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WalMart Portable Battery Pack?



 
 
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  #12  
Old February 22nd 04, 11:38 PM
Pat O'Connell
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Default WalMart Portable Battery Pack?



Michael Wood wrote:

On 22 Feb 2004 16:39:41 GMT, (Rod Mollise) wrote:

OTOH I suspect the deep cycle batteries might be better for higher
current drawing equipment, like a dew heater system.


Hi:

Or maybe not even then. I've been using one of the Walmart yellow "Prestone"
jump start packs for a couple of years to power a goto scope and a Dewbuster
heater system. Never have had a problem. I do recharge in the mornings, though,
and if the setup includes a CCD camera, computer, etc., a big deep-cycle
battery is definitely recommended.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html


Rod,

My more than gracious wife has a agreed to buy me the NS11 GPS for my
50th bday this year. Have been considering the the Orion "Dynamo" or
the Celestron twin because they're made for powering these scopes. I
admit, I don't know a great deal about batteries and my concern with
buying something at KMart or Wal-Mart is that I will somehow fry the
electronics and then negate the warranty. Most are 12 volt so should
I just be watching the amps or what.


Just make sure that you have sufficient battery capacity (expressed in
amp-hours) to run your telescope and accessories for your observing
sesion. More is better. The Celestron and Orion power tanks store 7
amp-hours. My Target Greatland power tank puts out 12 amp hours; my
Celestron 114GT draws .75 to 1 amp, so my power tank can in theory run
the scope for 12 hours to 16 hours. The Celestron/Orion tank would power
the same scope for 7 to 9 hours. A scope plus accesssories that draw 2
amps would run 6 to 8 hours on the Greatland and 3.5 to 4.5 hours on the
Celestron.

Hope this helps you.
--
Pat O'Connell
[note munged EMail address]
Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints,
Kill nothing but vandals...

  #13  
Old February 22nd 04, 11:38 PM
Pat O'Connell
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default WalMart Portable Battery Pack?



Michael Wood wrote:

On 22 Feb 2004 16:39:41 GMT, (Rod Mollise) wrote:

OTOH I suspect the deep cycle batteries might be better for higher
current drawing equipment, like a dew heater system.


Hi:

Or maybe not even then. I've been using one of the Walmart yellow "Prestone"
jump start packs for a couple of years to power a goto scope and a Dewbuster
heater system. Never have had a problem. I do recharge in the mornings, though,
and if the setup includes a CCD camera, computer, etc., a big deep-cycle
battery is definitely recommended.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html


Rod,

My more than gracious wife has a agreed to buy me the NS11 GPS for my
50th bday this year. Have been considering the the Orion "Dynamo" or
the Celestron twin because they're made for powering these scopes. I
admit, I don't know a great deal about batteries and my concern with
buying something at KMart or Wal-Mart is that I will somehow fry the
electronics and then negate the warranty. Most are 12 volt so should
I just be watching the amps or what.


Just make sure that you have sufficient battery capacity (expressed in
amp-hours) to run your telescope and accessories for your observing
sesion. More is better. The Celestron and Orion power tanks store 7
amp-hours. My Target Greatland power tank puts out 12 amp hours; my
Celestron 114GT draws .75 to 1 amp, so my power tank can in theory run
the scope for 12 hours to 16 hours. The Celestron/Orion tank would power
the same scope for 7 to 9 hours. A scope plus accesssories that draw 2
amps would run 6 to 8 hours on the Greatland and 3.5 to 4.5 hours on the
Celestron.

Hope this helps you.
--
Pat O'Connell
[note munged EMail address]
Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints,
Kill nothing but vandals...

  #16  
Old February 23rd 04, 06:14 AM
Michael McCulloch
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default WalMart Portable Battery Pack?

Just a word of warning about the "Vector" brand jumpstart batteries.
The darn thing takes 2 or 3 days to develop a full charge and if you
let it sit a couple of weeks without use, then you have to charge it
again.

Either I got a defective battery or the thing is nearly useless since
it requires so much time to charge and then loses the charge so
rapidly in storage.

My older Target Greatland 7 Ah is still gowing strong after 3 years
and works great. Recharge time is minimal and it holds charge well in
storage.

---
Michael McCulloch
  #17  
Old February 23rd 04, 02:18 PM
Thad Floryan
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Posts: n/a
Default WalMart Portable Battery Pack?

Michael McCulloch wrote in message . ..
Just a word of warning about the "Vector" brand jumpstart batteries.
The darn thing takes 2 or 3 days to develop a full charge and if you
let it sit a couple of weeks without use, then you have to charge it
again.

Either I got a defective battery or the thing is nearly useless since
it requires so much time to charge and then loses the charge so
rapidly in storage.
[...]


You must have one with a defective battery. I have 7 Vectors (among some
others) and the Vectors work very well and have for years.
 




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