Power supply for goto

[Ziggy]

Hi Guys,

I'm very new to this forum, and to astronomy also. I was going to write on the beginners forum, but just would like a few ideas from people currently using goto scopes.

I ordered a non goto 9.25" Celestron Advanced Series telescope, (I'm a beginner, but wanted something expensive!), and it's just arrived. However, Celestron have sent me one with goto. So I agreed to take it, and they've charged me half price for the goto. Which isn't a bad deal I guess, and I'm quite happy to have it.

Anyway, as you would mostly be aware, it gives you a cable to attach to your car lighter....surely this uses up a lot of juice and isn't worth the trouble? So I need an alternate power supply.

I'll be using it round home to start with, so was looking for an AC connection, to plug into the wall, but on the Celestron homepage, they say it's not suitable for the Advanced Series, as it's only 1.5 amps, and you need 2 amps for the Advanced Series. Does anyone have any idea if this will work sufficiently? Or can you buy 2 amp adapters anywhere that will work? I don't want to ruin everything by using something that's not compatible.

I have joined the Yahoo group, and in their FAQ section, they kind of say you can, but it doesn't really have enough power...that's the Celstron 1.5 amp I'm talking about.

If not possible, I'm wondering what power supplies / power packs people are using. To start with, it'll just be to power my goto and stuff. I'm not getting into powereing up other things on the scope just yet. Most of my observing sessions will be of 3 to 4 hours max I expect to start with. The Celestron Powerpacks look very good, but are they value for money?

They had a list of batteries etc being used on the Yahoo site, but guess I'd like some opinions from people in Australia.

I feel like I have this wonderful equiptment....but I'm unable to use it. Not that it matters at the moment, it's overcast every night anyway.

I'm sorry if you think this should have gone onto another forum or anything. And I'm very sorry if it seems like a silly question. For some reason I just expected it to come with an adapter you could plug into the wall, as well as one for an alternative power supply.....just not the car lighter! I'm not game to even attempt it.

So any suggestions or help will be much appreciated believe me. Thankyou in advance. (And I promise anything I write from now on won't be quite so long winded).

Cheers.

[iceman]

Hi Ziggy!

:welcome: to the forum! How did you hear about us?

It sounds like you've got a great scope.. I can't help you with your question but I'm sure someone will as there's a few Celestron owners around.

You've posted in the right forum, so don't be sorry!

Hope you enjoy your time here and come back often..

[Striker]

Just for convenience I would just go to supercheap and buy a battery pack...most of us use them..get the one with the cigarette lighter connection.

I just picked 1 up yesterday for my EQ6 with Skyscan 17ampH for $59...comes with the charger and correct cable I need to connect to the skyscan.....great value for $59...you can get cheaper and more expensive ones...depends on your budget and how long you want to run the scope.

17amph is enough for me.

regarding AC power..surely thier must be something out their that would provide the amp's.

They say 2 amps but 2 amps wouldn't be used while just tracking....those amps are only probably used used on boot up.

[[1ponders]]

:hi: ziggy and :welcome: Dork Smith has a variable ac-dc transformer (?) that can be switched from 3 volts up to 12 volts and is rated 3amps. I use it to run a 20watt orion dew strip. If it can handle that your mount would be a walk in the park. Last I looked they were about $60. Or as Tony said, go to super cheap or even BigW or Kmart (auto section) and get a jump starter battery pack.

[xstream]

:gday: Ziggy and:welcome: We use a Super Cheap 1200amp 24Ah jump starter it has plenty with extra in reserve.

As Tony pointed out it would probably only draw 2amps on boot up or slewing, I think you would find the drain would only be about 0.5amps while tracking.

[RB]

Welcome Ziggy and don't be sorry dude, your welcome to ask.
That's what it's all about.

Try this web site- it's Jaycar Electronics.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/

and this product looks like it's what you need.
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3017&CATID=27&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=381

This is a 12v and 2 amp supply, just get a car cigarette lighter adaptor onto the end of the leads and you can plug the goto into that, JUST GET THE POLARITY CORRECT + to + and - to -.

Or if you don't want the cigarette plug on the end any more then cut it off and connect the lead directly to the 12v supply. But you might want to keep the cig plug on there incase you go away and not have access to 240v.

:)

[rmcpb]

I was in Supercheap Autos the other day looking for batteries suitable to run my gear.

Motor bike batteries are cheap and would probably provied all the grunt you need, although, I have seen some people lugging in a full size car battery to run one of the full go-to scopes for a session.

Just need a cheap trickle charger and you are in business.

[Hitchhiker]

Hi Ziggy - welcome to the world of GoTo!;)

I have a GoTo scope from Meade which is probably pretty similar to yours. I use a 17 Ah Jump Start pack that I bought from Super Cheap Auto. As others have said, you can get more or less expensive packs but I wouldn't go below 17Ah.

When I bought my scope Bintel supplied a 240V to 12V power supply with a cable that has a female cigarette lighter adaptor on the end. This means I can use Mains power when I want to. To be honest, I find the battery is a lot more convenient.

Welcome to IIS and enjoy the new telescope!

[Striker]

If you do go down the battery path...you cant beat the starter packs...it was going to cost me the same to buy a 17amp battery by it self....then you need a trickle charger...atleast if you buy the starter pack you get everything you need with a handle in a nice convenient pack....much more convenient then a stand alone battery.

Even though using AC power is good you may find it's more convenient just pulling out your starter pack then having cables running into the powerpoint....and you can't go past the fact you can take your set up anyway then.

Or buy both AC and battery pack.

[atalas]

Hi Ziggy , look mate just buy a 75amp deep cycle battery from Super Cheap Auto dude !
By the time you plug in your dew heaters when that time of year comes round and your Goto scope you'll find that your battery pack can't cut It ! and lets not mention your cameras ! ok then I won't mention your imaging obsession you'll end up with before too long . :o

[Robert_T]

Already been mentioned a couple time below, but the 17ah rechargable power pack from Supersheap auto has a couple of 12v cigarrete lighter outputs and several other voltage options and retails for $29.99 (bought one last weekend) - hard to go past that.cheers,

[atalas]

The 17ah power pack I think can handle the celestron goto for the night,It could not cope with my Vixen Skysensor...had to go to 24ah for that, and I can promise you can not handle a dew heater come winter . Now this has been what I have experianced with my setup . After going through one 17ah and a 24ah battery (which by the way have both bit the dust) I now use the one 75ah deep cycle battery from Super Cheap at a cost of $149 and can handle anything I throw at It including Laptop for days !
One of the better decisions I've made in my time as a stargazer .

[Ziggy]

Thankyou to everyone for making me feel welcome, and I especially appreciate all the prompt responses. Have a much better idea of what's required now, so it looks like I'll be doing a little shopping on Saturday morning!

Iceman, I'm not exactly sure how I found this site....I stumbled on it by chance. I've been reading things on here for a few weeks now, before joining up today. I was looking at "Cloudy Nights", when I somehow got a link for here. Was very pleased to see an Aussie forum.

Atalas, I have no doubt that the astrophotography obsession will strike, and soon! So thanks for your advice there.

Rocketboy, thanks for the link to Jaycar's website, will definately look a bit closer at that.

And to everybody else, thanks again for the welcome. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions as I go along. And hopefully one day I might be able to help someone out myself.

Ziggy

:)

[RAJAH235]

A question iim. Don't these 'jumpstarter' packs come with their own 240 volt 'plug pack type' trickle charger? The ones I've seen our members using do!
Ziggy, Hi :hi: & welcome. I can only say one thing, more capacity is better.(ie;more A/H'rs). :D L.

[seeker372011]

Hi Ziggy

i have the same mount you have and mostly run it off 240 V AC-I purchased a 240 AC to 12 V DC step down transformer from Astronomy On line-it delivers the right amperage for this mount, and i think it is a regulated power supply as well. As you probably read in the yahoo group underpowering the scope is reportedly a major cause of weird behavior

Like everyone has suggested a 17AH from supacheap also works for the mount, and I have used it from time to time