Hi all,
what is the maximum amperage accepted by the microUSB and by the external power input?
By the way, the external power input does also charge the battery?
I want to power/charge it with a solar panel for 24h a day operations, so I need to identify the right panel considering that RS+ consumes 7.5W as an average.
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@kseniia.suzdaltseva anwsered it here
Yes indeed, but I wrote this topic almost at the same time, so I still did not read the answer. I knew that, but I misunderstood.
Still one doubt. Does it mean that if I power it with let’s say 20V it will absorb at most 0.5A, or that if I provide more than 10W I can damage it?
correct
I am a bit puzzled by this, generally, as long as the correct voltage is used, a device will draw only the amperage it needs.
Also, as the RS+ accepts from 6V to 40V, it is not clear to me why 1A at 10V do not damage it, but 0.5A at 40V does damage. I would have expect that at 40V it would just draw 0.25A at most.
As to complement the question. The reason I am asking this is that I’d like to power the RS+ with a solar panel. But as power provided by solar panel is not the nominal one in most of the conditions, a 10W solar panel may not be enough. Thus it would be better to use, for instance a 20W solar panel, that will be more likely to provide at least 10W for more hours a day. But of course not at the risk to damage the device.
What I would do here is have the solar panel go into a solar panel charger controller before going to the RS+
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Hi Roberto,
I agree with @davehofer1993
We usually don’t recommend using solar panels with Reach because it’s an unstable power source. Indeed, powering Reach directly from a solar panel may damage the unit. Instead, it’s better to use them with a controller that can keep the power stable.
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Thank you for all the replies, but it’s still not clear what’t the maximum amperage to power the antenna. Actually I have studied a bit I’m not much aware about specifications solar panel charger controllers.
Any recommendation to identify the right controller is much appreciated.
Hi @Nav,
The maximum amperage to power the antenna is 0.25 to 1.6A.
The maximum wattage to power the antenna is 10 watts. The voltage you can apply to the receiver is 6 to 40 volts. So, we can calculate the amperage value as the wattage divided by the voltage.
I can hardly help you choose the right solar panel controller since we haven’t tested them with our devices. Probably, some of our users had a similar setup and can share their experience.
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