# 1,257,000,000 Lumens



## CarbonArc (Aug 22, 2006)

Check out these pics. This thing is a monster. Ill be getting more beamshots tonight.If the pics below dont load go here. 

http://community.webshots.com/user/carbonarc100














Can seem to resize the beamshot pics for some reason, hope to get more tonight!!!!


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## Loomy (Aug 22, 2006)

That is a big light. What is it for!


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## Tritium (Aug 22, 2006)

:wow:  :sick2:  :kewlpics: :thumbsup: 

Thurmond


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## CLHC (Aug 22, 2006)

Nice HUGE pics here but check this out:



3. Siglines said:


> If you post an image in your post, please downsize the image to no larger than 800 x 800 pixels.



Thanks for sharing! :wave:


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## Ra (Aug 22, 2006)

Nice little lamp... Is this your idea for a garden-lantern ???

It shure has a wow-factor...

But one thing tho... What's with the 1,257,000,000 lumens ???


Ra.


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## ianb (Aug 22, 2006)

Wow, thats awesome! I'd like to get a flashlight that I'd need a trailer for , looks like a nice job the trailer and mount, very nice :goodjob: 

Ian


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## ShortArc (Aug 22, 2006)

CarbonArc now that is a rig!!!

Nice job. I am still waiting for my replacement igniter from Peakbeam. One of these days I will finally light up the VSS-1!


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## josean (Aug 22, 2006)

If you live near the sea, just place that into your roof and you'll have a coastal lighthouse!


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## Illum (Aug 22, 2006)

for the beamshots i keep getting a 502
*Proxy Error*

The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request _GET /album/549124600OpJQRJ_.

Reason: *Error reading from remote server*

Apache/2.0.51 Server at community.webshots.com Port 80

http://community.webshots.com/album/549124600OpJQRJ

where did you find such beasts?
:huh: :kewlpics:


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## Ra (Aug 22, 2006)

I still don't 'see' the 1,257,000,000 lumens tho....

Please explain..

Ra.


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## Glock40 (Aug 22, 2006)

That would be the perfect EDC.


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## Erasmus (Aug 22, 2006)

Talking 'bout an EDC flashlight


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## MSI (Aug 22, 2006)

Ra said:


> I still don't 'see' the 1,257,000,000 lumens tho....
> 
> Please explain..
> 
> Ra.



It was just to grab our attention 

If it has the same efficency as a MB, then I would guess it's around 20000 lumens. Anyone with real numbers are very welcome to fill in.


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## Orbit (Aug 22, 2006)

Ra said:


> I still don't 'see' the 1,257,000,000 lumens tho....
> 
> Please explain..
> 
> Ra.


i'm pretty sure he's exagerating...have a look ad the tank light thread.


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## CarbonArc (Aug 22, 2006)

Yes it is definitely an exaggeration, sorry for the confusion. Sorry admins about the photos.


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## Chucula (Aug 22, 2006)

cool stuff! i wonder if the human eye can tell the difference between a billion and a million lumens (or million and 500k).

thanks for pics


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## CarbonArc (Aug 22, 2006)

Beamshots From tonight!!! I need a lesson in night time photography. The shot on the side of the house is taken fro approximately 100 yards. This light will illuminate an object at over 2 miles!!!!!


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## tvodrd (Aug 22, 2006)

CarbonArc, You have my sympathies with respect to photographing beamshots!!! (More than you would know!) I have a fantasy of doing the "ultimate" shootout between the Vss-1 and 3A, and think I have enough DcA to light both of them! My desert shack sports a mountain range right at 2 mi across the valley, and that's the "advertized" working range. When it cools down enough in Oct. or Nov. I hope to pull it off! I'll do an invite for any SoCal CPF's to join and help when the time comes!

Larry


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## Billson (Aug 22, 2006)

What happened to the cat?


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## Orbit (Aug 23, 2006)

man i would fly to socal to see that!


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## batman (Aug 23, 2006)

I'd drag that behind my truck and flip it on when oncoming traffic doesn't turn off their brights for me.


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## scott.cr (Aug 23, 2006)

That is THE most excellentest thing I've seen!!!

You should put a pan/tilt head and power control head so you can run this thing from your tow rig. It'd make a great "flash-to-pass" light hahaha. Just be sure to put a heat shield on the back of your head to prevent hair loss from errant aiming.


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## Trashman (Aug 23, 2006)

tvodrd said:


> I have a fantasy of doing the "ultimate" shootout between the Vss-1 and 3A, and think I have enough DcA to light both of them! My desert shack sports a mountain range right at 2 mi across the valley, and that's the "advertized" working range. When it cools down enough in Oct. or Nov. I hope to pull it off! I'll do an invite for any SoCal CPF's to join and help when the time comes!
> 
> Larry




Where's the invite going to be at, the Desert shack, or Costa Mesa? Where's the shack at?


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## ericg533 (Aug 23, 2006)

Dude, you're going to start your house on fire.


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## CroMAGnet (Aug 23, 2006)

tvodrd said:


> CarbonArc, You have my sympathies with respect to photographing beamshots!!! (More than you would know!) I have a fantasy of doing the "ultimate" shootout between the Vss-1 and 3A, and think I have enough DcA to light both of them! My desert shack sports a mountain range right at 2 mi across the valley, and that's the "advertized" working range. When it cools down enough in Oct. or Nov. I hope to pull it off! I'll do an invite for any SoCal CPF's to join and help when the time comes!
> 
> Larry


Holy Crapoli!! I'm in!!


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

Hi Carbonarc,

If the 1,257,000,000 lumens indeed was to grab our attention.. Then its fine with me.. and..

IT WORKED !!!

But one question tho... ONLY 2 MILES ???? If that is the case.. then..







I WINN !!!!






It has a throw of over 4 miles...I thought yours should be able to top that !!!

Ok... mine with 2800 not as powerfull on lumens, but with 6 kg's of weight and 100mins burntime on one charge it's quite portable !!

Edit: Beam was not directed at 'rear windmill' so it would be better lit when it was..


Ra.


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## chesterqw (Aug 23, 2006)

1,257,000,000 Lumens... the sun?


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

Nope !!!

A quick calculation says: about 53,000,000,000,000,000 lumens for the sun!!

That is about 5,000,000,000,000,000 mean spherical candlepower !!

correct me if i'm wrong...

Ra.


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## Orbit (Aug 23, 2006)

bwahahaha!

OWNED!
your estimate is pretty right for the sun btw.


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

I simply called the manufacturer for specs... LOLOLOLOL

Ra.


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## Orbit (Aug 23, 2006)

haha i'll pay that.
did they ask you for tips?


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

Ok... Now lets be a little more serious about this...

CarbonArc,, I hope you don't mind I messed with one of your pictures..

But I saw something I recognised: The beampattern on the house shows very clearly how the lamp is mounted in the searchlight !! I took a picture directly from a xenon lamp operating and overlayed it in your picture.

On my picture you can see the arc between the anode (bottom) and the cathode (top of pict) Because the anode is bombarded with electrons it glows as hot as a hotwire in a normal lamp, so radiating a lot of light:
The yellow beampattern projected on the house below the main arc-beam is a result of that !






I resized the pict so you can clearly see the resemblance with the beampattern projected on the house.

BTW: The mirror in the searchlight turns the image upside down, so the lamp is mounted with the anode on top!

Another conclusion: The mirrors in your searchlight are well collimated and in perfect condition, otherwise this would not be possible !!

I hope you like this...

Ra.


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## CarbonArc (Aug 23, 2006)

*Billson-* You will be happy to know the cat is fine. (no animals were harmed in the testing of this light except a few moths who apparently couldnt tell the difference between the light and the sun.)

*scott.cr-* The light uses a 24v linear actuator from a MRI machine and a momentary dpdt toggle to tilt. I am in the process of designing a system to make the light pan.

*ericg533-* I dont think a 36" thick stone and masonary wall will burn down.... wait... the eaves above are made of wood and now the paint is peeling off them hahaha.... 

*Ra-* My beamshot photography is certainly lacking. I could use a little advice on how to get some better shots with my camera (Sony DSC F717) As for the distance of 2 miles this was the only mark I had available to point the light at. Not to mention the fact that my friend lives at the base of the tower. I called him up during my test and he said he thought that there was stealth military helicopter flying overhead the woods were lit up quite brightly. I will try to get him to take some pictures from the business end of this thing at 2 miles. Hopefully I will be able to take this thing to a range for some better testing. any suggestions would be appreciated. ALSO thanks for the bit of image editing good stuff and thanks for the info!!!

Below are some pics of one of the spare bulbs I have. ***Note** as everyone who is reading this already knows... these bulbs are under high pressure and extreme care should be taken when handling.
















An explanation for the 1,257,000,000 lumens. 

Some textbooks claim that 1 candlepower = 12.57 Lumens Thus the VSS1 is rated at 100 million candlepower so 100,000,000 x 12.57 = 1,257,000,000 
(However we all know that this is completely untrue in practical applications) 

Also I am not here to start a thread and argument about lumens candlepower calculations etc.... so please dont start.


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

Hi CarbonArc,

Photography lesson 1: Always use a tripod, then you are capable to use longer exposure times: It is advisable to use low ISO setting with longer exposure, then you have low noise pictures.

Mostly it is advisable to fully open the diafragm, but some cams have collored artifacts when fully open, so you'll have to try that.

I don't know if the 717 has an exposure-timer.. to prevent moving the cam during exposure I use the 2sec timer

I always use the manual camera-settings with whitebalance set on sunlight or clouwdy and focus fixed at infinnity. 

I hope this all is possible with the 717..

If you have remaining questions, please ask..


Regards,

Ra.


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## LuxLuthor (Aug 23, 2006)

RA, what did you use for that light? 4 miles...wow!


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## CarbonArc (Aug 23, 2006)

*Ra-* Thanks for the photography tips. I will certainly put them to use... and post the results.


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

Carbonarc,

I hope you're interested but this is a picture I took today... JUST BEFORE THE POLICE CAME BY AND ASKED WHAT I WAS DOING...

But I got away with it...






Regards.

Ra.


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## Ra (Aug 23, 2006)

And,, CarbonArc,

The calculation from cp's to lumens you made has one... how do I put this nicely... MAJOR FLAW !!!!!

You're right: 1 CP equals 12.57 lumens.. BUT.. The one cp youre talking about is MSCP or: Mean Spherical Candle Power.. Not beam candlepower.

Your searchlight produces Beam Candle Power !!

The one cp you converted into lumens is the amount of light radiated in all directions: A bare bulb (without reflector!) in the middle of your room that measures 1 lux at one meter distance, has 12.57 lumens output! 
Theoretically that is.. Try to find a bulb that is radiating in all directions.. Well there is one for shure: the sun !!

So only if your searchlight gives 100,000,000 cp in all directions, only then it has 1,257,000,000 lumens output!!



Ra.


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## NikolaTesla (Aug 23, 2006)

:goodjob:C A , that sure is a "BAD BOY" WOW!


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## NikolaTesla (Aug 23, 2006)

Very nice light. We been working on a home made one with this bulb, not yet perfected but on its way:


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## MSI (Aug 23, 2006)

Short arc lamp? It doesn't look very short on that lamp. Crazy stuff!!
Do you have some specs?


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## Brock (Aug 24, 2006)

We have four 2000w xenon super troopers. They all use that same lamp, an XBO 2000w. I have one sitting on my desk as we speak. They have a life of about 1000 hours and when they burn out they sometimes explode so we change them before they explode and damage the reflector and housing. We also rotate the lamps every 100 hours. The new lamps cost about $850. Darn bright little monsters.

I also thought is was funny they are called short arc lamps, what would normal or long arc lamps look like


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## blahblahblah (Aug 24, 2006)

I was looking at the loading of your tailer. Are you towing that on the street? If so, how is it handling? The trailer looks like it needs some weight shifted forward, but that is only a guess.


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## CarbonArc (Aug 24, 2006)

*blahblahblah-* Yes I am towing the trailer on the street. It actually handles quite nicely. There is about 70-80lbs on the tounge of the trailer so it is actually balanced pretty well (I took this into account when mounting the generator).


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## CarbonArc (Sep 8, 2006)

Well I should be firing up the light again tonight. I will keep everyone up to date. Hopefully my night-time/beamshot photography has improved.


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## Illum (Sep 8, 2006)

Glock40 said:


> That would be the perfect EDC.



well, theres plenty of places to put a keyring thru... 




NikolaTesla said:


> Very nice light. We been working on a home made one with this bulb, not yet perfected but on its way:



whats that tiny little gold light called again?

either thats a little light or OMFG PHAT BULB IZ HUGE!!


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## lotsalumens (Sep 8, 2006)

Looking forward to it!!!



CarbonArc said:


> Well I should be firing up the light again tonight. I will keep everyone up to date. Hopefully my night-time/beamshot photography has improved.


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## TENMMIKE (Sep 9, 2006)

:lolsign: this thread rocks, outstanding job carbonArc


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## missionaryman (Sep 9, 2006)

can it be overdriven...


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## ShortArc (Sep 9, 2006)

Yes the bulb can be overdriven. According to the manual, the overdrive mode of the VSS-1 gives the light a 40 amp boost from a nominal 100 amp draw. The output jumps from 100 million candlepower to 150 million! The overdrive duration is roughly 17.5 sec +/- 2.5 sec.


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## mattheww50 (Sep 9, 2006)

Ra said:


> And,, CarbonArc,
> 
> The calculation from cp's to lumens you made has one... how do I put this nicely... MAJOR FLAW !!!!!
> 
> ...



The 12.57 comes from the fact that the solid angle of a sphere is 4 pi steradians. 1 lux is 1 lumen per steradian IIRC, so a spherical source that is 1 lux would be a 4 pi lumen source if it was truly omnidirectional.


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## davidefromitaly (Sep 9, 2006)

i read 2.2KW on the lamp? in this case the lumens can't be more than 300.000





CarbonArc said:


> *Billson-* You will be happy to know the cat is fine. (no animals were harmed in the testing of this light except a few moths who apparently couldnt tell the difference between the light and the sun.)
> 
> *scott.cr-* The light uses a 24v linear actuator from a MRI machine and a momentary dpdt toggle to tilt. I am in the process of designing a system to make the light pan.
> 
> ...


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## windstrings (Oct 6, 2006)

Billson said:


> What happened to the cat?



I was wondering what the little whisp of smoke was!


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## Ilikeshinythings (Dec 12, 2006)

man this stuff is wild! 

poor cat probably got incinerated

So by these calculations, a 3,000,000 candlepower light would be over 37,000,000 lumens?! This makes the "Torch" (4000 lumens) look like a piece of crap. 

This calculation seems off to me....


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## Ra (Dec 12, 2006)

Yep, ILST...

But only if that light produces 3,000,000 candlepowers in any direction !!! SO WITHOUT A REFLECTOR !!!


Regards,

Ra.


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## Ilikeshinythings (Dec 12, 2006)

aha! "I SEE" said the temporarily blinded man!

So how many lumens would a 3,000,000 CP light be pushing out the front if it were reflected by, say, a 10 inch reflector?


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## Ra (Dec 12, 2006)

Well, theoretically: Less then it would without reflector ! With lumens output the use of a reflector always means a loss of lumens !! On these forums there are many posts about the difference between bulb-lumens and torch-lumens.

That was theoretically.. practically: With a 3,000,000MSCP bulb (Mean Spherical CandlePower) YOUR 10INCH REFLECTOR WILL MELT AND EVAPORATE IN SECONDS !!!!


Regards,

Ra.


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## windstrings (Dec 12, 2006)

Ra said:


> Well, theoretically: Less then it would without reflector ! With lumens output the use of a reflector always means a loss of lumens !! On these forums there are many posts about the difference between bulb-lumens and torch-lumens.
> 
> That was theoretically.. practically: With a 3,000,000MSCP bulb (Mean Spherical CandlePower) YOUR 10INCH REFLECTOR WILL MELT AND EVAPORATE IN SECONDS !!!!
> 
> ...



Plus, look at the size of that bulb LOL!!!
a 10 incher would not capture the light worth beanies..... looking at it proportionatly, my guess is it would take at least a 3 foot reflector to catch the proper angle based on the size of that bulb.

And reflectors can only bounce so much light, thats why more surface area "hence a larger reflector" always makes it easier to develop more lumens for throw.... even a cheap light can do awesome if the reflector is big enough.


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## tvodrd (Dec 12, 2006)

I don't pretend to have a clue as to the Lumens. I _do_ know that Uncle Sam did a pretty good job of photon management with the AN/VSS-1 and -3 lights. (Not as good as Ra did, but pretty good!)

I, too, scored a replacement lamp for my VSS-1A, and It was a bargain compared to what I coughed-up today for a replacement lamp for my maxabeam for the one that exploded on my Thanksgiving campout! :green: Another lamp pic:




and a joke pic of the searchlight it belongs in:




Just some eye candy for Christmas.  When I finish the mount for the VSS-1A, there will eventually be a "shootout" with the VSS-3a as I also have the _AMPS!_ 

Larry


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## windstrings (Dec 12, 2006)

Wholly Molly... As Crocidile Dundee would say... "now thats a light!"

Now that would fry a big weiner!..


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## tvodrd (Dec 12, 2006)

windstrings said:


> Wholly Molly... As Crocidile Dundee would say... "now thats a light!"
> 
> Now that would fry a big weiner!..



The USL will cook an egg/light a wad of newspaper on fire! Interestingly, you can hold your hand in front of the tank searchlights with no thermal discomfort! (Potential "sunburn" is another issue!) Looking into one pointblank would probably result in instant, perminant retinal damage given Uncle Sam's warning labels on the light/tank turret, and in the manuals! 

I lit folks at 2.5 miles last Thanksgiving with the 1kW VSS-3A, and got a high-power green laser in return!  (I ret'd a ~90mW greenie in return.  ) These things are pretty freekin' awsome!

Larry


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## BigHonu (Dec 13, 2006)

Geez Larry,that light is big enough to put on a tank or something.....


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## windstrings (Dec 13, 2006)

I was thinking more like a sub or a battleship... they could point to the north and say... Well I guess theres nothing in the Bering Sea... lets go south!


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## frogs3 (Dec 13, 2006)

Dear Flashaholics,

To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee, "Now that's a light, mate".

Not that practicality matters to any of us, BUT, what are you going to DO with that incredible beauty? My wife looked at the pictures and already said "no way". Fortunately she is the realtor and can find another place to live when I figure out how to procure a genuine "short carbon arc".

I have already been stopped by the local police holding a mere 35 w X990 whilst passing down the sidewalk. I can't imagine what the police must have thought when Ra was taking the last beamshot shown in this thread, nor what he said that made any sense to avoid a trip to the Justice's Court. I don't think we are breaking any law, shining bright lights at night, but that doesn't really matter with the Patriot Act anymore. (Sorry if I have touched a nerve here, but the Constitution did not make it a crime to light up the night, albeit in a rather extreme but harmless way.) It will be interesting and important to see if any others with REAL powerful lights have serious run-in's with the Law.

Keep us informed, as we will have to enjoy vicariously for now at least.

-Harvey K.


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## Coop (Dec 13, 2006)

Thats some sweet toy...


@Ra: where did you take those beamshots?? that setting looks vaguely familiar...


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## The Voice of Reason (Dec 13, 2006)

OK - we've seen your backup light, now show us your real one!!!


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## The Voice of Reason (Dec 13, 2006)

BTW, does it have a SOS function like my P1D-CE???


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## tvodrd (Dec 14, 2006)

The Voice of Reason said:


> BTW, does it have a SOS function like my P1D-CE???


The AN/VSS1A has a motorized "shutter" between the lamp and reflector. SOS for the Novice class ham ticket is 5 words/minute? I think the motor's fast enough to do that!  

Larry


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## windstrings (Dec 14, 2006)

frogs3 said:


> It will be interesting and important to see if any others with REAL powerful lights have serious run-in's with the Law.
> -Harvey K.



I don't live in a lighted neighborhood, but it would be fun to go walking and leave a trial of dark behind you as all the mercury lamps turn off almost in shame as you walk by! :laughing:


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## nvrdark (Dec 14, 2006)

I also have a VSS-1, it’s my avatar. Is you generator putting out pure DC? I am running my off a rectified transformer with no filter and am getting what look like little stalagmites on the cathode of my xenon short arc. Do you see this on your lamps? Where do you get your spare lamps? Are they new? I have one but it is used. My beam dose not look like yours either. I can not see an image of the anode and cathode if projected on a close flat surface. My mirrors must be out of adjustment?? I also see a definite split in the beam, the right and left side of the reflector, the lamp/shutter shield creating a black spot in the middle. I have mine mounted on a wooden gimbell with a cable to the light. I have a commutator from a three phase grain silo un-loader I am going to get power to the light and be able to rotate it with no cable. I have never posted pictures, if I can figure it out I will post some of mine.


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## tvodrd (Dec 15, 2006)

nvrdark,

Welcome to CPF! Somewhere in these halls is a link to an ebay offer for replacement lamps from a guy in Israel. Try contacting the guy here to see if he has any more. There's a long AN/VSS-1 thread about 6-down from this one.

Larry


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## windstrings (Dec 15, 2006)

nvrdark said:


> I also have a VSS-1, it’s my avatar. Is you generator putting out pure DC? I am running my off a rectified transformer with no filter and am getting what look like little stalagmites on the cathode of my xenon short arc. Do you see this on your lamps? Where do you get your spare lamps? Are they new? I have one but it is used. My beam dose not look like yours either. I can not see an image of the anode and cathode if projected on a close flat surface. My mirrors must be out of adjustment?? I also see a definite split in the beam, the right and left side of the reflector, the lamp/shutter shield creating a black spot in the middle. I have mine mounted on a wooden gimbell with a cable to the light. I have a commutator from a three phase grain silo un-loader I am going to get power to the light and be able to rotate it with no cable. I have never posted pictures, if I can figure it out I will post some of mine.



I don't have a short arc, but I have a long arc "regualar HID" and when its cool, you do see stuff.... If you only turns yours on for short periods and then back off, they may never have time to completely vaporize... try running it for 30 minutes or so and then see if that fixes it.

If your light is brand new, that could be some of the issues too as the more you use it, the better the bulb tends to get.

This may not apply for short arc, but since it does for HID, I assume it would... these other guys I"m sure know more that actually own one.


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## Ra (Dec 15, 2006)

MayCooper said:


> Thats some sweet toy...
> 
> 
> @Ra: where did you take those beamshots?? that setting looks vaguely familiar...




In the north of Noord-Holland, near the Robbenoordbos !

And I have a ministery of defence sequrity-pass. So when the police came, I got away with : "I'm testing this searchlight for navy-purposes!"


Regards,

Ra.


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## Ra (Dec 15, 2006)

nvrdark said:


> I also have a VSS-1, it’s my avatar. Is you generator putting out pure DC? I am running my off a rectified transformer with no filter and am getting what look like little stalagmites on the cathode of my xenon short arc. Do you see this on your lamps? Where do you get your spare lamps? Are they new? I have one but it is used. My beam dose not look like yours either. I can not see an image of the anode and cathode if projected on a close flat surface. My mirrors must be out of adjustment?? I also see a definite split in the beam, the right and left side of the reflector, the lamp/shutter shield creating a black spot in the middle. I have mine mounted on a wooden gimbell with a cable to the light. I have a commutator from a three phase grain silo un-loader I am going to get power to the light and be able to rotate it with no cable. I have never posted pictures, if I can figure it out I will post some of mine.



Little stalagmites on the cathode means that the lamp is used for more than hlf its service-life, but if the bulb is not severely blackend, there is no problem!

If the bulb is blackened, it is possible that it will overheat someday and explodes..

I'm not shure your power setup can cause preliminary lampfailure. It should get a nice, regulated, stable DC-current, any AC would kill the lamp in seconds !!

As for the beam(s)

You could have a collimating problem: The two beams from the two reflector-segments should merge within about 100 meter from the searchlight, if they stay seperated, it could well be there is a problem with the collimation of the reflectors or the lamp!


Regards,

Ra.


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## frogs3 (Dec 16, 2006)

*Re: Ra's 1.257 billion Lumens*

And I have a ministery of defence sequrity-pass. So when the police came, I got away with : "I'm testing this searchlight for navy-purposes!"

Dear Ra, 

Any chance of making something looking like those "official documents" and having a "group buy" to deal with our local gendarmes as needed. With a tiny fraction of the output you were using, I seem to cause lots of interest in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood, going back to when I first tried out the puny 35 w X990. True, I was very excited to see how the bugger would work, and as it was rather late when the battery was fully charged and I was in my PJ's and bathrobe, but with a heavy winter overcoat and bedroom slippers. The neighbors did wonder who that (I'm editing now for the sake of decency) jerk was that was shining the light at midnight up and down the street, and they said so rather clearly. No visit that time from the police, though. You would not be so fortunate with a billion plus lumens, and I am just figuring a way to join in your fun.

Enjoy every way you can.

Harvey K.


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## nvrdark (Dec 17, 2006)

All, Thanks for the feedback.
RA: I’m not seeing any blacking of my bulb but with a rectified only/no filtering AC supply I do have a lot of ripple in my power and am working on a filter (big $$)
Tvkdrd: I will check out your bulb link. I have three used ones I think I got them from the same place I got my lite http://www.saturnsurplus.com/


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## 65535 (Dec 20, 2006)

So when is the get together I would love to come out and see this sucker.


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## perado (Dec 24, 2006)

*That reminds me of the Xenon searchlights we had when I was in the Army. They mounted one over the main gun on an M-60. They also had some mounted in the rear of the M-151s (the little Jeep-like 1/4 ton vehicles that were replaced by the Hummers). *

*I never measured distances, but it was certainly farther than I could shoot.*


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## Death's Head (Dec 24, 2006)

:laughing: Must be the same light that they use in the Luxor.


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## tvodrd (Dec 24, 2006)

perado said:


> *That reminds me of the Xenon searchlights we had when I was in the Army. They mounted one over the main gun on an M-60. They also had some mounted in the rear of the M-151s (the little Jeep-like 1/4 ton vehicles that were replaced by the Hummers). *
> 
> *I never measured distances, but it was certainly farther than I could shoot.*



This thread is re the AN/VSS-1 searchlight, shown on an M-60 here:





And the warning label stencelled on the turret:





It was superceeded by the AN/VSS-3 lights which are more compact and lighter. Two or three of us have both but nobody's managed to pull off a shootout yet. I have the _Amps_ but haven't finished my VSS-1's tripod mount.

Larry


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## andyo (Jan 1, 2007)

*Photography tips*



Ra said:


> Hi CarbonArc,
> 
> Photography lesson 1: Always use a tripod, then you are capable to use longer exposure times: It is advisable to use low ISO setting with longer exposure, then you have low noise pictures.
> 
> ...



I agree on the tripod. However, I don't think wide-open aperture is the best option, especially with the color aberrations you mention, which are worse in smaller digital cameras. Although, there shouldn't be much difference with these kinds of shots, since they are downsized considerably. If you want great detail, most lenses behave better at about 2 stops slower than wide-open. This is with digital SLRs, though. I think with small-sensor cameras, the lens is already diffraction-limited wide open or very close to wide-open (which means it could only get worse as you close down the aperture).

If you're using a digital SLR (or any big-sensor camera), then depth of field will probably be an issue if you don't focus at the beam's distance (instead of infinity), especially when using large apertures. Infinity focus doesn't seem to me like a good option, unless you can't focus at the beam's distance in the first place, and that distance is far enough.

Most importantly, use manual settings, and not auto white balance, nor a preset one. "Daylight" WB could mean different things on different cameras. It's better to use manual WB like "5000K" or something. Still, different cameras will yield different colors, so it's important to state which camera took the pic. Actually, color can only really be compared with the same cameras, as it varies too much.

A kind of solution to this could be to have visible in the picture is to have a reference beam, like a beam of a flashlight many people already have. Then they can compare with their own pictures by making this reference beam the same color in photoshop. One should be sure that both beams don't interfere with each other, and I guess this should be done only to compare color, not throw. Also, one has to make sure that neither of the beams are blown, not just overexposed to pure white, but also if any channels are blown (R, G or B individually can be blown). This is not very easy to check accurately, since even if the jpeg says no color has a 255 value (the max), the RAW data could be blown in any channel. So the best would be to play it safe, and underexpose the color channels considerably to middle values (80-110, I guess) so you can check color shifts more accurately.

To be able to compare brightness, exposure settings should be stated (ISO, shutter speed and f-stop), as well as the camera, as ISO settings can vary a little between cameras (not as much as color, though). This is for other people to have a standard against which they can compare at the same exposure settings.

Of course, the darker the test area is, the better place for a common ground for comparison. With so much difference in these powerful lights (the brightest part of the pic) and the darkest areas of the picture, though, any dark park could do well anyway.

Also, you probably need to considerably underexpose compared to what the metering of your camera is stating, since you don't wanna "blow" or overexpose your brightest spot of light, because once a part is blown, then anything brighter than it won't be registered as such, and will just appear the same brightness. It is a limit. The metering of the camera will try to tell you what's the best exposure settings to get most of the picture well-exposed, so the spotlight will tend to be overexposed, since it's also trying to capture detail out of the dark parts of the picture, which is a considerable percentage of it most of the time. "Spot metering", if your camera has it, should work well. This mode only tries to expose well a narrow spot of the picture (usually the middle). It will try to expose to make that narrow area a middle tone.


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## Ra (Jan 2, 2007)

Hi Andyo,

I can see you are new on these forums.. So a big welcome, and watch your wallet..

Being an experienced photographer, I exactly know how to make good quality pictures..

But If somone with much less experience reads your post, he or she will propably be lost half way !!

So,, SLOW DOWN !!

You intentions are good, no doubt.. But bring things in a more simple to understand way..
And,, If you read my post: I clearly said: Lesson 1 !!.. 

Bring things one at a time.. I don't think you're gonna tell me that you didn't need time to pick things up when you started photographing !??

BTW.. Depth of field is not an issue here, unless you use more than 300mm focal length lenses !! Those beams go on for hundreds of yards, even miles.. So setting your gear at infinnity will be sufficient..


Regards,

Ra.


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## andyo (Jan 2, 2007)

Ra said:


> Hi Andyo,
> 
> I can see you are new on these forums.. So a big welcome, and watch your wallet..
> 
> ...



Hi, thanks for the welcome.

I did wonder about the lack of "Lesson 2"...

I know that DOF shouldn't be an issue, but sometimes with lower power flashlights, you do get closer subjects. I was just talking about general guidelines, for any comparison.

Sorry if it was too technical, I kinda got too into it probably. It's just that recently I've been looking a lot at pictures, especially at stores (most in this forum do know what they're doing, though, understandably), and I don't know if they actually took the pictures in a "common ground" environment, meaning that their lights show as white or bluish in the picture, but that doesn't mean anything if there's no reference. Intensity doesn't mean anything either in those pics.

Oh about the money, a couple of hundreds should be good for me. Digital SLR photography has drained my bank account like you wouldn't believe (probably you will, if you are also into SLR's, or, God forbid, medium format).

I'm looking into a small HID light. They seem to be very wanted right now, guess I'll wait a bit.

Cheers, and happy new year.


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## Ra (Jan 2, 2007)

Photography expensive ?? please,, DON'T ASK !!!..

And the extra you'll have to spend on computerstuff to handle the over 120mb picture files !!!

But for the more simple pictures I use a Sony R1.. With a few very minor disatvantages a very good camera !! AND IT HAS A SUPERB LENSQUALITY !!

On CPF you can find many small HID's, mod's or no mod's,, they are sweet.

Very sweet are those 10watt Mag-HID mod's by claccmacceleccal or something..
(sorry, cmacclel, couldn't risist..) They are for sale I think..

I've made a very sweet 10watt HID myself:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=126565

But that was a one time efford, so its not likely i'm going to set up a production line..


And I forgot,,

Cheers and happy new year to you !

Regards,

Ra.


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## Ra (Jan 2, 2007)

Ohh, And andyo,, if you are in for some powerfull stuff:

I could be wrong but I think its safe to say that LarryK has the world-record with the most powerfull, portable torch if it comes to lumens output: The LarryK14:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/111545

And I propably have the world record if it comes to portable throw with Maxablaster:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/125819

And:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/139958


Regards,

Ra.


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## 65535 (Jan 2, 2007)

I want a socal light off plz plz plz. I am jealus and astonished o the power.


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## windstrings (Jan 2, 2007)

65535 said:


> I want a socal light off plz plz plz. I am jealus and astonished o the power.




Ah yes.. more power Mr Scott......
"thats all I have Captain.. and I can't hold it together much longer or these crystals are gonna blow!"

Damnit man, I said "give me more power!!!!" :lolsign:


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