Power supply?

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Larry 1969 United States of America
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Power supply?

#1

Post by Larry 1969 »


Sorry for all the questions but I'm bored. Waiting to go to a party.
Anyway, right now I'm using one of those portable jump packs and a few sessions ago I had set up pretty early while it was still pretty bright.
I set the time, date and coordinates as usual and just left the scope on until it was dark enough to get started.
After my alignment I noticed I wasn't get very accurate gotos. After re-aligning a few times I found the time in the hand controller off by 8 minutes.
I reset the time and I was good to go. So here's the question.....

I set the hand controller to monitor the voltage and with the jump pack it read 11.3V. After leaving it on for a while it dropped to 11.0V and would dip to 10.8V while slewing.
I also have a cheap AC adapter that reads 11.1V and dips to 11.0V while slewing. Running an extension cord to my scope is no problem. Might actually be nice with the cheap laptop.
Is there an AC adapter anyone could recommend that would give me more voltage?

P.S. I'm not even sure that 11.0V is a problem but I suspect it may be.

Thanks!

Larry
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Re: Power supply?

#2

Post by JayTee »


Hi Larry,

I often used my jump pack power supply plugged into the wall when running my scope. I never had voltage issues when I set it up that way. At one point, I tried to get one of my club members to measure the DC output to see if it was clean or dirty DC, but I never got around to that unfortunately. But my scopes never had a problem with that way of getting power to my mount.

Cheers,
JT
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Re: Power supply?

#3

Post by KathyNS »


Most astro equipment requires a "nominal" 12 volts. "Nominal" because in effect that means 13.5 volts in normal operation, and a minimum of 12 volts. You should not be operating below 12 volts, because most electronics start to get flakey if the voltage is low.

Make sure that your jump start pack is fully charged. It should be 13.5 volts when charged. If you can't get it up to that voltage after hours of charging, it probably needs to be replaced.

A plug-in power adapter should likewise supply more than 12 volts, even if it is nominally rated at 12v. Get one with an output of 3 amps or more. Most mounts draw 2 amps when slewing, leaving you 1 amp in reserve. If you are going to be using dew heaters or other equipment, your power requirements will go up.
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Re: Power supply?

#4

Post by Ozypic »


Id say its way to low. Phill
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Re: Power supply?

#5

Post by Larry 1969 »


Thanks for the replies!

My jump pack is fully charged each session.

11.1V is the highest it gets........ (at least according to the hand controller)........

So 13.5V or so is OK?

I'll look for a new power supply.

Thanks again!

Larry
For visual:
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Re: Power supply?

#6

Post by dghent »


Jumpstart batteries are not made for continuous, long-term, power output. They are designed for their role in life - turning a starter with high amounts of current that quickly falls off. Marine deep-cycles and AGM (and on the expensive end, LiFePO4) batteries are designed for supplying constant current and these should be the ones used in an electronics.

If you have access to AC power where you observe, you will be better off with a 12V regulated power supply. A reliably good and basic example of one is the Pyramid PS9KX.

As for voltage, 12V DC electronics are usually pretty tolerant of voltages over 12V. In fact, your mount's motors will certainly benefit from 13-14V in colder weather. I run my gear up to 14.5V on my fully-charge LiFePO4 batteries.
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Re: Power supply?

#7

Post by Graeme1858 »


Good party?

I use one of these:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/me ... -unit.html

Regards

Graeme
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Re: Power supply?

#8

Post by Larry 1969 »


Graeme1858 wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:28 am Good party?

I use one of these:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/me ... -unit.html

Regards

Graeme
Yeah.... It was a good party. Thanks!

The power supply in your link appears to be european (240V).
However, similar to the one dghent posted. I'm going to have to get one.

Thanks again!

Larry
For visual:
10" Skywatcher collapsible goto dob, various EP's and a Celestron StarSense auto align.

For imaging:
Orion 8" astrograph 800mm @ F3.9
Eq6-R Pro controlled by APT via EQmod with an OTA mounted mini PC
Tele Vue Paracorr Type 2 coma corrector
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Re: Power supply?

#9

Post by Gulf Coast Guy »


I needed alittle depth before my stroke(mount, Dew heaters, and an inverter for my laptop so I built one. I've since sold all my power tools.
Image20190707_153338 by pat w1, on Flickr
Image20190707_153427 by pat w1, on Flickr
Image20190707_153512 by pat w1, on Flickr

I'm not upset about the power tools. The sale bought - THIS.
Image20190704_105845 by pat w1, on Flickr

Which accounts for the dismal skies for the last few weeks.

Oh- well.
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Re: Power supply?

#10

Post by Gulf Coast Guy »


The PS is heavy enough to use as a stabaizing balast weight for my LXD75 tripod. That's what the hooks and chains are for.
OTA's: 203mm f10 Meade SCT (LXD75); Antares 80mm Refractor w/William Optics APOGrade f6.9 objective; Orion Starseeker 80 f11.2 Refractor
Mount/tripod's: Meade LXD-75 EQ; Orion Starseeker IV ALT/AZ; Celestron Heavy Duty ALT/AZ Farpoint UBM (Universal Binocular Mount)
Eyepieces:Meade - 26mm plossl, 12mm Astrometric; GSO (OPT badge) 2" Superview 50mm & 30mm 1.25" 15mm; TMB Planetary Series 9mm, 6mm, & 4mm: 10mm & 23mm 60° that came with the 80mm f11.2
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Re: Power supply?

#11

Post by TCampbell »


As previously noted ... if you are using a lead-acid battery then 11.0 volts is basically a dead battery.

I previously used lead-acid batteries. Lead acid technology likes to be mostly full all the time (which is they are used as starter batteries in cars). Draining them low cuts into their overall life. Ideally they shouldn't be drained lower than 80% ... and they DEFINITELY should never been drained below 50% (that will shorten their overall life). If you use lead-acid ... it's a good idea to use a battery tender/maintainer to keep it topped off. It's not good for their overall life if they sit unused for months (e.g. if you observe less during cold winter months, etc.)

Lithium technology can be drained low and they weigh a LOT less than lead acid batteries. Oddly... a brand new "12v" Lithium battery wont really supply 12v. It's more like 11.9 with a Lithium battery in perfect condition. They'll start to drain down to around 10.8 and then stay there ... very steady ... until they are depleted (and then it drops the rest of the way very quickly). So if you use a Lithium battery ... if it doesn't have a regulated power supply you would probably need a Buck Converter to step up the voltage a bit.

I use a 12-15v buck converter (my mount can run on anywhere from 12-18v ... it's actually ok down at 10.8v but it's losing torque). Specifically I bought one of these: It has raw input & output wires, so I did have to solder on appropriate ends. But it accepts an input voltage anywhere in the 9-13v range (my Lithium pack is supply 10.8-11.9 so it's in the middle of the range). I'm not sure what the power range is for *your* specific mount ... so this same adapter may NOT be ideal for your mount. Check the input voltage range for your mount.
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Re: Power supply?

#12

Post by Larry 1969 »


Thanks TCampbell!
I got the power supply that dghent suggested.
It says it's 13.8V and I am reading 12.7 at the hand controller.
Should be good. Hoping to try it all out this weekend!

Larry
For visual:
10" Skywatcher collapsible goto dob, various EP's and a Celestron StarSense auto align.

For imaging:
Orion 8" astrograph 800mm @ F3.9
Eq6-R Pro controlled by APT via EQmod with an OTA mounted mini PC
Tele Vue Paracorr Type 2 coma corrector
Altair Hypercam 26C
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