EQ6 Power Supply ??? (Also Insurance)

[StevenA (Steven)]

My enquiry is about my options. I can use the cig lighter cable provided but this leaves little room between car and scope. So can I safely use a large car battery I have spare? If so is there anything I should do to protect the mount and how do I accomplish this? I know the 12Volt battery will power the mount, but that simple provides the 12 volts uncontrolled. What about the Amps? How do I limit them so as not to burn anything out? Can anyone provide or direct me to the info I require? I know my question is simplistic and generalised, but I want to try and cover everthing, thus also covering my but and not make a mistake. Anything you could provide will be greatly appreciated.
My other question is about insurance for my equipment. Does anyone know who insures astronomical equipment, for home and travel useage. For damage and theft etc etc etc.?? Could someone advise me, because if anything happened to my equipment, I simply could never afford to replace it. Thus I would seriously have to just give up on this prt of my life. Don't mean to 'sound down' but I would like to take precautions. StevnA

[Robert9 (Robert)]

Hi Steven,
many of us, including myself, use a small jump start batterysystem available from any motor spares type shop eg Super Cheap. They come complete with an inbuilt clever charger and mains pack for recharging from the mains. Apart from the convenience of these devices, there is no difference to running your gear directly from a car battery. The cheap ones contain a 17AHr battery which gives you adequate power for 2 nights viewing if not more. A further advantage is that they contain fully sealed batteries and are hence there is not such a concern if they topple over. They usually have a cigarette lighter receptacle on the side into which you can plug your scope. I have added a second socket to mine so that I can run my dew-heater as well. No problems.
Certainly a lot more convenient than a thumping great car battery.
Robert
PS Usually cost between $60-$80 although you can get more expensive ones which contain a compressor for your air-bed or a flat tyre or alternatively a bigger battery. Certainly could be useful if ever you get stuck with a flat car battery. Usually have a peak capacity of 900Amp.

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

you can use a car battery like what has aleady been said your power from your car ciggy lighter is unregulated.

I run my eq6 though on a 240v power supply - 12vdc thing is it runs at 13.8 vdc, so the eq6 is quite capable of handling a bit of over voltage. to give you a idea of what happens with power use ohms law v=I*R. its a balanced equation so as the volts go down, the resistance R doesnt change so the i Amps increase thats where your switchmode psu regulate this.

If you are worried about this, put a alarm on your battery pack that as soon as the voltage drops too low it warns you. the other thing you can do is get a deep cycle baattery that is ment to be deep discharge. you can get a 100 a/h battery for about 350 bucks. now that will run your laptop/mount/dewheater/cameras for 2-3 days. and will last somewhere in the area of 1000 recharges + before capacity starts to dwindle.