Power AA Plus with Pegasus Powerbox

astrocpa

AA Plus and guider camera on order and looking forward to getting it setup and been watching lots of videos in the meantime. This question may have been addressed before, but that's what happens when you are a newbie! I understand that the AA Plus is really not supposed to be powering mounts (I have an Atlas). In an effort to have some cable management, I am looking to use my Pegasus Powerbox to power the mount as I have been doing, and then also use one of PPB 12v outputs to power the AA Plus, which in turn will power/run 2 dew heaters (on 92mm and 80mm refractors) and guider and DSLR. I saw a post on another site that this works but wanted to get any input/ideas from the Forum. Many thanks in advance for any help.....Jeff

Mapleleaf

I have an AA Pro and a Powerbox advance and I run it exactly as you describe - dew heaters, mount, and AA Pro powered from the powerbox. I have avoided using the power outputs on the AA Pro to avoid taxing its power management circuitry and to take advantage of the Powerbox’s environmental sensor which automates dew temp management.

astrocpa

Thanks Mapleleaf.....just so I understand, I like your idea of using the PPB for the dew heaters since they can be more automated and monitored, along with more available power sources than simply using the AA Plus for everything. But that also means that you need to use a laptop to monitor this......along with using your i-phone or i-pad to control the AA Plus? Many thanks again!....Jeff

Mapleleaf

When I first got the PPBA, I updated its firmware and set the Dew control to Auto; since it has the environmental sensor, I figured I'd let it do the heavy lifting and eliminates the need to carry a laptop around solely for that purpose.

So far, the automated management has kept the scopes clear on heavy dew nights and throttled them back on drier nights.

astrocpa

Sounds great.....many thanks again.....clear skies!