Power Supply

[greenninja]

Just ordered my scope (hurrah!) Skywatcher EvoStar 150 on and EQ6 Pro Synscan from FLO. (slightly overcooked my original budget but all in a good cause).

Now to the question of power - I need to get a powertank and Maplins is due for a visit later this week, so I figured I'd pick one up there.

Just so I can be prepared could anyone recomend me a 12v 17amp supply that I should look at (if you can send me a link that'd be a bonus).

I'm assuming this are the same things that can jump start cars?

(Please be aware that I often confuse electricity with witchcraft!!)

[themos]

If I was buying a supply now, I'd look at a deep-cycle leisure battery of more than 80Ah. They can be had in some places for close to £60, plus another £25 or so for a mains charger. They are a lot heavier than the Maplin unit but will last you the night and they are designed to supply moderate amounts of current for long periods of time.

[Breakintheclouds]

You might want to have a look at this recent thread. After my experiences with a powertank, a lot of people recommended the leisure battery route - and they give some good reasons for this in that thread.

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/97752-12v-power-packs-lies.html

[adamsp123]

Can you not run a mains supply (of course through a RCD) to your observation area and use the mains supply transformer that comes with the mount? It saves a lot of hassle, BTW I have 2 of these "power tanks" at 17AH and after a number drains they are pretty knackered so I would pay the extra and go for a leisure battery it is designed for this task.

[gary1968]

Yup, I concur, a big leasure battery if funds allow. Or, a decent car battery from a breakers yard would get you going for a while.

Gary

[greenninja]

Just looking at this now - I think the leisure battery pack is the way to go, but I'll need to research that a little longer.

As far as I know the mount doesn't come with a PSU, so I will probably grab a suitable one in the short term - I have an external socket for lawnmowing purposes, which should be fine (initially I'm not going to be undertaking particularly long session).

Now the power supply needs to be 12v DC 2 Amp. Would I be correct in the assumption that a 12v PSU with a higher rated amp rating (say 3amp) would be OK? (I'm assuming that the amp rating refers to the load, so a psu rated for a higer load would have more headroom).

Apologies if this is a bit waffley - I'm happy to use electricity, but have no understanding how it actually works

Paul

[themos]

(I'm assuming that the amp rating refers to the load, so a psu rated for a higer load would have more headroom).

Correct, I would go for a supply rated at double the load that you plan to put on it.

[gary1968]

Correct, I would go for a supply rated at double the load that you plan to put on it.

Yup, I'll second that. A device will only 'draw' what it needs so its best to get a PSU rated a bit higher than the device is predicted to draw.

Gary

[greenninja]

Thanks for you help on this guys - I can now wander into maplins with a confident swagger !

Paul