# MAXABLASTER BEAMSHOTS



## Ra

Hi guyzz,

I've been on vacation for a while, but now I'm back..

In the south of France there are many oppertunities to use Maxablaster to its full extend!
So here some beamshots I want to share with you:

A comparision with Maxabeam:







BTW: During this vacation I had to fully reorganise the electronics-division of Maxablaster: The electronics I used earlier died on me!!

The bad part: I had to settle for an inverter/ballast combination: The best ballast for the job needed somewhere between 90 and 260 volts input.

So now Maxablaster has an inverter mounted under its belly:






So the overall efficiency of the electronics went down to a 75% or so, leaving a total burntime of about 70 minutes on one charge.

The inverter produces a 220Volt modified sine. The ballast has a wide input range of 90-264volts AC and DC and is powerfactor corrected!!

This has one big advantage: There are two voltage-buffers (and one of them is very wide!), that means that the lamp always exactly gets what it needs.

Even the illustrious Maxabeam does not have an uniform performance over one battery-charge!

If Maxablaster produces 4005.76 lumens with a full charge, it will produce 4005.76 lumens with the batteries almost empty!!

Do you want to know where I stayed?? Look at this little village at a distance of 6.2 km:






And:







With the new electronics-setup the power has increased, I still need to measure the candlepower output, maybe later this week.
Earlier Maxablaster operated at about 85watts, now it is operating at 105 watts: It lights up my livingroom with about the same power as 50watt HID does! So the lumens output must be increased quite a lot !!

The new ballast also has a 115watt output... I've not dared to try that yet..

Hope you enjoy this. If more is to come, you will be the first to know !!

Regards,

Ra.


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## LuxLuthor

ROFL...how far away are those various shots? I can't relate to meters.


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## AtomSphere

OMG! Mega thrower spotted! 

It would be fun to leave the light "ON" and go to that location where it is shinning. You will feel the joy of bathing in light


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## Ra

Yes AtomSphere,

Some of my friends were out there, they were truely amazed by the amount of 'sunlight' they saw comming from 6.2km away !!

They said the observatory was almost lit like in daylight ! Ofcource their eyes were adapted to the dark at that time...

Regards,

Ra.


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## ShortArc

Amazing!
Which bulb, ballast, inverter, etc did you use?


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## Spacemarine

Truely awesome Job!!!


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## smurf_boi

jawdropping pics...wow...


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## jtice

Those are some really cool shots! oo:

Amazing how tight that reflector is getting that beam.
I would love to be on that other hillside, watching that spot move across the landscape.

~John


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## matrixshaman

6200 meters is about 3.85 Miles! Now I just want to have that power in a pocket carry version


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## windstrings

matrixshaman said:


> 6200 meters is about 3.85 Miles! Now I just want to have that power in a pocket carry version



Just make sure it has a "stun" setting and not kill only.

Now thats what I call a long distance throw.. I would be fun to compare those great distances with some HID models so see if there was even a chance.

The HID's would be a much much wider beam.... and you would light up that whole right side of the village at that distance!.. maybe more!

wow.. talk about a lazer!.. thats about as close as you can get without talking to Mr. Scott!

Anyone need to tree a coon at 3.8 miles away?


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## Ra

ShortArc said:


> Amazing!
> Which bulb, ballast, inverter, etc did you use?



Bulb: Osram HBO103/W2

Ballast: Ushio HBX76 (with internal igniter)

Inverter: Monacor TWI-150/12

And ofcource an hourcounter, voltage-check module, two temperature control boards, two high power relays and an additional cooling-fan (the ballast already has an internal fan)

Oh,, and 50 Ni-Mh sub-c cells...


Regards,

Ra.


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## That_Guy

My jaw drops every time I see pictures of that beast in action. I hope nobody was using the observatory!

What do you think the candlepower output is now that you've increased the power to the bulb? Do you think you have broken the 50 million cp mark?

Why do you think the original ballast stopped working? Do you think it overheated?

The inverter is surprisingly compact and unobtrusive. I always thought that the size of an inverter made the use of mains-powered ballasts impractical for battery powered HIDs. Not so it seems!

The new ballast looks pretty good. Has a number of nifty features and is fairly compact for 100W (specs here if anyone is interested). Is the start up behaviour of the lamp improved over the old ballast?

Could you please post some more pictures of the inside light itself? I'm quite interested in how it all works.

Thanks.


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## windstrings

jtice said:


> Those are some really cool shots! oo:
> 
> Amazing how tight that reflector is getting that beam.
> I would love to be on that other hillside, watching that spot move across the landscape.
> 
> ~John



So let me see if I get this right.. because I just learned this logic myself.

Its the short Arc "size of the arc" that makes it easy to focus so tight.

Its easier to harness all of its light with a given size reflector and throw it into a pinpoint... a longer arc "within the bulb"... like in HID would take a much bigger reflector to do the same thing as I understand it... a matter of physics.

But with the shorter arc, there is less actual light or lumens than with a long arc under the same power. But due to it being so focused it becomes usable in a unique way. If you spread that same light out over a bigger area such as the HID covers, it would be weaker due to less total lumens.

The arc of the HID being longer takes a few tricks to get it to jump and do its thing... very high initial voltage that would normally burn it up in a few seconds, but then the gasses heat up and do thier thing and the voltage quickly drops to normal levels for the warmup which takes 20 - 40 seconds or so for full brightness.
Thats why HID cannot strobe.

You see a very high candlepower rating with short arc because of its tight focus and thats the amount of light on a given spot, but the total usable light is less.... so theres the trade-off.

So if you want the razor/laser type effect that has "no spill, no corona" but a nice beam that seems to go forever, the short arc is the best choice.

So if you don't need instant on and If you want a wider beam with a large corona and nice spill so you can not only see your target, but also how it relates to its surroundings, "turning night into day effect", the HID is the way to go.

If the HID has been on recently "last 10 - 20 seconds" it can restrike and gain full brightness vitually instantly, just like the short arc, but the gasses have to already be really hot.

Aside from the instant on, if you get enough lumens with an HID, you vitually get the benifit of both!

I"m sure if I didn't get all that right.. I will be corrected.....


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## ShortArc

Now I am even more impressed!
Those are some quality components....
May have to try and build one....winters are long here in Mass.
What is your estimated component cost if you don't mind me asking?
Regards,
Willem.





Ra said:


> Bulb: Osram HBO103/W2
> 
> Ballast: Ushio HBX76 (with internal igniter)
> 
> Inverter: Monacor TWI-150/12
> 
> And ofcource an hourcounter, voltage-check module, two temperature control boards, two high power relays and an additional cooling-fan (the ballast already has an internal fan)
> 
> Oh,, and 50 Ni-Mh sub-c cells...
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.


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## Ra

That Guy,

Hopefully I'm going to measure the output later this week, but I expect at least very close to 50 Mcp. Somehow I always want to measure the cp-output from at least 1000 metres away, so I need a very transparent atmosphere.
Ofcource some of the light will be absorbed by the atmosphere, so the actual output of Maxablaster always is somewhat higher than the measured value at 1000m, but hard to tell is how much higher.
The problem is the small arc: You need to be at quite a distance before the entire reflector is lit by the arc (Guess 150 yards)

The new electronics give way better performance: Startup without any problems, due to higher power startup time is shorter. I've run the Maxablaster for a total of 12 hours now with the new electronics, and I have a confident feeling about its stabillity and performance.

The olther electronics are repared under warranty by the manufacturer, they said that they could not determine what went wrong! There were no visible marks of components overheating, or any smells that point in that direction. So maybe soon another short-arc torch will roll of my drawing-table..

You'll have to wait for pictures from the inside: I'm not eager to open the M-blaster because deformation of the reflector meight occur. I had to make very painstaking effords to keep the reflector in its original shape: Mounting must be within tenths of a mm !! or the beam will not be uniform.

WINDSTRINGS:

Most of what you wrote is correct.. Only a few things:

This torch uses a mercury short-arc, with even higher surface brichtness than the xenon short-arcs (Maxabeam, Megaray). But this means that its not instand on, it even needs a little more time than HID to get to full output.
But its more efficient than xenon: A simple ceiling-bounce test learned that the Maxablaster has about the same lumens output at 105 watts as HID at 50 watts! (torchlumens ofcource) Xenon short-arc reaches only 1900 bulblumens at 100watt! If I recall correctly 50watt HID gives about 5500 lumens??

I also made a 45/65watt HID Thor-mod, and indeed that one is far more practical.
HID is the best overall solution if you want much lumens with decent throw (mine does one mile at 65watt) HID is more practical in therms of lamp-reliabillity, color rendering, colortemperature and can be used for more purposes. I know the needle thin laser-like beam of Maxablaster is not practical to walk your dog with!! It will probably cook your dog !!

I wanted to create a throw-monster, so I did.. BTW I am thinking of creating an electronic focus on Maxablaster, but with the perfect parabolic reflector I always will have a dark spot at the center when turning to flood!! Maybe I'll come with a solution for that prob..

Maybe Maxablaster is the elete on throw, but it has many disadvantages: Its by far not as simple as modding a Thor to (automotive-..) HID: I did that in one day, Maxablaster took me about one year !! Many hazards are to be overcome: Ultra violet light, the production of ozone, the possibillity of lampburst and super high voltages !! Making a safe enclosure, designing lamp- and connector-mount. And not to mention: HOW THE HELL DO I GET ALL THIS STUFF IN THE THOR !!!???

And SHORTARC:

The total component costs are about $2000 !!









Regards,

Ra.


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## windstrings

Nice pic!.. thats a knarly looking bulb!


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## ShortArc

RA,
Thanks for the info. I guesstimated that magnitude of component cost.
Most scary are the technical challenges though!!! 
This may just be a project best left to the pros….


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## Ra

For those among you that have missed the original Maxablaster-thread:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=125819


And SHORTARC,

Its a pitty that I live far, far away.. I could help you make one if I lived in the US..

Regards,

Ra.


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## windstrings

Ra said:


> This torch uses a mercury short-arc, with even higher surface brichtness than the xenon short-arcs (Maxabeam, Megaray). But this means that its not instand on, it even needs a little more time than HID to get to full output.
> Ra.



I"m sure thats working in your favor to create lumens, but the other still stands I would think... an arc so many mm's will not put out as much light as one much longer.

It sounds like your "short arc" is longer than the average short arc, hence the need for mercury and a long starup time?


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## Ra

The arc of the mercury short-arc is in fact even smaller compared to the arc of a xenon short-arc like the one in Maxabeam!

You cannot compare the mercury-arc with an automotive HID-arc: Two totally different worlds (its confusing that both are called HID !!) The mercury-arc has over 40 times higher surface brightness compared to automotive HID !! So the automotive HID-arc needs to have an at least 40 times bigger *EDIT: REFLECTOR-*surface to produce the same amount of lumens *EDIT: THROW (not lumens!)* as the mercury-arc. 

So, over 40 times the surface brightness means thats you will never ever reach the throw of mercury-arc with HID unless you use a reflector with at least 6.3 times the diameter !

The mercury is to create an ultra high pressure mercury-atmosphere (90atms)to boost the surface brightness of the arc to ultra high levels.


Regards,

Ra.


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## ShortArc

RA,
Thanks for pointing out the original thread. I missed that one all together.
I travel to Holland several times a year, maybe next time I am over there you can point the Maxablaster upwards and I will try and locate you!
Great job on the light.


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## windstrings

Ra said:


> The arc of the mercury short-arc is in fact even smaller compared to the arc of a xenon short-arc like the one in Maxabeam!
> 
> You cannot compare the mercury-arc with an automotive HID-arc: Two totally different worlds (its confusing that both are called HID !!) The mercury-arc has up to 40 times higher surface brightness compared to automotive HID !! So the automotive HID-arc needs to have an at least 40 times bigger surface to produce the same amount of lumens as the mercury-arc.
> 
> And 40 times the surface brightness also means thats you will never ever reach the throw of mercury-arc with HID unless you use a reflector with 6 times the diametre !
> 
> The mercury is to create an ultra high pressure mercury-atmosphere (90atms)to boost the surface brightness of the arc to ultra high levels.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.



Wow.. quite facinating.. Mr. Scott! 

A very interesting bulb indeed..... Sounds like it may indeed cook your dog if you pointed it at him.. must be very very hot to be that small of an arc and still produce such lumens.

Have you tried roasting your neighbors wiener?  :devil:


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## Ra

For those who want to know:

At first even I underestimated the dangers involved with a project like this:

One day, standing in the bathroom, I noticed a severe sunburned area on my forehead, at first not knowing where that came from...I suddenly remembered testing the Mercury arc lamp a few days earlier, protecting my eyes with a type 13 welding-filter. Conclusion: The rest of my face unprotected, in about 45 seconds (!!!) I 'ultraviolated' my forehead, causing those sunburn-marks!

That even when I knew the dangers involved: The downside of superhigh surface brightness: The 100watt mercury-arc lamp relatively has the highest UV-output of all short-arcs ! Down to the most dangerous, ozone creating UV-C !!

Oh.. and yes WINDSTRINGSS, very,very hot!! After switch-off the entire bulb glows yello-hot !! Thats why there always is the danger of lampburst! If I can find the time this week I'll try to photograph the bulb just after switch-off..

Regards,

Ra.


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## windstrings

Ra said:


> Oh.. and yes WINDSTRINGSS, very,very hot!! After switch-off the entire bulb glows yello-hot !! Thats why there always is the danger of lampburst! If I can find the time this week I'll try to photograph the bulb just after switch-off..
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.


When my HID is turned off, it glows a faint "very beautiful" baby blue for several seconds.. maybe 20 or so.


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## Ra

windstrings said:


> When my HID is turned off, it glows a faint "very beautiful" baby blue for several seconds.. maybe 20 or so.




Many bulbs do that: My HID does the same thing. I have 75watt xenon short-arcs with the same blueish afterglow. However, the mercury-arc lamp does not.

The blueish afterglow is caused by the type of quartz used for the bulb: It converts part of the infrared to blue visible light. A bulb that just has been switched off still radiates a lot of IR for a period of time.


Regards,

Ra.


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## LuxLuthor

Holy Crap Ra !!!! You truly are the Sun God !!

:bow::bow::bow:


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## windstrings

LuxLuthor said:


> Holy Crap Ra !!!! You truly are the Sun God !!
> 
> :bow::bow::bow:



He's ba ba ba ba bad.... baaad to da bone! :huh2:


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## XeRay

windstrings said:


> The arc of the HID being longer takes a few tricks to get it to jump and do its thing... very high initial voltage that would normally burn it up in a few seconds, but then the gasses heat up and do thier thing and the voltage quickly drops to normal levels for the warmup which takes 20 - 40 seconds or so for full brightness. Thats why HID cannot strobe.


 
We do "strobe" our Aviation HID see our website for visual display. We do 1Hz rate on each light. 1/2 second on 1/2 second off.


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## windstrings

XeRay said:


> We do "strobe" our Aviation HID see our website for visual display. We do 1Hz rate on each light. 1/2 second on 1/2 second off.



Wholly smokes.. I'm getting old.. I was reading that saying.. "I didn't write that!" LOL!.... I forgot about your Hot restrike whereas once its already hot from a normal startup, it can reignite without the usual ritual....

I stand corrected...........  'again....


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## PROFG

Hey Ra, talk about skyshine, a wonder those observatory guys didn't send over some lumps in trenchcoats! Excellent beamshots. Thanks.


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## Ra

Welcome to CPF PROFG,,

I know the guyzz that run the observatory, and knew they were not present that night !!

Regards,

Ra.


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## IgNITEor

Ra. 
How long is your latest run time on a single charge, and how well is your fan system doing with lamp cooling? That is a NICE tight beam with lotsa foot-candles at the other end!


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## Ra

Hi IgNITEor, Welcome to CPF !!!

Although it would not give any problems, I never did a full runtime test.

But if I add the aprox runtimes before needing a charge, I would say little over 70 minutes total..

This lamp does not nesseseraly need cooling, but to keep things on the safe side, I mounted a fan to cool the internal space and to get rid of the ozone that builds up inside !!

The cooling works perfect: Though the internal parts will survive a mere 90 degrees centigrade, the temperature never rises above 50 degrees centigrade during operation at 22 degrees room-temperature.


Regards,

Ra.


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## IgNITEor

Hey that's great! Cool running xenon is happy xenon. And the simple fact that you're trying to keep the Maxablaster compact & upwardly mobile is an inspiration for all of us. Way to go!

Mega foot-candles & portability, my kinda picnic!

-Ignitor


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## get-lit

New to this forum... Had to comment on your Maxablaster; it's the first searchlight with the big boys in a portable version, an ingenious custom build. It's one thing to work with components that accommodate functionality and safety in huge packages, but it really is an art to nearly approach that functionality and safety in such a small package. I've been excited about this sort of thing for 9 years but wife and kids come first. Back then I based a design using a Spectrolab Nightsun SX-16 helicopter searchlight I worked with years ago with a true 30 million candlepower but I'm amazed to see that something similar has been accomplished with nearly half the size of my project, and with 1/16th of the wattage and likewise seriously less power and thermal issues (and $$$). Few people understand what an amazing feat! Congratulations indead. With that small of an arc you could get away with a relatively small aperture and a relatively short focal length for a deeper reflector to grab more of that valuable light source. What focal length did you go with for that tiny .1 mm source?


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## Ra

Hi Get-lit,

First..

A warm welcome to these forums..

The Maxablaster indeed is one of a kind !! The perfect parabolic reflector has a focal length of 33mm, It would have been nice to have a shorter focal length, but that would give more problems with space inside the Thor-host (deeper reflector) !

But even now, when I see the inside, I cannot beleve I managed to get all that stuff in the Thor !!

Ofcource the laser-like beam is not very practical in some cases, but I am trying to design an electronic focus, but thats very dificult.. I tink you know what I'm talking about: Electronic positioning of a 0.1mm arc does have its challenges !! 
Another problem I definitely have to face is the giant black hole that will form in the center of the beam when turning to flood !!! A much smaller central hole in the reflector would have been nice.

Anyway.. I hope you enjoy your stay(s) here at CPF..

Regards,

Ra.


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## get-lit

Even while as you've indicated in another post your luminance is averaged through that .1 mm source and the Maxabeam luminance is concentrated within a smaller region of its much larger .25 mm x .5 mm source, that large of an aperture in the Maxablaster with the HBO 103 bulb is overkill, in a decent way. Theoretically though, the smaller source of the HBO 103 would punch further (laser-like) using a smaller aperture provided a quality reflector that collimates the light as precisely as the larger aperture. As the light source reaches such sizes approaching the impossible finite point source, the point of diminishing returns that larger apertures provide in accommodating greater focal length and thus larger light sources is surpassed. In a perfect world where a zero point light source is perfectly parabolically reflected, decreasing the aperture increases the concentration of collimated light with further punching power. I use the phrase punching because it accurately describes what I'm referring to without getting into the discussion of how to define throw, I'd rather define sanity. In the real world it's necessary to work around aberration with focal lengths and likewise apertures, so with tiny powerful sources it's about finding the most optimized solution between the ability to collimate the light and a highly concentrated laser-like aperture.

The Maxablaster has sparked my interest in this again. I'm considering an Osram Xenon XBO 500W/H OFR in a portable light that appears like an ordinary large flashlight. Thunderpower Li-Pos would provide clean power for a compact efficient current limiting DC/DC converter and Xenon igniter. When completed, you'd have some practicality with instant on, no ozone, still usable on boat power and modified automobile cigarette lighter plugs. Bulbs for around $600 sound expensive but 2000 hour lives equates to about $0.30/hour is actually more cost effective and 1/6th of the bulb changes and re-alignment effort than HBO 103 bulbs for $130 with 300 hours equating to $0.43/hr. Without the brilliance of that tiny HBO 103 I don't think that even the high power of the XBO 500 could have the range of the Maxablaster. Even though the Sprectrolab SX-5 Starburst using the XBO 500 only has 20 million candlepower, I'm still attracted to the idea of the amount of light the XBO 500 puts out. Considering the Maxablaster has reached the limit of range in a low powered portable light as we know it, I like the idea of a light that really knocks the socks off people within a two mile range with what appears as a regular flashlight. Just like teens racing cars, everybody wanted a sleeper car. We need a sleeper light. I'm seriously considering it... or just buy a ridiculously insane laser and be done with it? Not sure if they are even legal for simple outside fun and you can't use them for many practical purposes. No, the Maxablaster is a reminder that I still like big lights. Thanks for sharing it with everybody!


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## search_and_rescue

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:


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## Patriot

That's truly astounding Ra! I had no idea what your short arc was capable of until this post. Really nice job on your creation.


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## Ra

Thanks Search and Patriot,

Hopefully I can come up with more soon. But there are not many places nearby where I can take shots like that. Wait for it...

With my busy life, I did not have the time yet to costruct an electronic focus on Maxablaster. But also that will only be a matter of time..


Best regards,


Ra.


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## Nitro

RA, your light is amazing. Ever since I joined CPF, I've been amazed by long throwing lights, Maxabeam etc. Yours definitely is the king of all throwers.

While I was working on the CC with my father, we talked alot about Short Arc's. If my father hadn't passed away last year, we may have attempted to build one.

Since then I haven't thought much about it, until I saw your thread. Not that I plan on attempting anything, it's nice to remember those times with my father.


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## Ra

Thanks Nitro,

Sorry about your father. I'm kind of in the same situation: My mother died may last year, she was the most important person in my life! It will be hard to come over that.

Fortunately, my father is still alive and kicking! He had a few close calls, but he came out of the bypass-operation a new man!

Nice to hear my thread brings back good memories.


Take care,

Regards,

Ra.


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## smokelaw1

Ra, 

Those beamshots make me giggle every time I see them. Absolutley STUNNING. 6.2 KM. Can you imagine being a teenager, sitting on the hillside, perhaps having a few drinks, or sitting with a young lady, and suddenly, the whole area is lit up! I imagine it would be impossible for the mind to discern where the light is coming from. 
There are some spots nt far from my house where young hooligans cause trouble at night. I've considered HID from the road (1000M), but I think I need to reconsider, go further away and bigger....MUCH BIGGER.


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## ez78

Incredible machine. It does look like from the pictures that it could throw much farther than 6200m even, and still with good intensity. I have a clear view to a factory chimney about 7km away from my home and my 30mW green laser can reach it but just barely. I used binoculars to verify it. The spot might have been 3m diameter.


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## Ra

ez78 said:


> Incredible machine. It does look like from the pictures that it could throw much farther than 6200m even, and still with good intensity. I have a clear view to a factory chimney about 7km away from my home and my 30mW green laser can reach it but just barely. I used binoculars to verify it. The spot might have been 3m diameter.



Yes ez78,

Indeed Maxablaster can do better than 6200m: A few months ago, I (just barely..) enlightened a ferry over a distance of 13.5km! But most CPF-members would say: "Doesn't count! there's no proof!" (I cannot blame them: I don't have pictures of the event..and if someone else would claim high throw for his light, without something to backup his story, I would be a sceptic too !!)

Looking at the beamshots in this thread, you can see that also the darker objects like trees and stuff are still visble, enlightened over 6200m! If you use a forest to determine the throw of a light, you will end up with less then half of the throw-distance than when you use clear white objects like a factory.
So with that in mind, on white surfaces, Maxablaster should indeed reach a throw of over 12km.


Regards,

Ra.


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## LuxLuthor

Ra said:


> But most CPF-members would say: "Doesn't count! there's no proof!"



And those that would say that are fools. I believe in the MaxaBlaster.


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## ez78

Ra said:


> Indeed Maxablaster can do better then 6200m: A few months ago, I (just barely..) enlightened a ferry over a distance of 13.5km!



Well, I believe you. Those beamshots are mighty convincing.

By the way do you know if HID ballasts in general are sensitive to that modified sine wave from the inverter? Real sine inverters are much more expensive I think. Would be fun to try to make something like 150-200W HID Thor.


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## Ra

ez78 said:


> Well, I believe you. Those beamshots are mighty convincing.
> 
> By the way do you know if HID ballasts in general are sensitive to that modified sine wave from the inverter? Real sine inverters are much more expensive I think. Would be fun to try to make something like 150-200W HID Thor.



That depends on the ballast you are going to use: The Smartarc HBX-76 has a wide inputrange of 90-260 volts, and has special electronics to overcome the 'modified sine' problem.. So it works fine with the Monacor TWI-150/12.

Real sine inverters indeed are more expensive, but most important: They are bigger as well ! So they are no option if you know how much effort it took me to make Maxablaster this portable!

I already have a TWI-220/12: Hopefully a good match with the ELDC 2.31 ballast for the 200watt Emarc bulb that produces 10.000 lumens and has better colorrendering then the HBO 103/W2 (Maxablaster)

So, as you can see, I already am looking into designing an even more powerfull monster! But with the bigger inverter and bigger ballast it will sertainly be a big challenge! Positive: Batteries get more powerfull every day, so they will need less space..

It definitely will take time: Don't expect it to be ready in less then one or two years !!


Regards,

Ra.


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## karlthev

Well, just becoming acquainted with the "big guns" so to speak..reminds me of the Star Trek intro "....to go where no man has gone before....".... 



Karl


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## Bushman5

smokelaw1 said:


> Ra,
> 
> Those beamshots make me giggle every time I see them. Absolutley STUNNING. 6.2 KM. Can you imagine being a teenager, sitting on the hillside, perhaps having a few drinks, or sitting with a young lady, and suddenly, the whole area is lit up! I imagine it would be impossible for the mind to discern where the light is coming from.
> There are some spots nt far from my house where young hooligans cause trouble at night. I've considered HID from the road (1000M), but I think I need to reconsider, go further away and bigger....MUCH BIGGER.



never mind that.....think of the disorientating capabilities for law enforcement! Shine that in a perps eyes and he'll be disorientated for about ten minutes, allowing the officer to safely approach and apprehend.


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## java_man

Fantastic piece of engineering and craftsmanship Ra !

And proof that precision optics and a highly intense point source are the key to long throw


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## AlexGT

Two years!!! Wow by the time you finish it, my fenix super duper Cree ZZ bin will give it a run for it's money! LOL! *Just Kidding!* :nana:



Ra said:


> So, as you can see, I already am looking into designing an even more powerfull monster...... It definitely will take time: Don't expect it to be ready in less then one or two years !


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## Ra

AlexGT said:


> Two years!!! Wow by the time you finish it, my fenix super duper Cree ZZ bin will give it a run for it's money! LOL! *Just Kidding!* :nana:



I hope so Alex, because then I can use the Cree ZZ in my project, instead of the short-arc bulb!!
When do you think the Cree ZZ bin starts selling???? 

Regards,

Ra.


----------



## ez78

Ra said:


> It definitely will take time: Don't expect it to be ready in less then one or two years !!



Ok, less than one please, and make it good.  Just kidding, haha. No pressure. Very interesting stuff.


----------



## Bushman5

Bushman5 said:


> never mind that.....think of the disorientating capabilities for law enforcement! Shine that in a perps eyes and he'll be disorientated for about ten minutes, allowing the officer to safely approach and apprehend.



double post


----------



## LightForce

It's an amazing light, Ra!

I'm truly amazed with its performance and awared of the ozone that comes out of it. What about filling the entire reflector with argon or nitrogen and sealing the reflector/bulb space?

What is the optical efficiency of the front glass and where did you get it from? It seems to be AR-coated, am I right?

Damian


----------



## Ra

LightForce said:


> It's an amazing light, Ra!
> 
> I'm truly amazed with its performance and awared of the ozone that comes out of it. What about filling the entire reflector with argon or nitrogen and sealing the reflector/bulb space?
> 
> What is the optical efficiency of the front glass and where did you get it from? It seems to be AR-coated, am I right?
> 
> Damian



Hi Damian,

I thought about isolating the bulb-reflector compartiment, but then I would have more problems with heat-dissipation, and I figured: "I'm going to use this outside anyway" so getting rid of the heat and ozone with a little fan seemed to be the most practical solution..

I don't know what type of glass I used. I measured the transmittance (190-3200nm) of a few exsisting pieces of glass and was pleased with the results of this one, I AR-coated the window myself: It has an overall transmittance of 98% between 400 and 700nm..

When are we going to see a glimpse of your T-5 monster ??


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## LightForce

You AR coated the glass on your own? It sounds like I will place an order for the Thor AR-coated front window to you in the future. 

The T5 is like the way through the hell - all the things I must arrange and do on my own - noone did it before... I've already got pricing from the CNC workman - huh... Placing 8 pieces of 18650 Li-Ion cells in the stock 4D Mag tube isn't cheap thing indeed... But it's possible! It will be different looking than light in my sig, with more compact head and stock battery tube - more Maglite, more sexy and with the same kick-*** performance.  I think it will be ready next month. 

Damian


----------



## serious sam

karlthev said:


> Well, just becoming acquainted with the "big guns" so to speak..reminds me of the Star Trek intro "....to go where no man has gone before...."....
> 
> 
> 
> Karl


 
Jaw Dropped.....OMG..... Maxablaster has just blast maxabeam into sky high..... your Maxablaster have shine where no handheld has shine before....  unbelieveable.... Im really happy to discover CPF, lots of lots of lights to see!!!


----------



## Nitro

I just went back and reread this post. I must say 4000 Lumens in a Short Arc bulb has got to be incredible.

The only thing I can compare it to is, having the output of my CC, with a beam as tight as my MaxaBeam. That would be insane.


----------



## ez78

Ra, 

Did you ever consider modding the Maxabeam before making the Maxablaster? I read somewhere that the 200W Emarc bulb is about the same size as the UXL-75XE. Would it fit in the Maxabeam and how might is possibly work with the reflector? Of cource one would have to swap the original electronics for new inverter+ballast combo that would no longer fit inside the light I think.


----------



## Ra

Yep ez,

The Emarc 200watt bulb would fit, but you already concluded: The electronics would never fit inside Maxabeam! So that was no option!

However, I considered the option putting a HBO 103/W2 (Maxablasterbulb..) in Maxabeam: That would tripple the lumens output and almost double the throw !
But same here: Fitting electronics would be a problem.

I wanted a huge increase of throw, so not only a higher surface brightness source, but bigger reflector as well: When I saw the Platinum Thor 15M, I immidiately thought "That's the host I need to fullfill my most powerfull dream ever!!" 

And so it did...:duck::duck:




Regards,


Ra.


----------



## Nitro

Ra said:


> Yep ez,
> 
> The Emarc 200watt bulb would fit, but you already concluded: The electronics would never fit inside Maxabeam! So that was no option!
> 
> However, I considered the option putting a HBO 103/W2 (Maxablasterbulb..) in Maxabeam: That would tripple the lumens output and almost double the throw !
> But same here: Fitting electronics would be a problem.
> 
> I wanted a huge increase of throw, so not only a higher surface brightness source, but bigger reflector as well: When I saw the Platinum Thor 15M, I immidiately thought "That's the host I need to fullfill my most powerfull dream ever!!"
> 
> And so it did...:duck::duck:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> Ra.


 
And the rest is history.

I have a small question about your Reflector. Where did you get it?


----------



## Tempora

And how do you recharge 50 sub-c cells?


----------



## Ra

Tempora said:


> And how do you recharge 50 sub-c cells?




VERY CAREFULLY !!!...

With a constant current charger at 2amp, with current decreasing when the temperature of the cells rise. Charger stops when the cells reach 40 degrees C.


And Nitro,

The reflector is a rhodium coated, nickel-based high precision parabolic: 02-RPM-018 by Melles Griot..



Regards,


Ra.


----------



## Nitro

Ra said:


> And Nitro,
> 
> The reflector is a rhodium coated, nickel-based high precision parabolic: 02-RPM-018 by Melles Griot..


 
I was looking to upgrade my CC's 8" reflector, but I'm not sure I need that high quality of one for an HID bulb. Any comments?

Also, how much improvment in beam quality/throw would you guess there would be by switching to a high quality reflector? 

Thanks


----------



## Ra

Nitro said:


> I was looking to upgrade my CC's 8" reflector, but I'm not sure I need that high quality of one for an HID bulb. Any comments?
> 
> Also, how much improvment in beam quality/throw would you guess there would be by switching to a high quality reflector?
> 
> Thanks



With HID you don't need a super high quality reflector like in Maxablaster: The HID-arc is about 50 times bigger than the mercury-arc of Maxablaster. You will however get a nice, uniform beampattern without much artifacts.

But at +600 $, they are expensive..

And: Rhodium reflects "only" 76% of visible light! I needed rhodium because it can withstand the huge amount of UV-radiation produced by the lamp. The reflection of an aluminum reflector will decrease in matter of months.


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## Nitro

Ra said:


> With HID you don't need a super high quality reflector like in Maxablaster: The HID-arc is about 50 times bigger than the mercury-arc of Maxablaster. You will however get a nice, uniform beampattern without much artifacts.
> 
> But at +600 $, they are expensive..
> 
> And: Rhodium reflects "only" 76% of visible light! I needed rhodium because it can withstand the huge amount of UV-radiation produced by the lamp. The reflection of an aluminum reflector will decrease in matter of months.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.


 
I kinda thought that one might be overkill for HID. After seeing the high quality reflector in my MaxaBeam, the Coleman looks pretty bad in comparison. Any other sources for quality reflectors that would be more suited for an HID?


----------



## Ra

Nitro said:


> I kinda thought that one might be overkill for HID. After seeing the high quality reflector in my MaxaBeam, the Coleman looks pretty bad in comparison. Any other sources for quality reflectors that would be more suited for an HID?



A bigger arc overcomes imperfections in the reflector-shape to certain extend; From your beamshots, I can tell that the CC-reflector does it's job well..

As for other reflector-sources: I don't know any: The stock-reflectors of the Thors I have, are of decent enough quality for use with HID.


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## Nitro

Ra said:


> A bigger arc overcomes imperfections in the reflector-shape to sertain extend; From your beamshots, I can tell that the CC-reflector does it's job well..
> 
> As for other reflector-sources: I don't know any: The stock-reflectors of the Thors I have, are of decent enough quality for use with HID.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.


 
Maybe I'm just being picky. But If I thought I'd gain another foot or two in throw, I'd switch the reflector in a heartbeat.


----------



## Tempora

The RELFECTOR 
http://shop.mellesgriot.com/products/optics/detail.asp?pf_id=02 RPM 018&plga=178712&mscssid=


----------



## Patriot

Tempora said:


> The RELFECTOR
> http://shop.mellesgriot.com/products/optics/detail.asp?pf_id=02 RPM 018&plga=178712&mscssid=


 
The lamp hole looks huge.


----------



## Ra

Patriot36 said:


> The lamp hole looks huge.



Yep ! Desighned for much bigger, high-wattage short-acs: It's 33mm diameter. I needed to find a way to live with that ! 
I ofcource wanted a hole like in the Maxabeam reflector..
Can you beleve that I actually wanted to buy another, smaller reflector and use a 35mm section around its hole to fill the hole of the Maxablaster-reflector: I could not find one with a small hole and the same radius of curvature!

But no need for it anyway: With 33mm focal length, the shadow of the short-arc-electrode closest to the reflector already is some 30mm wide. So I woudn't gain much anyway!

But if you would caculate the throw-loss caused by this, you'd see that it's not much. I more than compensated this loss by coating the front window..

Because of their design, (two opposite electrodes, one very big!) these short-arcs put out most of the lumens to the side, these reflectors are desighned to grab about 90% of the lumens-output of these bulbs..



Regards,

Ra.


----------



## mrmike

Ra,

I've seen reflectors like that at Surplus Shed's store. I asked if they were aluminum, and all I remember is they're made of one of the more exotic elements.

I think they're parabolic reflectors for military searchlights. I remember being told they went for about $600-$800, but they sell them for $80 (brand new too).

It may be worth your trouble to give them a call.


----------



## ez78

I just asked Surplus Shed by email if they had those reflectors. Not that I would start building Maxablaster but just out of curiosity. They replied that this is the closest match that they have:

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/pm1074.html

EDIT: Some thoughts: The center hole is too large, light would be wasted. The overall diameter also too large so would not fit in the Thor 15mcp? Some other things might be wrong too...


----------



## Ra

ez,

The RPM017 at your link is the (olther?) brother of my RPM018.. Indeed the only difference is a bigger center-hole.

So its the 017 with a somewhat bigger hole for $175.. Or the 018 with a bit smaller hole for $700...


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## Nitro

Ra said:


> ez,
> 
> The RPM017 at your link is the (olther?) brother of my RPM018.. Indeed the only difference is a bigger center-hole.
> 
> So its the 017 with a somewhat bigger hole for $175.. Or the 018 with a bit smaller hole for $700...
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.


 
I'd have picked the smaller hole too. :twothumbs


----------



## Ra

Nitro said:


> I'd have picked the smaller hole too. :twothumbs




My thought exactly !!!



Regards,

Ra.


----------



## Flashanator

Just finished looking at all the maxablaster beamshoots, for my first time. This is unprecedented. Ra, Im not gonna be able to sleep 2nite, just thinking about that awsome handheld light you made. You dont relize just how much I need a light like the maxablaster for were I live. So much open room, so much throw.


----------



## rizky_p

:wow::bow::bow::bow:


----------



## Stereodude

I hadn't seen these before. The MaxaBlaster is very, very impressive.


----------



## Flashanator

:hairpull: 

I'm not seeing the maxablaster in the 08 Guinness book of world records?????


----------



## HIDSGT

Wow that things beefy. Sweet!


----------



## a4d

All i have to say is WOW!! nothing else to say that thing is amazing.


----------



## Flashanator

While this thread has been bumped, thought Id ask.


Ra, wouldn't mind seeing some closer beamshots (just 2-3 good ones) compared to the maxabeam (If u have one, i saw somthing that looked like a maxabeam next to your Maxablaster a while back).

Maybe you would be so kind to do 50, 100, 400yards. I know this light can throw, but I wanna see close range.

thx :thumbsup:


----------



## Xe54

Ra said:


> For those who want to know:
> 
> At first even I underestimated the dangers involved with a project like this:
> 
> One day, standing in the bathroom, I noticed a severe sunburned area on my forehead, at first not knowing where that came from...I suddenly remembered testing the Mercury arc lamp a few days earlier, protecting my eyes with a type 13 welding-filter. Conclusion: The rest of my face unprotected, in about 45 seconds (!!!) I 'ultraviolated' my forehead, causing those sunburn-marks!
> 
> That even when I knew the dangers involved: The downside of superhigh surface brightness: The 100watt mercury-arc lamp relatively has the highest UV-output of all short-arcs ! Down to the most dangerous, ozone creating UV-C !!
> 
> Oh.. and yes WINDSTRINGSS, very,very hot!! After switch-off the entire bulb glows yello-hot !! Thats why there always is the danger of lampburst! If I can find the time this week I'll try to photograph the bulb just after switch-off..
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.



Ra, the correct technical term for what you are calling "surface brightness" is luminance. Why don't you just call it luminance, which is lm/(m^2 * sr) ?

Note as well that attempting to characterize the luminance of a HID arc would be very challenging, because it is not like an LED with a uniform flat surface, and fairly constant luminance per (x,y) point over that surface. 

The HID arc, OTOH, is a 3-dimensional diffusely radiating volume, where for any line of sight into the arc, there is a differently appearing radiating surface, with highly variable luminance per coordinate point (spherical coordinates probably being more sensible in this case.) Thus, it probably makes sense to a 1st order approximation to consider that there is an "effective volume" to the arc, for which the arc can be approximated/modeled as a solid radiating surface of that determined effective volume and shape. Unfortunately, as you well know, the "shape" is not very spherical either, but rather something like an assymetrical dumbell with hotspots at the electrodes. In a DC arc, it's a little simpler, with really only one hotspot at the cathode, I think. (You can correct me if I have erred on that).

I also use XeHg arcs at work, as scientific light sources. We also have some special DC ballasts for doing high-speed videography with automotive D2S bulbs. But most of my work is with lasers. Very big ones. One of our scientists has completely modeled the radiance of a luminescent soot cloud inside a diesel engine. We have specially modified "optical engines" which allow us to view inside the running engine and probe the combustion with lasers/light sources. He uses this to measure temperature as a function of position inside the flame. Heavy stuff.


----------



## Ra

Hi Xe54,

I don't use the term 'luminance' because many members of these forums are not hat deep into the light-theoretics! Surface brightness is much easier to understand..

The reason that the uniformity of the Hg-arc is not much of an issue in my case lies in the optical theoretics: The difference between the arc-size and reflector-size is big, very big! Even the ever so slight imperfections in the high quality parabolic reflector I use, cause the inabillity to concentrate on hotspots within the arc..


And Flash,

I have some Maxabeam/M-blaster pics at 400 yards, but they are not very sharp.. I must resize them first. Will post them today or tomorrow.


Best

Ra.


----------



## Xe54

Ra said:


> Hi Xe54,
> 
> I don't use the term 'luminance' because many members of these forums are not hat deep into the light-theoretics! Surface brightness is much easier to understand..



I see. I agree that luminance is a tricky one. I spent a few weeks chewing on it myself.

If there was a "suggested reading" list on CPF, I would recommend the following:

1. "Handbook of Applied Photometry," editor: DeCusatis, Casimir; 1998 Optical Society of America; ISBN 1-56396-416-3

2. "Radiometry and the Detection of Optical Radiation," Boyd, Robert W.; 1983 John Wiley & Sons; ISBN 0-471-86188-X

I reached the point of saturation at the theory of conservation of radiance/luminance. Egad. I was more interested in learning how to calculate CIE chromaticity coordinates from specral data anyhow. The first text listed above has a decent treatment of that subject.

Also the following web sites:

http://www.optics.arizona.edu/Palmer/rpfaq/rpfaq.htm

This site has downloadable data sets for all the V-lambda functions and CIE color matching functions:

http://cvrl.ioo.ucl.ac.uk/


----------



## Gunner12

I already know about the light a year ago, but I'm glad that it got on Popular Science.

I see more members!

Congrats RA!


----------



## Ra

Flashanator 500mW said:


> :hairpull:
> 
> I'm not seeing the maxablaster in the 08 Guinness book of world records?????



And you're not going to !! Guinness contacted me about this, but Maxablaster did not pass the exam: "THE LIGHT NEEDS TO BE COMMERCIALLY AVIABLE !!"

Can you beleve that? I told them that most record breaking stuff come from hobbyists and loners (that was meant positively..) that make one-of stuff..And is not commercially aviable.

Lets face it: The worlds biggest cookie is not commercially aviable, is it?


Best,

Ra.


----------



## Thujone

Seems I saw this beauty in Pop Sci today though... nice...


----------



## electrothump

I saw it in popsci also. Pretty danged nifty!

DN


----------



## Flashanator

popsci???????

got links maybe?


----------



## Ra

Beamshots Maxablaster vs Maxabeam:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/186233


Best,

Ra.


----------



## AilSnail

"And: Rhodium reflects "only" 76% of visible light! I needed rhodium because it can withstand the huge amount of UV-radiation produced by the lamp. The reflection of an aluminum reflector will decrease in matter of months."

mellesgriot website says 90%...?


----------



## Ra

Can you post a link..

I'm quite shure it's about 76% in the visible region and higher in the near infrared..


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## andromeda.73

Ra said:


> Hi guyzz,
> 
> I've been on vacation for a while, but now I'm back..
> 
> In the south of France there are many oppertunities to use Maxablaster to its full extend!
> So here some beamshots I want to share with you:
> 
> A comparision with Maxabeam:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW: During this vacation I had to fully reorganise the electronics-division of Maxablaster: The electronics I used earlier died on me!!
> 
> The bad part: I had to settle for an inverter/ballast combination: The best ballast for the job needed somewhere between 90 and 260 volts input.
> 
> So now Maxablaster has an inverter mounted under its belly:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So the overall efficiency of the electronics went down to a 75% or so, leaving a total burntime of about 70 minutes on one charge.
> 
> The inverter produces a 220Volt modified sine. The ballast has a wide input range of 90-264volts AC and DC and is powerfactor corrected!!
> 
> This has one big advantage: There are two voltage-buffers (and one of them is very wide!), that means that the lamp always exactly gets what it needs.
> 
> Even the illustrious Maxabeam does not have an uniform performance over one battery-charge!
> 
> If Maxablaster produces 4005.76 lumens with a full charge, it will produce 4005.76 lumens with the batteries almost empty!!
> 
> Do you want to know where I stayed?? Look at this little village at a distance of 6.2 km:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With the new electronics-setup the power has increased, I still need to measure the candlepower output, maybe later this week.
> Earlier Maxablaster operated at about 85watts, now it is operating at 105 watts: It lights up my livingroom with about the same power as 50watt HID does! So the lumens output must be increased quite a lot !!
> 
> The new ballast also has a 115watt output... I've not dared to try that yet..
> 
> Hope you enjoy this. If more is to come, you will be the first to know !!
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.



*awesome! is a monster of light without end! where you can 'find for sale?* :devil:


----------



## DM51

andromeda.73 said:


> *awesome! is a monster of light without end! where you can 'find for sale?* :devil:


Very sadly, you won't find it for sale. It is a superlative, magnificent, stupendous, one-of-a-kind phenomenon, desdigned, created and hand-built by Ra himself (the OP). Only one exists. It has no equal.


----------



## andromeda.73

DM51 said:


> Very sadly, you won't find it for sale. It is a superlative, magnificent, stupendous, one-of-a-kind phenomenon, desdigned, created and hand-built by Ra himself (the OP). Only one exists. It has no equal.



Tank's, is a sin!


----------



## Ra

Yep...

And it's still very much alive today !!! Once every three month's or so, I need to refresh the battery-pack by charging and discharging it a few times. Otherwise it cannot give the amp's needed for bulb-ignition. It still runs for about 60 minutes on the batteries I installed back in 2006, when I created the monster. It still is an awesome sight !!

Maybe I'll post some new beamshots soon..

All the best from Holland,

Ra.


----------



## mrartillery

Holy Sh*t!!! Thats the greatest thing ive ever seen!:bow:


----------



## XeRay

We are working on a 250 watt HID (metal Halide, not short arc Xenon) to run on 24/28 VDC, over 22,000 lumens bulb output. We will be using a premium quality Electroformed reflector on this project. 6 or 8 inches (preferred) diameter reflector. It is also hot restrikeable. This project should be "ready for primetime" within 6 months. The testing we have done so far, it very obviously lights up the mountainside well over 1.5 miles away. No vision enhancement needed to see it with the naked eye.


----------



## Dioni

Will be great seeing these "monsters" [and others wich exist in CPF] togheter in the MOST AWESOME BEAMSHOTS EVER SEEN!


----------



## BVH

Dan, will this be an aircraft oriented light or something "portable" ish?


----------



## XeRay

BVH said:


> Dan, will this be an aircraft oriented light or something "portable" ish?


 
Likely BOTH.

Dan


----------



## liteitup

XeRay said:


> We are working on a 250 watt HID (metal Halide, not short arc Xenon) to run on 24/28 VDC, over 22,000 lumens bulb output. We will be using a premium quality Electroformed reflector on this project. 6 or 8 inches (preferred) diameter reflector. It is also hot restrikeable. This project should be "ready for primetime" within 6 months. The testing we have done so far, it very obviously lights up the mountainside well over 1.5 miles away. No vision enhancement needed to see it with the naked eye.



thats why you guys forgot about the barnburner huh? gonna make the barnburner look like a candle... lol


----------



## windstrings

Only 22000 lumens?........ what grade of plutonium are you using?


----------



## Patriot

XeRay said:


> Likely BOTH.
> 
> Dan






Sounds like a very exciting development from XeVision!


----------



## BVH

I started a discussions thread on Dan's project over here:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3261735#post3261735


----------



## andromeda.73

Ra, you could put the video of your creature at work? would be interesting. thanks. :devil:


----------



## get-lit

Ra said:


> I'm quite shure it's about 76% in the visible region and higher in the near infrared..


 
I spoke with a manufacturer rep, and the actual reflectance of the coatings is much more than the stated reflectance. This is because the stated reflectance has to include reflectance at great incident angles. Most coatings reflect nearly all light under direct reflection. So with search light reflectors with angles of incidence within 45 degrees, the stated reflectance values don't have much bearing. Rhodium offers tremendous UV protection with very little actual light loss, so rest assured that it's surely the best choice.


----------



## get-lit

andromeda.73 said:


> Ra, you could put the video of your creature at work? would be interesting. thanks. :devil:


 
Just look at the pictures longer :twothumbs


----------



## get-lit

My new all-time favorite picture!


----------



## andromeda.73

beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, but some videos of Monster would make the better! not it? :devil:

Come On! lovecpf


----------



## Gigawatt

Nice post... interesting !


----------



## JulianP

Inspiring!


----------



## Lightologist

I want one!


----------



## Watts Up!

What a beautiful light! Wish you had plans to make these into production units I really need one of these! You would sell a lot of them just think you could retire early.:thumbsup:


----------



## Ra

Watts Up! said:


> What a beautiful light! Wish you had plans to make these into production units I really need one of these! You would sell a lot of them just think you could retire early.:thumbsup:



I think not...Because when I want to sell a lot of them, I spent years making them. And then there are the expensive ingredients.. No, that way, early retirement is out of the question..

Unless you pay me 15,000 USD each of cource..


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## DM51

LOL, careful there, Ra - I've been following Watts Up's posts with interest, and I can tell you he has been bitten by this bug! You may find him making an offer...! :laughing:


----------



## Ra

DM51 said:


> LOL, careful there, Ra - I've been following Watts Up's posts with interest, and I can tell you he has been bitten by this bug! You may find him making an offer...! :laughing:



I think I just made him an offer... didn't I..? 


Regards,

Ra.


----------



## Watts Up!

Ra said:


> I think I just made him an offer... didn't I..?
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ra.




Yea if I had $15k laying around I would probably buy it just so I can the the noob king on this island.:devil: I'm still reading all this info on these forums trying to learn everything but want to be able to put a nice collection together to where I only cry once. Thanks for all those amazing pics it really has gotten me into this cool new hobby.lovecpf


----------



## Ra

Watts Up! said:


> Yea if I had $15k laying around I would probably buy it just so I can the the noob king on this island.:devil: I'm still reading all this info on these forums trying to learn everything but want to be able to put a nice collection together to where I only cry once. Thanks for all those amazing pics it really has gotten me into this cool new hobby.lovecpf



Well.. a nice collection always begins with that first flashlight.. It ends with the best flashlight you can dream of.. So be warned !

Regards,

Ra.


----------

