PowerTank for 533 MC Pro with guide camera - Forums

Topic starter

Jan 24, 2021

Hello guys!

I am planning to purchase the 533 MC Pro and attach on the back the 224 which I use as my guide camera.

I see that the 533 requires :

Camera Power consumption: 650mA at 5V
Cooler Power consumption: 12V at 3A Max

and the 224 about [email]160ma@5V[/email]
While I am home, we are ok with the power source. But what about when we go out?

What do you think about this product ? : https://www.amazon.de/revolt-Solar-Akku-Powerbank-Solar-Konverter/dp/B07YTFYBSD/ref=pd_sbs_38?pd_rd_w=kTpWj&pf_rd_p=ad79fb78-2eb6-4fd8-b228-cb6e6b4589d9&pf_rd_r=T7R95998Q6WF5GJKCTKT&pd_rd_r=9e020e1d-de6e-4b28-9b31-3d570ec796b1&pd_rd_wg=GrlEB&pd_rd_i=B07YTFYBSD&psc=1

I need it mostly for summer nights, so 20, 25 + degrees and only for those two cameras. I am already covered for my Raspberry Pi 4 and my powered USB hub.

Timothy Martin

IOTD Staff

Jan 24, 2021

97Wh should easily run your cameras all night—maybe several nights. I have a Jackery 1000 and a Jackery 500. That’s 1500Wh of battery. That will barely get me through one night with about 3% leftover. But I’m powering a CGX-L mount, a CEM25-EC mount, an ASI2400MC-P camera, an ASI174MM-Mini guide camera, an ASI294MC-P camera, an ASI2600MC-P camera, an ASI290MM-Mini guide camera, a Canon EOS M50 camera, 5 dew heater strips, two Pegasus Astro Powerbox hubs, the Celestron GPS, and a Lenovo X2 laptop that consumes 70 to 170 watts.

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D. Jung

Jan 24, 2021

Your main power drain is the cooler, 12V * 3A = 36W. You can ignore the rest. If your battery has 97Wh, it will last you less than 3h.

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D. Jung

Jan 24, 2021

The battery description is a bit confusing though, it says 26Ah / 97Wh and 12V/230V
If you have 12V output and 26Ah, you get around 312Wh in which case you could run your camera somewhere around 8h.

Not sure how to interpret that…

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Euripides

Topic starter

Jan 24, 2021

Yes I do believe the same about the description.

Hmmm so I need watts, cause I plan to use it in high temperatures, so I believe the cooler will drain the battery.
In the meantime I want to go as portable as I can, but I can see that if you go that way the prices are going up rapidly. Maybe a deep cycle battery is my way to go (?).

My setup will be :
1. SkyGuiderPro (charged, no need of power source)
2. RPI4 for my Astroberry (have a 30.000mAh powerbank already for that)
3. My 224 connected to the 533, and the 533 (fully powered) connected to a power source. So if we take that 36W, I am looking for at least 300W powerbox.

north.stargazer

Jan 25, 2021

I don't know what options are available in Europe, but I like theJACKERY brand of portable power stations. Amazon carries them here in Canada and the US... maybe in Germany too?

They are Lithium, so the cost is higher than a deep cycle battery, but you can also use all of the available charge without having to worry about damaging your power tank. They say that they have a 500 charge life span... but that just means at full efficiency. You can still use them beyond that point but efficiency will slowly start to drop. I don't know if I have 500 outdoor stargazing trips in me

The Explorer 240 (240Wh) will get you just under 17Ah. The 500 (518Wh) is about 41Ah (but fairly expensive). I think there is a 300 as well. You can even go crazy and go for the Explorer 1000 if you plan to be out in the field for multiple nights or camping. All of their units can be charged via solar panels (I have not tried this feature yet).

Even the largest unit is just 10Kg, with the smaller 240 model being about 3kg.

Good luck!

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dkamen

Jan 25, 2021

Hi,

I wanted to ask, is there any particular reason why people avoid car batteries? I'm looking at their specs and it looks like a small one will give you 40Ah at 12V which is 8 hours assuming a 60W consumption. Mind you, this is a real question, not a rhetorical one. Clearly there's a market for powerbanks when it looks like car batteries can do better at 1/5th of the cost so there must be a reason.
Cheers,
Dimitris

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D. Jung

Jan 25, 2021

Hi,

I wanted to ask, is there any particular reason why people avoid car batteries? I'm looking at their specs and it looks like a small one will give you 40Ah at 12V which is 8 hours assuming a 60W consumption. Mind you, this is a real question, not a rhetorical one. Clearly there's a market for powerbanks when it looks like car batteries can do better at 1/5th of the cost so there must be a reason.
Cheers,
Dimitris

I would say this is mostly a weight question. Car batteries are super heavy and personally, I m not a fan of carrying around lead based batteries either.