# maxabeam question



## hahoo (Feb 13, 2017)

just looked at the specs
says 12 million cp, but says max range of 3500 meters
the lemax, super-70, is a tad over 4 million cp, but says 4250 meters?
somebody explain this to me.
plus, any idea of the actual lumens ?


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## LED1982 (Feb 13, 2017)

*Re: maxabem question*

That's a good question I hope it's answered. I just noticed each of their meters listings so I assumed Superpower threw farther by 750 meters.


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## hahoo (Feb 13, 2017)

*Re: maxabem question*

might of just figures it out.
watched a video of maxa beam, and the gal actually said it will put 1 lux of light on a target at 3500 meters !!
if thats right, then the numbers actually add up.
thats 4 times the light that ansi quotes at .25 lux, and most all lights are figured at i think...


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## LED1982 (Feb 13, 2017)

*Re: maxabem question*

Oh!! So if measured by the standards of all other lights in here we're talking 14,000 meters? This might change things for me 

Another thing to consider is that Maxabeam is a lithium iron battery. Do you know how much better lithium iron is than lithium ion! A lot!


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## NoNotAgain (Feb 13, 2017)

The Lemax Superpower LX70 is rated at 7000 lumens. 
The MaxaBeam is rated at 3000 lumens. 

The WOW factor goes to the Lemax light. 

I don't own the Lemax, but own several MaxaBeams and a couple of NightReapers. 

The NightReaper puts out 5500 lumens and is bright as all get out. Provides great full field illumination, but not nearly the throw as the MaxaBeam. 

The main advantage of the MaxaBeam is the ability to throw pinpoint light. Secondarily, using remote AC or DC power as well as niCad, NiMH, lithium ion and lithium iron phosphate batteries. 

The MaxaBeam has been around for many years and is a proven light. The Lemax is no slouch, but don't expect to find a deal on one of the lights.


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## LED1982 (Feb 13, 2017)

NoNotAgain said:


> The Lemax is no slouch, but don't expect to find a deal on one of the lights.



Well then I have an announcement to make!! I just received an email from Petr králík - LEMAX <[email protected]> He says the following;

If you are you interested in SUPERPOWER... we have special offer until end of this week - 25% discount.
LX70 SUPERPOWER is 2448 EUR, after discount -25% - 1836 EUR
Shipping costs to USA - 98 EUR.


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## FRITZHID (Feb 13, 2017)

i believe the lemax is a Merc-xenon or HID bulb whereas the Maxabeam is a xenon short arc, which will out throw pretty much anything else. lumens may not be as high but it can put 90% of those total bulb lumens on target in a very small spot, whereas Merc-xe or MH HID can but out TONS more lumens but from a larger point source which causes the spot to be MUCH larger AND fans out faster.


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## XeRay (Feb 13, 2017)

FRITZHID said:


> i believe the lemax is a Merc-xenon or HID bulb whereas the Maxabeam is a xenon short arc, which will out throw pretty much anything else. lumens may not be as high but it can put 90% of those total bulb lumens on target in a very small spot, whereas Merc-xe or MH HID can but out TONS more lumens but from a larger point source which causes the spot to be MUCH larger AND fans out faster.



Using binoculars or a spotting scope (absolutely 100% necessary).
How far can the Maxabeam provide useful light (1 lux ??) in the narrowest spot setting ?


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## FRITZHID (Feb 13, 2017)

unaided eyes, i've spotted targets at a mile easy, aided... easily +1.75 mi as long as someone holds it VERY STILL! Lol, think of it like a laser beam, just a hair of movement on one end shakes the light alot at the target distance.


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## XeRay (Feb 13, 2017)

FRITZHID said:


> unaided eyes, i've spotted targets at a mile easy, aided... easily +1.75 mi as long as someone holds it VERY STILL! Lol, think of it like a laser beam, just a hair of movement on one end shakes the light alot at the target distance.



The XeVision XV-LX70 and Lemax LX70 can both do the 1 mile performance easily and also without optics help, also easier to find the target because the beam is not so tight. The Superpower (LX70-SP) can easily do 2 miles but you need optics (binoculars or a spotting scope) to see anything with any detail unless it is very big like a tree or a building etc. Don't need to hold these lights very still because the hot-spot is so much larger.


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## LED1982 (Feb 13, 2017)

I just concluded that IMO Maxabeam's beam just sounds much too tiny. Really wish the Superpower had that lithium iron battery that the Maxabeam has though!


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## A_L_R_O_M (Feb 13, 2017)

I think it's just about total lumens output.
If you can trade throw and still put shiny beam it rocks..
I think short-arc must be in double action.
150W xenon short-arc for instant light, and then 300W short-arc mercury for the insane beam..


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## XeRay (Feb 13, 2017)

LED1982 said:


> I just concluded that IMO Maxabeam's beam just sounds much too tiny. Really wish the Superpower had that lithium iron battery that the Maxabeam has though!


From my reading Lithium Iron is bulkier and heavier than Lithium Ion, but slightly safer.


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## FRITZHID (Feb 13, 2017)

LED1982 said:


> I just concluded that IMO Maxabeam's beam just sounds much too tiny. Really wish the Superpower had that lithium iron battery that the Maxabeam has though!



you DO know that Maxabeam is focusable, right?


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## FRITZHID (Feb 13, 2017)

XeRay said:


> From my reading Lithium Iron is bulkier and heavier than Lithium Ion, but slightly safer.




and Lithium Iron has 1000s of cycles over lipo.


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## BVH (Feb 13, 2017)

LiFeP04 is definitely a bit heavier/less energy dense but cycles can be in the 2000+ and definitely are significantly safer. Early in my flashlight years, I used lots of Lipos and experienced many killed packs due to significant self-discharge below rated minimums in short (months) periods of time. They're fairly volatile if mis-handled. LiFeP04 practically has no self-discharge. A year or 15 months later, it's still holding the charge. LiFeP04 also works great for automotive/equipment 12 Volt purposes unlike Lipo which tops at 12.6V. I use only Lithium Iron now.


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## XeRay (Feb 13, 2017)

FRITZHID said:


> you DO know that Maxabeam is focusable, right?



The performance falls off extremely dramatically when you de-focus the Maxabeam from spot mode, from everything I have seen.


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## IlluminatedOne (Feb 13, 2017)

The Maxabeam should be able to put 1lux on target at 3500m and 0.25lux at 7000m.

The XeVision XV-LX70 should be capable of putting 1lux on target at 1100m or so (calculating from 1.3mil lux)

Has anyone actually measured the lux from the superpower variant i am sure it would be impressive guessing its 3-4mil+ lux.

As others have stated the Maxabeam is the light to have if you need to put light out at those ranges and there is not much that can touch it at those ranges, so if you need it for something like that its a great light and i will also say since owning one that in wide beam mode its perfectly usable and quite impressive with its 3000lumens, i would also love to try the partial filter that they sell at some point which removes the donut hole but reduces maximum throw.
The Maxabeam is certainly impressive and throws so far i had to get my GF to hold it on a mountain top and use a 70mm pair of binoculars to see how far it actually throws lol

The XV-LX70 is going to put way more light out there with a wide cone of light that will probably make it more useful say for search and rescue etc or whatever people that actually have a purpose for owning such lights use them for rather than just for fun .
I also think as its more compact that can be a plus in its favor not that either are small EDC lights

The usual answer on here is buy both haha, but it really depends on what you want to use it for, i now really want a XV-LX70 after watching some of the vids people have done for it although will have to save up .

What are you going to be using the light for if you dont mind me asking ?


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## FRITZHID (Feb 13, 2017)

IlluminatedOne said:


> The Maxabeam should be able to put 1lux on target at 3500m and 0.25lux at 7000m.
> 
> The XeVision XV-LX70 should be capable of putting 1lux on target at 1100m or so (calculating from 1.3mil lux)
> 
> ...





TY IlluminatedOne,


I was trying to hint towards your words but was too lazy to go thru the whole type.
You're dead nuts on the factors, as always.


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## LED1982 (Feb 13, 2017)

I was also under the impression that Maxabeam was only great in tight beam mode but just based on passing things I've read, glad to hear that it is not lame when it is de-focused. 

I hope that I do a good job maintaining this battery, BVH actually made my opinion of lithium iron and lithium ion even more lopsided. I didn't know that after a full year LiFeP04 would still have zero discharge. So with this lithium ion battery what do I need to do? If not in use would I want to check it with a voltmeter once a week, and would I have an ideal voltage that I would want to store it at? I actually just read in here somewhere recently that you want to store lithium batteries at 50%. That was news to me I used to charge them full and then store. So if this 50% storing rule is correct would I put the drained battery in the charger, and then while it's in the charger keep reading it with a voltmeter until I see it at an ideal storage voltage (50%?), and then take it off charger and store it?

Another thing that raises my concern is hearing that LiFeP04 is significantly safer! Wow all I hear in that sentence is lithium ion is significantly more dangerous! Well for years I apparently never had a problem, now that I have a more substantial and expensive ion battery can you let me know exactly where this danger lies? Is the danger mostly present while it's charging (in other words do not ever ever leave your house while it is charging!)? Or is the safety/danger aspect of lithium ion mostly determined by how safe or unsafe the devise you're sticking it in is? It's important that I know what I'm doing, thanks guys.


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## NoNotAgain (Feb 13, 2017)

I don't know what the beam degree profile of the SuperPower is but the MaxaBeam is 1 degree or smaller when tightly focused. 

Out of the MaxaBeam lights I've got, one focuses much tighter than the others. I've played with the adjustment screws and got a tight focus, but this one light is tops. 

The only light I own that has a tighter beam is the NightHunter 1. It's manual focus and fully self contained. I've found a NightHunter 1 in international yellow that I'm modding with a D1S bulk and automotive ballast. 

My photography right now is taking precedence over the lights, but once things slow up a bit, I'll finish up the light.


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## LED1982 (Feb 13, 2017)

It says that it's 1 degree in the tightest setting


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## BVH (Feb 14, 2017)

LED1982 said:


> I was also under the impression that Maxabeam was only great in tight beam mode but just based on passing things I've read, glad to hear that it is not lame when it is de-focused.
> 
> I hope that I do a good job maintaining this battery, BVH actually made my opinion of lithium iron and lithium ion even more lopsided. I didn't know that after a full year LiFeP04 would still have zero discharge. So with this lithium ion battery what do I need to do? If not in use would I want to check it with a voltmeter once a week, and would I have an ideal voltage that I would want to store it at? I actually just read in here somewhere recently that you want to store lithium batteries at 50%. That was news to me I used to charge them full and then store. So if this 50% storing rule is correct would I put the drained battery in the charger, and then while it's in the charger keep reading it with a voltmeter until I see it at an ideal storage voltage (50%?), and then take it off charger and store it?
> 
> Another thing that raises my concern is hearing that LiFeP04 is significantly safer! Wow all I hear in that sentence is lithium ion is significantly more dangerous! Well for years I apparently never had a problem, now that I have a more substantial and expensive ion battery can you let me know exactly where this danger lies? Is the danger mostly present while it's charging (in other words do not ever ever leave your house while it is charging!)? Or is the safety/danger aspect of lithium ion mostly determined by how safe or unsafe the devise you're sticking it in is? It's important that I know what I'm doing, thanks guys.



I should have given more information. When I say/think "Lipo", I'm talking about the small brick packs that all the RC guys and gals use for their electric planes, cars and boats. Generally, if they use them as designed and don't overcharge, over discharge, charge unattended with cheap chargers, drive them too hard or otherwise "mishandle" them, then there are few problems/events with them. These packs lose a lot of charge in 2-3 months and, as you say, a 50% state of Charge is the best Voltage to keep them at.

I do not believe we can lump all the Lithium Ion and Poly batteries made by the big guys and used in the millions of devices into the category of the above Lipos. Whether they be special shaped batteries or cylindrical cells, they don't seem to be overly unsafe. Sure, there's the odd iphone other device that overheats and creates the Vent With Flame event, but considering how many devices are in-use, it's a molecule in a grain of sand on the worlds beaches. Well, maybe Samsung could tell you differently lately but I digress. And these batteries can be kept fully charged with less degrading compared to Lipos.

So don't panic with your Lithium Ions in professionally made devices. Store them fully charged so the light is ready to go. But some lights have a small parasitic current draw as the Polarions do - at least the early ones. The batteries don't self-discharge, they are discharged at a slow rate by the electronics that are working even when the light is off. Those batteries need to be charged or checked somewhat frequently. IIRC, my PH40 years ago needed to be recharged at no more than 3 months, maybe it was 2, I don't remember.


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## LED1982 (Feb 14, 2017)

BVH said:


> I should have given more information. When I say/think "Lipo", I'm talking about the small brick packs that all the RC guys and gals use for their electric planes, cars and boats. Generally, if they use them as designed and* don't overcharge*, over discharge, charge unattended with cheap chargers, drive them too hard or otherwise "mishandle" them, then there are few problems/events with them.



Thanks again for the help. When you charge batteries and they go from red (charging) to green (full) does it keep charging them (overcharge) until you take them off, or does it disconnect, then maybe go red again to charge some more if you don't take them off charger for a long time? I know people who will just leave batteries on the charger forever until they need them, I never bothered to notice if a green light goes red again. 



BVH said:


> But some lights have a small parasitic current draw as the Polarions do - at least the early ones. The batteries don't self-discharge, they are discharged at a slow rate by the electronics that are working even when the light is off.



I'm not sure if the Lemax Superpower has a parasitic draw but I could see myself just storing it with the battery out anyway. Not to mention I believe that the very nice pelican case won't even hold the light unless battery and body are separated.


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## XeRay (Feb 14, 2017)

LED1982 said:


> Wow all I hear in that sentence is lithium ion is significantly more dangerous! Well for years I apparently never had a problem, now that I have a more substantial and expensive ion battery can you let me know exactly where this danger lies? Is the danger mostly present while it's charging (in other words do not ever ever leave your house while it is charging!)? Or is the safety/danger aspect of lithium ion mostly determined by how safe or unsafe the devise you're sticking it in is? It's important that I know what I'm doing, thanks guys.



My understanding, the biggest danger for Lithium Ion is being shorted out.


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## XeRay (Feb 14, 2017)

LED1982 said:


> I'm not sure if the Lemax Superpower has a parasitic draw but I could see myself just storing it with the battery out anyway. Not to mention I believe that the very nice pelican case won't even hold the light unless battery and body are separated.



Parasitic draw is basically nonexistent, You are correct about the carry cases, battery must be removed.


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## A_L_R_O_M (Feb 14, 2017)

NoNotAgain said:


> The Lemax Superpower LX70 is rated at 7000 lumens.
> The MaxaBeam is rated at 3000 lumens.
> 
> The WOW factor goes to the Lemax light.
> ...


Just want to correct maxabeam lumens...
It's using 75W xenon with very short arc gap, it cannot exceed 1000-1200 lumens, efficiency is very low, around 13 lumens per watt.
I have Ushio 75W XE burner and can compare it to many others lights i own.
P.S may be if it hits 100W on high it can produce around 1800-1900 lumens, like http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...FOR-MAXABEAM&p=2338517&viewfull=1#post2338517
But no way it goes up to 3000.


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## hahoo (Feb 14, 2017)

A_L_R_O_M said:


> Just want to correct maxabeam lumens...
> It's using 75W xenon with very short arc gap, it cannot exceed 1000-1200 lumens, efficiency is very low, around 13 lumens per watt.
> I have Ushio 75W XE burner and can compare it to many others lights i own.
> P.S may be if it hits 100W on high it can produce around 1800-1900 lumens, like http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...FOR-MAXABEAM&p=2338517&viewfull=1#post2338517
> But no way it goes up to 3000.



thanks for that...
unreal you can take the lumens of a standard household lightbulb, and make it throw light several miles.
incredible actually


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## [email protected] (Feb 15, 2017)

Hi Everyone,

I got temporarily locked out of my account and only just got back in so I could respond to posts. A lot good information from people familiar with the Maxa Beam has been posted so far, but several posts are either partially wrong or at the very least a little misleading. I will do my best to clear up a few points, but it might take a little while to sift through the ~30 posts (in just two days nonetheless).

Peak Beam has always reported range based on where the Maxa Beam can put one lux on target. This has been our practice since before the FL-1 (2009) ANSI standard was established. I personally believe that 0.25 lux is not enough light to reliably see anything even with optics, and using that value to report range leads to over-inflated and misleading range values. 

There are many benefits to xenon short arc lights, but as others have pointed out total lumens is not one of them. We don't publish a lumens rating for the Maxa Beam which is probably why there is so much confusion/speculation on this issue. Current searchlights operate at 85W and get ~1300 lumens (OTF, not lamp lumens). 

Hope that clears up a few points and I'd be happy to answer any other questions. It is always nice to see other folks as interested in this stuff as we are here at Peak Beam.

Matt


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## BVH (Feb 15, 2017)

As always, thanks Matt for participating here. There's nothing better than getting great info direct from the manufacturer. Somehow, I had forgotten that the current generation run at 85 Watts, not 80 as I had it in my mind. When you get caught up, please take a look at my "75 Watt Pichel Short Arc" thread. Did you know Marlowe Pichel?


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## hahoo (Feb 15, 2017)

1 lux at 3500 meters at 1 degree spot
i get that
what happens when you go to say 4 degree spot, a tad more usable beam for most?
can i assume that it will be .25 lux, since we did the x4 thing ?


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## BVH (Feb 15, 2017)

From my experience, when you de-focus to 4+- degrees, the light is very usable in the short range - 1000 - 1500 feet but at further distances, the dark hole in the center would not help you. My 175 Watt, 2 degree Megaray is much more usable at around 900 yards even though it's hotspot is not as bright as the MB. As I've said many times, at my range, the MB would easily light up a large tree at 900 yards but I could not tell that it was a tree. However, the Megaray with it's slightly dimmer but twice as wide hotspot made it easy to see the tree and that it _was_ a tree.


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## LED1982 (Feb 16, 2017)

BVH said:


> From my experience, when you de-focus to *4+- degrees, *the light is very usable in the short range - 1000 - 1500 feet but at further distances, the dark hole in the center would not help you. My 175 Watt, *2 degree* Megaray is much more usable at around 900 yards even though it's hotspot is not as bright as the MB. As I've said many times, at my range, the MB would easily light up a large tree at 900 yards but I could not tell that it was a tree. However, the Megaray with it's slightly dimmer but twice as wide hotspot made it easy to see the tree and that it _was_ a tree.



One thing that would really be cool would be a graphic that shows you pics of degree of spot starting from 1 and increasing by .5 all the way up! If you doubled the size of a MB or Megaray reflector would they give you the same lux performances but at 2 degrees?


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## [email protected] (Feb 16, 2017)

hahoo said:


> what happens when you go to say 4 degree spot, a tad more usable beam for most?
> can i assume that it will be .25 lux, since we did the x4 thing ?



This is common question we get as far as what happens to your luminous intensity as you widen the beam from spot, but the 4x thing your referring to comes from somewhere else.

First off I want to define a few things and I'll try to balance between simplifying for ease of explanation and getting overly technical. There may be some shortcuts here or some oversimplifications there, but for most people I think this will help understand the basics of what is going on with any searchlight and what you can and cannot take away from basic specs.

*Luminous Flux/Lumens* - Total light. It is always good to clarify when you see a lumen spec if those are lumens of the lamp or of the fixture, sometimes called "Out the front" or OTF Lumens. ANSI spec is OTF Lumens. Lumens will tell you how much total light you are dealing with but nothing about how well that light can be focused or concentrated.

*Illuminance/Lux* - Incident light on a surface. This is what you would often measure with a light meter. This is basically what you are trying to achieve with any searchlight. You are trying to put light on a surface often times far away. (lux= lumens/m2​)
*
Luminous Intensity/Candela/CandlePower* - How intensely focussed or concentrated the light is in a particular direction. CandlePower and the ANSI standard take few shortcuts/make a few assumptions here, but generally speaking those shortcuts don't make a huge difference especially when making comparisons. Luminous intensity as a spec is always calculated by measuring lux at a specific distance, where (Lux) x (Meters)2​ = CandlePower. 

So if you have any two of those variables in the above equation you can solve for the third. This is how the ANSI standard has you determine the range of a light/searchlight. Once you have determined the Candlepower, it asks at what distance will that same light/searchlight put 0.25 lux on target. If you reduce the required illuminance (Lux) required by a factor of 4 (1 lux ---> 0.25 lux), due to the square on the distance you extend the range by a factor of 2.

If you want to double the light on target you need to double your CandlePower. If you want to double your range you need to quadruple your CandlePower.

When it comes to the focusing of the light and different beam angles you are going to see a significant drop off in range. Remember your total light (lumens) for all intents and purposes is not changing, you are just adjusting how it is distributed. At long distances the difference between a 1 degree beam and 4 degree beam as far as area of illumination can be huge. If my quick calculations are right, at a 1,000m your area of illumination would be 16 times larger.


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## hahoo (Feb 16, 2017)

[email protected] said:


> This is common question we get as far as what happens to your luminous intensity as you widen the beam from spot, but the 4x thing your referring to comes from somewhere else.
> 
> First off I want to define a few things and I'll try to balance between simplifying for ease of explanation and getting overly technical. There may be some shortcuts here or some oversimplifications there, but for most people I think this will help understand the basics of what is going on with any searchlight and what you can and cannot take away from basic specs.
> 
> ...




thanks for all that info, makes perfect sense
so whats the rough area then at 1000 meters, for illumination when at 1 degree?


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## [email protected] (Feb 17, 2017)

To calculate the beam diameter at a given distance:

Distance x tan(Half Beam Angle) x 2

so...

1000m x tan(0.5) x 2 = 17.45m

Also I should point out that when our spec says 1 degree that is sort of shorthand. There are different ways you can define the edge of a "beam", but at the searchlight's tightest setting, the main "beam" will be a little less than 1 degree and there will be significant spill immediately surrounding this beam. I will try to post or link to some picture that demonstrate this.


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## [email protected] (Feb 17, 2017)

There is a slideshow of a range demonstration on our website. If that link doesn't work you can find it on our website under Support--->Downloads. It shows a 1 degree and ~5 degree beam at various ranges out to 1450m.

Just as a general note, while more CandlePower will get you more range, what is often more important for our customers is not putting 1 lux at 2 miles it is taking advantage of putting a lot of intense light at shorter ranges to disrupt/deter a target. If you can make it difficult to look in your direction from 1,000m away, that has a lot of value.


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## Echo63 (Feb 17, 2017)

I have posted this pic quite a bit in this subforum.

this is an example of that the MB can do - around a kilometer across the river.
Gen2 MB in normal mode (i couldnt hold the lever for high, and didnt have the manual to reprogram it to latch) 
Ushio UXL-75XE in parker VH adapters. Measured 7.2mcp on high i think it was 4ish on medium

i really should take my Gen3 and redo the pic

%5BURL=http://s103.photobucket.com/user/Echo63/media/BZC18025.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/Echo63/BZC18025.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D


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## richbuff (Feb 18, 2017)

Echo63 said:


> I have posted this pic quite a bit in this subforum.
> 
> ... ...
> 
> %5BURL=http://s103.photobucket.com/user/Echo63/media/BZC18025.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/Echo63/BZC18025.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D


http://s103.photobucket.com/user/Echo63/media/BZC18025.jpg.html


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## Echo63 (Feb 18, 2017)

richbuff said:


> http://s103.photobucket.com/user/Echo63/media/BZC18025.jpg.html


Thank you

for some reason i cant copy and paste the link like i used to...


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## [email protected] (Feb 18, 2017)

In most previous versions of the Maxa Beam's programming, you could either assign the right rocker function on the 4-way switch to momentary high (default) or 16 second high. For about the last year we have added a third option of a true latching high setting that can also be assigned now that we are exclusively selling or handheld searchlights with LiFePO4 battery technology.


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## Echo63 (Feb 18, 2017)

[email protected] said:


> In most previous versions of the Maxa Beam's programming, you could either assign the right rocker function on the 4-way switch to momentary high (default) or 16 second high. For about the last year we have added a third option of a true latching high setting that can also be assigned now that we are exclusively selling or handheld searchlights with LiFePO4 battery technology.


I have mine set to momentary, i couldnt remember the sequence to switch it to latching.
I really should get my Gen2 fixed...


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## BVH (Feb 19, 2017)

Latching high is wonderful to have! It's all I use.


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## NoNotAgain (Feb 19, 2017)

BVH said:


> Latching high is wonderful to have! It's all I use.



I had a MBS450 pop a bulb on latched high while using a LiPO 4 battery. A good LiPO4 battery will supply more current than some Maxa Beam bulbs will hold.


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## [email protected] (Feb 20, 2017)

NoNotAgain said:


> I had a MBS450 pop a bulb on latched high while using a LiPO 4 battery. A good LiPO4 battery will supply more current than some Maxa Beam bulbs will hold.



This was with a Peak Beam LiFePO4 battery? You may be mixing up some battery terms here. "Non-passive" failures (a term i always got a kick out of) are extremely rare, as in I have never heard a customer report one in the 8-years I've been working at Peak Beam. Now if you are using a third-party or custom battery pack, you need to be careful not supplying more than 13.5V to the searclights. Especially in Gen 2 searchlights you could overdrive the lamp by supplying the searchlight too much voltage.

The term LiPo, a.k.a Lithium Polymer, is referring to the pouch format of the battery and most commonly referring to your traditional Lithium Cobalt Oxide chemistry, but they are made in other Li-Ion chemistries. Depending on the chemistry a 4S configuration will typically charge up to 16.8V, and a freshly charged, unregulated pack could overdrive a Maxa Beam, particularly a Gen 2 Maxa Beam.

LiFePO4, a.k.a Lithium Iron Phosphate and sometimes referred to as "LFP", batteries are a specific chemistry under the Lithium Ion umbrella. They have a lower energy density than Lithium Cobalt Oxide but offer several advantages, including many more cycles, lower voltage relative to other Li-Ion (good for Maxa Beam that was originally based on a lower voltage battery technology), better power density (able to charge/discharge at higher rates), and are inherently safer.


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## NoNotAgain (Feb 20, 2017)

My bad Matt. My iPhone keeps clipping text. 

The battery in question is a Peak Beam Systems MBP 1310 LiFePO4, serial # M01020. 

The light was the MBS450 and the bulb had less than 2 hours of runtime before the kaboom. 

The light was started and after dropping back from start (high) I toggled the switch to the right as I was attempting to set up for a photo shoot. Less than 5 seconds later, pop, all done. A few small scratches on the reflector and some pits on the window. 

I believe I talked with Annie on a replacement Spider lens and the bulb pop. Annie pretty much stated that the 450 didn't like the battery in question and to stay with the NiCad or the other lithium I have from Peak. I've got no Maxa Beam batteries that aren't genuine Peak batteries. 

I do have packs for my Night Hunters that are home built as well as a few RC packs. Xenonics doesn't provide the level of support provided by Peak. 

Please correct me if I'm incorrect in my statement.


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## FRITZHID (Feb 20, 2017)

intresting.... i have a +16v lipo pack in my gen2 and have never had any issues with it whatsoever. purrs like a kitten. my other, earlier model gen2 did not like it however, it would only strobe violently on the +16v pack. ran fine on 12v sla tho.


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