Power Tank for Skymax Synscan

[Key]

Hi,

My first post on SGL - nice to meet you!

I recently bought a Skymax 127 with Synscan and on the very few clear-ish nights since then have found that it eats my rechargeable double 'A' batteries! So, a Power Tank seems a necessity - but is there a good and cheaper alternative to the Skywatcher branded one (7mAh) which costs about £55?

Cheers,

Key.

[Pakmoto]

Hi Key, and welcome to the forum,

I purchased a jump starter power pack from B&M for £25

Maplin are selling one ATM for £30

And they are as good as anything for powering mounts, I haven't charged mine for a week,

but maybe that's a more to do with poor weather

[Pakmoto]

3in1 Portable Jumpstarter : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

Have a look at this, it's spot on for what you need, I even used red bulb paint on my torch for in the dark with scope eye.

[Key]

Thanks Pakmoto.

Is "B&M" a local store? (Or am I being dense?)

[Key]

3in1 Portable Jumpstarter : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

Have a look at this, it's spot on for what you need, I even used red bulb paint on my torch for in the dark with scope eye.

That does look useful; thanks.

Anyone bought/used one of these: any good?

[Pakmoto]

BM Stores: Stores

Have a look on their website, see if there's one near you.

[Key]

Ah yes "B&M" - never been, but recognise the logo now, and yes there is one nearby. Thanks.

[Cunhaval]

Hi, Key

Fairly widely available, from Maplins, Halfords, sometimes Aldi, etc at prices between £30-60. And bear in mind that these tend to be the much bigger and better 17ah versions.

Ideally, look for one with more than one cigarette lighter socket, and some powered usb sockets, which may prove useful in the future.

I use my 127 with the Aldi version - when it's available, tends to be about £30ish. Maplins (various different versions) are more readily available - £25-45 depending on spec and whether or not they are on offer. Halfords tend to be the most expensive, but seem to be always available.

Look after it (charge after EVERY use, and at least once per month if not in use), and it'll look after you. A very convenient way to power a mount.

[Key]

Thanks Cunhavel,

Sounds like there's plenty of choice. I'll need to do some looking around!

Cheers,

Key.

[smudgeball]

Hi all

I went for this

200W Portable Power Pack Free Delivery : InCar Power Invertors : Maplin

I'll do a "first light" at some point to let you know what it's like as far as funtionality and capacity.

Looks promising, double 12V cigar sockets, mains invertor and usb out.

Bit more at £40.

Regards

Neil

[MaxLux]

Hi Key,

Welcome to SGL, stacks of good advice on these forums:)

Interesting that you haven't been getting much use out of your rechargeable AA's. I have yet to upgrade to a power tank and am still using 2400MAh AA's which give me well into a second evening of observing before I switch to a second set. But I guess unless you are using fairly high capacity rechargeables, the motor drive drain as well as the cold is going to kill them fairly quickly:(

A power tank is on my shopping list too;)

Clear skies:icon_salut:

[Key]

Hi, Key

Fairly widely available, from Maplins, Halfords, sometimes Aldi, etc at prices between £30-60. And bear in mind that these tend to be the much bigger and better 17ah versions.

Do you need to buy special leads to connect from these power supplies to the Synscan mount?

[smudgeball]

I can't comment on SkyWatcher, but my Celestron is not very battery friendly

I think it's been mentioned on other forum posts that the biggest hit on batteries is setup when a lot of slewing takes place (pretty obvious I guess) Once tracking I think the capacity usage would be quite low for either a set of AAs or a power tank?

[Cunhaval]

You can buy the appropriate lead - needs to have a cigarette plug on one end, and the same size jack plug as you will find on the AA battery pack which came with the scope, on the other.

Or you could always make one - all necessary bits available from Maplins, and you should ensure that you purchase the cigarette plug with the in-line fuse. AND, if wiring it yourself, make ABSOLUTELY sure that it is wired "tip-positive". If in doubt - buy a ready-made one. Different lengths available on e-Bay, and from various Astro suppliers.

You can also get mains transformers to power your scope - I have one, but only for backup, really, though quite a few people on this forum seem to like them. Not myself keen on having a lot of mains cable around my feet in the dark, not to mention dew

[bigglesdad]

I've got the 3 in 1 jumpstarter. Good bit of kit. I got the cable to connect it to my scope from FLO. Just give them a ring. They know exactly what you'll need.

[Key]

I've got the 3 in 1 jumpstarter. Good bit of kit. I got the cable to connect it to my scope from FLO. Just give them a ring. They know exactly what you'll need.

The 3-in-1 does look good. I'll need to think ahead as to whether I'd ever want/need any extra outputs.

Cheers,

Key.

[Key]

I can't comment on SkyWatcher, but my Celestron is not very battery friendly

I think it's been mentioned on other forum posts that the biggest hit on batteries is setup when a lot of slewing takes place (pretty obvious I guess) Once tracking I think the capacity usage would be quite low for either a set of AAs or a power tank?

Yes indeed! I think it was my impatience to attempt to see lots of things quickly, and thereby swinging the 'scope all over the place, that drained the batteries even more quickly than what would be normal!

The £40 Portable Power Pack you linked to has a few more bells and whistles compared to the £30 one: the usual scenario of you get what you pay for eh?

Thanks everyone for useful info. Would like to hear more views on how these Power Packs stand up to cold nights, and how useful are the extra outputs?

Cheers,

Key.

[Andyfx]

Hi there I have a synscan goto mount and this powers it nicely. It has the advantage of being weatherproof and is cheap if you dont mind using mains power:

12V DC 2A POWER SUPPLY WEATHER PROOF EXTERNAL ADAPTER on eBay (end time 15-Apr-11 16:15:17 BST)

Also I got a 10m extension and covered the join in heat shrink and it has worked a charm:

2.1mm Socket to DC Power Extension Lead 10m on eBay (end time 28-Mar-11 12:27:03 BST)

[JamesM]

Just to throw in a different idea here. I have never bothered with these 'power tanks' as I find them a bit gimmicky to be honest, with all sorts of bells and whistles which is fine but when the tank fails, the whole lot fails. I prefer to keep things simple and go for a 75 amp leisure battery. It isn't cheap (£60) but with some crocodile clips terminating in a female connection, but it does afford me the option of either keeping it simple by running just the mount (skewing as much as I want) or I can go up a notch and attach a multiconnector to run the mount, dew heaters/hairdryer, laptop in fact anything that keeps your observations going for as long as you want them too. Dew shield are fine but eventually you will need to manage the dew directly and this is where the heaters come in, BUT they can pull quite a draw from any supply and ordinary batteries are just not up to the job. My leisure battery came with a two year guarantee, it has its own handle so its easy to carry and is not as heavy as you might think. The other nice thing is that if any of your observing chums run out of juice, they can easily tap into your supply without it being a problem.

I know this option is dearer but you do get piece of mind by keeping it simple. Nothing worse than a cracking evening with superb seeing only to be let down by your power supply - and you know it will be that night that the power gremlins will be out!

James

[West End Wendy]

Hi all

I went for this

200W Portable Power Pack Free Delivery : InCar Power Invertors : Maplin

That's the one I plumped for initially as well. Unfortunately I stupidly plugged the wrong power adaptor into it for charging (never charge 2 batteries next to each other) and it's never worked properly since. 

It's also quite noisy due to some sort of cooling mechanism and I was never entirely happy having 230v AC outside in a damp garden - I guess an RCD would have solved that one.

Hope you have a better experience with it than I did.

Tim

[Key]

Thanks Tim,

So are you convinced the SW 7Ah is worth the money?

Interesting point about the cooling fan noise; is that a common issue with all these power sources? The sound of a loud fan does seem a bit incongrous with the serene image of star-gazing - or is it the back-yard astronomer's revenge on light-polluting neighbours?

Cheers,

Key

[Neil McRae]

Just ordered a 12v 12A/H sealed lead acid Battery from UPS Warehouse at £24 including postage which will arrive tomorrow. Also ordered a cigarette plug type cable to skywatcher mount which I will chop off and put clips on for the battery terminal at £10. Already have a car charger so all in all it will be cheaper and have more capacity than those advertised. Must be the Scottish blood in me !

Neil

[nexus21]

I'm thinking of getting a small ah battery from here http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrical-Power/Batteries/Lead-Acid/TruPower-Sealed-lead-acid-batteries-SLA/178141

[leenewtoastro]

i'm with JB. spend the money on the cells not the gimmicks.

there are some specialist car audio batterys "optima" that are designed for long draw current. would power a mount all year i reckon

[umadog]

I simply bought a sealed "deep cycle" battery. That way all my money goes into getting a good battery. You don't want a car battery because those aren't designed for continuous low-power use: it warps the plates as does discharging them. Deep cycle batteries will cope with such use and aren't damaged by being discharged. You, of course, also need a suitable charger. But those are also useful for the car, so it's money well spent.