[Efendy]

Day 5 of owning the 8se and I am already experiencing the same issue that many *se owners must have had. Alkaline batteries don't last long and based on what I've read on the web, they make the 8se sluggish compared to an AC adapter.

Even though most of my usage of 8se will be from my backyard, I would like to have a portable solution as I am an avid outdoor enthusiast and I don't want to run a cable every time I use it. Instead of forking out $50-60 for the AC adapter and risk of cable being pulled off as I have little kids, I though a portable battery would be better.

I have a 130ah AGM battery at the back of the car running the fridge and everything else. I won't be able to move this to the back yard or anywhere else when camping. Therefore, I want to get something portable that I can use for other things when away from the car.

I've ruled out celestron products as power tank is only 7ah and others are very expensive.

Powertech (jaycar) portable power station seems to be a favourite which ticks most of the boxes. This provides about 12ah @12V. Can anyone share their experience with this unit from the point of running an 8se or similar and a dew heater or any other potential astronomy-related power suckers that I will need to use in the future?

Has anyone done a LifePo4 box for this purpose?

Any other suggestions? I am trying to limit the spend to $200.

Cheers,
Abdullah