# Maxabeam Harbor Freight Shootout



## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

Well I put the maxabeam up against my Harbor Freight so i will let the pictures tell the story. You might need to turn your brightness up on your monitor. I shot all pics at the same exposure but they are a little darker than they looked for real.



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## Gunner12 (Nov 27, 2007)

I'll take the Harbor Freight if you don't want it anymore 

Those are great beamshots. The Maxabeam looks like a white laser.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

This tree line is 340 yards and this is the first wide angle shot. HF on left and MB on right.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

Here is the tree line zoomed in and maxabeam with the focus adjusted to match the HF. maxabeam on right.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

This one is the MB at tight focus


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

This picture is of a barn down the road from me and it is 850 yards. This is the Harbor Frieght.


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## Beer (Nov 27, 2007)

Good to see that big orange can still hang with the mack daddy of throw (well to 340 yards at least) :laughing:


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

This picture is the maxabeam at the same focus as the Harbor Freight. Notice the trees behind the barn are more illuminated with the maxabeam even at wide focus. 800 to 1000 yards is about max for the harbor Freight. I did not get a picture but i can shine the maxabeam on the water tower in town from the next county Rd which is a little over one mile away and the Harbor Freight can not.


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## Beer (Nov 27, 2007)

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.....:thumbsup:


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

Here is the maxabeam at tight focus. Notice the hotspot on the barn roof even at 850 yards. What is amazing is that the maxabeam is half the size of the harbor freight. I really like this light. I just got it last Saturday and I can't put it down.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

In this picture there is a tree line that is 1400 yards + This is the HF and it can not reach the tree line.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

Here is the Maxabeam at tight focus and you can see it on the tree line.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

here is the Maxabeam with focus to match the HF and it still reaches the tree line.


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## ICUDoc (Nov 27, 2007)

Wowowowowowoww! Throw redefined for me. Thanks for the pics.


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## stargzn (Nov 27, 2007)

I moved a little closer to the light in this picture and the beamshot came out a little better. In the other pics i was standing about 15 to 20 feet off to the side. This is the Maxabeam on trees about 1500 yards. This is all for now. Sorry there not the best pics but it was my first time. I do have photo experence just not with beam shots.


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## Flashanator (Nov 28, 2007)

Very nice pics you got there stargzn 

Ahh, the HF can't keep up with the maxabeam at 1500yards. LOL
Gotta feel sorry for it, not...


I assume no high mode on the maxabeam was used here aswell?


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## ez78 (Nov 28, 2007)

Nice shots! :thumbsup: I think that HF is about the best throwing automotive HID but that did not save it from the *** kicking. The MB rules. Maybe slighty more exposure would have been good for the pics.


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## djblank87 (Nov 28, 2007)

:duck::kewlpics: thanks for taking the time to post them. I'm still waiting for my HF HID to arrive.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

The next time i will use a longer exposure. these pics were shot at 2.5 seconds at F5.6 iso 200. Canon 20D with the kit lens.


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## BVH (Nov 28, 2007)

Great performance for a $79.00 (original Costco HID) light versus a $2000 +- light. still have two of them and enjoy them. Retrofitted one with a 75 watt ballast and a Fatboy lamp but never took the time or effort to focus it. Someday.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

Here are some pictures i took tonight with a better exposure level.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

Here is the maxabeam at a little wider focus.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

And here to kind of match the HF in spill light.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

Here are some better pictures of the tree line at 1400 yards. This is the Harbor Freight. You can see the trees lite up in this picture but i could not see it with my eye. The maxabeam pictures that will follow i could see all of them with my eye on the tree line even at the wider focus. The Harbor Freight really lights up the field though.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

Here is the Maxabeam at the widest focus were i could still see it on the trees visually.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

This is the maxabeam on what i call parallel focus. It stays the same width when looking at the beam. Like the second picture with the two lights shooting into the air.


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## stargzn (Nov 28, 2007)

Here is the Maxabeam at the tightest focus like in the first picture of both lights shooting into the air. The beam visually seems to sharpen the farther out it gets.


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## Flashanator (Nov 29, 2007)

So did those trees catch fire at 1400+ yards? :naughty:


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## ez78 (Nov 29, 2007)

Now the tree line shots look good and realistic. I have the Supernova short arc and the tightest focus it can give is about equal to what you call "parallel focus". That needle sharp mode is missing, but I think that might change once I have the time to carry out my tuning plans.


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## DM51 (Nov 30, 2007)

Excellent pics. That Harbor Freight does pretty well, considering it's up against the longest thrower of all.


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## Nitro (Nov 30, 2007)

Nice shots Star! Thanks for sharing.

What exposure did you use on the second set of pics? I used 8" f/5 ISO100 in my shots, and they came out pretty close to what I saw in reality.


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## stargzn (Nov 30, 2007)

My shots were at 8" at F5.6 ISO 400. They seem a little brighter than reality and you are probably right on at your exposure. I just needed to drop my ISO down to 100. I got two bulbs with the light but do not know how many hours are on them. I noticed that sometimes when i first turn on the light it will arc a couple of seconds before it lites. Also sometimes when i turn it on the arc will jump of center and the alignment will be off. Then if i turn it off and back on again it will arc in the center and alignment will be perfect. Does this sound like the bulb is getting old? The first bulb that was in the light I swaped out with this one because it had a oval shaped hotspot. The hotspot in this bulb is perfectly round but sometimes the arc will jump off center. Have you ever seen this before? This is my first short arc light so i do not no if this is normal or not.


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## stargzn (Nov 30, 2007)

DM51 said:


> Excellent pics. That Harbor Freight does pretty well, considering it's up against the longest thrower of all.


 
The Harbor Freight is the longest throwing HID light that I have seen and is the first light I had that would really reach out and touch. I remember when i first fired it up at night and watched with amazement as the beam kept getting brighter and brighter and i was thinking wow this thing is awsome and it is. Buy far the brightest light for the money and longest thrower to boot.


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## Nitro (Nov 30, 2007)

stargzn said:


> My shots were at 8" at F5.6 ISO 400. They seem a little brighter than reality and you are probably right on at your exposure. I just needed to drop my ISO down to 100. I got two bulbs with the light but do not know how many hours are on them. I noticed that sometimes when i first turn on the light it will arc a couple of seconds before it lites. Also sometimes when i turn it on the arc will jump of center and the alignment will be off. Then if i turn it off and back on again it will arc in the center and alignment will be perfect. Does this sound like the bulb is getting old? The first bulb that was in the light I swaped out with this one because it had a oval shaped hotspot. The hotspot in this bulb is perfectly round but sometimes the arc will jump off center. Have you ever seen this before? This is my first short arc light so i do not no if this is normal or not.


 
I've never seen that happen with mine, that I noticed anyway. But I've only had mine a short while. Maybe someone that had their's longer can comment.


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## zfreak (Dec 1, 2007)

Impressive, but I'd still rather have 25 of the H/F HID's for the same price as a MB...


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## Patriot (Dec 2, 2007)

Those are fantastic pics btw! I really, really, enjoyed those very much. I have two Costco lights and get a max of about 900 yards with them. They throw quite a bit of light but that Maxabeam looks just like an ultra-powered white laser. I seen what you mean about the perception of the beam. It does indeed look like it's narrowing the further out it goes. Of course, it isn't but I see from that last pic that it appears to do that. What an amazing light. Thanks for sharing.


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## stargzn (Dec 2, 2007)

Patriot36 said:


> Those are fantastic pics btw! I really, really, enjoyed those very much. I have two Costco lights and get a max of about 900 yards with them. They throw quite a bit of light but that Maxabeam looks just like an ultra-powered white laser. I seen what you mean about the perception of the beam. It does indeed look like it's narrowing the further out it goes. Of course, it isn't but I see from that last pic that it appears to do that. What an amazing light. Thanks for sharing.


 
Thanks for the nice comments. I have always wanted a maxabeam and now that i have one i would never sell it. You see pictures of the light but it is hard to understand how such a small light (reflector) can throw as far as it does. I am also an amateur astronomer and i used my Takahashi FC 76 refractor to see how far the maxabem would really light up an object.
The tree line in the pictures is over 1400 yards but sticking up above the tree line is the top of two grain elevators that are 1.6 miles away. I will try to get some pictures of it in the day and of beem shots of the maxabeam lighting it up. I have two bulbs for the maxabeam and they are different in apperance. One bulb is a globe around the arc point and the other one it the more streached globe that is not round it is longer. The bulb that is round around the arc is brighter and will throw farther. I tested this on the grain bins at 1.6 miles. The round shaped bulb really illuminated the grain bin with authority. It did better on the lowest power setting than the other bulb did on high. I think the round bulb is the original bulb and am not sure what brand the other one is.


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## stargzn (Dec 2, 2007)

I forgot to mention that the pictures i made of the maxabeam previous of this post were with the weaker non round in apperance bulb. The next pictures i post will be with the original round globe bulb. I changed this bulb out for the other one because the hot spot was not round but i reinstalled it and tweaked the alignment and now it is fine. So now i am back to the original bulb and it is definatly brighter and can throw farther. I also wanted to mention that the round bulb is pure white were the other has a blue tint to it. When looking at the bulb from the side when the light is on low( to bright when on high) you can see a blue glow in the bulb. With the round bulb there is no blue tint in the bulb at all. I am not talking about looking at the beams i mean looking at the bulb its self. I do not know why that is unless the glass or gas would be different.
I will post pics of the grain elevator as soon as the weather clears up.


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## stargzn (Dec 2, 2007)

Nitro said:


> I've never seen that happen with mine, that I noticed anyway. But I've only had mine a short while. Maybe someone that had their's longer can comment.


 
The arcing problem i had was with the non round in apperance globe shaped bulb. I put the round original bulb back in and aligned it and it is fine now. I want to buy an extra bulb and i think i will get one from maxabeam unless you know where else to get one that has the round globe. I think it would be smart to stick with the OEM bulb.


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## DM51 (Dec 2, 2007)

stargzn, I think it might be worth your while to look in on this thread if you haven't already seen it. It is a current thread and they are talking about bulb types and alignment there too.


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## stargzn (Dec 2, 2007)

DM51 said:


> stargzn, I think it might be worth your while to look in on this thread if you haven't already seen it. It is a current thread and they are talking about bulb types and alignment there too.


 
Thanks for the link DM51. The bulb on the bottom is the bulb of mine that I would call a streched globe and it does not throw as far as the round globe bulb. The supernova bulb that is on top is really streched out. I am confused now on which bulb is really the stock bulb if the one on the bottom is the maxabeam bulb.


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## stargzn (Dec 2, 2007)

This must be the round globe bulb i have because it looks just like this. It is a UXL 75 XE USHIO


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## stargzn (Dec 2, 2007)

Well after doing some searching on here i found this from Ra. 

Hi ShortArc,

I noticed something in the picture of your MB-lamp..

Look at this picture of my lamp.. See the difference ??:







A few years ago someone in holland came to me with a Maxabeam, he wanted the tightest focus possible, but was not satisfied with the way MB performed on that field! After days of testing I found the problem: The shape of the bulb !! His MB had a tube-like bulb like the one on your post (so not globular..).

The problem that occurs with tube-like bulbs is called optical arc-image dissplacement. With an arc that small it is very important to have a globular (round..) bulb. Otherwise you will lose a lot of cp's at spot-focus: Difference can be up to 2,000,000 cp !!

I also doubt the bulb on your picture is an original MB-replacement bulb, because I think the engineers at Peak Beam know of this problem.. But I can be wrong: The bulb in the case mentioned above also was said to be an original MB-bulb..


Regards,

Ra.


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## ez78 (Dec 3, 2007)

stargzn said:


> Thanks for the link DM51. The bulb on the bottom is the bulb of mine that I would call a streched globe and it does not throw as far as the round globe bulb. The supernova bulb that is on top is really streched out. I am confused now on which bulb is really the stock bulb if the one on the bottom is the maxabeam bulb.



I think some of the older Maxabeam bulbs look like a tube and the new ones are round like in that post by Ra you had found. 

The Ushio is just general good quality Xenon short arc bulb with about the same specifications as the new round Maxabeam bulbs but it needs adapters to fit in the Maxabeam.


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## Ra (Dec 3, 2007)

ez78 said:


> I think some of the older Maxabeam bulbs look like a tube and the new ones are round like in that post by Ra you had found.
> 
> The Ushio is just general good quality Xenon short arc bulb with about the same specifications as the new round Maxabeam bulbs but it needs adapters to fit in the Maxabeam.



AND: The Ushio UXL-75XE are widely produced, and often can be found on Ebay, much (very much..!) cheaper than the original Maxabeam-bulb !


Regards,

Ra.


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## Taboot (Dec 3, 2007)

stargzn said:


> Well I put the maxabeam up against my Harbor Freight


 
This will sound stupid but, which HF light is it? The $89.99 "30 million candlepower" HID or the $129 HID XENON Spotlight?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93175

or

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94987

I'm thinking of getting one.

Thanks,

Taboot


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## stargzn (Dec 3, 2007)

Taboot said:


> This will sound stupid but, which HF light is it? The $89.99 "30 million candlepower" HID or the $129 HID XENON Spotlight?
> 
> http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93175
> 
> ...


 

Mine is the model 93175. I paid the $ 129.00 when i bought mine and that was a good deal. I see it is even cheaper now. It is the farthest throwing light besides the short arc lights (maxabeam) that i have seen.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93175


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## Taboot (Dec 4, 2007)

stargzn said:


> Mine is the model 93175. I paid the $ 129.00 when i bought mine and that was a good deal. I see it is even cheaper now. It is the farthest throwing light besides the short arc lights (maxabeam) that i have seen.
> 
> http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93175



OK, thanks.


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## LuxLuthor (Jun 8, 2008)

stargzn said:


> Thanks for the nice comments. *I have always wanted a maxabeam and now that i have one i would never sell it.* You see pictures of the light but it is hard to understand how such a small light (reflector) can throw as far as it does. I am also an amateur astronomer and i used my Takahashi FC 76 refractor to see how far the maxabem would really light up an object.
> 
> The tree line in the pictures is over 1400 yards but sticking up above the tree line is the top of two grain elevators that are 1.6 miles away. I will try to get some pictures of it in the day and of beem shots of the maxabeam lighting it up. I have two bulbs for the maxabeam and they are different in apperance. One bulb is a globe around the arc point and the other one it the more streached globe that is not round it is longer. The bulb that is round around the arc is brighter and will throw farther. I tested this on the grain bins at 1.6 miles. The round shaped bulb really illuminated the grain bin with authority. It did better on the lowest power setting than the other bulb did on high. I think the round bulb is the original bulb and am not sure what brand the other one is.



And yet, selling it you are.


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## karlthev (Jun 8, 2008)

Yes, selling it he DID!! Ugh!! I missed it!!!:sigh:



Karl


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## DM51 (Jun 8, 2008)

Blew his chance, he did. The Force today with him, is not. Lol.


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## Daniel_sk (Jun 8, 2008)

DM51 said:


> Blew his chance, he did. The Force today with him, is not. Lol.







Sorry, I couldn't resist.


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## N162E (Jun 8, 2008)

ez78 said:


> The Ushio is just general good quality Xenon short arc bulb with about the same specifications as the new round Maxabeam bulbs but it needs adapters to fit in the Maxabeam.


More info please. I have a very old MB (10 years+). What is needed to adapt the Ushio bulb? Mine has the straight sided tube. FWIW I have the original NI-CAD battery and slow charger. The light runs for almost an hour on a full charge.


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## Patriot (Jun 8, 2008)

N162E said:


> More info please. I have a very old MB (10 years+). What is needed to adapt the Ushio bulb? Mine has the straight sided tube. FWIW I have the original NI-CAD battery and slow charger. The light runs for almost an hour on a full charge.



Try this thread N162E: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/145887
According to Ra in post #15 he machined a bulb base which converts the lamp from 7.5mm to a 9.0mm.







> *DM51*
> Blew his chance, he did. The Force today with him, is not. Lol.


lol..........:laughing:


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## BlueBeam22 (Jun 9, 2008)

Very nice shoot out, I realize this is an old thread though.

The Maxabeam looks just like my green laser the way it throws! It appears to throw at least 4x as far as my POB, wow.

The one thing I don't understand is that the Harbor Freight couldn't reach the treeline at 1400 yards, from the testing I have done with my POB HID I am pretty sure my POB can illuminate targets at that distance, is the Costco/Harbor Freight HID really not very powerful, or might I be mistaken?


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## Patriot (Jun 9, 2008)

All of the HID spots struggle to reach 1000 yards Blue, but the Costo comes a little closer than most. There is no exact cut-off line at which the light stops but there is a point at which there isn't enough reflected light to capture with a camera CCD or the eye.


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## BlueBeam22 (Jun 9, 2008)

Patriot,

Thanks for your reply. The Costco just doesn't look as powerful in the pictures as my POB does in person.

And by the way, congratulations on getting your MB! I want to hear about how bright it looks on the wall compared to the POB and how much it out-throws your Costco and PH50.


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## Patriot (Jun 10, 2008)

Ok, I'll get be getting some be shots BlueBeam. 

It shipped today from back east, so I should have it in hand by Thursday or Friday. My B-day present to myself.


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## BlueBeam22 (Jun 10, 2008)

It must be quite exciting waiting to get your Maxbeam, when my POB was on the way I was going crazy with excitement, lol.

Please let my know if its hotspot looks brighter to you than the POB's when you shine them on the wall at the same time (Maxabeam on high power and tight focus).

I hope you enjoy your new light!:twothumbs


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## BVH (Jun 10, 2008)

Anticipation is half..... well---maybe 1/4 the fun! Paul, I know how you're feeling about now! I was really excited to get my DeWalt 36 Volt packs today. How Krazy is that??

We expect some excellent comparison shots in the coming weeks!


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## Ra (Jun 10, 2008)

Nice package Patriot!!

Any beamshots yet..?? :duck:


Regards,

Ra.


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## Flashanator (Jun 10, 2008)

Patriot,

is it new? did you get a li-ion battery? how long can you run it on high mode spot for?


rofl, you must be so excited with that CP king. 

looking forward to beamshots. :naughty:


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## Patriot (Jun 10, 2008)

BVH said:


> Anticipation is half..... well---maybe 1/4 the fun! Paul, I know how you're feeling about now! I was really excited to get my DeWalt 36 Volt packs today. How Krazy is that??



Heck Bob, even I'm excited about your DeWalt packs!!..because of your special project. Like you stated, waiting is a 1/4 of the fun. At least the seller already provided some good beamshots.




> *Ra*
> Nice package Patriot!!
> Any beamshots yet..?? :duck:




Thanks Ra. Not quite. I don't yet have the light in my possession. I'm hoping to get it late this week and could have some generic shots posted this coming weekend. 






> *Flashanator*
> is it new? did you get a li-ion battery? how long can you run it on high mode spot for?



It's used Flash. See post #49 for the sales link. 

Beamshots this weekend hopefully.


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## Flashanator (Jun 10, 2008)

Looks brand spankin new in that box

Happy you own a MB


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## Patriot (Jun 15, 2008)

The Maxabeam arrived yesterday and in great condition. I did take it out last night as played with it for about 15 minutes are so. Oddly enough the performance had been so well described in the past that I kind of knew what to expect. Of course, it still blew me away to see it with my own eyes instead of just in pictures. I'll be going out with it again tonight but I'm waiting until midnight. This thing draws a lot of attention. I was shinning it down the street last night and across the main north/south street in my hood and the only car to pass at that late hour almost stopped in the road as if they were going to run into something solid crossing in front of them. I quickly turned it off and went inside...lol. Now I'm curious what the beam looks like from the side..??? I guess I'll have to experiment with that. I won't have any beamshots for a few days but here are a couple of generics. 






It was slightly smaller than I had expected.





The business end.

More to come later. :kiss:


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## Yoda4561 (Jun 15, 2008)

They probably thought it was some kind of alien abduction beam. Probably had this oo:oo:face the rest of the drive home.


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## climberkid (Jun 15, 2008)

CONGRATS! i know you feel relieved to have it. i cant wait to see more pics.:twothumbs


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## BVH (Jun 15, 2008)

Congrats Paul. Looking forward to some great beam shots along with comparisons from your arsenal.


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## karlthev (Jun 15, 2008)

Glad to hear it arrived safely!


Karl


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## Nitro (Jun 15, 2008)

Welcome to the club. :thumbsup:

Looking forward to seeing some beamshots.


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## Patriot (Jun 16, 2008)

Continuing in the spirit of the tread title I thought I'd post a few close range beamshots of the Maxabeam, Costco, and 15mcp.






F8.0 1/1000 (maxabeam on low)





F8.0 1/2500 (maxabeam on low)





F8.0 1/2500 (maxabeam on med)





F8.0 1/2500 (maxabeam on high)






Even using the beam on low inside of the house with the blinds open leaves blind spots in the center of my eye. When I wend to adjust the collimating screws I could barely seen the hole for the allen key after looking at the beam on the wall. I couldn't even use the light on medium without wearing sunglasses. The point of light is very intense and blooms well beyond it's actual size to the eye. The only way to see it well is with a welding lens.

Edit: I can now see by the under exposed images that the beam is a tiny bit out of collimation still but that's easy to fix. I couldn't see it before with the naked eye, even with the light set to low. Also note that my Costco has been focused exceptionally well. I cheery picked that light and then spent a lot of time dialing in the beam. 

I'm very impressed with the light and if anything I continue to gain respect for it after seeing it against other beams like the Costco and PH40/50. It can't deliver the lumens but it the single greatest "wow factor" light that I own. A friend of mine stopped by to see the light over the weekend. After picking his jaw up off the ground he wouldn't let go of the light...lol. It was funny to watch him get attached to it so quickly. So far the nicad packs aren't bothering me but I'm not hiking around with it either. I do appreciate the clean shape vs. having dangling wire going to a belt or pocket.


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## karlthev (Jun 16, 2008)

More....more......



Karl


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## Patriot (Jun 16, 2008)

lol....Karl.  I'll try to get a couple of 200ish yard beamshots tonight and then post them tomorrow. 

Maybe I'll try one more of these though to try to get an idea of intensity vs the Costco.


Ok...here is another. I collimated the beam with a welding lens this time. It worked so well that I'm going to keep that spare lens inside of my Maxabeam case. Maxabeam was on high.






Beams moved closer together:


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## karlthev (Jun 16, 2008)

Sorry, just on the edge of my seat!


Karl


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## Patriot (Jun 16, 2008)

karlthev said:


> Sorry, just on the edge of my seat!
> 
> 
> Karl




No prob....friend. I'm laughing at your enthusiasm but it's great. :thumbsup: I posted two more for ya.


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## Ra (Jun 17, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> lol....Karl.  I'll try to get a couple of 200ish yard beamshots tonight and then post them tomorrow.



I predict that the difference will be bigger,, much bigger!! Maxabeam is build for throw. On throw, (and properly collimated) it eates about any other commercially aviable light for lunch!

Congrats on a nice (and after the first beamshots, nicely collimated..) light!

Some like the HID lumens monsters over the much lower output throw monsters like Maxabeam, but somehow, anyone that comes by seems to be more impressed by the laser like, super high candlepower beam of these short-arc lights!

I got a phonecall once when I was playing outside with my Maxabeam: It was my sister, walking her dog, some 4 miles away.. "Are you by any chance, playing with your flashlight again??"

You propably won't beleve the reactions I sometimes get when playing outside with allmighty Maxablaster!!!



Regards,

Ra.


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## Patriot (Jun 18, 2008)

Ra said:


> I got a phonecall once when I was playing outside with my Maxabeam: It was my sister, walking her dog, some 4 miles away.. "Are you by any chance, playing with your flashlight again??"
> 
> You propably won't beleve the reactions I sometimes get when playing outside with allmighty Maxablaster!!!




Thanks Ra.

I love the story of your sister out walking 4 miles away. After seeing you light up your hotel from 6-7 kilometers away and seeing your Maxablaster in Popular Science, I'd believe any story or reaction that you told me about....lol :laughing:


I just installed the other bulb tonight and it's producing a slightly oval beam. It's also a bit brighter too, so I'm not really sure which I prefer yet. Last night I did a drive by lighting of a row of powerline towers and it easily was illuminating 3 towers deep or about 1400 yards. There was a lot of moonlight last night too. I just went outside to play but it's still about 98 (36.6C) degrees outside at 10:45 at night.  I didn't play for very long!


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## BlueBeam22 (Jul 1, 2008)

Patriot36,

Glad you are enjoying your new light so much, those were some excellent photos you posted because they give a very good idea of how truly intense the Maxabeam's beam is. 

I saw a picture of the xenon short arc HID bulb from the Maxabeam, and I could tell the arc gap between the electrodes was maybe only 20% (rough estimate) as long as the metal halide in my POB light, which explains the short arc's amazing throwing ability with a small diameter reflector.


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## woodrow (Jul 13, 2008)

Patriot, congrats on your new MB! I still think its the coolest light ever made. I think I saw one for the first time on the tv series 'la femme nikita' in the late 90's, and wondering what insanely bright light it was. Again, congratulations on having one of the greatest lights ever made!

Also, congrats to stargzn and everyone else who has one of these great llights and all the other MONSTER lights in this section. Thanks for sharing them with us!


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## Patriot (Jul 14, 2008)

Thanks Woodrow and Blue,

Sorry I've still not produced any beamshots yet. It's been hot here and I don't even feel like going outside until 12:00pm. I spend too much time in the heat during the day. In the meantime, here are a few pictures...


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## climberkid (Jul 14, 2008)




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## LuxLuthor (Jul 14, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> Sorry I've still not produced any beamshots yet. It's been hot here and I don't even feel like going outside until 12:00pm. I spend too much time in the heat during the day. In the meantime, here are a few pictures...



Come on Patriot....you aren't gonna pick up any chicks with that thing laying on the floor. You have to get that baby outside pointed at the sky so they can follow the beam to your location. :laughing: :wave:


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## Patriot (Jul 14, 2008)

Hilarious Lux...lol...you always make me laugh...

That's just the problem actually. These things sometimes draw too much attention. I've made several cars slow down and stop at the corner and I'm always paranoid that it's going to be a cop. Come to think of it, a good looking girl cop might be ok...oo:


I've made it out to play with it, but just haven't bothered with the tripod, camera, rangefinder, etc. That light is all play and no work..


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## BlueBeam22 (Jul 14, 2008)

Nice pictures, the Maxabeam looks brand new. I can see how it must draw a lot of attention, lol. How does its beam visibilty in the sky compare to the POB and Costco?

Last night I looked at my POB's beam from the side, the bar of blue light in front of me was very impressive. I have found that on a very humid night I can see the POB's beam from at least 500 feet away, I would imagine the Maxabeam would be visible from a mile away.


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## Patriot (Jul 14, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> Nice pictures, the Maxabeam looks brand new. I can see how it must draw a lot of attention, lol. How does its beam visibilty in the sky compare to the POB and Costco?




It's pretty bright, Blue.


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## BlueBeam22 (Aug 9, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> F8.0 1/1000 (maxabeam on low)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I am bumping this thread because these pictures are such an excellent comparison of hotspot brightness between the 15mcp Thor and Costco.

The way the Costco compares to the 15mcp Thor in hotspot brightness is close to how my refocused Pro's Favorite and 15mcp Thor compare in hotspot brightness. I was using the Pro's Favorite last night shining it at far away trees and it lit them up brighter than I remember my POB lighting them up.

I can tell the Costco has a brighter hotspot than my Pro's Favorite, but I found it interesting that both of their hotspots look close in brightness and roughly 30% brighter than the 15mcp Thor.


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