Going "off the Grid" with Boss Acoustic Singer Pro

[Zandit75]

Hey guys,
Just wondering if there is a way to use my Boss Acoustic Singer Pro in a busking atmosphere where I don't have ready access to power. What options do I have without having to buy another amp?
Thanks in advance!

[Mandobart]

A pure sine wave inverter with a suitable battery. This subject is what got me onto the AGF. This thread goes into the subject in some detail (I chime in on post #48). The quick and dirty stuff to remember:

1. Use a pure sine wave inverter (as opposed to a modified sine wave inverter, which most of the budget items are). It will be much better for your gear, will run more efficiently and last longer.

2. Its not hard to measure (vs guess or calculate) the actual power you need to provide for your gear.

3. There are lots of similar sounding terms that it pays to understand before you get too far - amp is short for amplifier and ampere; true power, apparent power, audio power; AC amperes and DC amperes; AC volts and DC volts; to name a few.

4. A portable AC power supply lets you run ANY amp you want, rather than just limiting your choices to battery powered amplifiers.

5. A generator is also an option, but they are heavier, noisier, create exhaust fumes and require fuel.

I did a lot of research and successfully built a 200 W power supply system that will run my Carvin AG300 for 7 hours a few years ago.

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

A pure sine wave inverter with a suitable battery. This subject is what got me onto the AGF. This thread goes into the subject in some detail (I chime in on post #48). The quick and dirty stuff to remember:

1. Use a pure sine wave inverter (as opposed to a modified sine wave inverter, which most of the budget items are). It will be much better for your gear, will run more efficiently and last longer.

2. Its not hard to measure (vs guess or calculate) the actual power you need to provide for your gear.

3. There are lots of similar sounding terms that it pays to understand before you get too far - amp is short for amplifier and ampere; true power, apparent power, audio power; AC amperes and DC amperes; AC volts and DC volts; to name a few.

4. A portable AC power supply lets you run ANY amp you want, rather than just limiting your choices to battery powered amplifiers.

5. A generator is also an option, but they are heavier, noisier, create exhaust fumes and require fuel.

I did a lot of research and successfully built a 200 W power supply system that will run my Carvin AG300 for 7 hours a few years ago.

Thank you very much for that Mandobart, most informative! Im glad to see I was already thinking in the right line, but I'll check that thread out further! Thanks again!

[AC000]

I’m considering getting an ACS Live and was wondering the same thing. I have a Sears Die Hard jump starter battery that has AC power outlets built-in on it, so I’m guessing I don’t need an inverter but if it’s essentially built-in, I don’t know if it’s the pure sine wave variety. So I’m wondering if it will create hum if I try to run the ACS Live from this battery. In my case, I don’t need it to be very loud and would need it powered for 2-3 hours. I’d be hooking up a Martin with a K&K pickup and probably two SM58 mics through something like an AT8681 vocal combiner, so that would be drawing some phantom power from the Boss too.

Here’s the Sears battery: https://www.diehard.com/products/die...ble-power-1150

[RogerPease]

Note: According to the user manual, the Sears Portable Power has a modified sine wave generator.

[AC000]

Thanks Roger! I looked for info but missed finding that. For those more knowledgeable, does that mean there’s going to be definite hum, and is it the kind that’s noticeable to general audiences or just trained ears? Maybe this will swing me toward getting a Fishman Mini Charge, but that doesn’t push phantom power so I think I still have to solve my two-mic problem.

[jonfields45]

I've bought fairly recently a MicroSolar, 300W(Peak 600w) Pure Sine Wave Inverter. It seems to work well. If you can trust the specs it is plenty of power even for one of those so-called 1KW powered PA speakers. Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've done some power measurements on my QSC CP8 and blasting loud enough to be just short of painful at a meter or two. I measured the power consumption at 13 watts using one of these (not a professional meter by any stretch of the imagination):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


You might be shocked to learn that more than half of the power was the standby stuff driving all the digital electronics even when there is no music playing...

Assuming you need about 10 watts to drive your system (seems conservatively high) or about an amp from a 12 volt battery, and a three set gig, you might get away with one of those inexpensive LiIon 3000 mAH batteries. No harm buying something larger. Whatever you buy I would test drive it at home with an MP3 player doing something similar to your requirements. I've always been surprised at the end of a battery powered gig how quickly my battery recovers a full charge when I get home. Clearly it was not getting stressed. Our battery gigs have dried up as of late and I recycled my old SLA battery. I plan to use my car battery should one come up again. One of the reasons I got rid of my old MSW inverter was not any issue with my PA, but that I did not want such a cheap product hooked up to my car.

[dcopper]

I bought a portable power station from Amazon that has the inverter etc built in. Excellent product and it will run my AER 60/3 (60 watts) for at least 4-5 hours with no problem. I use it often to run the pedalboard power and it barely uses any battery over a 3 hour period. There are many different ones so just check the specs and contact the manufacturer if you have questions.
davidc