03-08-2015, 18:54
No, the buck converter won't be 100% efficient, but the datasheet for the one I posted calls for 95% efficiency for an input voltage of 12-14vdc. That's a pretty big win compared to 65-70%.
What I have in mind to power my station is a 10W panel/charge controller, and a 12V/7AH sealed lead-acid battery. My gut feeling from looking at the device is that this should be overkill to a large degree, but I don't recall seeing anyone post actual power consumption, and I'm not seeing smaller panels and charge controllers a lot cheaper. I already have a few batteries around--rather past their prime at this point, but I think they should still work.
I designed an Arduino-powered device a few years ago (specifically, a Teensy 2.0 (http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/)), and it only drew around 100 mA while operating. Of course, all it was doing was receiving serial data, storing it to an SD card, and printing data to an LCD, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the TX board draws more than that, but I wouldn't think it should be much more, at least when the fan isn't running.
What I have in mind to power my station is a 10W panel/charge controller, and a 12V/7AH sealed lead-acid battery. My gut feeling from looking at the device is that this should be overkill to a large degree, but I don't recall seeing anyone post actual power consumption, and I'm not seeing smaller panels and charge controllers a lot cheaper. I already have a few batteries around--rather past their prime at this point, but I think they should still work.
I designed an Arduino-powered device a few years ago (specifically, a Teensy 2.0 (http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/)), and it only drew around 100 mA while operating. Of course, all it was doing was receiving serial data, storing it to an SD card, and printing data to an LCD, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the TX board draws more than that, but I wouldn't think it should be much more, at least when the fan isn't running.