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  2. Using the GTO keypad with the Mach2

Re: Using the GTO keypad with the Mach2

topboxman
 

I use A/C setup along with my Battery Box as a backup in my backyard by using this cool Power Gate device:


along with:


The Power Gate is a dual function of UPS and battery charger. Under normal circumstance, A/C power supply (14.1VDC) is used to supply power to my astro gears while the Power Gate charges the battery (from power supply via Power Gate). It could not be easier. If there's a power outage, the Power Gate auto-magically switches to Battery power and continues to provide 12VDC power to astro gears without hiccups.

One time, during imaging session in my backyard, I accidentally and unknowingly kicked the power cord out of the outlet outside killing the power to the power supply but no problem because the Power Gate switched to connect the battery to my astro gears and worked all night.

Here is a bad photo of my Battery Box with Power Gate on top of Battery Box:


It looks messy in the photo but it's really simple and clean.

Peter


---In ap-gto@..., <theresamarie11@...> wrote :

Thanks guys for the suggestions.  I have essentially the same setup (different source for my meter) on my battery setup.   It includes a shunt so I have current load, voltage, and power readings.

What I don’t have is the same for the AC setup, so I can consider this A-P product for the AC setup.     But I suspect the Mach2 is going to work so well, that I’m going to forget it’s even there and place my focus on the other 999 things that can go wrong with astrophotography.    The whole idea of forgetting about the mount is something I’m really looking forward to.  


Terri



On Sep 19, 2019, at 5:39 PM, 'Woody Schlom' woody@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:

Bryan,

Yeah, I have one of these too. They’re great – and so simple once you’ve converted all your power cables over to PP.

Woody

From: ap-gto@... <ap-gto@...> 
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 1:49 PM
To: ap-gto@...
Subject: Re: Fwd: [ap-gto] Using the GTO keypad with the Mach2

Terri

I purchased the A-P Online Power meter some time ago

https://astro-physics.com/cabppwm

and have found it very useful.for assessing current draw under varying loads, balancing the scope, evaluating if something is binding somewhere, e.g. cable drag, remaining battery capacity.

Bryan

---In ap-gto@..., <theresamarie11@...> wrote :

Rolando, thank you again for all of the great information. You should put some of this in your specification (just a suggestion). I’ll be able to monitor it once I have a chance to connect the Mach2 to a battery since I have a shunt installed to monitor draw. I’ve never noticed the spikiness of the dew controller, but do know that they're pulse width modulated (not clear on frequency) and I currently use a simple 5A “brick” supply with my current setup that supplies everything (mount, heaters, camera cooler, focuser, USB hub, etc) when running at home.. With the Mach2 and supplied 24V power, It’ll be easy to split the supplies by just keeping my current supply for everything but the mount.. In the field I’ll be using a single 12V 55Ah battery. I assume the mount power input is separate from the supply that will feed through up to the DEC axis and the supply that powers the USB hub. I guess if need be, some additional decoupling can be added around the dew controller if it ever caused issues for other 12V components. Maybe this is why I sometimes get mysterious image transmission failures.  

Terri

On Sep 19, 2019, at 12:32 PM, chris1011@... <mailto:chris1011@...> [ap-gto] <ap-gto@... <mailto:ap-gto@...> > wrote:

Mount current draw is the following as measured at the power supply: 

At 24 volts - 0.39 amps normal tracking. At 1800x - 2..06 amps 1 axis, 3.24 amps 2 axis slewing.

At 12 volts - 0.69 amps normal tracking. At 1200x - 2..91 amps 1 axis, 4.43 amps 2 axis slewing.

For 600x slewing, current draw is approximately half of the above

For 900x slewing current draw is approx 75% of above.

The mount comes with a 10 amp 24 volt supply (240 watts) and can be used with 120 and 240 volt input power.

If you run this mount from a different power supply, I recommend that you do not run dew heaters from that same supply since these put heavy spikes in the line that can disrupt the mount control circuit. Batteries tend to be ok since they can deliver the high inrush currents that dew heaters produce without dropping below the 10 - 11 volt min. limit that can cause motor stalls.

Roland Christen

Astro-Physics Inc.

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