# Hexaspherical



## Packhorse (Sep 23, 2009)

I am slowly catching up with some of my light design ideas.

This one has been inspired from my time out on the local Coastguard SAR boat. At present we are using 150mm 50-100watt halogen spotlights.

These are very disappointing to use for many reasons.

They have a fair amount of spill that falls back on the boat causing disruptions to the crews night vision.
They dont really throw.
They have a terrible colour.

At night when out I will take my modified WF502b that uses a R2 with an aspheric from Ahorton. While it does not quite match the output of the halogens it comes surprisingly close in usefulness. 

Anyway I had an aluminium disc lying around and a use sprung to mind.
The pics tell the rest!

















I plan on putting a 50-100mm shroud around the LED's to stop annoying spill light from being visable to the crew. The inside of which will be painted black. A acrylic lens on the end will aid in weather proofness.

I will direct drive it with resistors from the boats 12v supply. I will probably add a thermo fuse to half the array so if it over heats at least half will still run. I will start running it at 1 amp each LED and if I have no or little heat issues raise it up a bit.

I am still undecided on the handle. Perhaps pistol grip.

Switch is also undecided. Maybe a toggle and a push hold switch.


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## csshih (Sep 23, 2009)

haha, damn, that's cool!


beamshots!


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## BillyNoMates (Sep 23, 2009)

That looks like it will be amazing.....

I'm working on a similar project but I'm using smaller 12mm aspherics so it won't throw quite as far.

Looking forward to the beamshots :naughty:


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## lux lumin (Sep 23, 2009)

Packhorse...

:twothumbs


I know we all got the news Moby **** was having problems with his sight all the way down @ 100ATM, so nice of you to help out my man!

Your crew are gona love it, keep up the good work old boy.


Kind regards


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## John_Galt (Sep 23, 2009)

Cool project. Glad to see you found good solution to your problem.


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## mds82 (Sep 23, 2009)

do you have any beam shots?

i'm also wondering what type of aspherical lens you are using? i am interested in doing the same thing


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## Al Combs (Sep 23, 2009)

mds82 said:


> i'm also wondering what type of aspherical lens you are using? i am interested in doing the same thing


Packhorse mentioned he's using an Ahorton aspheric. That's not a type of aspheric lens, but a fellow CPF member.


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## wquiles (Sep 23, 2009)

Very cool project - I like it a lot. Nice photos as well :thumbsup:

At least on my car projects the 12 volts was really 13.5-14.1 volts when the alternator is charging the battery. Do you have the same variation on the SAR boat?

Will


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## Packhorse (Sep 23, 2009)

No beam shots yet as the lenses are not mounted.

Yes those are the aspherics. I have found them to be the best for use with XR-E's

Yes the voltage does swing that high on the boat too.
I have heard you can set a voltage regulator to use it as a current regulator. Not very efficient but thats not an issue on the boat. Anyone know how this is done?


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## wquiles (Sep 23, 2009)

Packhorse said:


> Yes the voltage does swing that high on the boat too.
> I have heard you can set a voltage regulator to use it as a current regulator. Not very efficient but thats not an issue on the boat. Anyone know how this is done?



Here you go buddy:
http://http://diyaudioprojects.com/Technical/Voltage-Regulator/


As you noted, not the most efficient, but it should work well in your application. Although most regulators will have an automatic shutdown due to heat (and therefore you would not damage it), it would be good to use a good size heatsink on the regulator tab to prevent it from going into thermal shutdown. Basically the power dissipated will be roughtly (Vout - Vin) * Iout, but that web site has a handy calculator as well, which will help you with the necessary wattage for the R1 resistor.

Will


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## Packhorse (Sep 23, 2009)

Thanks, thats what I was looking for.

in terms of efficiency it does not seem that bad.

Lets assume a 2 amp load at 13.5 volt. Thats 27watt
Use a 0.62 ohm resistor and you get 2.5 watt heat dissipation from the regulator.

That means an efficiency of 90%. Thats pretty good isnt it?


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## rizky_p (Sep 23, 2009)

:twothumbs beamshoot


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## ahorton (Sep 23, 2009)

How far do the existing halogen lights throw?

Before the beamshots arrive, I'll make a prediction about what the beam will be like:

On a clear night, I reckon you'll be able to shine up to 490m away and the beam will be about 44m wide at that length.

This is based on my own experience with the lens, but I've only ever had two going at once.


As for efficiency, whatever you do will still be better than 50-100W of halogen, and you'll have more light.


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## Packhorse (Sep 23, 2009)

ahorton said:


> How far do the existing halogen lights throw?
> .


Nearly as far as my 2.5yo daughter can throw her brother 

Just a note, I have not focused these as sharp as they could be. Reason being that I wanted a wider beam.


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## Dark Laser (Sep 24, 2009)

Nice work :twothumbs:thumbsup:.

Imagine just 4 P7s/MC-Es with aspherics...16 spots? :huh:


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## bshanahan14rulz (Sep 24, 2009)

they would warship you if you macgyver'd a focus function into your spotlight 
​


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## wquiles (Sep 24, 2009)

Packhorse said:


> Thanks, thats what I was looking for.
> 
> in terms of efficiency it does not seem that bad.
> 
> ...



That is the power lost in the resistor alone, but the regulator will also have some power lost as well depending on differential voltage across the regulator, which in a linear regulator is usually 1-2 volts, depending on the device/design. So if we assume that the input voltage is 13.5V and the the output voltage were 12V:

Preg = (13.5 - 12) * 2 = 3 watts

So the total power loss would be about:

Ploss = Presistor + Preg = 5.5 watts

for an eficciency of:

Efficiency = Pout / Pin = (12V * 2Amp - Ploss ) / 13.5V * 2Amp = (24watts - 5.5 watts) / 27 watts = 69%

This "relatively" lower value is what I meant earlier by these solutions not being very efficient - you loose power on the regulator and on the resistor, and the larger the difference between the input voltage to the output voltage, the higher the losses become.

Then again, since we are using the energy/supply from the boat, and not from a small hand held cell/battery, this is not critical at all in your application, except for the need to select the right wattage for the resistor, and to have enough heatsink for the regulator (to prevent thermal shutdown).

Will


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## Packhorse (Sep 25, 2009)

I fired it up tonight .
Pics are pretty poor but there is a couple for comparison.
I am simply blown away but its output.
At this stage I just used a current limiting resistor.

Sorry about the poor quality shots but.....






Hexaspherical R2 driven at 1amp per LED




Quad aspheric Q5 dive light driven at 1400ma per LED




Triple aspheric Q5 dive light driven at 933ma per LED plus MC-E driven at 2.8 amp


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## Packhorse (Sep 25, 2009)

HA! found my three legged friend






I call this shot "Why my neighbours hate me"







For comparison 21w HID







my Quad Mag next to a 21w HID.






All shots have same camera settings.


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## wquiles (Sep 25, 2009)

Dude! Those beamshots look awesome! Nice job :twothumbs


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## Linger (Sep 25, 2009)

sure, looks like a small beam, pretty tight spot. Until I realised you were lighting up an entire house.


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## Packhorse (Sep 26, 2009)

Well its no the entire house. But you are right its not as tight as it could be. But I found this the best spot for its intended use. 
The house is 50 meters away.


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## ahorton (Sep 27, 2009)

I'm still waiting for some real beamshots. 50m? Come on man! I could throw my little brother 50m!

As for the beam width, at 50m it would normally be about 4-5m wide, but you did say you shortened the LED-lens distance.

Looks like you are getting about 10m beam width at 50m.


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## Packhorse (Sep 27, 2009)

OK OK , lets just wait till it stops raining!:tinfoil:


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## ahorton (Sep 27, 2009)

Packhorse said:


> OK OK , lets just wait till it stops raining!:tinfoil:




Fair enough, I forgot that the NZ Coastguard Search and Rescue Team doesn't go out if it is raining.

On that note, (assuming that you do go out in the rain and mist) how big is the boat? I have found that when a strong thrower is used in heavy rain (for me, during adventure races), it will still shine a long way, but the guy wearing (or holding) it can't see a thing because he is blinded by the glare. Everyone else in the team can see what the light is shining on. So we work together and run 10m apart so that one guy can shine and the other can see the checkpoint.

So in your boat, could you rig up something that allows a person at the back to move the light that is mounted at the front?


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## Packhorse (Sep 27, 2009)

I dont mind the rain, the 8.5meter boat does not mind the rain but the unfinished light and my camera do! I need to fit a acrylic lens over the front to make it weather proof.

This is a hand held light not a mounted one. I guess in the future ( new boat coming) we could hook up a remote light.

I know what you mean by the glare or back scatter. I get the same thing with dive lights. That is one reason I like the aspherics ( yours in particular) thet really help cut down the back scatter due to a tighter beam.


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## mds82 (Oct 9, 2009)

Payment Sent for 10


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## ahorton (Oct 10, 2009)

mds82 said:


> Payment Sent for 10


That is, mds82 has just recently sent me payment for 10 of these lenses.


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## Packhorse (Oct 10, 2009)

Too late, Already sent him an invoice for 10 hexasphericals.


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## ahorton (Oct 10, 2009)

Packhorse said:


> Too late, Already sent him an invoice for 10 hexasphericals.




Excellent. I'll send you an invoice for 60 lenses.


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## foxtrot824 (Oct 10, 2009)

Packhorse said:


> No beam shots yet as the lenses are not mounted.
> 
> Yes those are the aspherics. I have found them to be the best for use with XR-E's
> 
> ...




You might look into a driver like this one. These are current regulated drivers that adjust to needed output voltage as long as the voltage in is greater than the voltage out. I use these for most of my around the house projects. The voltage in needs to be greater than the voltage out by at least a volt. I would use two of them for your setup, 3 LEDs in series per driver.


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## Packhorse (Oct 10, 2009)

ahorton said:


> Excellent. I'll send you an invoice for 60 lenses.



Well to be honest I will probably use them all so go ahead!


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## Bimmerboy (Oct 12, 2009)

Packhorse said:


> I call this shot "Why my neighbours hate me"


Dude!... you just inspired a new song idea! :rock:

I'll try to make it as obnoxious as shining a mega-bright light into the neighbor's windows... lol.

Nice work, Packhorse. Looking forward to pics of the completed project (housing, driver, etc.).


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## Packhorse (Jan 8, 2010)

Finally got around to completing it.
Body is PVC pipe as it the handle.
There is a switch on the front end of the handle and a 1ohm resistor inside for current regulation. This may have to change later but will work for now.
The body has an extended front painted black internally to help reduce the glare and ruining the operators and other crews night vision.

Its not pretty but seems strong and the light output is the best in any light I have built ( or seen) so I am pretty happy with it.
If I build another it will probably be base on 3 SST-50's or 90's and the 44mm DX aspherics


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## marokero (Jan 8, 2010)

Nice build! I guess we had some similar ideas on the design of our lights:

http://marokero.com/Riegel/content/PB010904_2_large.html

For the heat issue, I've resorted to a motherboard heatsink/fan combo, but it's not perfect. At 50% power it's sufficient to cool the light, never getting hot to the touch. At 100% power, the aluminum disc gets painfully hot after 25-30 minutes.

http://marokero.com/Riegel/content/PB010905_2_large.html
http://marokero.com/Riegel/content/PB010906_2_large.html

Mine is a floodlight that I use for work, so there's no interesting beam shot to show  Congrats on your hard work!


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## Packhorse (Jan 8, 2010)

Since mine will be used at sea I wanted it to be as simple as possible with not electronics to corrode or get constantly jarred. 
I am yet to give it a long run but guess it will get hot since there isnt alot of exposed aluminium.
Making the whole body out of aluminium would have been better but it was more of a "what is lying around that I can use up" project. I may see if there is any interest from other coastguard units and then produce a better built version.

Oh very nice light you have there. Looks like lots of time and $$


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## Packhorse (Jan 11, 2010)

All shots taken with Canon G10 ISO 80 8sec 2.8f




Ambient




Quad Q5 aspheric @1400ma per LED




Hexaspherical 6 XR-E R2's using Ahorton aspheric running at about 1 amp each




50watt halogen search lamp about 6 inch reflector




SST90 and 44 mm aspheric tight 5 amp




SST90 44mm aspheric wide 5 amp

The following 2 were taken after charging up the battery with no ambient light




SST90 44mm aspheric tight 9 amp




SST90 44mm aspheric wide 9 amp


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## Packhorse (Jan 11, 2010)

Concluisions.

Hexaspherical kicks ***!
Even better than a 9 amp driven SST90 with a 44 mm aspheric!

I think this is because the XR-Es have a tighter angle of dispersion and more light is caught by the aspheric. Also they are set up out of focus so sit closer to the lenses and once again the lenses gather more light.

Either way I am very happy with the Hex for its intended purpose as a SAR spot light and the SST90 44mm as a dive light ( or perhaps as a wide angle setup for a video light).


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## wquiles (Jan 11, 2010)

Packhorse said:


> Hexaspherical kicks ***!
> 
> ...
> 
> Either way I am very happy with the Hex for its intended purpose as a SAR spot light and the SST90 44mm as a dive light ( or perhaps as a wide angle setup for a video light).



+1. GREAT project indeed. I am sure the SAR guys will love it


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## Packhorse (Jan 22, 2010)

wquiles said:


> +1. GREAT project indeed. I am sure the SAR guys will love it



Its been out on a few night missions and consensus is it is far better than the existing lights but something with more throw would be good.
Lets see how they go with fund raising for a pair of triple SST-90's 44mm aspherics.


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## Packhorse (Sep 3, 2010)

7 Months on and this light is still going strong. 
I was a little worried about the single 1 ohm resistor for current regulation on a power supply with so much fluctuation but it has held up well.
As has the younger 3x aspheric SST-50 with AMC based driver.


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## ahorton (Sep 3, 2010)

Good to know.


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## Walterk (Sep 3, 2010)

Packhorse said:


> Well its no the entire house. But you are right its not as tight as it could be. But I found this the best spot for its intended use.
> The house is 50 meters away.



Nice build.
Gen II Showerheads (with asphericals) are taking over! :twothumbs


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## gav6280 (Sep 19, 2010)

Is the light using the lenses you got from ahorton?

Any ideas of a source for similar small diammater lenses that have a short focal ength and good throw???

Im thinking i might finally succumb to the lure of aspheric lenses despite the increased build complexity.


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## DodgeyDIY (Sep 19, 2010)

awesome light mate, would love to make one for the backyard, but defocus all but on t get a nice bright flood but still a bit of a hotspot..


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## gav6280 (Sep 21, 2010)

DodgeyDIY said:


> awesome light mate, would love to make one for the backyard, but defocus all but on t get a nice bright flood but still a bit of a hotspot..



My as well save yourself the bother and use a standard optic or reflector then.


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