Portable Battery Pack such as Celestron PowerTank

[weixing]

Hi,
It's OK... just use a power adapter lah... Hmm... Can also charge my handphone, power my camera, PDA, portable LCD TV, radio and etc... ha ha ha
:k-chuckle: :k-lol: :k-chuckle:

Have a nice day.

[dan]

Me too, looking for battery pack for my LX90

Can it be used with Ni-MH rechangeable battery as substitute instead of normal alkaline battery? Has anybody use it before and how long does it last? pls share your info. :help:

Daniel

[carlogambino]

I realise I cant use Ni-MH rechargable battery for my N4 becos each battery is only 1.2 V, instead of the 1.5 V of the alkaline battery. Therefore since 12V is needed to run the scope at optimal performance, I need 10 instead of the 8 battery spaces in the casing.

[weixing]

Hi,

Me too, looking for battery pack for my LX90

Can it be used with Ni-MH rechangeable battery as substitute instead of normal alkaline battery? Has anybody use it before and how long does it last? pls share your info.

I use NiMH for my motor drive. How long does it last will depend on how much current your LX90 draw. If yourFor me, it last around 3 hours per pack (8 batteries @ 1800mA each).

I realise I cant use Ni-MH rechargable battery for my N4 becos each battery is only 1.2 V, instead of the 1.5 V of the alkaline battery. Therefore since 12V is needed to run the scope at optimal performance, I need 10 instead of the 8 battery spaces in the casing.

Have you try it?? It should be able to work... that what a rechargable battery design to do... to replace alkaline battery. Most equipment may state that they require n x 1.5V AA battery, but they still work without problem if you use n x 1.2V AA NiMH battery.

Have a nice day.

[kohjb]

Yup. I use NiMH in my ETX-125 too and it works. Certainly feels better knowing that I can recharge the batteries instead of having to throw away 8 alkalines each time !!

[chris shaw]

Hi

Looi in KL (official SEA Meade dealer) sent me two battery tanks for my LX200 GPS and ETX a few months ago and they are just as good as the Celestron ones. His price is pretty cheap - a fraction of the price of the Celestron ones.

Call him.

Chris

[VinSnr]

Hi

Looi in KL (official SEA Meade dealer) sent me two battery tanks for my LX200 GPS and ETX a few months ago and they are just as good as the Celestron ones. His price is pretty cheap - a fraction of the price of the Celestron ones.

Call him.

Chris

what is his contact?

Haiz..how come when I put up the thread, no one say anything until I decided to get one from ebay?

Now my battery is in some UPS truck going around in US and then you guys got so much lobang locally.

Give me a wall..I want to bang my head

[carlogambino]

Have you try it?? It should be able to work... that what a rechargable battery design to do... to replace alkaline battery. Most equipment may state that they require n x 1.5V AA battery, but they still work without problem if you use n x 1.2V AA NiMH battery.

Yup. I use NiMH in my ETX-125 too and it works. Certainly feels better knowing that I can recharge the batteries instead of having to throw away 8 alkalines each time !!

Nonono wrong... it works, but wouldnt work at optimal performance. Next time you out observing, try alkaline batteries once for a change. They are sold as cheaply as 8 1.5V alkaline batteries for $1 at Sim lim tower. The problem here is about voltage, not design of the battery itself.

[Airconvent]

Nonono wrong... it works, but wouldnt work at optimal performance. Next time you out observing, try alkaline batteries once for a change. They are sold as cheaply as 8 1.5V alkaline batteries for $1 at Sim lim tower. The problem here is about voltage, not design of the battery itself.

to some degree its true. the motor does not train as strongly on NiMH.
I gave up on them when I had to take 16hrs to charge them, 4 at a time!
of course now with the quick 1hr charger its not an issue but the yuasa gel battery provides more power, stays charged ridiculously long and is fairly portable (I bought the 4AH one instead of the 7AH due to size. actually the 4AH cost more as it is not a standard size!)

[kohjb]

Yup. I too do have the Celestron Power Tank, but I have the NiMHs as backups which are left in the ETX. I know the voltage is not the same spec wise, but the characteristics of alkaline batteries are such that their internal resistance is pretty high, meaning that their voltage drops pretty fast as it gets used. Take a look at this page from Weasner's site. The pertinent info is not so much about the low temp but rather how the voltage drops. The good thing with NiMHs is that their internal resistance is low, so their voltage stays pretty constant, but the problem because of this is that they die suddenly, so you won't get much warning.

http://www.weasner.com/etx/techtips/200 ... temps.html

I got these Sharp 2500mAh ones, and the Sony fast charger. With 2500mAh, and an average consumption of 200mA, one charge should last about 12 hours. I'll have to admit that I haven't used em much since the skies have been so cloudy. I may have to eat my words :oops:

A big plus for me though, is that NiMHs don't LEAK !! I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely hate it when my $XXXX equipment is ruined by those stupid leaky alkalines !!! :violent: I sometimes get a panic attack when I remember that I haven't used my scope for a while and I had left the alkalines in them !! :k-crazy: