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[scotland99]

Hi folks,

I bought somethign similar to this link from Aldi to power my telescope. It works brilliantly.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/rugged-20%2C100-mah-powerbank/p/709149431368600

I use cable to connect from the 12v cigarette socket on powerbank to where the AA  batery pack power on the A-Z mount connects.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

Stephen.

[DaveL59]

That's a bargain price, I have a similar one that cost around double and was sold as a car jump start pack, works great for the EQ5-SynScan tho I added a 12v buck converter between it and the mount just in case. Mine gives a no-load output of 16-ish volts and I didn't want to risk blowing the mount up.

[Merlin66]

I use the HEQ5 and NEQ6 mounts.

For the past ten years I've used a car converter - 120W, 12V to 15V.

Works very well for me.

The SW mounts can safely take 15V, no issues.

 

[Tyke 123]

Theres a 12v cigarette socket on this small powerbank?

How did you connect it to the AA battery connection on you're mount?

[Carbon Brush]

Well spotted Stephen. This is a really good price. I have used jump start lithium packs (a similar appearance to the Aldi kit) for scope power.

I would add a cautionary note about the Aldi pack.

Specification is sparse. However, it looks like it has a switched mode suppy in there to go from lithium cell voltage to 12V.
This has a low limit (1.5A) on current delivery.
This limit might be exceeded when slewing some heavier mount/scope combinations.
If this happens, the 12V output will drop, leading to the scope controller shutting down.
A small mount (able to run from AA cells) that is well balanced will be OK. But anything larger - try in daylight first to avoid annoyance in the dark!

If I was in the market for another 12V scope pack, I would certainly be off to Aldi and buy one of these to open up and check performance.

By comparison. A jump starter pack has multiple lithium cells connected in series, adding up to 12V. Often it has no current limit. Well sometimes a very big current limit!
Using this method, you have to incorporate a fuse or other protection in the 12V output lead.
These packs will though slew a heavy scope off balance if required.

HTH, David.