My Equipment - Power

The biggest issue I found when I first started using my telescope was in regards to power because I realised I had no idea how to provide the power needed to ensure my telescope mount would function. Now Skymaster were kind enough to provide a battery pack with the telescope which requires a total of 8 AA batteries and it was this I used on Christmas but alas it only lasted about 2 hours before the telescope started acting nuts. So I decided to start searching for something to do and luckily it turned out that my Seagate external hard drive power supply was perfect to use as a mains lead for my telescope. Unfortunately I began to get a little paranoid that this lovely PSU may not be the safest of things to use out in the damp and cold evening via a random extension lead.

Therefore I undertook a mission to search the internet and find out what other people were using to provide power out in the field. And so the first thing I discovered were car jump start power packs which seemed to be a cheapish way to power the scopes.

They seemed to get quite a mixed review however with some people loving them and others finding that they stopped working within a year. Basically, it appears that these car jump start batteries are designed for one off large provisions of power which isn't how telescope mounts draw power. So I had to decide if I wanted to risk spending some hard earned cash on this type of battery or did I want to try something else that may last better.

As you can imagine, the thought of wasting money terrified me so I decided to look at the option of building my own battery pack. Now I am not a DIY expert and I know very little about electrical circuits but there is fair amount of information available online that I felt confident enough to give it a go. However, much to my surprise someone on the Central Scotland Observer's Group decided they wanted to sell their astronomy gear which included a DIY battery pack. So, here was my chance to grab a DIY battery pack built by someone who may know what they were doing alongside a charger for less than the Car Jump Starter kits I had originally looked at.

So, I just grabbed the deal and yes it does looks a little bit worn but it has worked brilliantly since I picked it up and supposedly I am actually the third person to use it. One day if I get into Astrophotography I may want to build my something with a bigger battery but for now this little beauty has been a god send and enables me to take my telescope away from my home to darker sites.