Argo Navis Power supply

[ronjerome46]

I bought an Argo Navis for my Lightbridge 16. I need to assemble a connector for my power supplies to substitute for the batteries. I want to be sure I don't fry the equipment when I connect everything. Does anyone have experience with this? I'm using both a 12 vol gel cel and a Xantrex 14 amp hour portable power supply to operate other telescope equipment and I would like to continue using these if possible.
Thanks
Ron

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Simplest solution would be to buy a pre made cable from Gary at Wildcard Innovations.

I made one myself but had some trouble sourcing the right size dc connector for the argo. Importantly I put a 1amp fuse inline and a diode as a reverse polarity clamp for protection.

If all of the above sounds like gobbledegook to you, it would be much safer to buy the pre made option.

[gary]

Originally Posted by ronjerome46

I bought an Argo Navis for my Lightbridge 16. I need to assemble a connector for my power supplies to substitute for the batteries. I want to be sure I don't fry the equipment when I connect everything. Does anyone have experience with this? I'm using both a 12 vol gel cel and a Xantrex 14 amp hour portable power supply to operate other telescope equipment and I would like to continue using these if possible.
Thanks
Ron

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the post.

See our part number pn-pwr-cbl at http://www.wildcard-innovations.com...._describe.html

The Argo Navis External DC power cable option allows you to power your unit from an
external DC power source, such as a car battery, to save on AA cells. It
has a fused cigar lighter plug at one end with an LED indicator. It also comes
with a female cigar lighter receptacle connected to a pair of bull-dog clips
for connection to a battery. Argo Navis can accept an external power source of
between 8V and 16V DC. Upon request, we can also supply an alternate
option that rather than has bull-dog clips has an RCA plug that plugs directly into the
RCA jack of some of the popular DC power supply panels.

Contact sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au for discount shipping on the cable.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[CoombellKid]

Originally Posted by gary

we can also supply an alternate option that rather than
has bull-dog clips has an RCA plug that plugs directly into the RCA jack of
some of the popular DC power supply panels.

Gary,

I think I might have a chat to you about that option.

regards,CS

[JimmyH155]

What's wrong with the batteries??? Mine last for ages, and no wires trailing around

[CoombellKid]

Originally Posted by JimmyH155

What's wrong with the batteries??? Mine last for ages, and no wires trailing around

Because sometimes and especially if you are also powering several dew
heaters and a controller along with an AN, it is just easier to power the
whole system off a single power supply.

regards,CS

[Deeno]

Rather than risk frying the Argo I purchased the cables from Gary. A 7 amp hour battery runs a cooling fan, occasional blasts from various home made dew zappers plus the Argo from dusk to dawn with change on my 10" dob.

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by JimmyH155

What's wrong with the batteries??? Mine last for ages, and no wires trailing around

If you have to use the LCD heater, I think you'd chew through even a set of lithiums pretty quickly.

I rebuilt an external power cable for my AN. The home-made one I had from previous owner needed a bit of work. Good news is I had the right plug - but it looks to be a fairly standard size?

It's now powered from a moderate size gel battery - I'm sure it will run for ages, but I will recharge the battery after each evening session. I connect by pushing spade connectors onto the terminals, so reverse polarity protection was essential for that coming "brain fade" moment when I cannot work out my red from my black!

So I have diode reverse polarity protection and a 500mA fuse in line (couldn't get the recommended 350mA fuse in the fuse-holder size I chose.)

I have two polarised connectors in line (this one from Jaycar - PP2034 ), one connecting the battery/diode/fuse cable and one connecting to the stalk to the cable that runs around the base from battery location to bottom of the stalk - since I want to take both off and pack separately for transport.

I had my AN working for several hours Sat/Sun night at around -4 deg C. (-6 deg C was recorded at some stage.) LCD heater was on AUTO. There were drops of water frozen to ice over the unit. Worked well the whole evening! Excellent! Had to pack it up with ice still over it (yes, it has been left out to fully dry now!)

Unless you know your electricals, I suggest buying the cables from Wildcard.