Scored a Nice 16" Parabolic Reflector. HID or Short Arc? Test Beamshots w/ HID.

[JP Labs]

Re: New Beamshots w/ HBO200 Lamp

Tonight it is foggy. "Hmm......I bet the searchlight will look cool", thinks myself.











Yep, it does. Fun session.


As you can see, humidity makes a huge difference. The beam doesn't go NEARLY as far as it would on a clear night, but boy-oh-boy, can you see it! It can completely drown out the city glow tonight. It casts a glow of it's own in the whole yard, with the beam throwing so much light off to the sides. It's like swinging a gigantic fluorescent lamp around.

Yes, I did make the zzzzoooooommmsssshhh light sabre sound in my head while waving it around the sky.




Storage configuration:

 

[JP Labs]

Re: New Beamshots w/ HBO200 Lamp

Just a quick update to follow up on if this can be run on a 12V inverter. So far, no. I've tried up to a 750W continuous, 1500W peak inverter, but it cuts out as soon as the SA power supply is turned on. It cycles on/off but won't let the PS wake up. I suspect there is a high inrush current in the power supply that exceeds the 1500W burst power available from the inverter.

I have a Variac, and I considered using that between the inverter and the SA power supply, to bring the voltage up slowly to avoid the inrush peak current. But I'm worried about hurting the power supply by undervolting it, so I haven't tried that.

 

[PolarLi]

Re: New Beamshots w/ HBO200 Lamp

Have you tried the inverter on other power hungry equipment?

 

[BVH]

Re: New Beamshots w/ HBO200 Lamp

I re-read some of this thread and just remembered something. If I have a brain lapse and try to turn on my Oriel 1000 Watt PS from my power strip on the bench which is fed from a breaker box GFI breaker, it pops the breaker and I notice a slight dimming of the garage lights. I'm not talking about powering up a lamp - but just turning the PS on with no load. When powered from any other circuit, there are zero issues. I realize your PS produces significantly less output but I would guess it has a similar effect on your inverter.

 

[LightSward]

Re: New Beamshots w/ HBO200 Lamp

Awesome Light. Keep up the awesome work.

 

[louieatienza]

Re: New Beamshots w/ HBO200 Lamp

All I can say is WOW.... building a smallish one right now as a first project... this is so awesome!