Recommendations for portable power (Australia)

[dark_skies]

Hi all

I currently have a Jackery 240 that I use in combination with a Solarking 15Ah to power my telescope and camera when out in the field camping (I top up the Jackery with the Solarking)

I need a regulated system which the Jackery provides because my telescope mount and camera need that stable 12V or they flake out.

So being down under, we don't have a bit selection of anything. Jackery recently pulled out of the market, and the awesome looking AC50S is nowhere to be seen.

Can anyone recommend an alternative or even better, a DC ONLY solution? I do have to power some equipment that needs AC but can use the Jackery for that. I'd like a DC only solution, and to be honest, I don't have time to put together a box myself so happy to pay for a company to make a good quality one for me (not those marine power boxes.... I don't like those)

Cheers

 

[Ely]

The actual Jackery comes all with a regulated 12 volt DC output and it gives a stable 13.4 V DC no matter how full the battery is.

The same at Goal Zero, the actual Yeti x series gives a regulated DC output.

 

[dark_skies]

yeah, but like I mentioned, I can't buy Jackery in Australia anymore since they pulled out
Thanks for the recommendation of Goal Zero though, I see they sell in Australia, but wow they are expensive! More expensive than Jackery and for less power (e.g. Jackery 240 is 429, Yeti 200 is 580)

 

[Ely]

Yes, GZ is heavy expensive. But it works as aspected and a little more.

The charge controller is better, you can the 200x charge with 120 watts (MPPT carge controller), the Jackery is at 60 or 80 watts on the limit. And the Yeti brings a USB-C PD with 60 watts output. But the Jackery comes with a pure sinus, the 200x only with a modified sinus, a big point for Jackery. But for you this is not importend.

 

[reg]

You can use a battery > voltage regulator > telescope/camera.

Off the shelf, for a battery you could use a LiFwPO4 battery, possibly a Sony L-Series type battery (aka an NP-F battery, made by Sony, Anton/Bauer, Swit and several other companies), and certainly a V-mount/Gold-mount battery. Depends on exactly what voltage you need. What camera are you using that requires 12V? Or is that just needed for the telescope mount?

NP-F and V-mount/Gold-mount batteries are used primarily by people who shoot video. A single standard NP-F970 battery will get you about 50Wh. I think that there are already mounts available for these that regulate voltage, and most mounts will take more than one battery. Swit makes an NP-F battery with a direct DC out (no mount needed) that is probably stable on voltage, but the voltage may not be high enough. V-mount/Gold-mount batteries, which are quite a bit more expensive, are available up to about 250Wh. For these, it sounds like you would need voltage regulation.

You won't have any problem finding these batteries in Australia. I use a 50Wh V-mount that fits in a shirt pocket to power a cinema camera made by a little Australian company called Blackmagic Design