Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance V2 & Mains PSU

Bernard Karpinski — Sun, 29 May 2022 12:03:44 +0000

The Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance V2 is a welcome addition to the “Powerbox” product series. It stands between the Pocket and Ultimate Powerboxes and has been designed to provide many advanced features at a good price and in a more compact design.

Pocket Powerbox Advance Gen2

This small but powerful device (in short PPBADV) is a welcome addition to our Powerbox product series. Proudly stands between Pocket Micro and Ultimate Powerbox v2. It has been designed to provide more advanced features than Pocket Powerbox Micro and especially a USB Hub that accepts up to 4 USB ports.

Feature List

4 x 12V DC Power outlets for your equipment (A single channel to switch all four outputs ON/OFF via software)
12 Amps of total distributed current
Adjustable Output (3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12Volt) / 3Amps (Can be switched ON/OFF) Power your DSLR / Mirrorless camera
Embedded Powered USB3 Hub – 2 x USB3 Ports & 2 x USB3 Ports Available (USB3 ports are backwards compatible with USB2 devices)
1 x Power USB Port (up to 3Amps) – Suitable for Raspberry PI 3/4 power
EXT Port (RJ12) for external accessories (E.g External Focus Controller)
2 Channels PWM Dew Heaters – RCA Outputs (Adjust power levels via software)
Humidity and Temperature Sensor (included)
Auto Tune Dew Heater Channels
Reverse Polarity Protection
USB / PC Controlled or Standalone Operation out of the box
Lightweight and extremely compact aluminium enclosure

4 x 12V DC
Power outlets

A powerful mosfet transistor provides “electric juice” to your precious equipment. It supply of electricity 4 outputs. Can switch on/off all 12V outputs (not individually).

This single channel can provide up to 10Amps of current to all ports. Current is shared among the 4 x 12V ports

Built in
Voltmeter

A precise voltmeter measures and displays in real time your input voltage. If the input is more than 14.5V, the power is instantly cut off to protect your equipment.

Adjustable
Regulated Output

An adjustable output is suitable to provide power to your DSLR / Mirrorless camera / or your RPI3/4. You can tune the voltage to different levels (3,5,8,9,12 Volts). Please note that we provide a wide range of battery couplers for Canon, Nikon, Sony, FUJI Cameras

Built in Amp-meter

An Amp-meter placed after the DC input reports the total electric current.
There are also three additional amp-meters: One for the 12V outputs and two for the Dew Heater Channels. This allows you to easily monitor the detailed and overall power consumption of your equipment.

More than 12A of total electric current

The powerbox has been designed to output up to 12 Amps of electric current. Please note that a usual backyard astrophotographic setup requires 5-7 Amps

Embedded USB3 Hub – 2 x USB3 & 2 x USB2 Ports

A powered USB3 Hub at the back of the device provides:

2 x USB3 SuperSpeed Ports
2 x USB2 High-Speed Ports.

The new SuperSpeed hubs operate in parallel with the USB 2.0 controller, so 5 Gbps SuperSpeed data transfers are not affected by slower USB 2.0 traffic.|

USB Port Configuration under PPBADV Gen2

USB Port1 supports USB2 devices
USB Port2 supports USB2 devices
USB Port3 supports USB2 & USB3 devices
USB Port4 supports USB2 & USB3 devices

* Older product revision (Gen1) had only 3 out of 4 USB Ports that were compatible to USB2 devices. For detailed information please check the product manual.

USB High Power Output

USB Port 1 provides up to 3Amps of current. You can connect any device that requires 5V. E.g a Raspberry PI 3/4 or Intel Compute Stick M3/M5 can receive power from this specific port.

Expansion Port (EXT)

EXT (expansion) port is available for device expansion. This RJ12 socket allows the connectivity of current and future Pegasus Astro products. Plugged devices can be controlled from Pocket Powerbox Advance standalone software or dedicated ASCOM driver.

Other Key Features

Standalone Operation
“out of the box”

Pocket Powerbox Micro can work “out of the box” as a standalone device. Just plug the cables, setup the “autodew” functionality and every time you boot the device, it will retrieve your settings. So, If you don’t like to connect to a PC every time, you don’t have to. Simple as that!

Two channel duty cycle
PWM outputs

Two Pulse width modulation (PWM) outlets are capable to provide power to your “thirsty” Dew Heaters. No more moisture fuzzing your equipment and destroying your clear nights. These outlets can be remote-controlled from your laptop using the supplied software.

Auto Adjustment of
PWM (Dew Outputs)

Controller can auto adjust the heater power levels by consulting the environmental sensor Dew Point reading. Just click “Auto” and leave to Pocket Powerbox Micro to decide if it is time to turn on and precise tune the level of your dew heaters.

More than 10A of
total power

Controller has been designed to support up to 10 Amps of total current.

Led Indications for power and failure states

Led can blink in patterns to warn you regarding important power issues (e.g over or under voltage). Moreover light can be turned off using the software. Our led is very dim but in case you don’t like it on you can switch it off via the software.

Reverse Polarity Protection

Pocket Powerbox Micro has been design with a reverse voltage polarity protection. It will definitely save your night if you accidentally connect the main power supply in reverse polarity!

A hardware
watchdog

A hardware watchdog resets the device if for any reason there is no response from the controller for two seconds. A neat feature in the unlikely event of a controller freeze – when you have a remote observatory and you need to be certain that everything works as expected.

Upgradable
Firmware

Device is firmware upgradable to support future features and bug fixes.

Compact Aluminium Enclosure

A high-quality robust, blue anodized aluminum enclosure houses the electronics of the Pocket Powerbox Advance.

Size is 100mm x 71mm x 24mm. Weights 250 grams.

Supported By

ASCOM 6 Fully supported

Pocket Powerbox Advance fully supports ASCOM6. In combination with our main program which acts as a server you can use our latest ASCOM 6.5 supplied drivers to:

Report environmental settings to supported software (e.g Sequence Generator Pro / MaximDL ) (ASCOM ObservingConditions)
Switch ON / OFF 12V outputs, Adjustable Output, Tune Dew Heaters. (ASCOM Switches)

INDI Fully supported

Pocket powerbox fully supports INDI, Bundle it with Stellarmate or any other device that can use INDILib.

Unity Platform Support

Pegasus Astro Unity Platform is our new all around application. Our goal is to provide a robust and modern application that is going to support current and future products under one roof.

A modern frontend allows the full control of all Pegasus Astro devices.

Moreover, a REST JSON api helps developers from 3rd party software to interact with our products.

As we continuously develop our applications, based on customer feedback, lots of innovative features are going to be added in upcoming releases.

In the Box

1 x Pocket Powerbox Advance Controller

1 x Temperature / Humidity Sensor

4 x Power DC 2.1 to 2.1 male cables

1 x USB3 Cable
Type B (1.8m)

Technical Specification

Supply Voltage	12V – 13.8V DC
Power Input Connector	DC 2.1mm
Connectivity	USB2 – Type B USB Connector
4 x 12 Outputs	Maximum Current 10 Amps in total. 2.1mm Center Positive Software: ON/OFF all ports
2 Channel x 12 PWM Outputs	Maximum Current 5A Each, Black Colored RCA Connector, Pulse Width Modulated (Suitable for Dew Heaters or Flatbox) Software: Duty Cycle % / OFF
1x Sensor Input	RJ12 Socket, Connectivity with Environmental Sensor 0-100% humidity readings with 2-5% accuracy -40 to 80°C temperature readings ±0.5°C accuracy
Camera / DSLR Output	Max 3Amps, 3,5,8,9,12 Volt (Adjustable via software) 2.1mm Center Positive
Voltmeter	Measures 5 – 15V
Dimensions	66mm x 66mm x 24mm
Weight	90 grams

Please notice that differences in USB Port configuration 
between the two models (Gen1 and Gen2) 
can be found in the product manual or quick guides.

Quick installation guide (PPB Advance Gen2 – current model)

Quick installation guide (PPBADV Gen 1 – older model)

Product Manual

The post Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance V2 & Mains PSU appeared first on Modern Astronomy.

Pegasus Astro Archives - Modern Astronomy