Four ways to power the Mobile Command Center

The Mobile Command Center was designed to have flexible options for power. This article will take a deeper dive into each option, starting with the two best ones.

The input voltage range for the Mobile Command Center is fairly wide, at 9.6V to 24V. This range allows it to use a number of power supply options.

Power Supply Option Number 1

The first option is the included 12V DC power supply. This option provides reliable power anywhere there is a 120V AC outlet.

The output current of this power supply is a whopping 5 amps, so it will have no problem powering the most demanding projects. Another great feature is that it uses a common connector size (5.5mm x 2.5mm), so if this power supply is ever lost, it's easy to find a replacement.

If you ever need to replace this power supply, just make sure the polarity of the replacement supply is "center positive", or it will not work. The Mobile Command Center's power board uses reverse polarity protection diodes to prevent damage by stopping power if the input voltage is reversed.

Here's how to check if the polarity is center-positive:

• Flip the power supply over and locate the specifications label shown above.

• Make sure the polarity symbol of the power supply matches the symbol circled below.

Here is an image of the Mobile Command Center being powered by the 12V adapter. As long as you have reliable power, this will keep the command center running indefinitely.

Power Supply Option Number 2

The second option is to use an internal 12V rechargeable battery. For this option, I favor a 12V, Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery with a 2000mAH capacity. This type of battery has 10 cells arranged as two rows of 5, and the battery compartment of the Mobile Command Center was designed to fit this battery perfectly. This option is great, because the 2000mAH capacity of this battery can power the Mobile Command Center for roughly 3 hours.

Here is a photo showing the 12V rechargeable battery installed in the command center.

These batteries are easily found on amazon and are not that expensive. To use this option, you will need to purchase a battery charger like the one shown below, which costs roughly the same as the battery.

You can also purchase an additional battery to use as backup battery that remains charged, while the first battery is in use. The circuit board of the Mobile Command Center allows you to hot-swap a freshly charged battery without having to power down. So, with two batteries, your total run time can be as long as six hours. As of this writing both a battery and charger will cost roughly $40 US. This particular battery is also great, because it has bare leads, which can be connected to any type of connector, (Deans, XT60, Standard Tamiya).

For the Mobile Command Center internal battery, I chose the Phoenix Contact 5.08mm connector. I like this connector, because it can support up to 10A of current and the screw terminals make it easy to connect battery leads to it.

A small flatblade screwdriver is all that's needed to connect the bare leads to the terminal plug. IMPORTANT: When working with any battery, just expose one lead at a time to prevent both leads touching and causing a short across the terminals.

Getting the polarity correct is important, which is why I added silkscreen symbols to the charging adapter that comes with the Mobile Command Center. Plug the terminal plug into the adapter, then just follow the symbols and connect the Red Lead to the positive terminal (+) and connect the Black lead to the negative (-) terminal.

Use these symbols every time and you'll have no problems matching the correct polarity. If you do somehow get the polarity wrong, there are reverse polarity protection diodes on the circuit board of the Mobile Command Center that will prevent anything bad from happening.

Power Supply Option Number 3

The third option is to use an external battery with an adapter. A good example of this is the LIPO battery shown below.

This particular battery came with a Deans connector already installed. I keep a steady supply of Deans connectors, 5.5x2.5 DC barrel jacks, 16 gauge wire, flux, and solder ready, so in about five minutes I was able to fabricate an adapter cable.

Here's a close-up view of the adapter cable. The adapter is a Deans male to 5.5x2.5mm (center-positive) cable.

As long as there is an adapter to convert the battery connector to a 5.5mm x 2.5mm center-positive DC barrel plug, you can use any battery as long as it meets the following conditions:

• It's output voltage falls within the 9.6-24V range

• The polarity is center-positive

Shown here is the LIPO battery and adapter cable working together to power the Mobile Command Center. This illustrates the flexible power supply options.

Power Supply Option Number 4

The final option is to use a 8-AA battery holder, which will provide 12 volts. This is a solution that can power the command center externally, or be placed inside the battery compartment to power the command center internally.

Without a doubt, the NiMH rechargeable battery discussed in option 2 will outperform this 8-AA battery pack in every category: it has a longer run time, higher current output, and a flatter discharge curve. However, in a pinch, commonly available AA batteries can be used to power the Mobile Command Center for at least one hour. Connecting the the 8-AA battery pack is a similar process as connecting the NiMH rechargeable battery. Use the charging adapter to figure out the correct polarity, then connect the Red lead of the battery pack to the positive terminal marked as (+), and connect the Black lead of the battery pack to the negative terminal marked as (-).

Here is a photo showing the 8-AA battery pack powering the Mobile Command Center externally.

A few adapters were needed to convert the battery pack leads to a DC barrel jack, but I was able to re-use the Deans-to-DC jack cable from earlier.

This photo shows the 8-AA battery pack powering the command center when it's internally connected. The run-time for AA batteries is really short, so it wouldn't make much sense to connect them internally like this, but this shows that it too can be done.

Here is a second photo showing that 1-inch thick foam can be used to stabilize the 8-AA battery pack. Foam like this can also be used to stabilize the NIMH rechargeable battery.

There you have it - those are the four basic methods for powering the Mobile Command Center. I hope you found this post valuable, and I am excited to share more updates with you soon.