Looking at options to get DC power from the Cuyuna engine in my UltraStar. It has, of course, a lighting coil but no regulator. I don't want or need the weight of a battery.
All I really need to run is a strobe that draws 200mA, but it'd also be nice to power my handheld GPS (not sure of the draw but it runs a long time on two AA batteries) and my Icom A24 radio (which needsd 11V, not 12V).
The "standard" approach would be the Key West voltage regulator for about $80. No battery required, produces clean DC power, some people have had trouble with them exploding, or frying the lighting coil (though that just takes a fuse to prevent).
Could go with a cheap ($20-30) motorcycle or snowmobile regulator. These require a battery or oher load; some bikers use a large capacitor for this. I believe the single phase Rotax regulator is similar?
The cheapest and lightest option is a basic 7812 voltage regulator and a bridge rectifier from Radio Shack... if the lighting coil puts out 35VAC it can barely handle the power dissapation for .25A if I put it on a heat sink, but that's enough for the strobe... I could add another one for the other stuff if necessary.
-Dana
What has four legs and an arm? A happy pit bull.
All I really need to run is a strobe that draws 200mA, but it'd also be nice to power my handheld GPS (not sure of the draw but it runs a long time on two AA batteries) and my Icom A24 radio (which needsd 11V, not 12V).
The "standard" approach would be the Key West voltage regulator for about $80. No battery required, produces clean DC power, some people have had trouble with them exploding, or frying the lighting coil (though that just takes a fuse to prevent).
Could go with a cheap ($20-30) motorcycle or snowmobile regulator. These require a battery or oher load; some bikers use a large capacitor for this. I believe the single phase Rotax regulator is similar?
The cheapest and lightest option is a basic 7812 voltage regulator and a bridge rectifier from Radio Shack... if the lighting coil puts out 35VAC it can barely handle the power dissapation for .25A if I put it on a heat sink, but that's enough for the strobe... I could add another one for the other stuff if necessary.
-Dana
What has four legs and an arm? A happy pit bull.