Lidl Powerpack

I've e-mailed Kompernass asking them to state the tolerance of the various voltages, as it is not displayed anywhere in the manual. It'll be interesting to see if I get a response to my request.

However, the manual does state that the outputs are not stabilised, and are quoted thus: 3V DC unstabilised/1A.
This leads me to believe that for the voltage to drop to 3V that you must pull all of 1A, ie. a load impedance of just 3 ohms.

However, the manual does state that the outputs are not stabilised, and are quoted thus: 3V DC unstabilised/1A.
This leads me to believe that for the voltage to drop to 3V that you must pull all of 1A, ie. a load impedance of just 3 ohms.

There are very few devices that pull 1A at 3V. And, it doesn't make sense for them to only give you the voltage you want when you are hovering around the point of blowing the fuse!

There is no doubt about it - if the readings I got are typical, then these are (IMNSHO) defective units.

What is the set up for using a power pack with it?
I mean, is there a connector you can get from Maplin or Co. that connects to the 'square' battery terminal in the scope battery chamber?

Yes there are connectors you can get from Maplin, though you will have to do a bit of wiring/soldering. However, I think it would be wise to wait until at least one more powerpack has had its voltages tested before going too deeply into using it on the Meade...

There is no doubt about it - if the readings I got are typical, then these are (IMNSHO) defective units.

Or else they're badly designed. I'll have a look at the circuit when I get home.

For the moment it seems - Don't use 'em for anything less than the 12V.

Yea, thats my thinking too, a badly designed voltage devider.
You would expect an unregulated voltage devider to be within +-5% and not to these extremes, and you would expect it to drop under a load, and more as the battery dies.
If I had an etx70 and put this on it, I cant imagine what a 11.16v supply would do to it, its like almost having 2 more batteries in there, its a very low power system and would not lower the voltage.

If you have one of these, I'd seriously put a voltmeter across it and see what it is before you use it.

I forgot to take my meter home with me so I'll have to take the unit in to work with me tomorrow. However the circuit is a simple series of diodes which should step down the voltage. The diodes look to be about 1A rated which explains the current rating of 1A. (typical voltage drop across this type of diode should be less than 1.5V)
The 12v o/p is taken through a 10A fuse from the battery. This should give about 13.5 v on a full charge.
The 9V o/p is taken after a series of 3 diodes (which sounds about right).
The 6V o/p comes after a series of 4 more diodes (which in theory should take it down to 3v??) but there is obviously something else going on here.
the 4.5V o/p comes after another diode (which would be correct if starting at 6v), and the 3V o/p comes after another diode (again correct) with a single 100ohm resistor biasing the diode series with a 30mA current. This is a VERY basic circuit, but it should be giving more accurate readings than you are getting. However I think you will only get correct voltages when you put a load on. Either that or your 100ohm resistor is open circuit and is not biasing the chain or one or two of the leading diodes is short circuited. I'll know more when I put a meter on this tomorrow, but I'm reasonably happy that the circuit should work OK under a load.