Best power bank

[Wonderweb]

Hi all.

I have put together a travel rig for my holiday in gran canaria in November. I am powering an az gti mount, a usb hub, a hitec astro mount hub pro compact, an asi178mm, an altair astro gpcam guide camera and a small dew heater for the main scope.

I'm just short of a power supply to run the whole thing for at least 10 hours but is allowed on a plane and will fit in my hand luggage along with rest of the rig. Has anyone got any suggestions? I understand the talentcell power banks are good but I would appreciate your input before I buy one. 

Thanks

[lvan]

Buy the talentcell.

[CraigT82]

I use this one, has a cigar socket and use it to power my AZ-EQ6.

RoyPow Portable Charger 30W PD USB-C Power Bank with 12V Cigarette Lighter Outlet, External Battery Pack for Laptop MacBook Air iPad iPhone Dash Cam Camping Travelling 【2022 New Upgraded】 https://amzn.eu/d/etWUYWh

 

Have also used a couple of Talentcell packs in the past and they are also decent. 
 

What is your total current draw? Would need to do some maths to see what you need for 10 hours. 
 

Never tried to get any of these power cells onto a plane though.

 

[Neil H]

Hi there is a tracer on Astro buy and sell may be worth a look at 

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=191224

[Wonderweb]

Thanks for the replies. 

The items draw the following current:

Az gti - 0.75 a

Gp cam - 0.175 a

Asi178mm - 0.170 a

Dew heater - 2 a

Total - 3.67 a

I can't find any info on the power consumption of the mount hub or USB hub but if we say I have a total consumption of around 4 amps I think that would be a reasonable assumption. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

I bought the below last week for powering a Celestron AVX. Used for four hours and didn't drop a power bar. Airline friendly @155wh and small enough to fit into hand lugagge. Comes with a cigar socket adapter.

The Talentcell batteries are great. I've owned one for two years powering an AZGTi and general power bank duties, but if you're powering several devices the Orion would be better.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/orion-dynamo-pro-155wh-acdcusb-lithium-power-supply.html

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Carbon Brush]

First of all a lithium ion battery pack, installed in equipment, may be in your hand luggage or hold luggage.
A stand alone battery must be in hand luggage.
A pedantic check in person may try to argue it is a battery in a box, rather than equipment.
You may wish to counter this if the 'box' includes light, 5V USB outlets, etc. Good luck. 

Second, check the airline web site.
There are IATA regulations on maximum power - 160Wh, which is within your power budget.
But the airline may decide on something lower.

Third. Having chosen a battery pack, make sure it has air transport approval.

Now you are all set.
Take a printed copy of the particular airline regulations (from the web site) with you.
Take a printed copy of the power pack user manual showing the specification.
These may be needed to settle arguments and avoid an expensive battery being put into the bin.
I have in the past had to wave airline regulations at counter staff when they don't understand the item being carried.

There are also limits on how many batteries in total can be carried by the 100, 200 or however many passengers are on the flight.
In practice unless your local astro society is having an outing to an eclipse or similar, and many are carrying power packs, you should be OK.

HTH, David.
 

[Wonderweb]

18 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

First of all a lithium ion battery pack, installed in equipment, may be in your hand luggage or hold luggage.
A stand alone battery must be in hand luggage.
A pedantic check in person may try to argue it is a battery in a box, rather than equipment.
You may wish to counter this if the 'box' includes light, 5V USB outlets, etc. Good luck. 

Second, check the airline web site.
There are IATA regulations on maximum power - 160Wh, which is within your power budget.
But the airline may decide on something lower.

Third. Having chosen a battery pack, make sure it has air transport approval.

Now you are all set.
Take a printed copy of the particular airline regulations (from the web site) with you.
Take a printed copy of the power pack user manual showing the specification.
These may be needed to settle arguments and avoid an expensive battery being put into the bin.
I have in the past had to wave airline regulations at counter staff when they don't understand the item being carried.

There are also limits on how many batteries in total can be carried by the 100, 200 or however many passengers are on the flight.
In practice unless your local astro society is having an outing to an eclipse or similar, and many are carrying power packs, you should be OK.

HTH, David.
 

Thanks for the info David.  I'll look into it. Theres  bit more to this than I first thought. 

[DaveL59]

here's an example of what can happen when Lithium batteries are in the hold. OK and extreme example, being its a cargo and has 3 pallets of them in the cargo hold, but you can see why airlines get a bit iffy with them

for anyone a bit sensitive, this one was a fatal crash unfortunately.

He does give advice tho, such as carry your batteries in the cabin and if you drop one between the seats you must let the cabin crew know.