Constant Voltage Regulator for Astro Equipment

This is a 12V buck boost regulator which can be mounted directly to a battery. Because it is a buck-boost converter it will always output 12V (or any voltage set by the user) even if the battery voltage is lower than 12V. It can even output the regulated 12V while charging the battery.

The enclosure offers a switch to shut off the regulator for very low standby current. The voltage monitor is not affected by the switch so that the battery level can be measured even without switching the regulator on.

The regulator is overkill but this is done to reach a high efficiency and power output. I measured efficiencies around 80% for currents from 200mA to 1000mA. Higher currents will have a higher efficiency.

I would recommend PETG because of the environmental conditions, however I currently use PLA and had no problem so far (I suspect the PLA will get brittle over time, but it is easy to replace with PETG in the future).

No supports are necessary for printing (print it with the text facing the build plate). With the color layer-change feature of the Prusa slicer (M600) the text can be given a different color even without a multi-color printer - I printed mine on the Prusa mini.

BOM:

• 1x 12V Battery
• 1x 3D Printed enclosure
• 2x 5.5mm x 2.1mm Barrel-Jack with dust cover (compatible to ASIAIR cables), e.g. Amazon.com
• 1x switch with 0.75" x 0.51" // 19mm x 13mm cutout, e.g. Amazon.com
• 1x Battery Monitor approx. 2.29" x 1.1" // 58mm x 28mm, e.g. Amazon.com
• 1x Buck-Boost converter, this common type: Amazon.com
• 4x Brass inserts M3 and four screws to mount the Buck-Boost Regulator. You can choose your own, the holes for the inserts are 4mm in diameter. I can reexport a version where you can cut your own threads instead
• 4x 15mm Standoffs
• 2x Blade connectors / spade quick disconnect crimp terminals for your battery
• Red and Black cable capable of conducting at least 1 Ampere
• Some Velcro to mount the enclosure to the battery