12V Power out in the field

Last Fall, I grew tired of always being underpowered when out in the field observing. The power requirements of dew mitigation for the objective, eyepiece and finder as well as juice to run the G11 forced me to bring several of these jump-start type of batteries with me. And occasionally even these would not go all night. If I was at a multi-day star party, fahgetaboutit.

I knew I had to come up with a way to get more power to my setup. I looked at the commercially made units from Kendrick. But, these seemed underpowered and overpriced. Finally I decided to make my own. I looked at several different websites that detailed out DIY PowerTanks. And this is what I came up with.

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Paul Leuba said:

And this is what I came up with.

Here is a picture of the wiring.

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Really slick Paul, that should work very well.

Paul,

Very nice setup, well executed. I like the power-on indicator switches. You should include a writeup and photos in the "How-To" section on the "Reviews" tab. I too would like to see some type of small digital voltmeter or state of charge indicator integrated into the system.

Paul,

That's impressive! I would love to see a detailed article with info on how to build, where to buy parts, and so on.... Or how to get one from you!

Gerald