Battery Power For Mount

[CapturingTheNight]

Hi all,
A little while ago I asked about whether a generator would be a suitable idea in the field to power my NEQ6 Pro mount http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=83614&page=2 but I have now decided to go for a battery power sollution. I would love if anyone could just post a link to one saying this is what I use and it works great for this ammount of time.
I have read so many different recommendations I'm starting to get really conflicting info on what is and isn't suitable. I have had recommendations like this http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Ark-Powerpack-Battery-Box-Smart-Charger.aspx?pid=165815#Description with this http://www.centurybatteries.com.au/search/index.php/batteries/ID-216 nattery (if it fits in the box I guess). I know I really should have a deep cycle battery (right?) but then I have seen people recommend something like this http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products /SCA-Jumpstart-1200-Amp-Heavy-Duty.aspx?pid=283447&menuFrom=5061#Description (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/SCA-Jumpstart-1200-Amp-Heavy-Duty.aspx?pid=283447&menuFrom=5061#Description) Is it a viable option???
What about something like this http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/online-store/products/Cool-Power-36A-Deep-Cycle-Battery-Pack.aspx?pid=310026&menuFrom=1021353#Description
Help please. Budget isn't really an issue (within reason).
Cheers
Greg

[brian nordstrom]

:) Hi Greg , I use one of these in the photo and it runs my Ioptron iEQ45 mount for days , I got this from Supercheep auto for $80 , its nice and compact and easy to move around .
Brian.

[Peter.M]

I recently bought a battery for my setup while away from the house, my battery needed to run a laptop the mount and my cameras.

I did a bit of research and found that you need to get deepcycle batteries to run astro gear. The jump starter you linked will do the job, but you will kill the battery in it very quickly.

normal batteries are made to put out a large current for a short period of time to start the car, then the alternater takes over and runs all of the cars electric gear during the drive ( radio, computer ect ). If you use a car battery with your gear you will trickle discharge it and then charge it back up presumably. The fact is that they are not made to be discharged very much.

I bought a deep cycle battery and a suitable charger from super cheap auto and thus far it has worked a treat.

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Century-Car-Battery-Deep-Cycle-N70T-100Ah.aspx?pid=287282&menuFrom=4031#Description

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Projecta-Pro-Charge-Battery-Charger-12V-2-16Amp.aspx?pid=292790&menuFrom=5063#Description

For a visual setup ( or just a less power consuming setup) you could use a lower capacity battery and a smaller charger.

[jwoody]

Peter- how do you connect the laptop and camera psu to the battery?

I am looking to to do the same as the OP but need to power the HEQ5, camera and Netbook.

Thank you

[Logieberra]

I have both a Battery Jump Starter kit from SuperCheap (1200 amp hour and similar to what Brian uses), along with a 70 amp hour deep cycle marine battery. The beauty of the big one is its many uses - power the astro setup on occasion, take it camping for days with the family, charge my RC aircraft batteries at the airfield, or run it in the boat as intended. Can't go wrong with the big fella IMHO.... Buy once, buy right perhaps? Logie.

[Peter.M]

I bought a car charger for the laptop, just one of the universal ones. The camera I use runs off 12V in the first place (the transformer that comes with it steps down from 240 to 12). And the heq5 is the same.

[CapturingTheNight]

Thanks for the tips and links everyone :D I really appreciate it.

[bmitchell82]

I have recently gone for a battery powered solution and here is my blog about it

http://brendanmitchell.net/?p=465

That runs all my equipment without blinking an eye

Approximate power draw at the moment is 4amps per hour so on a normal night thats about 40amps draw on 105 amps

So after a full nights imaging ill be sitting at about 62% power and at a push i could run it for two nights straight and deeply discharge the battery to about 24% but thats 20hrs of running cameras, laptops and mount.

If you want to find yourself out in the woods for weeks at a time, grab a small 1Kva genny (pure sine wave) and during the day charge your battery up. If your going out for two days just get a secondary battery. easy to do!

Oh and i run a eeepc which is native 12Volt all the cameras are 12V and of course the EQ6 is 12V so i have no step ups or step downs or inverters in my system!

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you so much for the great information Brendan :D That's exactly the sort of info I was after. Now I just need to source the equipment.
Cheers
Greg

[bmitchell82]

Not a problem mate, the little power distribution box is very easy to put together just a little bit of 12V knowledge but yeah easy. Other wise talk to Grahame (thats his iis name) and Im sure he can sort you out

Brendan

[MrB]

I use a pair of 80W solar panels for the same reason, no noise! :thumbsup:

[bmitchell82]

:) one day simon one day :D

[MrB]

They're really not badly priced these days.
When I was still at Jaycar they were $695 retail, and that was competitive... I got my two for $150 each staff price.

The current retail price for an 80 watter is ~$290, insanely cheap compared to only a few years ago.

[bmitchell82]

Correct me if im wrong but is it a 6 amp output yeah?

[MrB]

No, unfortunately they are a bit trickier than that. Manufacturers cheat a bit and quote the maximum power point output, which occurs at approx 16 to 18volts loaded. Max current is usually around 4.5 to 5amps for an 80w.
I average about 9 amps in peak sun.
There are however tricky buck/boost switchmode solar regulators called MPPT's or Maximum Power Point Trackers. These constantly test for the panel's best output power (by varying the load) and maintain it at that point. The excess voltage(above battery voltage) is 'converted' into extra current, minus some losses. Then you will get your ~6 amps output into a 14v battery in peak sun.
They will also output some current in the early morning and late afternoon when the panel voltage is LESS than the battery voltage, other regulators would not charge at all.