# My Holy Grail Has Been Found - Parts of One Anyway - SX-16 NightSun



## BVH (Jul 16, 2013)

I’ve been watching Ebay and waiting for a few years for one of the Holy Grails of Short Arcs to show up. The fruits of my labor paid off recently. For what seems like a year or more, there have been 3 Spectrolab NightSun junction boxes (power supply, boost power and part of the ignitor circuit in a metal box) listed. Two have always been listed at about $3,500 each and one for $5,200. That is just too rich for my blood. And besides, what am I going to do with a NightSun power supply?

About 3 weeks ago, an SX-16 NightSun canister (main light body and internals, minus the gimbal) appeared on Ebay with a starting price of $1,250. I was going to participate in the bidding but so as not to disappoint myself too much, I told myself it would probably end up going for at least $7,000 to $8,000. After all a new SX-16 is over $25,000 from what I can gather. To make the chance of acquisition even less, the seller indicated “local pick-up only” and was located in Florida. The light had a cracked front window and was listed for “parts, not working”. I watched it until it had 5 hours to go – with no bids, and communicated an offer to the seller with the condition that the lamp was not physically damaged and same for the reflector and canister and that he would be willing to ship it. A day went by with no answer and finally he responded that he would sell and ship it for my offer and that all my conditions were met with regard to no damage. So immediately to PayPal I happily went. Keep in mind that I still didn’t know if everything in the canister worked.

July 3

Now after years of waiting, I had a NightSun light body on the way and I needed a junction box (power supply) and a hand controller box. So I did my research on all the Spectrolab revisions of the junction box and found all the technical Service Bulletins that had been issued on them. Based on this info, I made an offer to the seller of the two boxes – for the newest one of the two. A day went by and finally he declined my offer. I was very disappointed but had expected this result based on my low bid. So I said “what the heck, I’ve got nothing to lose” and made the same offer to the $5,200 box seller. To my surprise, he accepted it. And I realized shortly thereafter, that this box had all of the technical service bulletin work done already. As with the light body, I still didn’t know if the box actually worked.

So there I sat on July 3 with two major SX-16 NightSun components paid for and awaiting shipping. To pass the time, I downloaded the NightSun operator manual and read it cover to cover a couple of times hoping for some info on an electrical schematic since I would have to wire in a control box when I finally found one or make my own controller. Naturally, there was no schematic online that I could find. I did find a technical service bulletin for a Eurocopter NightSun installation that showed the pinout of the hand controller as it terminates on a terminal block in the junction box. Based on this, I believed I had most of info that I needed to get one wired up or made.

While I waited for the components to arrive, I emailed Spectrolab for some parts costs. I knew everything would be super expensive so when the prices came back, it was no surprise – except for the front window. It is only $146.00 plus shipping. But the controller box is a whopping $1,850!! It’s basically two toggle switches – one for Off/On/Start and one for Left-Right/Up-down and one momentary push button for focus. Maybe there's a logic board or some other goodies in there, but it can't be much. All of these are housed in a small metal box with a coiled cord and connector. That’s it! I can't afford to pay nearly two grand for it. In my email, I took the time to explain who I am and about my Short arc collection hobby. I mentioned that my use for a NightSun is definitely not on an aircraft nor for any commercial purposes. I then asked if the company ever had used/reconditioned or salvaged parts for the light.

I continued to re-visit the controller terminal block diagram and photos of the inside of the junction box. After hours of research, I came to the conclusion that it was possible that I didn’t have to find the hand controller right away to operate the light. I thought that I could make the two cables I need and my own controller. If I was reading the very basic controller block diagram right, the controller box and in-turn, the three switches simply provide make-and-break power connections to the focus, azimuth and elevation motors and the ignitor. I wasn’t 100% sure without having the components in my possession though. 

I finally ended up seeing a sentence in the operators’ manual mentioning that there is a maintenance and troubleshooting manual in existence. Since it had been a few days since my first used parts inquiry, I emailed my contact at Spectrolab again saying I definitely wanted to order the glass window and asked him if I can purchase the manual. I also asked again about used parts. A few hours later, I got a very nice response from my contact. He said he was catching up his desk after the long holiday weekend and that he had wanted to “go out into the shop” to see about some used parts but hadn’t had time yet. He asked me to be patient and give him some time. Of course I emailed back saying to take all the time he needed. He mentioned that it MIGHT be possible to find some used items at a cheaper cost.

July 8th - the junction box arrived.

I spent a couple of hours removing some of the components so I could thoroughly clean up the insides. Everything “looks” in good condition but of course with electronic parts, it’s impossible to know if they are all functioning by looking at them.
So now I’m just waiting on my Spectrolab contact to give me some good news!



The Junction/Boost Power Supply Box















July 15 – No return email yet but the Light Body Arrived, Excitement - Disappointment - Excitement!

The box arrives looking reasonably good. I open it up, carefully remove the foam padding and lift the bubble wrapped light onto my bench. I can hear broken glass. Not good. The seller said in the Ebay ad that the front window has a crack. Well now the crack is a few shards of glass remaining in-place and the rest is on the bottom of the light. And upon further inspection, the shards have hit the lamp during transit and it’s ruptured. Oh my gawd – how’s the reflector??? A quick close look and I’m surprised how good it looks. Yeah, there’s a few little dust strike looking spots with minute scratches but…..hmmmmmm….. you know what……I think this is a new reflector! There’s absolutely no fine scratch marks like all “cleaned” reflectors show. No burned on blue haze as I see on all Short Arc reflectors. And you know what??? The black crinkle finish on the outside of the can is, well, new looking. The connector threads look untouched. The safety cable is brand new looking. The yolk mounts look untouched. OK! This is looking better. Let’s open up the back end and take a look to see if all the electronic parts and focusing motor are there. I take the 4 screws out and pop it open. My gawd!!! This _*IS*_ a new light. Everything is pristine! All the military white cables are blinding white in color. Heck, the white grease on the focusing motor cam is not even spread around the cam and the original glob on the movable assembly is pretty much untouched. There’s not a spec of dust on the fan blades. There’s absolutely no heat marks anywhere. This is a New, Old Stock Light! Did I get lucky or what!!!

I knew I needed the front window. I planned on getting a bulb anyway so in reality, no harm done and I’ve got a brand new NightSun light body!

Just a little interesting technical observation. I wonder how many “miles” the spark plug is good for??? What??? Yes, there’s an NGK AP7FS in the starting circuit. This is the first time I’ve seen an over-the-counter or any special spark plug used in a Short Arc ignition system. The first thing that comes to mind is the term Spark Gap. I’ve seen numerous Spark Gaps in Short Arc ignitor circuits but they are directly in line with the lamp current. The NGK is not in the main current circuit. There’s also something called a Vibrator that looks sort of like a capacitor. I’ve seen them in older electrical devices but don’t know what they do.

That’s it for now. I need to get a new lamp, a front window and nail down the control box and cabling. But I can say that I’m a Happy Camper now. Even though this has been a Holy Grail for me, there's still another More Holy Grail to obtain - The Night Sword!























Back cover removed shows the Focus motor and cooling fan





Moving Reflector ***'y is the Black, three-sided piece and the white board supports the lamp and electronics





Ignitor Box





NGK AP7FS Spark Plug





Poor arc chamber with its' hole. Hows that for a Big Arc Gap?





The poor Anode was rolling around in the can. Can't believe it physically broke in two pieces.


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## KuanR (Jul 16, 2013)

What a good read. I can relate to that feeling of getting that "grail" and the heart ache that comes with some surprises. I look forward to see your progress and updates, especially beam shots!


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## Walterk (Jul 16, 2013)

Congrats! You are good at teasers, enjoyed the story. *subscribed*


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## holylight (Jul 16, 2013)

Not totally understood but will stay around to see more of the 25k machine. Good luck bro!


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## ShortArc (Jul 16, 2013)

AMAZING!!!!
Like you, I have been watching these for YEARS. The ebay notifications have almost become peripheral as the cost was always too high.
Now I can live my dream through you. Congrats.


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## archimedes (Jul 16, 2013)

Wow !! Congrats .... These are some of my favorite threads to read - so cool


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 16, 2013)

WOW! You find the neatest things!


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 16, 2013)

Interesting to see the pits on the anode. Could this mean that the bulb was started maybe 7 or 8 times, most likely at the factory for testing?

also, the vibrator, perhaps another word for some sort of resonator component or circuit. 

Very curious what the spark plug is for. Glad you have another toy and thanks for sharing!


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## Lips (Jul 16, 2013)

Congrats! and nice read.

This could give some first hand insights on how things are done for the Night Sword? 

Wonder if the bulb was already broke or the lens pieces broke it in shipping. Would have been nice for them to tape the lens up if it was cracked to save the bulb if it wasn't broke already.


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## BVH (Jul 16, 2013)

Not that I can really tell, but it looks to be a fresh break. As you say, simply taping up the cracked lens would probably have prevented it but who knows for sure. The 7 or 8 pits on the Anode i'm sure are representative of the very few times it's been started. That goes along with the overall new condition of the light. I know the factory tests each and every lamp for a little over an hour and maybe it takes a couple "hits" to get it fired up. The manual says that the manufacturer states that lamp life under ideal conditions is 1,000 hours. "Ideal" means each start and run cycle is 1 hour in duration. They want a minimum of a 20 minute run to repair the damage done during each startup. They realize this is not always possible so they recommend that operators routinely set aside an hour of non in-use run time to repair the damage. Maybe the spark plug is some sort of circuit "discharger" used at the end of the ignition strike? It's connected by only a #18 or so AWG wire and as I stated, not in the lamp power circuit. The wire comes from 3 paralleled small caps. It just doesn't look like something "in-play" when the light is running.

I'm doing things too fast! I've done everything I can do on the light and junction box, including using my favorite Honda Spray Polish to polish all the light and junction box surfaces, interior and exterior. I tested the fan and focus motor and they work fine. Fan draws 1.4 Amps at 28.0 Volts. So now it's "waiting for parts" time. But I sure am having fun!!

I really want to take it to the range when I'm done but that will be a chore. I have a 4.0KW (continuous) AC generator that MAY provide enough 240 VAC power to the Lorain 28V/ 100 Amp Rectifier since the lights' max draw is 85 Amps. But it's maybe too close for me to try. And then I'd have to man-handle the heavy generator and Rectifier into the SUV. Then actually power the light on and risk drawing unwanted attention, like what happened back in Burbank. Oh, the stress of it all!

Realized I had no "complete light" pic so added.


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## BVH (Jul 16, 2013)

Off to the dentist tomorrow. It just happens to be located about 12 miles from Spectrolab.  There's a good chance I'll come home with a Demonstrator Control Box, front glass window, new enhanced reflector (20% increase in output) and Maint. & Troubleshooting manual. My contact already sent me a wiring schematic which helped out a lot. The NGK spark plug is in use during normal operation according to the schematic if I'm reading it correctly.

Lamp being shipped tomorrow from a different source. Now just need the 5-conductor Amphenol connector.


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## Norm (Jul 16, 2013)

BVH said:


> Off to the dentist tomorrow. It just happens to be located about 12 miles from Spectrolab.



Good luck with that, it's always good to see a fellow member find their Holy Grail :grouphug:

Norm


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## Taschenlampe Dude (Jul 17, 2013)

That looks a great find!

The mention of the vibrator brought back memories of the electromechanical devices I saw used in vintage vacuum tube powered two-way radios which were designed for mobile use. The radios were usually powered by a vehicle battery of some sort. The vibrator would change the input DC voltage into AC which would then go into the primary winding of a step-up transformer and come out the secondary winding at a sufficient voltage to power the vacuum tubes after being rectified and filtered. Although considered mobile radios, these were both huge and heavy and were often mounted in the trunk of the vehicle with a remote control head in the passenger compartment and power cables running to the battery which looked like welding cables. Quite different from todays solid state, low voltage devices.

I'm looking forward to following your progress on this most interesting project.


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## Walterk (Jul 17, 2013)

BVH said:


> It just happens to be located about 12 miles from Spectrolab.


Sounds more like well organized then coincidence :laughing:


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## Echo63 (Jul 17, 2013)

Looks like a cool light, I can't wait to see beamshots when it's fired up

(I also love looking at the insides of these lights, but have no idea what does what, and if I opened one, would probably electrocute myself)


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## BVH (Jul 17, 2013)

I was such a good boy at the dentist today that mommy let me pick out some toys from the dentists' toy chest.


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## KuanR (Jul 17, 2013)

Wow! That's a great score, with that your light is almost complete. Is the control box functional right now?


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## BVH (Jul 17, 2013)

Yes, the control box pictured above is fully functional. I just ordered the 4th quick connect Amphenol mating connector to mount on the Junction Box so the entire control box and cable can be quickly removed. That is something I had not planned on. It was going to be permanently hard-wired. This is much nicer. For now anyway, I won't be using the 8-way joystick switch on the controller because I don't have the gimbal ***'y and the only one I've seen on Ebay is listed at $3,500 give or take. However, I've made an offer based on the fact that that particular gimbal can no longer be legally used an any aircraft installation because of an FAA related/manufacturer governed finite life of 10 years. It is well over 10 years old.


Currently, the focus mechanism is a DC gear reduction motor driven cam. The cam pushes against the silver button mounted on the black, 3-pointed spider shown in the pic above. This, in turn, pushes and releases the reflector mount forward and backward (under spring tension) So when the button is pushed, it simply turns the motor only one direction - continually moving the reflector forward to rearward to forward. Right now, if you carefully focus down to the smallest hotspot and accidentally go too far, you have to go all the way around with the motor and cam again. You can’t just “bump it back and forth” like a Maxabeam. I’m going to modify the control box by swapping out the momentary push-button switch with a reversing polarity switch. However, the cooling fan and focus motor on the back cover of the light share a common ground so in it's current configuration, I cannot reverse polarity up in the controller without reversing polarity to the cooling fan at the same time. That would not be good! So I need to buy new Amphenol main light cable connectors to add a 6th conductor and run a separate ground to the focus motor. It's hard to believe it was ever designed in it's original configuration. Imagine trying to focus on your target up in the helicopter and going to far and then having to wait while the cam goes all the way around again. They have since changed it to the system that I am going to. (I've verified with the engineers that the focus motor is capable of being driven both directions)

I found out the the NGK spark plug is actually the "Spark Gap" in the ignition circuit.

For the electronic guru....Are the little "disk" shaped components that tie across all the power input cables where they enter the light, capacitors? And if so what is their purpose. It seems strange to have a component that appears to be "shorting" positive power to negative power. Although I know that that is not happening. I see this happening in all of my power supplies. Look at the orange disks in the 3rd from the bottom pic.

Oh, forgot to say that Taschenlampe is correct in the post above on the Vibrator. It converts 28VDC into 48VAC Square Wave, 60 Htz which is then converted to somewhere around 25KV for the strike.


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## BVH (Jul 17, 2013)

Again, for the electrical gurus out there. This has been touched upon in my ARC RCL600 marine searchlight thread. In relation to modifying the control box as mentioned in my above post, Not only do I want a 28V Reversing switch but it would be fantastic to find one that would provide variable increasing Voltage in both directions so that I could run the motor slower by moving the switch less. Getlit came up with this Hall Effect switch which in theory performs the functions I want but it's Voltage capacity is maxed out at 5V and it's a Hall Effect switch.

http://www.ottoexcellence.com/products/htwm-hall-effect-mini-proportional-output-thumbwheel/

Does anyone know of such a control that would have Proportional control, 28VDC capacity and be small enough to install in something like a 1 1/2" x 3/4" give or take, hole? Could be round, too. Ideally it would be polarity reversing and proportionally momentary - off -proportionally momentary in function.


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## FRITZHID (Jul 18, 2013)

Great find bob! Congrats!
As for the lil orange caps, I don't have a schematic but I'd guess they are high voltage excitation caps, these are often found in gas lasers and store up a high voltage charge for a very short burst to excite the initial burst needed to ionize the spark gap (you will also find these in bug zappers!)

In reguards to variable momentary/off/variable momentary switch issue, I find it unlikely that you'll find anything that's not going to be solid state, (i.e. Simple potentiometer design). Something in the order of a multi-FET unit wouldn't be hard to design however.

Again, congrats on your new toy! Its a great one to add to your collection!


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## BVH (Jul 18, 2013)

Forgot to mention that I bought the enhanced reflector which provides a 20% increase in output over the stock reflector due to it's superior coating. I won't install it until I have the entire system up and running reliably and some time on the new lamp.


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## FRITZHID (Jul 18, 2013)

Bvh, I sent you a txt regarding your switch issue


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## BVH (Jul 20, 2013)

BVH said:


> For the electronic guru....Are the little "disk" shaped components that tie across all the power input cables where they enter the light, capacitors? And if so what is their purpose. It seems strange to have a component that appears to be "shorting" positive power to negative power. Although I know that that is not happening. I see this happening in all of my power supplies. Look at the orange disks in the 3rd from the bottom pic.



To answer my own question...The maintenance and troubleshooting manual is quite extensive and quite detailed, including troubleshooting sections on all the booster and ignition components. To paraphrase the manual on Caps C11, C12 and C13 (the little orange ceramic disk capacitors that are installed across many of the input connector cables) These ceramic disk caps are CRITICAL to searchlight starting. They act as an RF shunt and complete the RF circuit between the lamp and high-voltage transformer. If any of these has failed, the lamp will not start.

It is very surprising to find that such small parts simply installed across the + and - input cables are essential to starting the lamp.


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## Diesel47 (Jul 21, 2013)

That looks like a huge light. What is it used for? Lighting up the moon?


Any idea how many lumens?


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## BVH (Jul 21, 2013)

I don't find a published figure on Lumens but assuming 30 Lumens per Watt, it would be in the neighborhood of 48,000 but could be as much as 40 Lumens per Watt for 64,000 Lumens. Here's some other specs:

Lamp Type: 1600 Watt Short Arc Xenon

Peak Beam Intensity: 30-40 Million candlepower *** increase by 20% (?) due to enhanced reflector

Beam Width: 4-20°(remote control focus)

Typical Range: 3200 ft (1km) *** increase by 20% (?) due to enhanced reflector

Useful Range For Target ID: 1 Mile (1.6km) *** increase by 20% (?) due to enhanced reflector

Peak Illuminance @ 1km: 32 Lux (2.9 ft-cd) *** increase by 20% (?) due to enhanced reflector

Diameter at 10% of Peak Illuminance: 230 ft (70m) @ .6m (1km)


I have no practical use for using it but its fun just acquiring it and getting it working.


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 22, 2013)

BVH said:


> I have no practical use for using it but its fun just acquiring it and getting it working.



The final part you need in your quest is a helicopter. :laughing:


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## BVH (Jul 22, 2013)

Lux, you've got that right! I have a fixed wing license but not a rotor wing ticket - oh well!

Finally decided to take the light chassis out of the can to be sure to get all the glass fragments out and to inspect all the ignitor components, ensuring nothing is burned up. As I expected, everything looks new or super low time.


The back end of the chassis





The Front End. The reflector has 3 1/4" rods attached to it back that go thru the white bushings. Right and Left magnets for manipulating the arc.





The Ignitor PC Board





Side and other misc views of transformers


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## Echo63 (Jul 23, 2013)

Diesel47 said:


> That looks like a huge light. What is it used for? Lighting up the moon?
> 
> 
> Any idea how many lumens?


Somewhere between 45 and 65 thousand lumens - it depends on the efficiency of the unit (how many lumens per watt)
Its not like you can just measure one in an integrating sphere - the guys who fly the helicopter in the picture below reckon it will melt tarmac at 100 feet (probably not true, but it will be producing a lot of heat still)

they are typically found hanging on the side of helicopters

one of our local police helicopters has a nitesun like this
the other has a trakkalight (i think - its been a while since i went for a flight in it, and spoke to the crew)

Heres the older Police Helicopter with the Nitesun (Polair61)


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## BVH (Jul 26, 2013)

Little bits of work accomplished as parts are received.

Converted normally hardwired Control box connection to a Quick Connect Amphenol system. 






Getting harder as I get older to do soldering like this. 10, tightly clustered #20 AWG pin connections on the fitting at left. Then applied shrink tube.






New, higher capacity CAP - a production change after my production date. Helps hot re-starts


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## Taschenlampe Dude (Jul 26, 2013)

That makes for a very nice, clean installation between the Amphenol jack and the terminal strip. It looks stock!


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## BVH (Jul 26, 2013)

That was and always is my goal on these military and military-like lights - to do as much as I can to make it look stock. Here, I'm finally getting around to load testing my Lorain Rectifier at an amount equal, + or -, to the NS load. That's 3 ea., Q4559x 28V/22A landing lights. Load on the meter shows 62A and on my clamp meter, 67A. At the recommendation of the NS manual, I bought some clip-on, flip-up #3 welding/braising glasses.

Camera is stopped way down to avoid blindness


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 29, 2013)

I think I see the concrete floor melting!

Great work on that terminal strip, and the amp connector looks like it belongs very well!

Next step: rewind transformer to run on 110 mains? heh heh.

So, how much did it cost you to run 3ph power into your garage? Nevermind, don't answer that, I don't want to know >.<

Always enjoy watching your progress as you restore life into old lumen cannons!


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## BVH (Jul 29, 2013)

Thats one of the great features of the inexpensive Lorains - the 22-29 Volt, 100 Amp model runs on 240 VAC single phase. Max input is 21 Amps @ 240 VAC.


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## ma_sha1 (Jul 29, 2013)

Wow, just wow,

to the man who'd got everything. Congratulations!


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## Timothybil (Jul 30, 2013)

Just to clarify, what a vibrator is is basically a solenoid reed switch, wired so that energizing the coil removes power from the coil as the NC contact is opened. This re-energizes the coil - rinse, repeat - at a reasonable frequency. Hence the name 'vibrator'. The input voltage is also connected to the NO contact such that while the coil is energized the voltage appears at the output of the vibrator, in the form of a DC square wave. This square wave is sufficient to energize a regular transformer (with a really big iron core to handle the square wave) and produce the required higher voltage at the output of the transformer. This is then smoothed, usually by a large power capacitor. At no time is there any AC voltage present, since the current flow never reverses. The DC square wave produced by the making and breaking of the vibrator contacts is sufficient to cause the varying magnetic flux in the transformer necessary to produce a higher voltage output. In effect, an electro-mechanical reasonably stable oscillator. My understanding is that if the unit was operating while the case was open, the buzz was quite annoying.

Don't mind me, I'm just an old coot with a lot of weird esoterica floating around inside my brain. Have fun play//// experimenting with your new equipment.


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## mattheww50 (Jul 30, 2013)

NO DC power on the input side, however the output of the transformer will be AC (rather ugly looking in fact) even if fed by a DC square wave in the primary. Output of the transformer is directly proportional the rate of change of current flow through the primary. You get positive voltage when the rate of change is positive (switch in vibrator closes), and negative voltage when the rate of change is negative (switch in Vibrartor opens). So you need a rectifer in addition to the Capacitor bank. There is often a fairly nasty voltage kick on the switch when opens up the lead to the transformer. This often leads to short life on the Vibrator as the contact is slowly vaporized. The bad news is vibrator supplies are very electrically noisy from the make and break contact in the vibrator. And the Buzz tended to be annoying anytime the vehicle was stopped and/or the volume was low.


BTW, if you need more power, you use something called a Dynamotor, which is basically a DC motor and a DC or AC generator (often with multiple windings) on the same shaft. These were commonly used on Aircraft until the 1950's to convert 24VDC to 300-500 volts required for the vacuum tube equipment. I don't think I have seen a Dynamotor in use for 40+ years).


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## Timothybil (Jul 31, 2013)

I stand corrected. There is a very good description with diagrams of the internals of a vibrator and how it works here http://radioremembered.org/vpwrsup.htm.

The Dynamotor was also known as a motor-gen set, with a motor running at available voltage, current, and frequency and driving a generator whose output was the desired voltage & frequency. Until the advent of switching power supplies almost any mainframe computer room had one for converting the 60-cycle AC available to usually 400-cycle, mainly because one could then use smaller transformers and rectifiers in the power supplies. Larger versions are also still in use in areas, mainly farms, where three phase power is needed but is not available from the local utility. A large single phase AC motor will drive a three phase generator to drive the load.


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## BVH (Jul 31, 2013)

In the manual it indicates that the vibrator output is 48 VAC square wave @ 60 htz


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## joshster (Aug 4, 2013)

Wow amazing post. Thanks now I see what is meant by a "Spotlight"!

Definitely a little embarrassed with my first post regarding a black and decker $20 light LOL


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## BVH (Aug 15, 2013)

An update. I’ve installed the new “used” lamp, bonded the new front window to the bezel and finished making a new cable from the junction box to the lights’ connector. This is usually a 5-conductor but I added two extra 16 awg wires that exits in a small loom right before the connector. The purpose of this will be to provide the additional wire I need to upgrade the lights’ current single direction focusing system to bi-directional. Member FritzHID has graciously made me a small multi-relay board that will switch polarity to the focus motor on demand from the new OEM thumb focus switch I purchased from Spectrolab and will install in the control box. I couldn’t simply use a reverse polarity rocker switch because I need to supply a ground signal to the hot side of the motor when it is not running to prevent motor coasting and drifting when not in use. However, this task will be done once I fire up the light for the first time to verify that everything actually works. I’m also not going to install the new higher performing reflector until the light has proven itself.

Fritz also did some #6 awg cable soldering for me on the quick-connect Amphenol power connectors to the junction box I am installing. The #4 awg pins are not removable from the rubber insulator and only about 1/8” of the pins’ solder cup was expose above the rubber. I don’t have the equipment necessary to do the job within these constraints. The connectors and relay board arrive this afternoon in the post. Once the quick connector is installed and wired in, I’m ready to do final circuit tracing and confirmation and then apply power. It’s kinda scary doing this for the first time. I have no idea if the electronics in the junction box and the ignition components in the light actually work. 

For focusing adjustments, they provide two methods in the manual – a short-distance (10 meters) and an optimal distance (100 meters). Since I don’t live on acreage, the 10 meter will have to do. In this case, they recommend shining the beam on a completely non-combustible, flat surface capable of withstanding 500F temperatures and painting it black. I purchased my flip-down #3 welders shades so I don’t incur eye damage. I’m actually still trying to figure out how I can even do the 10-meter test. I need a 2 meter flat metal surface, I need 33’ of distance from the light and 240 VAC power supply and I really DON’T need to attract any attention.


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## FRITZHID (Aug 15, 2013)




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## RoBeacon (Aug 15, 2013)

I can't even fathom how much light comes out of the beast. I bet it pours out like water from a fire hose!


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## BVH (Aug 15, 2013)

Junction box wiring is all done. Per the Spectrolab manual and with the light not connected, I conducted a junction box booster circuit test and when the momentary start toggle switch is flipped, the specified boosted 48 Volts DC is sent down the positive power cable to the ignition circuit so I would speculate that the junction box is A-OK.


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## BVH (Aug 16, 2013)

Fire in the hole!



According to two ammeter sources, power draw is between 60 Amps (meter on the Lorain PS) and 64 Amps (Estech clamp-on meter on 400 Amp scale). The cooling fan consumes 1.4 Amps in that total. So let's be conservative and say the light minus fan is pulling 58.5 Amps @ 27.5 Volts so total power consumption of the lamp is around 1608 Watts which is right on the 1600 Watt money.

The Anode glowed brightly for about 1.5 minutes and glowed pale orange at the 2-minute mark after shut-down


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## FRITZHID (Aug 16, 2013)

Very Nice Bob! Can't wait til you bring it outdoors!


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## London Lad (Aug 16, 2013)

Well done !


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## BVH (Aug 16, 2013)

Interesting night. At 9:15, I had set everything up and darkened the garage. I was about 2 minutes from fire-up when a car comes rapidly up the street. I'm in a Cul-de-Sac and it made a 270 in the circle and parked in front of the neighbors. Windows open, radio a little loud and some loud chatter. A couple minutes later, about a dozen kids approach from another street and make their way to the car. Loud chatter, laughing and music. About 5 minutes later, the car speeds away and the kids leave. I give it 10 minutes to ensure the coast is clear. As I get ready to fire-up, the cat shows up and proceeds to sit nearly in front of the light. I don't know the pattern of the beam yet and I don't want to blind her so I have to go chase her away. OK, now I'm finally going to light it up. Camera on and lined up. Hit the toggle and in 4 seconds, it lights up. Quickly run the focus motor till I get as tight a beam as I can in a hurry. I then take 5 shots with different exposures. What's this?? Here comes the speeding car. I kill the light. Shortly thereafter, about 30 kids approach. Interestingly enough, not a one says anything or approaches me. I hang around in the darkened garage with only my Stanley LED on and in about 5 minutes they all take off again. I shut down everything and closed up the garage and went in. About 10 minutes later, my wife notices a leo car drive by twice. I go out but miss him. I stand around for a few minutes and he comes back. He parks in front of another neighbor and I approach him. The neighbor is the one who called and she comes out too. We both explain what we saw. Thinking I might get some feedback, I mentioned that I'm a searchlight hobbiest and what I had been doing with my light. Thought I might get a feel from him if there was anything wrong with doing that. Not one word on the subject from him. It's always interesting when I attempt to use my Heavy Iron - remembering my Burbank episode - when I was the one in the NightSun spot. How ironic that I'm the one with the NightSun controls now.

Representative brightness of the spot on the clouds I saw











Representative of the brightness of the beam power I saw










Representative of dimmer than what I saw.


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## edgar (Aug 17, 2013)

Really nice , where is the spot , on the cloud ? its so bright .


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## BVH (Aug 17, 2013)

Yes, on a cloud layer probably 700 to 1000 feet above ground level.


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## ShortArc (Aug 17, 2013)

Congratulations!!! What a light.


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## Norm (Aug 17, 2013)

Amazing beam shots :kewlpics: :goodjob:

Norm


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## BVH (Aug 17, 2013)

Norm said:


> Amazing beam shots :kewlpics: :goodjob:
> 
> Norm



I really want to get it to the range but the logistics are a tough nut to crack. To see how it really works, the spot needs to be on something and the distance known. My 900 Yard tree would be perfect but I need a 5KV or larger gen set with 240 VAC plus the lorain and the light pkg all packed into a vehicle. I have a 4.5KW that is 4.0 continuous but that is so near the minimum and I don't want to risk ruining the electronics for lack of power. So I'd have to find or rent one which I can't lift so someone would have to help. And then the biggie, for me anyway. I am concerned about all the attention it will draw and I'm not 100% sure it would be legal to use even at the range which is all private property. With 911 in everyone's mind, things like lighting this off can send a scare through people. That draws Police calls etc, etc. Ironic I get the light I've always wanted but am afraid to use it. But I'm still ecstatic with my acquisition just as I am with my VSS-3 and other high power lights. Just knowing I have them is pleasing.


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## get-lit (Aug 18, 2013)

Congratulations once again! You scored big with this one. I see the mini flood as expected with the medium 1.3" FL reflector. Do you recall your impression of it relative to your beam shots?


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## BVH (Aug 18, 2013)

Unfortunately, with all the "activity" going on, I fired it up, stood behind at the camera, took the shots and then shut it down as I saw the mob returning. I never got a chance to walk out to the side and view the beam. It was a very moist night too so it probably would have looked different than on a dry night.


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## get-lit (Aug 18, 2013)

How thick was the lens?


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## BVH (Aug 18, 2013)

1/4" Pyrex


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## Bimmerboy (Aug 19, 2013)

Another great thread, BVH. I've enjoyed many of yours over the years, and am looking forward to more on this one. Thanks for sharing the fun!


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## BVH (Aug 19, 2013)

As long as I can find new and different Short Arcs, then more threads to come. I'm still enjoying this hobby as much as I did 9 years ago when I joined.


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## larryk (Aug 19, 2013)

Congratulations Bob, what a great light. How about mounting it on a small trailer ?


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## Lips (Aug 21, 2013)

Beamshots! Beamshots! If the cops show up just tell them they are smoking thc around the corner. Wait that wont work your in Cali. Tell them you saw a flying saucer headed to San Fran and your trying to put a spot on it. :tinfoil: Your close to the water maybe a light house station!

Thing sounds like a wet-vac cranking up! How is the output compared to your other helicopter light you have?


Thanks for sharing your work and endeavors, really enjoy the stories and detail...


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## BVH (Aug 21, 2013)

Fired up the TrakkaBeam tonight and walked 250 feet down the street. Beam intensity dropped off more than I thought. Gives me some inspiration and courage to get some better pics over the next couple of nights. Heck, might even break out the VSS-3a a few nights after to get similar shots.


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## Dave D (Aug 24, 2013)

Take care where you are pointing that thing! 

In the UK it is now an offence to shine a light at an aircraft that is likely to dazzle or distract the pilot, no intention has to be proved.

I am always very cautious when illuminating our NitetSun when operating anywhere near an airport or the approach/departure paths, because before we switch it on we don't have any indication where it is pointing. For us the safest SOP is to link it to the thermal image camera and then fire it up.

Now you just need to save up for the Chopper to mount it on! :thumbsup:


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## BVH (Aug 24, 2013)

I have a private pilots license so like to think that I am ultra cautious when illuminating my "heavy iron". I can see the issue from both sides, so to speak. I used to operate my 60", 800,000,000 CP carbon arc about 2 miles from the approach end of runway 9 at Burbank CA airport. I was on a main street that parallels the centerline of the runway. Needless to say, during peak times, there were "heavys and lights" alike, every 2 or 3 minutes. My practice was to stop the rotation of the light and point it 90 degrees perpendicular to their path long before there was any chance of lighting them up. That was a lot of work to do in a 3-hour gig.


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## Dave D (Aug 25, 2013)

BVH said:


> I have a private pilots license so like to think that I am ultra cautious when illuminating my "heavy iron". I can see the issue from both sides, so to speak. I used to operate my 60", 800,000,000 CP carbon arc about 2 miles from the approach end of runway 9 at Burbank CA airport. I was on a main street that parallels the centerline of the runway. Needless to say, during peak times, there were "heavys and lights" alike, every 2 or 3 minutes. My practice was to stop the rotation of the light and point it 90 degrees perpendicular to their path long before there was any chance of lighting them up. That was a lot of work to do in a 3-hour gig.



I'm glad that you are aviation aware, such hardware in irresponsible or naive hands could cause a lot of problems. 

Fortunately I've never been on the receiving end of a Nitesun. However we are being targeted with green lasers on a regular basis, fortunately with the kit fitted to the aircraft we have a good success rate of catching the offenders.

I used our Nitesun on Friday evening illuminating the scene of a drowning whilst the Fire crews were in the water trying to locate the body. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful and the recovery was completed the following morning by a Police underwater search team.


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## BVH (Aug 25, 2013)

What model of NS are you using? Do you typically operate at 500' AGL? Where do you find yourself in the focus range of 4 to 20 degrees on average? Would you have a use for their "E" model that focuses down to 1 degree? Does the light have the older push button focus switch where if you focus down too narrow and want to go back to flood, you have to go all the way around again or is your light newer with the bi directional thumb switch? I'm just trying to get an idea of how the light is typically used. Do you occasionally perform the recommended 20 minute continuous run for lamp maintenance if you use it alot for short periods?


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## Dave D (Aug 25, 2013)

BVH said:


> What model of NS are you using? Do you typically operate at 500' AGL? Where do you find yourself in the focus range of 4 to 20 degrees on average? Would you have a use for their "E" model that focuses down to 1 degree? Does the light have the older push button focus switch where if you focus down too narrow and want to go back to flood, you have to go all the way around again or is your light newer with the bi directional thumb switch? I'm just trying to get an idea of how the light is typically used. Do you occasionally perform the recommended 20 minute continuous run for lamp maintenance if you use it alot for short periods?



Wow, loads of questions there. You're technical knowledge is probably far greater that mine as I'm just an operator! 

We have the Nitesun XP, I've been using one on various airframes for nearly 10 years now, 3 weeks left until I retire after 30 years as a LEO.

We usually operate on scene at between 700 and 1000', although when we were illuminating the river we dropped down to about 400' to give the Fire crews the maximum light to try and penetrate the water. The lamp is automatically extinguished if we go below 300'.

The newer type controller has a toggle switch for narrowing or widening the beam and we can go either way at any point, there is a thumb controlled switch for moving the lamp. 

As far as the 20 minutes run time goes it's fairly rare for us to use the Nitesun for more that 5 or 10 minutes at any one time, it's not a particularly good search tool and the TI camera is far more efficient. I did use it for 45 minutes on Friday night at the drowning but it's rarely used for that length of time. If crud starts to build up on the element then our engineer will put the aircraft on ground power and put it on for the 20 minutes to burn the crud off. It's certainly not done on a regular basis, only as required.

If you want any photographs of our system, I'm back on duty on Wednesday, pm me your email address and I'll send you whatever pictures you want.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...er-the-past-30-years&highlight=British+Police


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## BVH (Aug 25, 2013)

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! Are you going to miss the frequent flying? Theres nothing like being in the air in a small craft.


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## Dave D (Aug 25, 2013)

BVH said:


> Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! Are you going to miss the frequent flying? Theres nothing like being in the air in a small craft.



Thanks for that, in all honesty I've reached the point that I'm looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life. The British Police Service is facing 25% cuts in finances and since 1st October 2012 we have lost a 3rd of the Police helicopters in the UK. I was lucky to continue flying since then as the aircraft that I was on was one of those that was cut, I've been commuting 90 miles a day on my motorcycle in order to continue flying so I'm glad that is coming to an end. I was lucky to have had 9 years when Air Support was at its best.

Below is my 'Top Gun' moment.


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## badtziscool (Dec 15, 2013)

I just read your battery pack thread for the nightsun so I decided to revisit this thread and read through it. VERY interesting read. It was amazing how it all came together.


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## Hallis (Dec 17, 2013)

badtziscool said:


> I just read your battery pack thread for the nightsun so I decided to revisit this thread and read through it. VERY interesting read. It was amazing how it all came together.



That's exactly why i'm in here too. Man I can't imagine even being in the presence of something like this or one of those WWII Carbon arcs. Suddenly my LED's and Hotwires are not as impressive. But I don't have the budget to run with the big boys. Most i've ever had was a good ol Costco HID. Really wish I still had it. 

Bob. That thing is amazing!


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## BVH (Dec 18, 2013)

I've wanted to have the ability to run the NS away from populated areas without the noise of a generator and with components I can easily lift and transport by myself. Heaviest component are the battery cases at 38 lbs each. Testing with a 63 Amp load plus initial starting loads indicates I'll get 67 minutes of run time down to a battery pack Voltage of 27.9. Here's the result.

More details here:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...htSun-on-Battery-Power-Soon-Testing-completed


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## Dave D (Dec 18, 2013)

Bob, you are one serious flashaholic, maybe even the King of flasaholics!!!

Well done :thumbsup:


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## BVH (Dec 18, 2013)

Thanks Dave. Really happy with the completed project and the test run.


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## Patriot (Dec 30, 2013)

I missed this video before so thanks for steering me to it Bob. That's certainly some nice flat voltage you've got going there. Looks like you've got some cells that are really up to the task. What a piece of hardware!


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## 1SICKLT1TA (Jan 6, 2014)

wonder what a package like this could be had for working or non?


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## BVH (Jan 6, 2014)

They're fairly rare used. I recently saw the little brother, a used, working 500 Watt Starburst system (all necessary components incl. gimbal) for sale at an aviation repair facility shop for about $16,000.


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## UNiT5 (Jan 7, 2014)

BVH said:


> They're fairly rare used. I recently saw the little brother, a used, working 500 Watt Starburst system (all necessary components incl. gimbal) for sale at an aviation repair facility shop for about $16,000.



bargain


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## BVH (Feb 27, 2014)

Little brother on the way..... well a portion of it anyway.


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## Mr. Tone (Feb 27, 2014)

That video really helps me to get a grip on the size and scale of this light and your batteries. This looks like a pretty EDC-able setup


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## BVH (Feb 27, 2014)

The worst part for my back are the two Pelican cases with batts. About 38 lbs IIRC. Still, all-in-all, very EDC'able. The light head itself is remarkably light at just under 26 lbs. When lifting it, it seems much lighter probably because of it's large size versus relative lightness. The little brother SX-5 is really a tiny light. I could almost put a handle on it and it would be less bulky than the Megaray, even much more manageable than a Costco HID or Thor. But it's still tethered to the junction box and then the battery supply.

I really need to find a good test range with 1 mile and less distance shots and no one around. I have the 1600 Watt NightSun, 800 Watt Trakkabeam, I will shortly have my Viet Nam era Huey M-134 Minigun 600 Watt operational, and hopefully soon, the Spectorlab SX-5. That will make for a very fun beam shot comparison. No NightSword though - to blow them all away.


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## Lampbeam (Feb 27, 2014)

BVH, you are a wildman or woman. But are you sure 40,000,000 candle power will be enough?


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## BVH (Feb 27, 2014)

Lampbeam said:


> BVH, you are a wildman or woman. But are you sure 40,000,000 candle power will be enough?



No, that's why I just had to have an 800,000,000 candle power Carbon Arc - just to see what it's like. Problem is.....everything else now pales in comparison - even the NightSun, the VSS-1 and VSS-3a. But I've learned to live with it. (Male by the way)


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## get-lit (Feb 27, 2014)

I had been thinking of making a smaller, more affordable 300W P-VIP based light for my next project. But for a while now that carbon arc's had me thinking of going bigger instead of smaller with the next project. I have an idea for a portable light, something you can fit in the car trunk, that opens up to a massive high powered mega light. Not something you could carry around while in use, but something you could easily carry around while not in use.


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## BVH (Feb 27, 2014)

get-lit said:


> I had been thinking of making a smaller, more affordable 300W P-VIP based light for my next project. But for a while now that carbon arc's had me thinking of going bigger instead of smaller with the next project. I have an idea for a portable light, something you can fit in the car trunk, that opens up to a massive high powered mega light. Not something you could carry around while in use, but something you could easily carry around while not in use.



Vehicle transportable! I can relate to that. I'm in!

Although the small P-VIP sounds like a lot of fun, too.


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## get-lit (Feb 28, 2014)

Did some calculations... could hit 2,750 MCP (2.75 Billion CP) and 11,16,064 NL (net luminance or beam power) with the same lamp I'm using for the Nightsword with a lightweight expandable 6 foot reflector. Probably could weigh under 30 lbs total and have the beam power of around 30 Nightswords, the candlepower of 3.4 carbon arcs, maybe not the beam power of a carbon arc.

Or if you don't mind being tethered to 3-phase power, my all time favorite lamp could be used, the Xstage 7000W super short arc Xenon lamp, to get 3,500 MCP (3.5 Billion CP) and 6,031,536 NL. That would be the beam power of around 165 Nightswords, and the candlepower of 4.4 carbon arcs and with much more beam power as well.

The Quasar Project!


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## MRsDNF (Feb 28, 2014)

I take my hat of to you BVH. I've just read your thread start to finish. What an amazing story that is still continuing. All the best for the future.


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## BVH (Feb 28, 2014)

get-lit said:


> Did some calculations... could hit 2,750 MCP (2.75 Billion CP) and 11,16,064 NL (net luminance or beam power) with the same lamp I'm using for the Nightsword with a lightweight expandable 6 foot reflector. Probably could weigh under 30 lbs total and have the beam power of around 30 Nightswords, the candlepower of 3.4 carbon arcs, maybe not the beam power of a carbon arc.
> 
> Or if you don't mind being tethered to 3-phase power, my all time favorite lamp could be used, the Xstage 7000W super short arc Xenon lamp, to get 3,500 MCP (3.5 Billion CP) and 6,031,536 NL. That would be the beam power of around 165 Nightswords, and the candlepower of 4.4 carbon arcs and with much more beam power as well.
> 
> The Quasar Project!



WOW Get-iit. Those are some amazing numbers. The three Phase power and the genny to produce it are probably a killer for me with my back and no one to share my passion and to help lift the items. What are the cold and hot pressures inside the 7KW lamp?

MrsDNF, I frequently ask myself why I'm still interested (a giant understatement) in HID/Short Arc searchlights. All my life, I've dabbled in hobbies and interests only to lose interest in a couple of years. It's going on 10 years now since I joined CPF. There's just something magic and addicting about this hobby and the jolt of excitement that goes through me when I find a new military or aviation searchlight is indescribable. The anticipation of the NightSword is barely containable! I'm still on the hunt for a couple others I'm aware of but have not seen.


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## Mr. Tone (Feb 28, 2014)

get-lit said:


> Did some calculations... could hit 2,750 MCP (2.75 Billion CP) and 11,16,064 NL (net luminance or beam power) with the same lamp I'm using for the Nightsword with a lightweight expandable 6 foot reflector. Probably could weigh under 30 lbs total and have the beam power of around 30 Nightswords, the candlepower of 3.4 carbon arcs, maybe not the beam power of a carbon arc.
> 
> Or if you don't mind being tethered to 3-phase power, my all time favorite lamp could be used, the Xstage 7000W super short arc Xenon lamp, to get 3,500 MCP (3.5 Billion CP) and 6,031,536 NL. That would be the beam power of around 165 Nightswords, and the candlepower of 4.4 carbon arcs and with much more beam power as well.
> 
> The Quasar Project!



That really would blast the moon, maybe you could get a grant to create such a beast. The purpose of your light would be to act as a camera flash for the Hubble space telescope!


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## Onestep (Feb 28, 2014)

get-lit said:


> Did some calculations... could hit 2,750 MCP (2.75 Billion CP) and 11,16,064 NL (net luminance or beam power) with the same lamp I'm using for the Nightsword with a lightweight expandable 6 foot reflector. Probably could weigh under 30 lbs total and have the beam power of around 30 Nightswords, the candlepower of 3.4 carbon arcs, maybe not the beam power of a carbon arc.
> 
> Or if you don't mind being tethered to 3-phase power, my all time favorite lamp could be used, the Xstage 7000W super short arc Xenon lamp, to get 3,500 MCP (3.5 Billion CP) and 6,031,536 NL. That would be the beam power of around 165 Nightswords, and the candlepower of 4.4 carbon arcs and with much more beam power as well.
> 
> The Quasar Project!



At what point do you just call it a laser?


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## Onestep (Feb 28, 2014)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNUeSUXOc-w



BVH said:


> WOW Get-iit. Those are some amazing numbers. The three Phase power and the genny to produce it are probably a killer for me with my back and no one to share my passion and to help lift the items.



BVH this could be the solution to your portability problems.


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## get-lit (Feb 28, 2014)

It would be as collimated as lasers, at 3.6 mrad. It would be mesmerizing seeing the beam start off 6' wide and appearing as small bright pinpoint in the clouds. If you were really going for that affect, the P-VIP type lamp could be used for 1 mrad, more candlepower but less net luminance (beam power). The beam diameter would widen by only 60% over 1 km.

This is something I'd look into further after the current project, and don't want to divert this thread any more.


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## BVH (Feb 28, 2014)

Well it's been rainy and very windy for the last day and a half so I finally decided to change out the OEM reflector in the NightSun with the new, Enhanced reflector I bought when I first got the light. I've been holding off until I had some time on the light to ensure that there are no issues with it that might blow a lamp and therefore the new $1K reflector. I had not seen the new reflectors' surface until today because of the way it's packaged. I was very surprised how much of a difference there is. Whereas before, I would have rated the OEM unit as a 90, I'd now rate it an 75 on the 100-scale. I never measured the output so I won't know what a difference it has made except that new vrs new, there's a 20% increase in output. The geometry is the same, just a better coating. So maybe a 35 to 40% increase over what it was actually putting out. Now, what to do with the nice heavy gauge old one....


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## Mr. Tone (Feb 28, 2014)

Are you guessing on the increase or did you actually take some measurements? Some pics of new vs. old reflector would be nice.


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## BVH (Feb 28, 2014)

No measurements were taken. Spectrolab rates the enhanced reflector at 20% more output that the standard unit. I'm just guessing the old one was losing 15 to 20% based on its' condition. Reflectors are difficult to get close-up of. I'll give it a try.

The new one is behind the glass window so I cannot duplicate the shot of the old one. But needless to say, there is no pitting what so ever.

Old









New


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## get-lit (Mar 1, 2014)

Ya most of the difference you're seeing has to be from degradation. I know the manufacturer of both those reflectors. When new, the original Rhodium was just as smooth as the Enhanced. But it's strange everything else on your unit seems to be in pristine condition.


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## MRsDNF (Mar 1, 2014)

The damage could of possibly come from the broken lens on delivery.


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## get-lit (Mar 1, 2014)

I'm thinking someone may have used a solvent on the lens


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## BVH (Mar 1, 2014)

Definitely the thin, long faint scratches came from the broken glass from the lens and the lamp. It's somewhat possible the pitting came as a result of the breakage of the lamp - although I would suspect that the lamp had leaked its' gasses because there's no real evidence of a catastrophic explosion. I think it's exactly as Get-lit says - age and maybe cleaning solution. No matter now, she's loaded with new ammo and ready to shoot! Get-lit, who is the mfg of the Spectrolab reflector?


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## Mr. Tone (Mar 1, 2014)

Nice pics, BVH. The new reflector is beautiful!


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## get-lit (Mar 1, 2014)

Optiforms Part#P33-02. Phoenix Electroformed was also involved at some point. I've received Rhodium reflectors from both companies and the surface is perfect just like in your last pic. Incidentally, I had several reflectors shipped out for an enhanced coating on the rhodium and they turned out somewhat like your first two pics.


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## BVH (Mar 1, 2014)

My 60" C.A. reflector was beginning to show some thinning of the Rhodium and the appearance was very similar to the "pitting" of this reflector. The substrate is brass or brass containing as the pits were a pretty golden color. Relative to other 60" mirrors, mine was an 85% or so. All-in-all, it was/is in the top 10% of the remaining inventory.

Talk about a hot spot on clouds. One rainy (off and on) evening when I first started renting myself out, I shone the spot on a low cloud - maybe 750' to 1,000" up and the spot was very sharp edged and looked very much like the full moon on a night with a very thin, ultra high cloud layer. It was very eerie. The roughness of the passing cloud even created the dark and light effects we normally see. On first glance, you would think it was the moon.

EDIT: That was fun, I just looked up the PDF for my -2 version. Since that is a stock product, I wonder if I could have them make one starting with a P33-02 mandrel and modifying the geometry to create a 2 degree max focus mandrel instead of the 4 degree. (I just emailed them asking) Get-lit, how else would that change performance throughout the focus/de-focus range? I know you don't get "something for nothing" so there's got to be a downside. Can you run such a model through your beam calculator?


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## get-lit (Mar 1, 2014)

BVH said:


> I wonder if I could have them make one starting with a P33-02 mandrel and modifying the geometry to create a 2 degree max focus mandrel instead of the 4 degree.



The mandrel does not determine the max focus. It's the combination of the reflector and light source that determines this. Doing this is not possible unless a lamp with a much smaller arc is used, or if the reflector is much larger.

If you want to cut the beam angle in half, the light source has to be exactly half the size, or the reflector has to be precisely double the size. So if you're using the same 1600W lamp, the reflector would need to have a 19.7" aperture and 2.6" focal length. This is not something you can modify a mandrel to produce. It would have to be an entirely different mandrel.



BVH said:


> Get-lit, how else would that change performance throughout the focus/de-focus range? I know you don't get "something for nothing" so there's got to be a downside. Can you run such a model through your beam calculator?



You would be increasing the etendue of the system, which inherently makes the flood hole larger. The bigger issue is that the reflector would need to have it's dimensions doubled.


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## FroggyTaco (Mar 1, 2014)

Hey Bob I have been watching your threads for a few years now. I just recently have been revisiting CPF on a more regular basis and I thought I would let you know that I live about 45 miles north of you. If you need help you could probably persuade me to help you! :thumbsup:

I think it could be very fun to see this kinda beam action in person.

Travis


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## get-lit (Mar 1, 2014)

BTW Bob, getting the reflector directly from Optiforms won't get you a fully working SX-16 replacement reflector. There's a plastic mount bonded to the reflector, probably done at Spectrolab.


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## BVH (Mar 1, 2014)

get-lit said:


> BTW Bob, getting the reflector directly from Optiforms won't get you a fully working SX-16 replacement reflector. There's a plastic mount bonded to the reflector, probably done at Spectrolab.



I considered that. On their refurbishment page, it mentions they have to remove these hubs when refurbishing and then they precision re-install them. I have the hub on the old reflector so I don't think that would have been an issue - it's held on with only red silicone but....guess I don't have a good grasp of reflector technology so the 2 degree beam is just a dream. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Guess I'll get an interesting email back from them!

Travis, thanks for the info that you're relatively close and can be called on for help. Can you think of any good rural, "isolated" target ranges with line of sight of a mile with shorter targets interspersed? Are you in Paso?


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## get-lit (Mar 1, 2014)

High temp RTV is used to bond the "hub" to the SX-16 reflector. I'm also curious to see how they reply to that one, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't get a response. I ended up having to call when I first inquired there years ago. They charge a lot for any custom work, one-offs, etc. They deal more in quantity, and make their reflectors in production runs. You get only what they happen to have in stock unless you're having them do a production run for you.


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## BVH (Mar 2, 2014)

I'd guess you're right in that I may not get a response. What I'm asking for sounds so ridiculous from a technical point of view they will possibly just blow me off. I'm a little embarrassed to have asked.


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## get-lit (Mar 2, 2014)

They probably don't have any information about how the reflector affects the SX-16 performance anyhow. They just manufacture it for Spectrolab. If anything, they're probably curious about you asking about that reflector for the SX-16. You're most likely the first.


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## BVH (Mar 20, 2014)

Latest addition. I bought the 40 lb. umbrella base. The bottom of the upright mounted to the umbrella base is 3" solid Aluminum round bar tapered down to 2.5" to match the heavy wall 2.5" upright Aluminum tubing and then a 2" long x 2.120 extension was turned to allow the two pieces to be press-fit together. At the top of the tube is another piece of 2.5" solid Aluminum round bar machined down to "bearing fit" 2" deep into the upright tube which gives me a firm resistance but smooth turning ability to move the light beam right and left. The yolk base is 3/4" x 2.5" Aluminum bar and the uprights are 3/8" x 2.5" Aluminum bar. I used a rotary table on the mill to round the ends of the arms. Putting the yolk together tested my machining abilities beyond what I have done so far. I had to machine the base to a length precisely wide enough to fit the light mounts including 4 fiber washers for elevation friction. Because the mill does not have enough vertical height for this operation, I had to turn my mill head horizontal to be able to drill and tap the base for arm attachment. These needed to be precise so that the arms did not "overhang" the base nor end up short of the bottom of the base surface. Bolt spacing had to be perfectly matching in two dimensions. These are normal operations for a machinist but it was my first time. I ended up no more than about .001 to .002" off on all the joints. I can barely feel a difference. I'm happy with the results. Beam centerline is at 56" above ground. So now the heaviest piece of my "portable" NightSun system is the 40 lb umbrella base.


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## FelmarCorp (Mar 21, 2014)

Quite the project you got going here, BVH :thumbsup:

Very impressive...and the new reflector looks great!


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## Mr. Tone (Mar 21, 2014)

I like that base. You could hire yourself out for hostage situations, like in Die Hard. The terrorists would have a harder time shooting out your NightSun than those huge Carbon-Arc sized spotlights!


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## BVH (Mar 22, 2014)

I made a new adapter to mount the baby NightSun on the stand using its' own electric, 2-axis gimbal.


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## Lips (Mar 23, 2014)

Love the pole, looks heavy duty.


I envisioned something like that which you could install in the bed of a pickup truck. Raise and lower (for travel) as needed. Where do I order


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## BVH (Mar 23, 2014)

There's a great metal supply place in North Hollywood that always has great remnants. I picked up a bunch of heavy wall aluminum tubing a couple years ago. Ranging in size from 1.25" OD with 1/2" ID to 3" OD with a wall thickness of 7/32 - not sure why it's an odd size, why not 1/4"? What you see is the 3" tubing. Some of the 2" and over tubes have 1/2" wall thicknesses.


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## Mr. Tone (Mar 24, 2014)

Now I see why you said you were machining all day in another thread. Nice work, that looks very heavy duty.


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## Onestep (Mar 24, 2014)

BVH now it looks like it is time to give the rest of the stand/pipe a nice knurled non-slip finish.


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## BVH (Mar 24, 2014)

I'm more of a "SemiChrome" man (best aluminum polish ever made). I used to polish my Aluminum carbs on all my motorcycles. Fingers were sore fore a few days.


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## hcso2332 (Sep 20, 2014)

Good read Bob. I have bought and sold a few SX-16s over the years and just picked up a Trakkabeam M800 as well. I am sure you saw one of my videos on You Tube. I still have a few more views on mine than yours but your catching me quick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdCOs66C-U

I am currently putting together another system and have a question on the Control bulkhead connector on the junction box. Did you wire your control bulkhead connector? My current junction box has the wires exiting from the box into a relay. I would like to install the bulkhead connector but don't have the wiring diagram for the connector.

Bob


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