A battery question

[Newbie79]

I have reading all of the threads about powering a EQ6 (Jump starter vs Deep Cycle battery) I think I am leaning towards a deep cycle battery.

In addition to the battery, a charger, and some form of connection to plug the cigarette lighter plug into, what else do I need.

How can I measure to see how much charge is left in the battery (I have read you should not run it all the way down?)

Is there anything I have to connect to the battery to make sure that only 12v is going from the battery to the Mount.

Thanks Matt

[mithrandir]

Lead acid batteries supply 13.8V when fully charged. Devices nominally rated 12V are usually fine with that. e.g. all the electrical equipment in cars. I'm not an electrician but it appears that once the voltage drops to around 12V under load it needs charging.

What you should be more concerned with is making sure you connect the terminals the right way around. You could go so far as to put a heavy duty rectifier diode in circuit so you can't get it wrong.

You might find you have to use multiple lighter sockets in parallel if you want to run more than one device. They have a limited power rating and a couple of high current devices on a double adapter might exceed that.