EQ6 Pro Mount

[Akwestland]

I am the proud father to an EQ6 Pro mount. I purchased it off the IIS classifieds. I am very happy so far, these surely appear to be a very solid mount to enable some good stable viewing.

I do have a question though, I am no electrician. I have a 240V 2.5A center positive AC adaptor. Is that suitable for use. I have read the specs in the manual but it gives very little tech spec when it comes to the power requirements.

I have not powered the mount yet as I need to make sure that this wont be a problem. I am though eager to power it up and to start learning how to use it.

Thanks in advance for any advice (again).
Cheers,
Andrew.

[killswitch]

EQ6 require DC power (12-15v) and can draw up to 4A

Do NOT use an adaptor that outputs 240v.

You need something like this http://www.jaycar.com.au/p/MP3575

[Akwestland]

Killswitch,

Sorry I omitted one vital part. The output of the adapter is 12V.

I would not have used anything with an output of 240V, if I did then maybe my eyes really would light up lol.

My question was mainly at the amperage draw on these units.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[killswitch]

lol good to hear theres no fireworks.

The EQ6 uses about 2A at full slew and less than 1A when tracking. A 2.5A adapter should be enough but cutting it a bit close.

[Akwestland]

Edison,

Yes no fireworks here (I hope). As I have just taken delivery then I am obviously anxious to trial it and start learning about it as I read the manual. I just did not want to create issues with power, although I think that amperage rarely causes fireworks, it just wont run at full capacity.

At this stage I am not mounting my OTA (8" F/5 SW Newtonian) on it as I want to learn some of the setup and functionality before putting it to use. I hope that this makes sense.

Would you suggest a higher amperage adapter down the track as you mentioned it maybe cutting it a bit close to capabilities.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[traveller]

Hi Andrew,
I have a 12v 3A supply and never had an issue, even with a 17kg rig on top and three counterweights.
So your 2.5A will be very safe to use. Worse case scenario is you will blow a fuse.
Bo

[raymo]

As you will probably want to slew on both axes simultaneously sometimes, a 2.5 amp adaptor will not cut the mustard. You don't want
to accidentally press both motor drive buttons and trip out the adaptor, and have to go through the initialising process again.
As long as the rig is properly balanced, the amount of weight you put on it [within reason] barely affects the current draw.
raymo

[Akwestland]

Bo & Raymo,

Thank you for those responses. In the long run I will probably have to buy another adapter as I have stolen this one from another appliance. At this stage it is just for "dry runs" in the house whilst I learn it a little. I am not looking at the first real attempt at using it for at least a week or two, but, as we know when it does happen you can be sure that I will be clouded out for another couple of weeks :mad2: . So I am sure that this will brings clear skies to everyone else.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[big-blue]

Another point to watch out for : the EQ6 has a DC socket with a 2.1mm dia pin.

However powerpacks (or 12v cig plug leads) can have either a 2.1 or 2.5 internal dia plug. They look almost identical. The 2.5 plug will work on a 2.1 socket pin, but the connection is not as secure. As the mount slews, you might find intermittent power losses if the plug moves in the socket. Very annoying. That was my experience.
Jaycar has an adapter for 2.5 to 2.1 mm dia for a secure connection, if you have this problem.

Unfortunately industry has multiple standards for these things.
Skywatcher use a 2.1 pin socket, Meade uses a 2.5 pin.
ie 'we like standards, that is why we have so many' :)

enjoy your EQ6. It is a good mount.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Andrew
Your adapter shld work quite OK for unloaded running,
but just remember one thing re fuses.
Many people put say a 3A fuse into the line but then use a 2.5A adapter.
If the adapter has a proper current overload function in it, it will get to 2.5A and then start dropping the output voltage as reqd to save itself
ie the fuse probably wont blow.
With the steppers in the EQ6, this may result in lost steps and hence lost position.
If you are using a low amperage plugpack, always ensure the fuse is suitable.

Andrew

[Akwestland]

Big-blue & Andrew,

Thank you both for your replies. The adapter that I am using is not fused as far as I know. So the only fuse would be on the household circuit. This has me a little concerned now.

As I will have to buy another adapter, am I better off buying the one indicated by killswitch ( http://www.jaycar.com.au/p/MP3575 ) and use the cig plug lead that came with the mount. That way I possibly remove the "sloppy connection" issue.

Big-blue - I am looking forward to using this mount, I feel that it will be quite an asset.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[BPO]

Hi Andrew. I've used a 2.5A AC adapter with an EQ6 Pro for years without any problems. Just FYI and all that.

[raymo]

Your mount won't draw enough current to worry household fuses.
raymo

[Merlin66]

The full load, as measured for both axis on full slew is less than 2.2A

[Akwestland]

Ken & BPO,

Thanks for your replies, I may try it given your reports.

Raymo,

I did not think that it would trip the house circuit. My main concern is doing any damage to the mount itself, in the controller board or similar.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[big-blue]

My recommendation : use a supply source capable of delivering in excess of 2.5A so that voltage output remains reliably constant under all 'normal' electrical loadings (ie power draw is well within rated supply).

Then employ a 2.5A fuse on the 12V side, so that if a fault develops, the fuse blows first under 'abnormal' electrical load. (a fault could be an internal short, from a broken wire etc, or a jammed gear drive or overloading/imbalance which forces the motor(s) into overload and over-current).

I suggest a 2.5A fuse as that seems to be the consensus of maximum normal operational current requirement, in this thread.

I trust this helps.
cheers

[The_bluester]

I recently bought a bench DC supply from Jaycar to power my AZ-EQ6 mount.

I believe the telltale on an EQ6 is flashing of the power LED when power supply volts are low. The supply I bought can produce 12A continuous at 13.8V so allowing 4A for the mount and about 4A for my heaters (the heater belt for a 9.25" SCT sucks it in) I still have plenty of spare capacity. Aside from that I run with a smallish SLA battery in parallel to the power supply so any short transients that might cause the power supply to drop voltage should be floated by the battery.

[Merlin66]

Paul,
I can assure you the total power load on the NEQ6pro never exceeds 2.2A.
If you have an SLA battery as back up, this should NOT be connected to the 13.8V charger....unless it's a triple stage electronic charger.
(You'll cook the battery otherwise)

[The_bluester]

The SLA is only connected up when in use, actually the original charger that came with it (The battery was salvaged from a jump start pack) was a basic 12 (13.8 odd) wall wart adapter, or charge straight from the car via a lighter socket.

Before astro uses the SLA is charged on a proper 3 stage charger so the 13.8V supply is basically only float charging it in use. When I finally manage an obs I will probably use a standard lead acid instead, floating on the 12V supply.

Regards how much current is drawn, I have not actually measure the AZEQ but I just used 4A as a worst case maximum figure to ensure I would have plenty of spare capacity in the DC supply before I bought it.

[killswitch]

Its good to have a bit of overhead. PSU's lose efficiency overtime because of capacitor aging.

Also higher rated PSU's has bigger smoothing capacitors, which helps stabilize ripple/switching noise.