DC power meter

[peter_4059]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the DC power meters? They look like quite an elegant solution to keeping an eye on what's going on with a 12V DC power supply/battery (as they log peak current drawn).

There are a few different brands but they all seem to do the same thing.

http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/ammeters/dc-amp-meter.html

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10080

[Joshua Bunn]

I havent used one, but it would be good to know what current your equipment is drawing and also when battery voltage starts to get too low for your equipment to operate normaly.

Josh

[RickS]

G'day Peter,

I've got one in the new DC rig I've been putting together:
http://www.westmountainradio.com/product_info.php?products_id=pwrche ck

I haven't checked its accuracy yet but it seems to produce sensible results. I mainly intended to use it to size a battery system for future portable use.

Cheers,
Rick.

[peter_4059]

Rick,

That one looks a lot more sophisticated with non-volatile memory, USB interface and alarming. Did you get it in Australia?

Peter

[tonybarry]

With all these power meter devices, the thing which you must consider is the nature of the load you are connecting. A switch mode power supply running at 100kHz may not be represented properly by a circuit that is designed for a maximum frequency of 100Hz. The smoothing algorithms used to approximate power consumption require some knowledge of what is connected to accurately determine the true load.

I looked at the Watts Up / Doc Wattson and it seems to handle electronic speed controllers, which is a good sign. The docs did not specify the max frequency. But check it for yourself.

Regards,
TB

[Marke]

Peter I use this one
http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/am...amp-meter.html (http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/ammeters/dc-amp-meter.html) and its fantastic
would hate to go out without it and rated for very high currents . I have it on a 120aH deepcycle and
at a glance shows me my current draw and best of all Amp/h useage
so I can see how long I have got on the battery .

[RickS]

Got it from here, Peter:
http://www.powerwerx.com

I also got a bunch of other gear at the same time.

There is an Australian agent for the West Mountain Radio gear. For a small order (or if the exchange rate goes back to "normal") they might be cheaper.

Cheers,
Rick.

[peter_4059]

I'm interested in one to measure how many amps the mount (during slews), camera and dew heaters are drawing so the peak amps logging sounded good.

[Merlin66]

I use one of these to measure the various loads -
http://www.powerwerx.com/digital-meters/watts-up-meter-dc-inline.html

I have it fitted with cigar plug ends and and quickly drop it into the power line - the mount, dew heaters etc.
Been working well for the last couple of years...

[peter_4059]

I'm going to give the Turnigy one a try as there is a local seller on ebay. It should arrive tomorrow :>

[peter_4059]

It arrived today as expected and I gave it a try this afternoon. It works as advertised - no magic blue smoke so far!