where you use and store it.
If weight (or size) are an issue, then a lithium pack, such as those from Tracer are very good.
Sorry I'm spending!

To power your laptop, consider a 12V to 18V/19V/whatever car laptop adapter.
These are a boost switched mode supply that avoids 240V in a wet place.
Much easier to use safely than a 12V/240V invertor. Also generally lower radiated emissions.

HTH, David.

[MartinB]

Power useage of the mount is very low.  Due heaters take more power especially the larger ones.  My 10amp hour power pack runs out of steam after a few hours running just two very small dew heaters.  If you are planning long sessions a 17Amp hour is a good option.  

[AstroHunter]

https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-6-in-1-jump-starter-power-pack?_br_psugg_q=jumpstart

This is the one I'm planning on getting. I hope I can get a couple of years out of it before upgrading. Having just bought an HEQ5, dew controller and straps I can't really afford to spend much more right now unfortunately!