splitting 12vdc power

[Somnium (Aidan)]

on the back of my PMX i have a 12v power outlet. i am looking to power up a few things from it i.e. dew heater, filter wheel and focuser. however the only splitters i can get go from 1 female plug to 4 male plugs, example below
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-to-4-Wa...AAAOSwaNBUgslm

when i really need 1 male plug to 3 male plugs. i am assuming i cant use the above. and i can't find a male to male cable. am i going to have to make my own ? what do others to?

[RickS (Rick)]

Not a cheap solution but I use Rigrunner power panels and make up my own cables. It's neat and there's a fuse protecting every device.

Cheers,
Rick,

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by RickS

Not a cheap solution but I use Rigrunner power panels and make up my own cables. It's neat and there's a fuse protecting every device.

Cheers,
Rick,

not what i was expecting but looks like a neat solution. so it would be PMX instrument panel to rigrunner input then output for each piece of equipment?

[Joshua Bunn (Joshua)]

What's the max amperage output from the back of the pmx? Is it up to the task of powering all your gear?

[Somnium (Aidan)]

good point. the power requirements wont be huge but it looks like the instrument panel has a 1A maximum load which wont be enough, i will just run through the mount cabling connected to the rig runner

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Originally Posted by Somnium

on the back of my PMX i have a 12v power outlet. i am looking to power up a few things from it i.e. dew heater, filter wheel and focuser. however the only splitters i can get go from 1 female plug to 4 male plugs, example below
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-to-4-Wa...AAAOSwaNBUgslm

when i really need 1 male plug to 3 male plugs. i am assuming i cant use the above. and i can't find a male to male cable. am i going to have to make my own ? what do others to?

Why can't you use the above splitter cable? You already have 4 male plugs on the splitter you linked - all 4 males must all be joined together. Just ignore the female and plug 1 male into the supply and use the other three males as the splitters. Just be careful not to short anything. Plug in unpowered. As per earlier posts, make sure the cables can carry the current.

cheers

Joe

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by OzEclipse

Why can't you use the above splitter cable? You already have 4 male plugs on the splitter you linked - all 4 males must all be joined together. Just ignore the female and plug 1 male into the supply and use the other three males as the splitters. Just be careful not to short anything. Plug in unpowered. As per earlier posts, make sure the cables can carry the current.

cheers

Joe

Hi Joe, i wasn't sure if i could do that, if i can then that would be good. either way i think i need to use another power source rather than using the instrument panel. i do like the idea of using the rigrunner to protect the gear.

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

An "out of the box" suggestion... use a distribution panel for boats or caravans. They come fused or with circuit breakers and can usually handle a few amps. Should be easy enough to connectorize the outputs... a little work involved but will be quite robust.

[redbeard (Damien)]

Originally Posted by Somnium

on the back of my PMX i have a 12v power outlet. i am looking to power up a few things from it i.e. dew heater, filter wheel and focuser. however the only splitters i can get go from 1 female plug to 4 male plugs, example below
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-to-4-Wa...AAAOSwaNBUgslm

when i really need 1 male plug to 3 male plugs. i am assuming i cant use the above. and i can't find a male to male cable. am i going to have to make my own ? what do others to?

Hi,
Another solution would be to use multiple DC - DC modules from Ebay.
What I have done is built a small black box with 3 of these units in it, fuses and 4 output connectors.
I connected a regulated 5.5 amp 12v power supply to all of the modules inputs.
I can set the adjustable output voltage of each module to the required input voltage to the device to be powered.

The modules cost less than $2 each from Ebay, the box, fuses and output connectors are also cheap and the most expensive part is the regulated power supply. I found 2, 5.5 amp power supplies in my box of spares.

So for my rig I have one module for a Canon 450D set to approx 8 volts, the next set at 5 volts for the USB hub that sits on the tube, and another for a laser module at 3.3 volts. The 4th connector is fused and wired
directly to the regulated power supply of 12 volts, (pass through) and connects to a Moonlite focuser control box.

You can also buy the step up dc - dc modules if power needed is greater than 12 volts.
NOTE: If all your devices are 12 volts, then omit the modules and simply fuse and wire directly to the output connectors.

The cool thing in my case is I only have 1 power lead going to the tube,(moving part of the scope), plus dew heater power wire and 1 USB lead which goes to the USB hub.
As the box is mounted on the scope, it means a very tidy and hassle free lead system.

You can put as many modules as you like with this kind of setup and only limited by the total current draw of the power supply. I also like how the power supply is separate to the one driving the scope.

Be careful with dew heaters running on the same power supply as electrical noise may be introduced into the other devices. I actually have a separate power supply for the dew heater as I think being isolated works best. This does add another power cable to the run to the scope, but all up, 2 thin power supply leads and a USB cable is easy to manage when strapped together.

The dew heater controller I use is an automatic temp sensing unit I built which is small enough and light enough to also be on the tube.

For me this is a kind of 'mount hub pro' that is modular, has adjustable output voltages and automatic dew temp controller. As it also powers the USB hub, control for the Moonlite focuser is also achieved. And, 3 leads!

Cheers,

Damien.