Portable Power

[Devon Oxford]

Hi...
   I recently bought a CG-5GT mount for portable work and star parties... this thing has worked beautifully and dead on out of the box.  I'm very pleased with it.
   My question is... what would you recommend for portable power? I'm running it on a Pyramid PS, but many places do not have 120V power available... I need reliable battery power. I take it the 'power-tank'  is not very good...? I had thought of using several  of something like these, to power the scope, dew heaters, video camera and CCD (all on separate power, of course)...
   Suggestions?
      Thanks!
                    Devon

[Ron]

Devon,

I'm probably not the one to answer your question, but I'll try anyway

I don't have that much equipment to run but I run my telescope and dew heater from the largest deep cycle battery that I have and it seems to handle that OK.

I don't know how many hours you plan on running your equipment but maybe two large deep cycle batteries, one for the scope and dew heater, and one for the cameras might work.


Ron

[Devon Oxford]

Thanks, Ron!

   I have a couple of the 'portable' batteries rated at 22Ah... I know the 'deep cycle' batteries are the best for field use. What I'm most concerned about is the safety of the equipment used. I guess I'm somewhat gun-shy, having used Meade stuff... I'm always SURPRISED if my LX200GPS actually boots up and runs instead of having another melt down / electronic burn-out.
   To quote Doc from a recent post: "Many portable power tanks and wall warts spike unexpectedly and will result in damage to this front board." I consider Doc to be THE authority on scope stuff.
   I'm afraid Meade electronics and QC  has dampened much of my enjoyment of the hobby... just my personal experience. Sorry about the rant...!
   Sounds like it would be best if I built my own power supplies out of a couple of good quality deep cycle batteries...
   But for the regular user, is there a commercial battery solution that would be 'dependable'?

   Thanks again, Ron. Have a great one!

                Devon

[Ron]

Devon,

I wish I could help you more but I'm no expert here.  You are right about Doc giving the best advice, no better expert that I know of.

For field use I don't think you could go wrong on the deep cycle batteries, I'm just not sure how long they would last.  So far I haven't had any electronic problems using only the deep cycle batteries.  The only draw back for me is they are really heavy especially the largest one like I have.

I have never used anything else to power my scope and dew heater.

Hope you find a solution,

Ron

[drclay]

You are getting good advice here....never, ever run the scope off of a power source that has anything else being run off of it.
Number Two Rule:  NEVER use a "power tank" type of portable souce, such as those sold by Celestron or Orion.  These have "do-dad" ancillary devices, everything from lights to radios and all of this will result in spikes.

Frankly, the BEST portable power source I have ever used is the Wal Mart EverStart jump start rechargeable battery supply; it comes equipped with a cigarette lighter plug port that you can use a standard Auto Radar detector extension cord (plug is 2.5mm I.D. x 5.5mm O.D., Radio Shack "N" plug), center pin positive to plug into your scope.  Better still, get the cord from www.scopestuff.com (ask for JIM and tell him what you are doing and what scope it is for) and you will be ready to go.

Invest in two of these and use the second to run everything else in your remote site off of the other one.  Nothing but the scope off the primary source.

Dr. Clay

[Devon Oxford]

Hi, Dr Clay...

   That's exactly what I thought... I will look into the EverStart battery also.

   One thought about batteries I had... the deep cycle battries used in many wheelchairs and 'scooters' are rated for many recharges... powerful, but somewhat lighter than the typical wet cell...

   Thoughts?

    Thanks!

             Devon

[Ron]

Devon,

I have one and it is much lighter than my big deepcycle, and it seems to hold the charge better.  I have only used it for my day time use when I'm only powering the scope for my Sun imaging.  It's been setting in my garage for days and when I checked the voltage today it was still reading 12.58 volts.  I put a solar trickle charger on it and so far it has brought it up to 12.78 volts.  It should be full by this evening at 12.8 volts.  BTW the battery is 6 years old.

The gel batteries and solar charger may be the way to go in the field.

Ron

[Devon Oxford]

This may warrant some looking into... might be a workable solution. Let me know what your results are!

Thanks!

     Devon

[dsnay]

Devon,

I did exactly as Dr. Clay recommends here for several years before I built my observatory and never ever had a problem in the field. I could run my scope (LX90) all night on one of those beaut's, charge it the next day and be ready to go again.

Dave