# The 30" Night Hawk



## LightSward

*I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time. *

I jumped ahead and am about half way finished building the _*30 Inch "NightHawk".*_

The 30" reflector mold is one of the best optically, I've ever made; and I did it in two days. The fiber-glassing should take one more day. I expect it to make the best beam.

I did this before I did any work on the SportLight or Mini LightSward, because key components ended up in Vegas when the Kia broke down. I hope to get everything back home when the car is fixed and I fly back to Vegas. :naughty:

I'll post some photos I've taken this week, during next couple days.


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## IlluminatedOne

Cant wait to see what it will be like, always enjoyed seeing the build of the other lights.


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## LightSward

I made this one really fast. It is very light weight, small enough to fit on the car seat, optically about the same as the Gorilla. This is kind of like the next phase of this long multi light study...


*30 inch NightHawk design*.





*Here is the styrofoam and screed plan*

Here is the styrofoam and screed plan, used to make the 30 inch Night Hawk reflector.



This is the basic 30 inch Night Hawk Searchlight design using standard geometric procedures. 


I wil use the 1200 watt HMI type Jenbo Ballast and ignitor.



Jenbo 1200 watt HMI small arc Metal Halide ballast, is about the size and weight of a motel room Bible...fits in the palm of my hand. Not too expensive either.

Currently I am using several 1200 watt HMI bulbs (one double ended, the other single ended), IgNITEor sold me. Great bulbs, he has great memories with them, I hope to continue that legacy. I will one day replace them with a Jenbo...maybe....another Phillips..???











 

Jenbo NSK1200 Bulb-Direct Replacement Bulb for Philips MSD 1200 *Manufacturer:*



$128.25


I can't stop working on the Night Hawk...it is addicting. I should have the main light unit finished by tomorrow. Less than a week from start to finish!


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## LightSward

:naughty:Here is a quick run down on what I have done the last five days or so. Hopefully Thursday Night, (tomorrow), the 30" Night Hawk will come alive.


*Foam stack covered with silicone cement using the parabolic screed*




Foam sandwich stack covered with silicone cement using the parabolic screed to form final shape and insure precision geometry. this is the same technique mentioned in the "50 inch Monster" thread.



*Dry wall compound is drying*




Dry wall compound is drying, using a 20 inch fan



*Applying one of several coats of paint *





Applying one of several coats of paint, red left over from the Gorilla.




*Steel frame fitted before glassing* 




Here I am fitting the steel frame, which consist of electrical conduit, re-bar, metal strapping and framing brackets for the yoke connection. I will add another sealant.


I used a steel frame and much less fiberglass, for reduced weight and cost(s).


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## Norm

Moved to Spotlights and HID Flashlights - Norm


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## LightSward

:thumbsup: I am at the next critical phase, the fiber glassing itself.


*Wax and lubricant added to mold before glassing *





Wax and lubricant added to mold before glassing, to allow a smoother 'release'.




*Here I am incasing the steel frame* 




Here I am incasing the steel frame, which consist of electrical conduit, re-bar, metal strapping and framing brackets for the yoke connection!



*Final coat of glass*




*Final coat of glass is curing.*




*Finished fiber glassing, cured and removed from mold*




Finished fiber glassing, cured and removed from mold, actually mold removed from product...reflector. Not too much destruction to the mold, will be able to re-use much of it.


:naughty:


*Completed and back painted*




Completed and back painted, the "Night Hawk" is ready for chrome taping...$30.00 worth.


This has been a great project. Now onto the next phase.


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## LightSward

I hope some day to move away from the Chrome Tape, but it is inexpensive, fast and easy to use, with reasonable performance. I am looking at other options, but still don't really have the $$$ to make the change to 'Mirroring' yet...though on the upcoming "Light Sport" I may be in a better position to.
*

Starting the chrome taping* 




Here you can see I am starting the chrome taping process, checking the progress with a reflection of my hand.


*Finished 30" Night Hawk Reflector
*




I have finished the 30" Night Hawk Reflector. The reflector came out well, still room for improvement...mostly need to get rid of small burrs, small ridges and other bumps.






*Light Weight and easy to handle*






The NightHawk is Light Weight and easy to handle. I am using everything I have learned from the prior built lights, to make the "Night Hawk".



*1200 Watt HMI Phillips Light Bulb*
*



*

1200 Watt HMI Phillips Light Bulb bulb is many years old, but still lights up nice and bright!


*Building the Bulb housing.*
*



*

*Here I am building the 1200 watt HMI Bulb housing. There is a lot of work in this area, to make the focusing plate and support structures operate properly!

*
I need to finish the bulb housing and socket support structure, add the reverse back reflector and wire all the components, plus yoke and stand....next few days I should have some good beam shots!


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## 2100

Nice....I have followed through your other thread about the 36" Gorilla. Can I ask if you have any experience with PAR56 or PAR64 MH spotlights? I don't think I am up to task in doing up a reflector for myself. There are no commercial spotlights (advertisement ones) in that size as well, all are very big.


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## LightSward

2100 said:


> Nice....I have followed through your other thread about the 36" Gorilla. Can I ask if you have any experience with PAR56 or PAR64 MH spotlights? I don't think I am up to task in doing up a reflector for myself. There are no commercial spotlights (advertisement ones) in that size as well, all are very big.



I have limited experience with PARs in general. The ones I have been around are Halogen stage lights that produced incredible beams. 

My first large parabolic reflector, over twenty years ago, was made using moist desert dirt as the mold, shaped into a parabolic mound, covered with plastic and then paper mache' and covered with aluminum foil for reflective surface. Actually worked okay.

What are you trying to do?


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## 2100

LightSward said:


> I have limited experience with PARs in general. The ones I have been around are Halogen stage lights that produced incredible beams.
> What are you trying to do?


Just trying to build a PAR searchlight with those plastic searchlight as hosts. But i'd like to do metal halide. Metal halide bulbs of 7mm gap and 1200W are attainable, 575W have 5.5mm which are incredible. Inverter/ballast not an issue. But reflector, a good one, is the problem.


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## LightSward

2100 said:


> Just trying to build a PAR searchlight with those plastic searchlight as hosts. But i'd like to do metal halide. Metal halide bulbs of 7mm gap and 1200W are attainable, 575W have 5.5mm which are incredible. Inverter/ballast not an issue. But reflector, a good one, is the problem.


 
Have you checked out the various reflector suppliers like Edmond Scientific? I am at the point myself where making the reflectors needs emphasis on the finishing part, the smoothness and mirroring of the finished product. :sick2:


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## LightSward

It works! :naughty:

I've got some incredible beam shots. I'll post them next few days. The Night Hawk, acts like the Gorilla. :thumbsup:

I need to do a little focusing, and a little more air circulation to keep the small back reflector from turning yellow, (tarnishing). :scowl:


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## IlluminatedOne

Cant wait to see the beamshots .


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## IgNITEor

LightSward! You are blazing trails again, brother!
The Night Hawk has come out very nice. You're gettin' super-good at the mold n' finish procedure.
I'm getting all three lights ready for perimeter patrol, and one is a 19" stand-by unit with an almost lousy silvered glass reflector.
No one, and I mean no body, is producing affordable reflectors with usable coatings.
Optiforms and Phoenix Electroformed have focal lengths more suited for Xenon use. Very nice, but spendy for our sizes!
Edmund Scientific's reflectors have great shape but a lousy finish for our lamp uses. I even tried to buff one out with no real success.

Ventilation is crucial, you want to keep the 1200W happy. Sorry to read that the heat is tarnishing your chrome! Bummer!!

Waiting......patiently.....for a beamshot. Don't hurry too much, details are important, right?


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## IgNITEor

2100 said:


> Just trying to build a PAR searchlight with those plastic searchlight as hosts. But i'd like to do metal halide. Metal halide bulbs of 7mm gap and 1200W are attainable, 575W have 5.5mm which are incredible. Inverter/ballast not an issue. But reflector, a good one, is the problem.


 
2100, are these HMI Sharx lamps you're describing or HTI's? I was looking at the HTI type's and they have some serious ventilation requirements
and limited burning positions. Can you post a link to a site describing the 1200 Watt 7 mm gap? I think I saw that lamp in Osram's line-up.
Thanks!


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## LightSward

IgNITEor said:


> 2100, are these HMI Sharx lamps you're describing or HTI's? I was looking at the HTI type's and they have some serious ventilation requirements
> and limited burning positions. Can you post a link to a site describing the 1200 Watt 7 mm gap? I think I saw that lamp in Osram's line-up.
> Thanks!



Here is a quick link for 7mm 1200 watt HTI/ HMI: Shark

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...QUKfE1&sig=AHIEtbRsegxM-Fkodfys4arpGsQXnBPT7A

The HTI 1200W/D7/60 SharXS lamp is a direct and equal replacement for the HMI 1200W/S lamp.

With a 7 mm electrode gap and 6000 K color temperature, the HTI 1200W/D7/60 SharXS lamp is being used in
fixtures such as Martin Professional and Vari-lite for entertainment applications.

Though the name has changed, technically the lamp is identical: dimensions, electrical properties and
photometrical data…all remain unchanged. The HTI 1200W/D7/75 SharXS lamp is also available in 7500 K color
temperature.
Hope this helps


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## LightSward

IgNITEor said:


> LightSward! You are blazing trails again, brother!
> The Night Hawk has come out very nice. You're gettin' super-good at the mold n' finish procedure.
> I'm getting all three lights ready for perimeter patrol, and one is a 19" stand-by unit with an almost lousy silvered glass reflector.
> No one, and I mean no body, is producing affordable reflectors with usable coatings.
> Optiforms and Phoenix Electroformed have focal lengths more suited for Xenon use. Very nice, but spendy for our sizes!
> Edmund Scientific's reflectors have great shape but a lousy finish for our lamp uses. I even tried to buff one out with no real success.
> 
> Ventilation is crucial, you want to keep the 1200W happy. Sorry to read that the heat is tarnishing your chrome! Bummer!!
> 
> Waiting......patiently.....for a beamshot. Don't hurry too much, details are important, right?


 

Thanks, I made this light quick, (one week or so, design/built), to temporarily replace the Gorilla, which is stranded in Las Vegas. Car over heated 20 miles out... I took the single ended Phillips bulb you sold me, socket and Jenbo ballast through security,...raising eye brows and took twenty minutes of x-ray-ing, talking, explaining, (possibly a TSA official may now join CPF), etc...home with me and left the 36 inch reflector in a storage shed. Hopefully KIA won't take this whole month to repair the car...and I can get the Gorilla home safe and sound...roar! I do need to work on the "quality of the surface". The Chrome tape, (has to be exactly the right type, many brands are dull or other issues), works well, but I would like to go for precision and some affordable type of mirroring.

Patrolling sounds kind of fun. I can't say enough...

I think I improved the ventilation, I had a small opening to prevent rain intrusion. the Ladle, Reflector over the bulb is too small, I think it will always tarnish. I really need to find a 5" bowl reflector. These type of bowls I used for back reflectors for several years could be found at: Targets, Wal-Marts, Ross Home Section, many super markets, Kitchen supplies, but now the new 'style', is a flat bottom and straight slanted sides, or dull finish...not good for back reflector use. I have to widen my search.

I did notice the lousy finish on Edmund's reflectors too.

Some Beam Shots coming up soon...couple hours, I may try and do some right now from a couple miles away...??


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## LightSward

So much for the SIMRAN 120 / 220 volt transformer. I got two beam shot photos before this thing blew...fuse just fine...wah....
*SIMRAN UPDATE:*_ I found the defective cold-soldered connection on the fuse holder, and fixed the transformer myself. The supplier was trying to blame me for overloading the transformer. I think he is e-mailing off a script._

(CPF is not working too well either lately, I have to log in several times now, just to post a couple photos!) 
*
Here is a beam shot similar to the one of the Gorilla last month.*




*Night Hawk lights up *

This is a composite shot looking almost straight up.







*Night hawk by the front door*

You can see the temporary shelf board as the Night Hawk stand. The front door provides about the only straight up vantage point for the Night Hawk to beam 'Luxor' style.







*Night Hawk beam from back yard*

Night Hawk beam from back yard. Living room window in picture.









*Night Hawk beam lights the sky*

The Night Hawk gracefully lights the night sky.









*Night Hawk competes with street light*

Even with a bright street light overhead, you can clearly see the Night Hawk beam pointed away from a block away.


I'll post more shots, as I get another 220 volt source, or fix the 120 /220 transformer!
*Update:* _I fixed the transformer while eating lunch! Easy loose wire fix._


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## petersmith6

there little green men on mars putting on the raybands now


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## LightSward

petersmith6 said:


> there little green men on mars putting on the raybands now



Even though this is an HMI metal halide lamp, standing a hundred feet away in the light beam is very warm and of course Sunglasses, beach chair, Carona....lol


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## LightSward

Another couple beam shots. I'll get the spot light running again, (hopefully just a loose wire inside the 120 / 220 volt converter; and get some more distant beam shots.







*Beam shot from front door*

Here is the beam shot from another angle.








*Night hawk beam from a block away*

Beaming the clouds









*Beam shot of the Night Hawk*

Beam is somewhat near horizontal, and still lights the clouds up.









*The reflector is a little translucent...*
Even with three coatings of paint, reflective material, almost as reflective as mirror, and the fiberglass itself, the 1200 watt HMI bulb is very intense, and shines through! I need to work on the focus a little.

I may try the double ended bulb.


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## 2100

IgNITEor said:


> 2100, are these HMI Sharx lamps you're describing or HTI's? I was looking at the HTI type's and they have some serious ventilation requirements
> and limited burning positions. Can you post a link to a site describing the 1200 Watt 7 mm gap? I think I saw that lamp in Osram's line-up.
> Thanks!



Bro, those are HMIs. http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/247701380-HMI1200W-S-metal-halide-lights-wholesalers.html
I am sure you can a single unit for sale either there or alibaba. I have located a 400W searchlight, probably one of those PAR64 CP60 VNSP cans, ballast and fixture, runs off AC so shouldn't be really expensive....but they just would not reply my emails.


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## [email protected]

Wow, your lights are beautiful.. Congrats..


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## LightSward

[email protected] said:


> Wow, your lights are beautiful.. Congrats..



Thanks. Lots of fun to make these Lights.

Great learning experience; much easier to make, and now obtaining a better product. I am going to concentrate on optical purity now:....making a smoother surface. The parabolic shape is getting quite accurate now, but the slight ripples, blemishes, etc., on the fiberglass surface, need to be smoothed out to the 'immmpth degree of precision...that goal is going to be my next step in making these "monster reflectors", a high quality, affordable item...

I'm also working on other hardware; such as housings, yokes, etc., and will put out a product with maybe a choice of Lamp installations; brand names: such as Jenbo, versus GE, Phillips, etc., or clients can choose to install their own with detailed mounting requirements.


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## Bill Idaho

Is this a bulb/ballast combination I can fit into my VSS-3 reflector/housing?


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## LightSward

Bill said:


> Is this a bulb/ballast combination I can fit into my VSS-3 reflector/housing?


 
:naughty: I'm not familiar with the exact dimensions, but what I do know is the 1200 watt HMI is fairly small and the Jenbo ballast is small, about the size of a motel room Bible. The 1200 watt HMI puts out the Lumens of a 2400 watt Xenon...but the Xenon has a much smaller arc, which means you can use a small reflector and get great performance, plus you can turn the Xenon on and off a little quicker than an HMI. 

If you switch to HMI or HTI, metal halide, the double ended bulb may be good, because the arc chamber is directly cooled by fan, which allows fairly quick cool down, so that you can turn on and off the lamp in relatively short time. If you use HMI you will have a brighter beam though it widens a little faster.

It is worth looking into, if cost of the Xenon replacement are high or hard to get. HMI are fairly inexpensive. :thumbsup:


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## LightSward

I figured out why the 120 to 240 volt transformer quit. Two things, one there was a cold solder joint on the fuse holder that failed when it warmed, two, the the fuse holder was poorly constructed and could barely support the fuse. This is why I was getting 'flickering' with the light. I thought it was the Jenbo ballast from China...if you know what I mean... I fixed both problems with some solder. I am in conversation with the manufacturer about this, as other customers had the same issue, and just threw the transformers out...too expensive to ship for refund. 

I got a couple pictures of the Night Hawk, competing with sunlight, and one beam shot just seconds before the solder joint failed the other night.





*Close up of the failed solder joint*


Carefully opened, unplugged transformer...I've wound, wired and built transformers, so I pretty much knew what was wrong... 




*carefully opened, unplugged transformer*

I figured out why the 120 to 240 volt transformer quit. Two things, one there was a cold solder joint on the fuse holder that failed when it warmed, two, the the fuse holder was poorly constructed and could barely support the fuse. This is why I was getting 'flickering' with the light. I thought it was the Jenbo ballast from China...if you know what I mean...





*Night Hawk, on second floor deck.*

Night Hawk, on second floor deck, so that I could drive away for a few minutes. I put cardboard near Night Hawk, to keep wash light from shining on neighbor's home.







*Beam, as seen half a block away, shining over homes*

Beam, as seen half a block away, shining over homes, onto cloud, over a mile up.







*As seen from a quarter mile, Night Hawk lights the clouds, over a mile above ground level!*
You could see the beam, but the light polluted clouds, made it tough to photograph.







*Here is a moving beam shot from five blocks away*

Here is a moving beam shot from five blocks away, beam shining directly overhead. the transformer cold soldered joint, failed at about this point. Not too good of a beam shot yet.


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## LightSward

*Night Hawk close-up*

Night Hawk close-up, with HMI bulb partly in view.







*Night Hawk shining for daylight tests*

Night Hawk shining for daylight tests on garage doors and sidewalk next to sunshine.







*Turned around to see the Night Hawk shining on ME!*

Turned around to see the Night Hawk shining on ME! this is what I saw when I turned around. Very warm in beam, don't want to look directly into searchlight...even in broad day light!


With the Night Hawk a hundred feet from this door and me about fifteen feet, makes a nice shadow. 




*My shadow on garage door 100 feet away from Night Hawk searchlight!*

My shadow on garage door 100 feet away from light! Beam seems to spread about thirty inches every hundred feet. I am about fifteen feet in front of garage.









*The night Hawk is shining on the garage door*

The night Hawk is shining on the garage door, next to car, before it is shined on driveway to compare sunshine brightness.









*Night Hawk beam shining with sunlight*

Here you can see the Night Hawk shining on the ground next to direct sunlight. :naughty:


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## 2100

Bro, you lux metered the beam at say 100m? It'd be good to know.


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## LightSward

2100 said:


> Bro, you lux metered the beam at say 100m? It'd be good to know.


 

At 100 meters, (I don't have a Lux Meter), but figuring the mature life output of the 1200 watt HMI bulb, inefficiencies of the reflector, and geometry of the light paths and the associated losses and just eyeing it to the 'Lux Chart' on line, I'd say it is around 4,500 to 7,500 Lux on a beam that has spread to around 10 feet in diameter for the bright spot and 12 feet with corona. This is just an educated guess. :wave:


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## 2100

That's a cool 45-75 million CP. The Francis 560mm (22") searchlight with 2500W gets 141 million CP. So that is quite belivable for your 30".


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## LightSward

I will be traveling to Las Vegas soon, to pick-up the 36" Gorilla searchlight, parent of the 30 Inch Night Hawk. I will compare beam results, but I can already see that I need to smooth out the Night Hawk reflecting surface. The small ridges and blemishes, I allowed, are causing the beam to widen too fast. It still lights up the clouds a mile and a half up, but not like I wanted. 

I thought I could make do with a more accurate parabolic shape, and not worry as much about the surface quality...Wrong! The orange peel effect is worse than I should have accepted. So I will make a duplicate reflector and concentrate on getting rid of the orange peel surface. The Gorilla searchlight makes a better beam; of course because it is bigger, but because it has a fairly smooth surface, even though it's parabolic shape has a few minor incorrect areas. This is part of the fun of all this, finding issues, and fixing them. I'm excited to see how the two lights compare, and then make improvements!:thinking:

More to come!:twothumbs


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## LightSward

I compared the Night Hawk and Gorilla Reflectors, and realized the Gorilla has a much smoother surface, giving it a much better beam. I will focus spending a lot of time finishing any future surfaces to a mirror like smoothness.

While building the Night Hawk, I moved quickly, thinking I could get away with the orange peel look. I will either re-finish the Night Hawk, or go ahead and make another one, and concentrate on mirror like smoothness. I may bring the Night Hawk with a 100 watt 10mm arc HID installed to compare beam quality, to the next Seattle CPF Get Together.​


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## 2100

LightSward said:


> I compared the Night Hawk and Gorilla Reflectors, and realized the Gorilla has a much smoother surface, giving it a much better beam. I will focus spending a lot of time finishing any future surfaces to a mirror like smoothness.​




I have that cheapo 8" reflector HID, I just had to own it even though BVH said it was crap due to the lousy hotspot shape, it is like a mess of corona and no real hotspot, hence it is like a tight corona hotspot like a 40mm reflectored XP-G in throw but no real bright hotspot in the middle so the PBCP is not going to be high. The shape of the parabolic is ok, hence the tight corona, but there are like minor dimples spread all over the reflector surface, but it is very mirror smooth so the dimples are not like Orange Peel or stippled, so it gives a wierd hotspot. Luckily i got it cheap, 55W for 52 bucks shipped, not too bad....part of the collection I guess.​


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## LightSward

It is interesting how reflectors are. The *Night Hawk* and *Gorilla* beams, at first looked somewhat similar. They both light-up the clouds, a mile and a half or so up, quite brightly, but the Gorilla hot spot is much tighter, brighter and better defined, with a thinner, farther traveling beam. 

I was trying to produce the Night Hawk reflector in a quick and efficient manner, sort of a pre-production run, but, among other things, I was distracted by a phone call during part of the finishing process, and didn't pay as close attention as I should have. 

I am still impressed with the initial results of the Night Hawk so far, but I will work on the Beta model over a longer time period, and work out the little bugs that blemished the results. I figure, if I spend quality time and precision, the results should be at least, if not better than the Gorilla in it's present condition. (...of course, if I made a better surface on a beta- Gorilla...watch out!)

Over-all, I like the design of the Night Hawk type lights, and the fact that the reflectors are strong enough to act as the frame and case for the light. Next few models, I hope to cast the reflector and essential components all into one "Uni-body' with plenty of access for service. Low weight, relatively compact size, and cost.

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!:naughty:

I will fire up the Gorilla, next few nights...but I have to be careful, as it does seem to instantly draw strangers into our block area. Sometimes I wait until 2 0r 3 am, when no one is out and about, and no one is thinking "Store Sale, or "Party", just a hallucination, typical of that time of morning...Heh heh heeeh...lol


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## 2100

Attention is good, that means your light is good! 

I am still searching for a smaller HMI/MSR whatever MH spot. 10 deg beam is still alright if its 575 - 1200W power for those moving head effects spot, good for short range few hundred metres fun. I seen a 575W mini follow spot stage light which is 55cm long x 15cm x 20cm, but i think the beam divergence is 15 deg. Not pretty. The good thing is that it is cheap, 220 bucks shipped with EMS.

I am actually quite ok with 10 deg. My chinese triple XM-L light has 9.5 deg so i am aware of the technical performance. Probably about 500k CP for the 575W at 10 deg.


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## jaws

Awesome stuff. These parabolic spotlights have me doing alot of reading. I started gathering parts for a build of my own. I have a 48" plastic satellite dish that is a lil over 5" deep. As for the light I was thinking an 100w automotive xenon projector with the boundries and cutoff removed would be perfect(although it is slightly elliptical) and throw some pretty even light. I dunno how it will work as it throws light relatively sharp and focusing the beam may be dificult. The chrome I did some searching and found someone did all the work for me. spaz tix is the name, dunno how durible it is yet. This is just an idea at this point, I need all the input I can get.


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## 2100

Actually with that big a dish at 5 feet, getting an micro OP surface may be desirable. But the OP must be consistent.


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## LightSward

2100 said:


> Attention is good, that means your light is good!
> 
> I am still searching for a smaller HMI/MSR whatever MH spot. 10 deg beam is still alright if its 575 - 1200W power for those moving head effects spot, good for short range few hundred metres fun. I seen a 575W mini follow spot stage light which is 55cm long x 15cm x 20cm, but i think the beam divergence is 15 deg. Not pretty. The good thing is that it is cheap, 220 bucks shipped with EMS.
> 
> 
> I am actually quite ok with 10 deg. My chinese triple XM-L light has 9.5 deg so i am aware of the technical performance. Probably about 500k CP for the 575W at 10 deg.




You could buy the light and maybe cannibalize the parts.


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## LightSward

jaws said:


> Awesome stuff. These parabolic spotlights have me doing alot of reading. I started gathering parts for a build of my own. I have a 48" plastic satellite dish that is a lil over 5" deep. As for the light I was thinking an 100w automotive xenon projector with the boundries and cutoff removed would be perfect(although it is slightly elliptical) and throw some pretty even light. I dunno how it will work as it throws light relatively sharp and focusing the beam may be dificult. The chrome I did some searching and found someone did all the work for me. spaz tix is the name, dunno how durible it is yet. This is just an idea at this point, I need all the input I can get.


 

You could make / improvise a split reflector....a small bowl shaped reflector to focus the light opposite the main reflector, back through the light source and onto the main reflector...a common design. 

Nice chrome choice...!


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## LightSward

I just temporarily installed the Lithonia 100 watt HID from Home Depot, into the Night Hawk. What an incredible light, how much just a 100 watt HID regular loading door light produces, when used this way. I'll post some photos soon.

I will bring this light, along with the 36 inch Gorilla, to this Fall's: _*CPF Seattle Get Together
*_
*FALL* Get Together using *Spring* link:_*

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?310143-Seattle-area-GT-in-May/page3

*_See you there._* :wave:
*_


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## LightSward

Here is a beam shot of the NightHawk with just a 100 watt HID from Home Depot! Nice beam.








*The NightHawk lights the Night Sky*

Here I have temporarily installed a regular metal halide 100 watt light from home depot. Nice well focused beam!


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## LightSward

jaws said:


> Awesome stuff. These parabolic spotlights have me doing alot of reading. I started gathering parts for a build of my own. I have a 48" plastic satellite dish that is a lil over 5" deep. As for the light I was thinking an 100w automotive xenon projector with the boundries and cutoff removed would be perfect(although it is slightly elliptical) and throw some pretty even light. I dunno how it will work as it throws light relatively sharp and focusing the beam may be dificult. The chrome I did some searching and found someone did all the work for me. spaz tix is the name, dunno how durible it is yet. This is just an idea at this point, I need all the input I can get.




I actually thought of using spoons as reflectors myself. 
:naughty:
How did your project turn out? 

I just purchased a fiberglass paint that allows copper electroplating and then chrome.


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## LightSward

I've been using templates developed from this light to make the pro to-type production light called the: _*26" LightSport*_
I'm developing mirroring methods using the NightHawk.

Some Photos::naughty:*

Reduced and polished concrete mold, made from the 30 inch "NightHawk".*
*



*
Waxed and polished concrete mold ready for fiber-glassing







The removal of the product, was much easier by using melted polished candle wax on mold.


I'm ready to apply the 'acid copper' onto the painted copper layer.




Acid Copper layers are now added to make the Copy Chrome like a 'Mirror'.

I hope to use this on all the searchlight models I have worked on...We'll see!?!!!:naughty:


----------



## electromage

I can't wait to see what you end up with, you seem to improve your reflectors all the time. I can see why you used the chrome tape, but I think getting away from that will help a lot.


----------



## LightSward

electromage said:


> I can't wait to see what you end up with, you seem to improve your reflectors all the time. I can see why you used the chrome tape, but I think getting away from that will help a lot.



Thanks for the kind words. Reflector improvements quite often on my mind. The quality of the reflection, using the electroplating, should improve, eliminating much of the orange peel look along with better surface of fiberglass. I'm getting pretty good electroplating objects under 11 inches diameter, but may purchase larger tanks to get the quality needed on the Night Hawk, I've been using the 'puddle' method, and the quality is harder to control, but much less costs and shop space taken.


----------



## get-lit

LightSward said:


> ...has spread to around 10 feet in diameter for the bright spot and 12 feet with corona...



So the light seems bigger with Corona!


----------



## electromage

Have you looked at this stuff? http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=568 I don't know how it would compare to the tape, but it might be something to try out on the larger reflectors until you can get them electroplated.


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## get-lit

Optiforms has a 24.82"CA 6.87"FL Electroformed Reflector for an incredible price. That's what I'd use for this sort of project. I might pick one up for some fun at some point down the road.


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## electromage

That takes some of the fun out of it though, doesn't it? He's put quite a lot in to designing and building his own reflectors. How much is "an incredible price"? I don't see any prices listed on their site.


get-lit said:


> Optiforms has a 24.82"CA 6.87"FL Electroformed Reflector for an incredible price. That's what I'd use for this sort of project. I might pick one up for some fun at some point down the road.


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## LightSward

electromage said:


> Have you looked at this stuff? http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=568 I don't know how it would compare to the tape, but it might be something to try out on the larger reflectors until you can get them electroplated.



I will definitely check this out! Looks good. :thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

Optiforms has a 24.82"CA 6.87"FL Electroformed Reflector for an incredible price. That's what I'd use for this sort of project. I might pick one up for some fun at some point down the road. 



electromage said:


> That takes some of the fun out of it though, doesn't it? He's put quite a lot in to designing and building his own reflectors. How much is "an incredible price"? I don't see any prices listed on their site.



I like making my own reflectors, but still may purchase one of these. :thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

get-lit said:


> So the light seems bigger with Corona!:drunk:



Corona sounds good. 

I'm amazed how effective the Night Hawk design works at reflecting light.


----------



## LightSward

The completely new, duplicate, and without many of the blemishes, and flaws of the original; "NightHawk", is about to light the night! 

I've finished applying an Edmund Scientific reflecting mirror as recommended by *electromage* , applied using carpet tape. Test, including laser trace and small, bright, point and mask LED's, show the New Improved *"30 inch NightHawk"* should kick A-zz. I can't wait to get this thing lamped and yoked for what should look and act like a big, heavy searchlight, yet will be light-weight and easy to transport. 

Reflector still has some improvements since I used the original NightHawk with some 'smoothing' as the mold...yet I'm still impressed. This Searchlight so far is easy to maneuver and lightweight enough to carry with backpack attachment or handle and transports easily in compact car back seat, passenger seat, hatchback or trunk. :thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

Recently built the light bulb socket from an electrician's electrical grounding components and a 'cutting' board as co-recommended by a Home Depot employee. Looks pretty nice. photos soon. 

I should be able to mount the 'Delta-focusing Plate' with the top part of the 'split reflector', so that the bulb and top reflector focus together, making the main reflector focus much easier. This had been a problem in the past...i.e., focus the bulb to the main reflector and then the back reflector would be out of focus...nightmare to work with before. I'm getting better at this. 

To the Seattle Area get together, this may be the light, (NightHawk), I bring and showcase this year. Hopefully I can bring the main unit into the 'barn' before night fall so people can get a close up look.


----------



## LightSward

Here are some photos of the most recent development of the Experimental series of Searchlights which include the 30inch Night-Hawk.





*Start of 30 inch reflector mirror covering*

Start of Edmund optical mirror application. The double sided adhesive worked well in some places but others it slightly bubbled.






*30 inch experimental reflector*
Reflector showing distorted reflection of surroundings.





*Jenbo 1,200 watt HMI and split reflector and socket homemade*

You can see the mounting hardware used to hold bulb on a shaped cutting board as the socket body. The 'back-reflector' is seen above bulb and supplied light back to the main reflector that otherwise would be wasted.






*30 inch reflector*
The bulb cooling, rain protector is seen above the main light output globe.







*One candle 30 inch reflector from 25 feet*

Candle image from down the hall.







*One lighter from 120 feet away 30 inch reflector*
I held a lighter in one hand at focal point and balanced camera in other to photograph image on garage door to right from a hundred twenty feet away.

I hope, with all the little issues I had with the reflector, the Experimental 30 inch Night-Hawk will make a half way decent beam!


----------



## get-lit

Great work. I suggest using 3 slightly smaller bolts than the two you have for mounting and adjusting the back/retro reflector. That will reinforce it against forces in all direction with less noticeable obstruction from the bolts. It will also allow you to adjust all three XYZ dimensions.


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## LightSward

get-lit said:


> Great work. I suggest using 3 slightly smaller bolts than the two you have for mounting and adjusting the back/retro reflector. That will reinforce it against forces in all direction with less noticeable obstruction from the bolts. It will also allow you to adjust all three XYZ dimensions.



Thank you for the kind words.

I have to admit, I was going to use three smaller bolts, but my budget, and optional hardware for this project is running out, so I went with what I already had on hand. The good news, I was able to make 'slots' on the two adjustable plates that hold the whole assembly; so 'some' X,Y,Z -3 axis control is available. I also decided to line up the bolts with the hardware inside the bulb. I was surprised at how the bulb interior is not centered to the outer part of the bulb, so I added a slight 'twist' to the assembly to minimize all the shadows into just the two standard ones on opposite sides of the bulb. I have carefully measured the focal point using a bright 'point' LED lamp and am making sure the first start position of the arc is exactly where this is, (or should be), so I hopefully won't have to do much focusing. 

Hope this works. Next one will be the 'delta' design as you mentioned.

I already 'bumped' the side of the assembly and wished that I had secured it with three bolts. I may use bailing wire for a temp fix...LOL. As you can see I have already resorted to some 'jury rigging' of things; out of impatience and a desire to get this searchlight ready for our CPF Seattle Area Get-together this coming Saturday, 26th day of May, 2012. 

Hopefully I won't be too embarrassed. If the light beam is roughly the same or better than the 36 inch Gorilla, I will have accomplished my goal for this particular project of making a much lighter weight, and smaller, easier to transport searchlight. The Gorilla on the outside actually measures close to 40 inches, the 36 inches being the actual reflector surface size. The Gorilla can be a bit of a hassle, sometimes, to get into my care...still not too bad. The 30 inch Night-Hawk is the outside dimension of the reflector and the actual reflector with integrated frame is 29 inches. Overall, it is much easier to transport just being smaller and lighter-weight .


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## LightSward

Glad the Forum is back up and running.

The new 30 inch Nighthawk is up and shining! Still need to work on focus, orange peel reflector issues and other, but decent beam. Almost as good as the Gorilla beam, much easier to transport. The split beam reflector next to the bulb, has slightly tarnished, so doesn't reflect as much light through the arc chamber to the main reflector as when new. Still, it lit up clouds a mile and a half up. Here are some photos I took last night while adjusting the focus.





*Nighthawk ready for final assembly.*






*Nighthawk ready for 'Ignition".*






*Nighthawk Beam is fatter than expected*

Nighthawk Beam is bright, but a little fatter than expected. The 10 mm arc may be too large for any reflector smaller than 30 inches, if it is to make a narrow beam. I still can adjust the focus, though mechanism not easy to work with when lamp is on.






*Nighthawk lights up the clouds a mile and a half up*

Nighthawk lights up the clouds a mile and a half up, really interesting to watch the clouds move in and out of the beam.






*Nighthawk lights clouds a mile and half up*

Nighthawk lights clouds a mile and half up. Beam is a little fatter than I was hoping for.





*Beam slices night sky*

Beam slices night sky, makes decent beam.

See everyone at the Seattle area CPF Get Together.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?336511-CPF-NW-2012-Spring-GTG-


----------



## FRITZHID

:twothumbs


----------



## LightSward

Seattle Area Get Together was great! Bought a 540 lumen light. Brought a 110,000 lumen searchlight. Beam was decent but out of focus. 24 hours later, the beam can be seen seven miles, even with city lights shining up to the sky. Great photos, I'll post more when I get some sleep. Here are some for now.






*Nighthawk and Death Ray at CPF Get Together.*

Nighthawk and Death Ray at CPF Get Together. I need to better focus the Nighthawk. 24 hours later you can see this thing shining in the sky from seven miles away!








NightHawk and Death Ray light clouds up







NightHawk, Death Ray and Baby Ray light clouds up lighting terrain below.





After I got home, I adjusted the Focus, as per IgNITEor's suggestion. Wow!, what a difference. I can see the thing, shining in the sky from seven, (7), miles away!







Here the Nighthawk is shining out my living room window.







Picture taken from within the light beam traveling seven miles!







Beam could be seen seven miles away!







30 inch Searchlight shines out from my Living Room window.







Beam could be seen seven miles away!














30 inch Searchlight shines out over Hillsboro.

Searchlight as seen from seven miles away!




Portland is what is lighting up the clouds in background.







*Picture 127*

Light beam and cloud lit from searchlight, shining from my living room window, over seven miles away!


----------



## ma_sha1

Did you finally get a better camera? Picture looks great


----------



## LightSward

ma_sha1 said:


> Did you finally get a better camera? Picture looks great



Yes I have a better camera, and I still use the old one sometimes...now with more skill.:naughty:

I can start by maybe selling these reflectors 'with or with-out' any reflecting material on them. $100.00 for 'non-mirrored', unsurfaced, basic fiberglass condition to several hundred dollars or more depending on an agreed on mirror layer and $$$ up to $1,700.00 US dollars for complete searchlight. These are just some ideas I'm considering while looking at the Nighthawk.  :thinking: oo: :duh2:  :thumbsup:


----------



## get-lit

Great job! Hope to meet up there one of these times.


----------



## LightSward

get-lit said:


> Great job! Hope to meet up there one of these times.



Yah, it would be great to see some of your lights! See you next Fall?!.,:naughty:


----------



## get-lit

I wish I could give a date. My design is complete but I'm finding that it's taking a lot of time to make the tooling to produce the lights. I'm picking up a Bridgeport knee mill and will be converting it to CNC to make the molds and the internal parts. The cost to do this is not much more than outsourcing everything.


----------



## jebir

Thank you for providing so much information about your large reflector projects. 

I am pondering doing something similar myself - for a local November light festival that we have. For me it is not the parabolic mirror that is the problem - I'm confident that I kan make that. I am more worried about the electronic part - I have an enormous respect for the sort of electrical powers that I will need to handle here.

So, for the circuitry, did you make it yourself or did you buy it professionally made? I noted that you used a ballast and a transforme - how did you figure out the circuitry and how to match them together?

By the way, I think you can retrieve a nice spherical mirror for the front reflector if you scrap an old slide projector. 

Cheers, Jens


----------



## LightSward

jebir said:


> Thank you for providing so much information about your large reflector projects.
> 
> I am pondering doing something similar myself - for a local November light festival that we have. For me it is not the parabolic mirror that is the problem - I'm confident that I kan make that. I am more worried about the electronic part - I have an enormous respect for the sort of electrical powers that I will need to handle here.
> 
> So, for the circuitry, did you make it yourself or did you buy it professionally made? I noted that you used a ballast and a transforme - how did you figure out the circuitry and how to match them together?
> 
> By the way, I think you can retrieve a nice spherical mirror for the front reflector if you scrap an old slide projector.
> 
> Cheers, Jens



Thanks for the kind words.

I bought the [email protected] ballast and bulb for only total of $570.00. The 1,200 watt ballast is the only one that 'needs' 240 volts...so that is why the big added on, custom made 120 volt to 240 volt transformer and cooling fan I added. Luckily the ballast has a wide range of voltages and cycles...180 volts to 260 vac range and 48 htz to 66 cycle range, so perfect match not needed. I'm good at 'building things like sockets and high voltage harnesses...originally out of necessity .

Glad you mentioned the projector, because I did scrap an old projector, and this confirmed my idea of the split reflector idea I had been toying around with. I realized, that if I may make many of these, I would need a regular easy and inexpensive supply. I got spoiled by finding cheap mixing bowls, or dog dishes that were highly polished with the right optics.

I can now mass produce the basic fiberglass reflector body.


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## LightSward

get-lit said:


> I wish I could give a date. My design is complete but I'm finding that it's taking a lot of time to make the tooling to produce the lights. I'm picking up a Bridgeport knee mill and will be converting it to CNC to make the molds and the internal parts. The cost to do this is not much more than outsourcing everything.



I look forward to seeing it. I'm often at the balance of either money shortage for projects or time shortage, myself. When I have money, I tend to not have much time and vise vrs. :thinking:


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## jebir

Considering that you have done all that research for your project - I feel that I might as well take advantage of it and ask if you would consider selling a reflector to Sweden?

Regarding the small front reflector, I think it is very umportant that it is exactly spherical so that the light is reflected back exactly through the source in order not have it diverge after the reflection at the parabolic reflector. Otherwise I think it will just create a diffuse halo around the intense beam, rather than contributing to it.

Cheers, Jens.


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## LightSward

*Imitation 3-D view of the 30 inch Nighthawk*
30 inch Nighthawk ready to paint the sky with artistic homemade lighting.


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## LightSward

jebir said:


> Considering that you have done all that research for your project - I feel that I might as well take advantage of it and ask if you would consider selling a reflector to Sweden?
> 
> Regarding the small front reflector, I think it is very umportant that it is exactly spherical so that the light is reflected back exactly through the source in order not have it diverge after the reflection at the parabolic reflector. Otherwise I think it will just create a diffuse halo around the intense beam, rather than contributing to it.
> 
> Cheers, Jens.



Yes, I would be interested in selling a reflector to Sweden. Would that be the basic shell with or without reflective material added? Shipping and handling is a small issue to be dealt with, etc. The 30 inch reflector isn't perfect, still slight blemishes, but each reflector I make, I get more experienced in the 'little things', that make a difference. 

Limited shop space has made my goal of adding another 'finishing process' that would make the reflector damn close to being perfect, difficult to perform, and thus the slight distortions that prevent a perfect tight beam. I am happy with the results of my efforts, that is having a very powerful searchlight that can seen for several miles, shining in the night sky, hitting clouds, illuminating mountains, canyons or ocean front surfing from a mile or so away. The reflector is very efficient! People have a hard time believing it only uses the power of a hair dryer or small toaster.

I can sell the basic shell without reflective material added for around a hundred U.S. dollars, plus shipping and handling costs? The added reflective material which has it's own issues the way I do it now, would add another hundred. I am open to suggestions.:thinking:

Yes the front reflector needs to be exactly spherical, and positioned accurately. I was lucky in the past to find mixing bowls or dog dishes that were highly polished spheres of an ideal size for staying away from bulb and cool, to prevent tarnishing. Now I am using 'ladles' that are too close to the bulb, heat up and slightly tarnish to a polished brass look. They still work, but not as efficiently. Send a PM


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## jarma

im a newbie on cpf and found this thread absolutely awesome, what a beam, now thats what you call throw. im loving it.!


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## LightSward

jarma said:


> im a newbie on cpf and found this thread absolutely awesome, what a beam, now thats what you call throw. im loving it.!



Thanks. This thing is awesome for what I always wanted in a light. Now I'm making things more 'beta'.

I want to pose this with the Luxor light in Vegas. Luxor light is actually 40 lights at 7k watts each. I'd like to put 40 of my lights in a parking lot next to the Luxor (40 lights), 'light'. Maybe up the wattage to 2,400 watts HID.


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## LightSward

The 30 inch Nighthawk and 36 inch Gorilla have been entered into NASA's "Designing the Future" Contest. See the entry and maybe vote!

http://contest.techbriefs.com/safety-and-security-2012-by-title/2636-very-efficient-searchlight


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## LightSward

Here is the converter I use to power the 30 inch NightHawk and any other spotlight using the 1,200 watt HMI high efficiency short arc lamps.

I often have to convert 120 volts into 240 volts. I bought an inexpensive power converter, partly because of curiosity after reading customer complaints about this very affordable unit, and figured out what the issue was, before I bought it. Sure enough, just like the other customers, it worked well for a short time, then, sparks and smoke. It was indeed thin gauge wiring and cr_ppy components. So for just a few more dollars, I converted it into a reliable and hearty power supply that should last for years!*

Transformer Rewiring*





Here is a look at the 120 to 240 volt transformer I re-wired. The transformer itself is built like a tank, but many users have been plagued by burnouts and product failures do to terrible wiring and cheap parts that smoked and sparked when I used it. This new set-up stays nice and cool, assisted by a cooling fan for hot evenings. Also no smoke and sparks anymore!


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## LightSward

I had fun doing this late Spring 2012. Getting ready for the Fall Seattle Area CPF Get together.






[h=4]Picture 133[/h] 

Here the Nighthawk is shining out my living room window.






All rights reserved	
Uploaded on May 28, 2012 
0 comments 





[h=4]Picture 128[/h] 

Light beam and cloud lit from searchlight, shining from my living room window, over seven miles...






All rights reserved	
Uploaded on May 28, 2012 
0 comments


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## LightSward

Working on some new modifications that should make this baby shine and easy to produce. We'll see in a few months if I can get $$$ and shop space.!


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## LightSward

If in the Aloha, Oregon area, look for the "Bat Light" high in the sky. I'll be giving out treats to scarey kids for a while, Halloween Night.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/7285946760/in/photostream


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## LightSward

Here is how the 30 inch NightHawk looked Halloween Night.  We had more "Trick or Treaters" than ever. Many costumed teenagers. Most said they saw "the Bat Light", (NightHawk) which guided them to treats.






*Combined Halloween NightHawk 2012 Pics.*

A collection of photos taken Halloween night 2012 of the NightHawk Searchlight










*Simulated 3-D...just focus each eye on separate photo, left eye to left photo etc., by looking through computer screen to next room, you should see three images, middle one will look 3-D*

30 inch NightHawk Lights the Full Moon Halloween sky and clouds as seen behind the Inventor's home.







NightHawk Lights the Full Moon Halloween sky as seen from block away.


Homemade NightHawk Lights the Halloween sky and clouds over LightSward's neighborhood.







*Simulated 3-D*
30 inch NightHawk Lights the Full Moon Halloween sky and clouds.


More to come!


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## LightSward

I will be selling 1,000 watt incandescent, weather resistant, Architecturally pleasing version to individuals on the East Coast area. Awesome! 

Will try to get pics soon. 

One of these lights, as far as I know, will be an Architectural feature on a city house, with the searchlight permanently mounted on the deck, for "showing off" purposes. Because these won't have the HIM 1,200 watt arc light as seen in photo at over 100,000 lumen, instead the incandescent has 28,000 lumen, or about a quarter light output. 

There will be substantial costs reductions and electronic box at base will be eliminated. With incandescent, a more rapid on off light cycle can be tolerated, such as partying college students???


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## LightSward

Here is a CAD compositional of what the production NightHawk may look like...maybe not the "Loud", colors, I will use something like machine green, or international grey commonly used. Any thoughts?







*Photo NightHawk production 3-D Outside 1 jpeg*

An AutoCAD 3-D rendering of what the all weather resistant Production model 30 inch NightHawk may look like, minus the "loud" colors. May go for a color as seen on the Tank Lights.


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## naiter

WOW. Sweey thread. I took it upon myself to pick my favorite picture, It was a difficult decision but...

"





_NightHawk, Death Ray and Baby Ray light clouds up lighting terrain below.
"
_Very Nice!
As soon as i read "selling", i wanted to know what these babies would cost!
I wouldn't be able to afford one, but I don't see why a flashy bright color would bother me. Safety orange, baby blue. If I had one, and it could be anything, it would be orange tiger stripe cammo. But everyone else would prob be happiest with gun metal gray. 
get a "print wrap" and do something crazy, they can do anything. like all these beam shots printed on it, so during the day people still could be impressed. that'd be sweet!


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## LightSward

naiter said:


> WOW. Sweey thread. I took it upon myself to pick my favorite picture, It was a difficult decision but...
> 
> "
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _NightHawk, Death Ray and Baby Ray light clouds up lighting terrain below.
> "
> _Very Nice!
> As soon as i read "selling", i wanted to know what these babies would cost!
> I wouldn't be able to afford one, but I don't see why a flashy bright color would bother me. Safety orange, baby blue. If I had one, and it could be anything, it would be orange tiger stripe cammo. But everyone else would prob be happiest with gun metal gray.
> get a "print wrap" and do something crazy, they can do anything. like all these beam shots printed on it, so during the day people still could be impressed. that'd be sweet!


 
Thanks for the good words. The NightHawk has been better focused for a more narrow beam. Can be seen over seven miles, in city lighting.

*This is exciting. People in New York* wanting to Architecturally, semi-permanently, mount this on their nice house's deck for show and tell! I faded the 3-D CAD rendered photo a little bit, to demonstrate the colors client wants. Bright colors are definitely on the menu. 

Not sure, but the stripped down 1,000 watt incandescent, 28,000 lumen, tempered glass lens with bulb cooling, but none mechanical panning home version is probably going to be around *$650.oo*. Not too out of site. Price subject to change, depending on...??? ...many things...but around that??:tired:






*Faded Color Photo of NightHawk Production*

Another photo faded just for comparison.


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## naiter

I've been trying to think of any good reasons to have... well, something eccentric like this awesome spotlight. I can't, except but maybe for one purpose:
Mark your camp location at* The Dunes!*

I've been lucky enough in my life to have ridden out at the Sand Dunes in CA (Glammis, Gordon's Well, and Pismo Beach). There are a plenty of super rich, even Elite rich, Dune goers that spend anything on an attachment to their already_* uber*_ expensive RV and sand rails. They have lighted balloons, and bright blinking beacons atop of long poles, to mark where their RV is, and find there way back to camp. A spot light would be even better. Never get lost in the desert at night again (well, they have GPS, but now it could break). I would think an appearance at Gordon's Well during a busy holiday weekend (like Halloween) could potentially get a few sales, even pre-sales. Is it possible to design a travel version to fold up? Try to keep logistics and weight in mid and these "Dune Goers" could be an untapped market. especially if it becomes a FAD where one wealthy guy has to ONE-UP his buddy. If I were rich I'd even attach it to my sandrail, not as a headlight ,but to mark my position in the sky (lightweight materials and durability would be important here - IDK, can these bounce around without breaking?). Anyways, these guys already have batteries and generators galore. Maybe add a long distance RF device rigged to turn it on/off, combined with a timer automatically turning it on and off every few minutes. I could see those being options I'd want for Duneing...

I'm just dreaming... But I've seen how many 'Elite Rich' live, when money is no object, they do get to do some interesting things...

My mechanic Father in law has a much more budgeted dune setup , old toy hauler and quads, but for $650 I'm going to talk to him about buying one, however incredibly unlikely. I want to ask, if it were a more budgeted 1000w version, what range would someone be able to make out the spot? Even if just barely discernible in the moonlight without city lights.

Just make it easier to drag around than one of these WWII spotlights:


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## BVH

naiter said:


> I've been trying to think of any good reasons to have... well, something eccentric like this awesome spotlight. I can't, except but maybe for one purpose:
> Mark your camp location at* The Dunes!*
> 
> I've been lucky enough in my life to have ridden out at the Sand Dunes in CA (Glammis, Gordon's Well, and Pismo Beach). Just make it easier to drag around than one of these WWII spotlights:



I didn't need a reason to get mine when I bought it! Just jump in and pick one up. There are plenty for sale. I hear my old gem is for sale again. Hey, Pismo's my neck of the woods!


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## LightSward

naiter said:


> I've been trying to think of any good reasons to have... well, something eccentric like this awesome spotlight. I can't, except but maybe for one purpose:
> Mark your camp location at* The Dunes!*
> 
> I've been lucky enough in my life to have ridden out at the Sand Dunes in CA (Glammis, Gordon's Well, and Pismo Beach). There are a plenty of super rich, even Elite rich, Dune goers that spend anything on an attachment to their already_* uber*_ expensive RV and sand rails. They have lighted balloons, and bright blinking beacons atop of long poles, to mark where their RV is, and find there way back to camp. A spot light would be even better. Never get lost in the desert at night again (well, they have GPS, but now it could break). I would think an appearance at Gordon's Well during a busy holiday weekend (like Halloween) could potentially get a few sales, even pre-sales. Is it possible to design a travel version to fold up? Try to keep logistics and weight in mid and these "Dune Goers" could be an untapped market. especially if it becomes a FAD where one wealthy guy has to ONE-UP his buddy. If I were rich I'd even attach it to my sandrail, not as a headlight ,but to mark my position in the sky (lightweight materials and durability would be important here - IDK, can these bounce around without breaking?). Anyways, these guys already have batteries and generators galore. Maybe add a long distance RF device rigged to turn it on/off, combined with a timer automatically turning it on and off every few minutes. I could see those being options I'd want for Duneing...
> 
> I'm just dreaming... But I've seen how many 'Elite Rich' live, when money is no object, they do get to do some interesting things...
> 
> 
> 
> Great idea! I actually have a show model that fits easily in my compact car trunk, even on part of the back seat of my car...with passenger seat rolled back and partly reclined, it fits up front too. The model I'm selling at this time is destined to sit outside 24 hours a day in all weather conditions. If a person is careful, I could sell one for maybe a little less, though dust could be an issue...I may install an air filter or heat exchanger...will look into those issues. These stripped down lights would be sold with the understanding that care must be taken and some simple; assembly, dis-assembly done to transport the light...mainly disconnecting the arbor and base...a couple nuts and bolts and maybe a cooling fan....
> 
> Your idea sounds very doable, and out in the desert, the beam should be very visible without all the city lights.
> 
> Let me know...?!.
> 
> Let me know?!.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *30 Inch NightHawk getting ready for sales!*


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## LightSward

Here are some incredible beam shots taken during near full moon New Years Eve 2012-13.

Here is a picture of the NightHawk aimed off my deck towards Beaverton and Hillsboro.




*NightHawk on deck shining the near full moon New Years Eve with artistic light. Night sky painted with 1,200 watt HID NightHawk Light. View of bulb cooling fan towards camera. Igniter is the small black box taped to the arbor. New Year's Eve 12-31-2012...now morning after: 2013!*



Cool view of NightHawk lighting the New Years Eve Sky for many miles. Beam can often be seen for over seven, (7), miles. Photo shows light beam shining away from camera out to paint the night sky with awesome HID light.




*Searchlight pointed away from us 12-31-12 New Years Eve, photo taken from neighbors driveway.*


This incredible shot of the Orion Constellation, was taken from same spot, I just pointed the camera to my left. The New Year of 2013 started with a great night sky, with a nearly full moon along with a clear dark sky, enabling picture of constellation Orion.




*Orion wide angle shot, taken from same spot as Beam Shot above.*


Here is a similar view taken from nearly a block away of the Beam painting the New Year's sky with exciting light.




*Photo of New Years 2012-13 night, morning view of NightHawk* *painting the sky with New Years light.*


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## LightSward

Here is a deck view from behind the NightHawk.



*NightHawk on deck 12-31-2012*
Cool rear view of NightHawk lighting the New Years Eve Sky for many miles.



Orion Looking at the fantastic artistry provided by NightHawk



*Orion checking out the NightHawk.*




I walked a block away from the Deck location of the NightHawk for this view. Beam aimed away from camera towards TV Hwy.




*View taken a block away from NightHawk Dec.-31-2012-13 Eve, morning. Happy New Year!*


Collage of previous photos. Great artistic shot. This art form known as the '*NightHawk*', will be sold as that, an "*art sculpture*".




*NightHawk New Years Eve-morning: 2012-13 collage*


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## LightSward

What interest is there in the 1,000 watt incandescent model with front lens for $650.oo versus 1,200 watt HMI, (4xlight output of incandescent.) for $1,400.oo and full model with panning 90 degree mechanism for $1,600.oo and full model with 360 degree panning for $1,725.oo?

Who wants what?


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## LightSward

I will NOT be using this product on my next 30 inch Night Hawk Searchlight. Seen how it works.Terrible the day it arrived. I was so optimistic. Boooo!


*DON'T USE *ALSACORP Killer Chrome Products!
*They s_ck!*


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## LightSward

Going to find out real soon if the ALSACORP reflector paint kit (at over $130 plus shipping), works. Disappointed though, the instruction video was smashed and part of the over coat spray can was smashed. Bad packing and bad handling on UPS part?! Also parts of the kit missing and terrible customer service...they just hang up. 

I hope this stuff reflects at least 50 to 60 percent of the light and will be able to clearly see my face. Hopefully this won't have the 'sort of grey foggy mirror look so many cans actually provide. If this is the case, basically $600 dollars wasted, with electrolyte-plating, and expensive spray chromes, trying to find an alternative to the Chrome Tape that works very well, just not as professional looking. I get some orange peel look to the tape, but not too bad.


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## LightSward

Here are some photos of the "production" model of the *30 inch NightHawk, home addition*. Lightweight and easy to transport, and very affordable. I thought it nice to show the simplified steps, using a concrete mold.



*Here is the small cluster, (10 mm square light source area), of the 1000 watt halogen 28,000 lumen bulb!*







*Small filament cluster bulb to be used in home version of the NightHawk*.
Inexpensive and last 200 hours!


Next is the concrete mold, visible through the different colors of candle wax and the translucent fiberglass.





I use a heat gun to melt and polish smooth the candle wax and then buff to a shine.


I'm streamlining the fan and cooling system and making an easy to access light bulb, "pull out drawer".


 *
Frame and basic glass work in preparation for the streamlined cooling system.*

Almost ready to test that new ALSACORP mirror spray. Hope it works like the ad above.


----------



## LightSward

Production shell off the mold...excellent...perfect...don't have to fill in any voids. Way better, new, improved fiber glassing routine. Glass smooth. I need to do some more exterior work and then....(drum roll) the test of the ALSACORP., mirror product. Hope it works...I've read mixed reviews online. More photos soon for CPF and the client that this has been sold to.


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## get-lit

Sounds great LightSward! If the spray doesn't work out, you may want to ask in the DIY screen forum for home theaters over at avsforums.com. They have many methods of making nearly perfect reflective surface for little cost. But it looks like that spray you have would do a great job.


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## LightSward

get-lit said:


> Sounds great LightSward! If the spray doesn't work out, you may want to ask in the DIY screen forum for home theaters over at avsforums.com. They have many methods of making nearly perfect reflective surface for little cost. But it looks like that spray you have would do a great job.



I've done all the prep work, a few minor blemishes here and there, but if this stuff is what it is suppose to be, I'll know by tomorrow afternoon. I watched the products own website demos., and they slightly contradicted themselves on the application method and results where less than advertised. Only one of their demo., sites had an older guy that seemed to do what their own instructions said and had far superior results shown on their site.

Should know by 5pm Friday...today.


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## get-lit

Whatever the results are, even though it couldn't match the results of the intensive process of electroformed reflective coatings, I have a feeling this will be well worth the effort and super low cost. Really looking forward to this. The 30" diameter gives you ability to overpower a fair degree of surface imperfection.


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## LightSward

*Keep all those great suggestions coming. I need to do a better job researching.*


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## LightSward

Thank you everyone for suggestions, and keep them coming! 

After careful review and consideration I don't think the ALSACORP Killer Chrome product line is suitable for this project. It provided a wonderful base coat for upper layers of a different product more suitable for this project. I went to a local hardware store and found a more suitable spray chrome that makes a wonderful backing for what I will have to cover with....uhhggg...the chrome tape which provides a superior reflective surface. The hardware store chrome will make a good backing and fill for the gaps in the tape. I think with a nice 'pie slice' placement of the tape, a professional and appealing appearance will be met.




*Top part inexpensive 'Bright Chrome', hardware store paint and bottom portion, 'dull ALSACORP chrome paint'. 
Comparison of ALSACORP 'dull' chrome to hardware bright chrome paint on upper portion of reflector.*




Inexpensive hardware store Chrome Paint is almost good enough but will will have to have chrome tape applied. The gaps in the pie slices of chrome tape will be nicely 'filled' by the underlying chrome paint.






Hand reflection in hardware store paint placed 'over' the "unsuitable" ALSACORP dull chrome paint.


Inexpensive Hardware chrome paint pretty good.


* Searchlight barrel frame prep. *





With the pricey chrome tape search still not over...I will use chrome paint to back prep the reflector and then use pie slices of the chrome tape to make a professional and highly reflective surface. I plan on bringing these lights to the Seattle Area CPF Get together this Spring.

*DON'T USE *ALSACORP Killer Chrome PRODUCTS for searchlights. Use Local Hardware or Auto parts store Chrome paint instead.


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## LightSward

Excited to see this final mirror film applied. Now I can concentrate on finishing the light so the New York City owner can take possession in a couple weeks.

Chrome Film is applied. You can see a much brighter, clearer reflection of hand.   :thumbsup:





*Chrome Mirror film now added to searchlight making hand reflection brighter than with spray paint mirror.. Makes a very bright beam already!*


Careful application of reflective mirror film, allows much brighter reflection.





The cooling whole is offset from the center to allow cooling fan etc., to come in from the side a little, to 'streamline' the backside of the searchlight.


*Chrome Mirror film now added to searchlight. Makes a very bright beam already!
*


----------



## get-lit

That's much better. The problem with spray is the micro reflective material is applied at entirely random angles. Since you're this far into the project, maybe look into DIY electroforming? I leave that to the experts but you might want to check it out.

EDIT: I just did a quick search and found that DIY electroplating is quite common and can be somewhat easy. I don't know if or how electroplating differs from electroforming, but the process would need to align all the micro reflective material. The only issue for you is you'd need a metal surface to electroplate. If you could figure that out, you'd be set for a mirror finish. Of course the tried and true method is spin forming with a mandrel, but the mandrel is extremely expensive for this size. Maybe a sheet metal pressing method? Just giving ideas since you'll be making these.

Also look into vacuum depositing, but it may be way too expensive. Google DIY vacuum depositing. I found these:
http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/warren/6-1-2011/diy-vacuum-deposition-making-mirrors
http://www.finishing.com/4200-4399/4359.shtml


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## LightSward

get-lit said:


> That's much better. The problem with spray is the micro reflective material is applied at entirely random angles. Since you're this far into the project, maybe look into DIY electroforming? I leave that to the experts but you might want to check it out.
> 
> EDIT: I just did a quick search and found that DIY electroplating is quite common and can be somewhat easy. I don't know if or how electroplating differs from electroforming, but the process would need to align all the micro reflective material. The only issue for you is you'd need a metal surface to electroplate. If you could figure that out, you'd be set for a mirror finish. Of course the tried and true method is spin forming with a mandrel, but the mandrel is extremely expensive for this size. Maybe a sheet metal pressing method? Just giving ideas since you'll be making these.
> 
> Also look into vacuum depositing, but it may be way too expensive. Google DIY vacuum depositing. I found these:
> http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/warren/6-1-2011/diy-vacuum-deposition-making-mirrors
> http://www.finishing.com/4200-4399/4359.shtml



Thanks for keeping the suggestions coming. I have gained much needed knowledge from these. I did try electroplating, and was quite successful with small things but was needing large tanks and lots of 'evil' scarey chemicals, (maybe not that bad but hundreds of gallons of it!), The Go Edmund mirror sheets were great but adhesive and compound curve issues prevent me from trusting that product yet. I am fairly comfortable with the film reflective chrome tapes, because an end user, (customer), can do repairs themselves, by just driving ten minutes to the nearest auto parts dealer and picking some up. Puts up with lots of abuse and rubbing and cleaning take a while to show damage.

I'll look further. Many brands of potato chips have a reflective coating inside the bag to maybe make it look like you have more chips...I DK but may work well for my adobe and potato chip bag searchlight. I'm just bringing this up, because of how great the 'film' mirror stuff has become and so inexpensive and fairly easy to use..


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## LightSward

_

_
*My usual photo bucket isn't working to well, so I'm just using Facebook to post photos on one of my Forum threads I publish.*



 
_
_*A great shot of the reflector's handmade quality image. So artistic...L*OL 
Decent shot of the handmade reflector. This thing works well, despite all the little blemishes. The cooling whole is offset from the center to allow cooling fan etc., to come in from the side a little, to 'streamline' the backside of the searchlight. 

_

_ 

I hope this works. I had to use Facebook as a photo bucket, Flickr takes hours per photo now. This blue underline is annoying




 _
_A great shot of the aluminum barrel housing. 







 The cooling whole is offset from the center to allow cooling fan etc., to come in from the side a little, to 'streamline' the backside of the searchlight. 
A great shot of the aluminum barrel housing. This provides a great shielding from the intense light rays bursting forth from the super bright 1,000 watt halogen small filament projector bulb. 

_


_A steel hoop is made from pipe. This is one of the primary framing components of all my searchlights. the steel provides a great mounting and secure force distributor to ensure good product handling and years of performance. 
Here is a picture of the handmade reflector. 

_


_ 
Here is a great shot of many colors reflecting off the 30 inch Nighthawk. The cooling whole is offset from the center to allow cooling fan etc., to come in from the side a little, to 'streamline' the backside of the searchlight.


----------



## LightSward

_

*Jared Wells added 4 photos.
*
I'm still in search of the 'perfect' reflective material. If anyone has worked with anything not too drastic LMK, (let me know).
_


----------



## get-lit

I'd say this turned out to be really good reflective surface, but with an orange peal effect, which I think would have the same effect on the beam as orange peal for our EDC lights... blends out the edge of the beam at a loss of central lux.

*EDIT:* I think the orange peal would be greatly reduced if a thin film reflective material were applied with minimal adhesive, because it appears to me as if it's the thickness of the adhesive itself that is causing the orange peal. I'd say get away from self-adhesive film, and use a reflective thin film with a light brushing of separate adhesive. There are also templates for cutting lines into sheet to fill round shapes without creases. Look into these two things and I think you could completely eliminate the orange peal. If you could get a more pliable film, it might not need cutting to fill the shape of the reflector.

Here's something I noticed about the parabola which could be useful for a different method... when pulling the center of a flat surface inward, it naturally forms to a parabolic shape. Maybe you could experiment with this to form a parabola from a flat reflective material.

Also something extremely easy would be a vacuum thermo-forming method. Look into vacuum forming acrylic or polycarbonate sheet with a mirror surface, or any other heat form-able sheet having a mirror surface. It's super quick and easy! No fiberglass layup etc. Once you have the mold, heat, and vacuum assembly set up, each part would take about 3 seconds to form once heated. The vacuum could be attached at the vertex hole of the mold. This will work as long as the large focal length keeps the heat of the lamp far from the surface. You'd first have to to a quick test to see how the mrirror film backing responds to being thermo-formed, which is easy enough, just heat a sheet and and suck it into the mold with a shop vac. The mirror surface would have to face out-ward, otherwise if it's behind the sheet material, the sheet material would deflect the light.


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## LightSward

get-lit said:


> I'd say this turned out to be really good reflective surface, but with an orange peal effect, which I think would have the same effect on the beam as orange peal for our EDC lights... blends out the edge of the beam at a loss of central lux.
> 
> *EDIT:* I think the orange peal would be greatly reduced if a thin film reflective material were applied with minimal adhesive, because it appears to me as if it's the thickness of the adhesive itself that is causing the orange peal. I'd say get away from self-adhesive film, and use a reflective thin film with a light brushing of separate adhesive. There are also templates for cutting lines into sheet to fill round shapes without creases. Look into these two things and I think you could completely eliminate the orange peal. If you could get a more pliable film, it might not need cutting to fill the shape of the reflector.
> 
> Here's something I noticed about the parabola which could be useful for a different method... when pulling the center of a flat surface inward, it naturally forms to a parabolic shape. Maybe you could experiment with this to form a parabola from a flat reflective material.
> 
> Also something extremely easy would be a vacuum thermo-forming method. Look into vacuum forming acrylic or polycarbonate sheet with a mirror surface, or any other heat form-able sheet having a mirror surface. It's super quick and easy! No fiberglass layup etc. Once you have the mold, heat, and vacuum assembly set up, each part would take about 3 seconds to form once heated. The vacuum could be attached at the vertex hole of the mold. This will work as long as the large focal length keeps the heat of the lamp far from the surface. You'd first have to to a quick test to see how the mirror film backing responds to being thermo-formed, which is easy enough, just heat a sheet and and suck it into the mold with a shop vac. The mirror surface would have to face out-ward, otherwise if it's behind the sheet material, the sheet material would deflect the light.



Yes I agree... I tried: _ Edmund_ Optics, and was thrilled with the mirror surfacing on both sides, but ran into trouble with the compound curves and the adhesive, time issue, application process such as repositioning if an error is made while positioning material, and the 'bubbling' and 'un-adhesiving' that occurred afterwards, partly from the compound curves, etc. Plus I still need to work out minor blemish issues with my molding process,etc., that causes a loss of optical purity, during surface prep., etc.:thinking: I like this slightly less than perfect reflective treatment, largely because it is very forgiving during application, puts up with a lot of surface abuse, is very inexpensive at maybe now: $4.50 or so maybe five dollars to cover the entire 30 inch reflector, takes two or three hours to cut and apply. 

I've been looking into a way to heat a large surface area equally without taking more shop space in my very small building area. I could build a smaller device, but with my 9 mm to 14 mm arc and filament area light sources I'm using right now, I want to stay with something like the 30 inch reflector range. 

As you said some kind of a film with a good adhesion process that works like the tapes, or something like it, will be great. I'll again start looking into the heating of the mirror and sagging, etc with vacuum. I saw that method, and many more, on a video I mentioned earlier in this, or another thread, that helped me learn all the reflector making processes. He doesn't go for the same level of precision, since he is making solar ovens with his and just uses things that 'resemble' the required shape.

I look forward to improving this light, and all the others. As silly as this sounds...at least I have some options to look into. Not too many years ago, there was very little out there that was economical and easy to use to make curved, mirror surfaces. At least I have these films and tapes to work with.

Thanks for the tips. I will look into making kind of an 'oven', maybe out of a metal box I can make and then heat it with my heat gun, use oven heating element, etc., and my shop vac...?:naughty:


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## LightSward

Originally I was going to position a double ended bulb sideways to the *30 inch NightHawk* reflector, but have been happy with single ended bulbs instead. The double ended bulb will work for quick re-strikes, because the air cooling is directly on the arc chamber, so it cools almost instantly. I have positioned a double ended bulb on the center axis of the *36 inch GORILLA* reflector, with a hole in the split reflector. Re-starts almost instantly, but the UV is a bit of a problem if I run the searchlight inside, lighting a ceiling or follow spot.

In this AutoCAD rendering I did, you can see the spherical split reflector with no cooling hole in the middle like I actually cutout to allow better air flow, since the center tends to be the, "searchlight blind spot", anyway. 







I will play with some of these ideas. For now I am using some halogen 1,000 watt 28,000 lumen bulbs. This way people can turn the light on for just a few seconds like a regular bright flashlight, used just for quick scouting, or leave it on longer if desired. That way with short run times, the battery can be conserved easier and be smaller, light weight as a result. I'm going for tow types of lights: The one I'm making to sell right now, with the tempered glass front, and the light weight walkable, short hike model. These both use the 1,000 watt halogen bulbs, but the deluxe model uses the HMI 100,000 lumen bulb!


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## LightSward

BVH said:


> I didn't need a reason to get mine when I bought it! Just jump in and pick one up. There are plenty for sale. I hear my old gem is for sale again. Hey, Pismo's my neck of the woods!




Here is a shot of the Gorilla, the big brother to the NightHawk, trying to look like the Big Boss...the 60 inch WWII anti-aircraft searchlight that I have practically worshiped my whole life....(I got that way watching all those searchlights in Las Vegas).





The 30 inch NightHawk will be ready to pose it's beta, commercial finished look in the next few weeks. Stay Tuned. Don't change that web page or go to another thread...


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## get-lit

That's way too nice of a car to be subjecting all of that UV light to.

*EDIT:* I just realized you're using halogen, so UV isn't so much a big deal. However, the HID lamps you're planning to use do contain mercury which creates very intense UV.


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## LightSward

get-lit said:


> That's way too nice of a car to be subjecting all of that UV light to.
> 
> *EDIT:* I just realized you're using halogen, so UV isn't so much a big deal. However, the HID lamps you're planning to use do contain mercury which creates very intense UV.



Aw, you were correct the first time. This particular time, it did contain a: double ended, HMI, 25 year old, West Germany bulb spewing out tons well, pounds of Ozone, (smells like a swimming pool when operating), and I had to install a UV shield to prevent sunburn and damaged eyes. The halogen bulbs are going to be used for the First Time, in these consumer lights. I have not used incandescent of any type in years.

HMI and HID bulbs already in use. Halogen is part of the future for easy use and quick on off cycles.


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## LightSward

Given the heads-up, around ten or so more 30 inch NightHawks may be on order soon. People wanting to see how the Light Comes out next week or so before they commit. Even if I sold just a few more, that would be awesome.

How about a Spring Seattle area Get Together 2013? I've got some new Big Lights to show.


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## LightSward

*Thread: Seattle Area 2013 Spring Candle Power Forum Get Together at the Barn*


I'm building new lights to show!


Lets get this going!


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## LightSward

LightSward said:


> What interest is there in the 1,000 watt incandescent model with front lens for $650.oo versus 1,200 watt HMI, (4xlight output of incandescent.) for $1,400.oo and full model with panning 90 degree mechanism for $1,600.oo and full model with 360 degree panning for $1,725.oo?
> 
> Who wants what?



I'm working on a Back Packing, short or long walk carry or back pack model that should only cost a few hundred dollars...$350.oo ish. I'll see what I can get ready for the Spring Get Together in the North West are.


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## LightSward

Here are some progress photos for the production searchlight. Still doesn't look like much, but will be a searchlight next week:.


*Light bulb, electrical switch and custom Lamb front*



Light bulb, electrical switch and custom Lamb front mount where 'bat symbol' would go.


*Glass and searchlight body checked for 'fit'.*




Glass and searchlight body are checked for 'fit and adjustments made.'.



*Glass "O-ring" fastened to glass* 




Glass "O-ring" is fastened to glass, starting the first phase of making a removable 'lens'.


*Barrel and main searchlight body have another paint and sealer applied*




Barrel and main searchlight body get another paint and sealer coating applied.

A few delays, products not working like they should...but light should be ready by early next week.


----------



## get-lit

It's coming along. Thanks for keep us posted!


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## LightSward

Hopefully in a just a few days I'll be delivering the first off the assembly line, *Thirty, (30), inch Nigh-Hawk *searchlight, to client. Some of the processes that usually only take twenty minutes or so, took all day or more...back and forth to the store, etc. I should have an almost completed searchlight to photograph next day or so, and hopefully one that is focused, tested and ready for shipping, next week! Turned into a labor of Love!


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## LightSward

Off for a few days...Had to buy another computer...

Ran into a serious set back I never encountered...at least at this level:

The problem specifically is; reflective coating is de-laminating due to micro high pressure 'off gassing' from some experimental products, probably the ALSACORP RIP OFF, inadvertently used as some under coatings. It should have been 'the reflective' coating, but that was a $140 dollar rip. I may have it resolved shortly, Note: If I had shipped the searchlight last week as originally planned for the client, the de-lamination would have started about the time first turned it on...glad I caught it). 

I need time to see that things have stabilized and will probably have to 'shred' the original reflective coating to resolve the undercoating issue. Thousand of little tiny "bubbles" are now growing and linking together....very depressing. One of my earliest searchlights had no de-lamination issues at all. I will go back to using latex based coating...

I'm bummed, thought I was ready to beta-sell these, but need a little more time...cry. :hairpull:  :candle: 

I'll post some photos of this dilemma next few days, after I wipe the tears from my eyes.


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## LightSward

Here are the latest from cooling system, power control component glassing to reflector de-lamination. 

*De-laminating Reflector wide angle.*




Reflector was looking good until some glass damage was repaired followed by a de-laminating event triggered by off gassing of various surface prep products. Unknown!



*
Socket alignment and reflector de-lamination concern*





A combination CAD and hand drawn bulb socket mounting template is used to align and pre-focus bulb. 



*Close-up of regular versus de-laminating section**



*
You can see a section of reflector film not de-laminating next to a section that is 'bubbling'.




*Cooling close-up*




Cooling system vent made partly from an electrical power grid supply 'service hood'. This allows easy removal for quick access to the light bulb socket bolts for periodic changing of the 200 hour, one thousand watt, halogen small filament arrayed projector bulb.



*Glassing of the various components.
*




Cooling and power switch glassing. The air vent and fan connection will be glassed for strength.



The client is being very patient with these few setbacks. Hopefully this de-lamination episode will be finished soon.


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## LightSward

Well, even though the reflector and light have been plagued by some minor problems, I manged to get some beam shots with the blistered, bubbling reflective film covered NightHawk, production 1000 watt model. The blistering has gotten so bad, I wasn't able to get a perfect beam. I will scrap the reflector soon, and see if I can remove the suspect ALSACORP scam reflective coating that was suppose to solve all these issues that it only made worse. What comes around, goes around...Remember that ALSACORP when you rot in hell. :devil: 


*Socket holder and neck collar*





The collar is imbedded in the fiberglass reflector itself. The bulb and split reflector are separate to allow easier bulb changing.





*Back side ready for 1st light test*






The roughly finished searchlight is inspected before final wiring, alignments and cowling. The paint job will give the NightHawk it's final look.






*Halogen bulb installed with split reflector and blistered scrap reflector in background*





Bulb and split reflector installed and ready to go. Main reflector in background has suffered a major setback...blisters caused by ALSACORP's scam product, undercoating, which is off gassing and bubbling the reflective film.

The light is ready for test, even though much of it will have to be scrapped because of reflector malfunction. Still very informative.


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## LightSward

Now the fun happens. Light the sky up with the new thousand watt halogen Nighthawk searchlight!


*Halogen bulb installed and ready to light up. Temporary air flow and other support systems*




You can see the temporary air flow director. The air flowing into the searchlight is aimed primarily at the bulb hot spot and split reflector.




*Halogen bulb on for the first time in 30 inch nighthawk* 




Even though much of this light is headed for the scrap heap, I still wanted to light it up and see what all that work I've been doing should do.



*First time 1000 watt halogen bulb lit*




The first production 30 inch NightHawk searchlight is tested for the first time with a 1000 watt halogen bulb. The reflector suffered a defective new product off gassing caused de-lamination...ALSACORP is a scam!

Next, I'll post the beam shots. They came out well, despite the reflector almost totally useless from the now, near total de-lamination.



*Bubbles and blisters growing and linking, rendering what would have been an awesome reflector, useless.*





Blisters caused by off gassing of ALSACORP's rip-off crummy product


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## LightSward

Here are a couple beam shots of the would have been perfect beam shots, but will be in a few weeks.



*Thousand Watt Halogen bulb competes with the three quarter full moon.*
*





*Thousand Watt Halogen bulb competes with the three quarter full moon. The beam widens quickly as the reflector has blistered so badly, most of the reflector is no longer effective in making a tightly focused beam.



*Beam as seen from a few feet away*




Beam as seen from a few feet away. Light on white blossoms over exposes camera





*Beam as seen from a few hundred feet away*




Beam as seen from a few hundred feet away, shining away from us.




*Beam from half a block distance :thumbsup:*





Here you can see the 1000 watt halogen beam as seen from half a block away. Light is aimed away from us.


Well, as I scrap parts of this searchlight and make it better, the beam will become more like the other shots of the NightHawk.


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## LightSward

Last night was cold, but even over a hundred feet away, in the beam of 1000 watt Halogen NightHawk, I was very warm! But now I must scrap the reflector, as it doesn't work well at all, with all the bubbles from the ALSACORP, rip off off-gassing products. 

[h=1]Beginning the removal of reflective film[/h]




Because of the defective ALSACORP rip-off products, (had to use three different cans to get a horrible finish, worse than a $5.00 can of home depot) that I thought would make a good reflector, but didn't, (false advertising), So I left them in place as undercoatings, since it's originally intended reflective qualities didn't work. Unfortunately not only rip-off, but off-gassers too! Ruined the reflective film I put over it. Now have to remove it, wasting even more money.


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## Vortus

Not scrapping the whole reflector I hope, just needing refinished correct?


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## LightSward

Vortus said:


> Not scrapping the whole reflector I hope, just needing refinished correct?



Sometimes I can be a bit pessimistic, ...no I hope I can just remove the smooth glass like coatings that I think are off-gassing, and just re-coat with acrylic water based finish and age for a week or so, and then put a new film. :thumbsup:


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## LightSward

[h=3]Just FYI

hmi light[/h]Web definitions

Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide, or HMI, is a mercury-halide gas discharge medium arc-length lamp with a multi-line emission spectrum. The...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMI_light


----------



## get-lit

Correct. You'll get much more power even with a reflector just a small fraction of the size. Look into the Phillips MSR Gold. Excellent lamps.


----------



## LightSward

Here is some updated photos of the "refurbishing" of the 30 inch NightHawk reflector. The surface was ruined by off gassing of a layer of paint left under the reflective coating that in of itself was suppose to be a superior reflective paint on coating..what a laugh.



*Bubbling reflective film from off gassing Bunk ALSACORP crummy products has absolutely ruined this once very nice reflector! For a few days, this was one of my best.*




Want 
I'm always looking for new and better ways to make things but this time was duped by the ALSACORP, into buying a bogus product for a lot of money. I thought it would make a great under coating, since it was not as reflective as company claims, but off gassing ruined the reflective film placed over it.


*Bubbling reflective coating is half removed*




I am slowly removing the film, curios as to how much more 'off gassing' was occurring. Seems to have mostly stooped but still making bubbles grow, so I will strip all paint down to the bare fiberglass. This "Lesson" has ended up costing me $200.oo in lost products plus lots of lost time. I got some of my money back via the bank.


I will resurface with acrylic based treatments, wait a week or so and then re-apply a new reflective film. This should end this saga and allow me to finish the searchlight and deliver it to the patient client in NYC.


----------



## LightSward

:thumbsup: I needed a better way to produce 30 inch rings of steel tubing. I use this dimension extensively in the production of the 30 inch NightHawk searchlight product line. I can bend steel pipe and tubing and other products of any diameter up to 1-6/8 inch diameter. I made mine using a standard 30 inch profile, carved usually with a router, but I used the table saw, adjusting the stays and saw blade height and then carefully guiding the profile through the saw in a circular motion.



*Pipe bender wide angle profile adj.*




Works great bending 1-1/2 inch steel conduit pipe. Used 2x4's on each side so that pipe bent into circle goes between handle bars to prevent 'crookedness' often associated with single handle benders.


*Pipe bender wide angle adj.*





Works great bending 1-1/2 inch steel conduit pipe. Used 2x4's on each side so that pipe bent into circle goes between handle bars to prevent 'crookedness' often associated with single handle benders.



*Pipe bender made with table saw adj.*




Good view of the channel cut into the stack of plywood using a table saw and grinder to make groove. This bender produces 1-1/2 inch diameter or less; steel or aluminum rings and partials equal to 30 inches in diameter give or take a few inches if needed.


*Pipe bender ready for 'power handle' attachment adj.*




Another great view of the channel tooled into the stack of plywood. This bender produces 1-1/2 inch diameter or less; steel or aluminum rings and partials equal to 30 inches in diameter.


*Pipe bender First 1-1/2 inch diameter pipe bend complete adj.*




First 1-1/2 inch diameter pipe yoke made with the bender.


Now I can make better vital components with less headaches, more accuracy, much faster, better quality.


----------



## LightSward

Just a quick update. I'm trying to get this awesome production light out the back door to the client, but many well meaning individuals are pulling me away for little emergencies and things I need to still get down in the real world...Isn't this the real world...LOL


*Reflector surface treatment half removed* 




After reflector being ruined by a bogus product from ALSACORP rip off group, I have to remove the reflector film, and numerous surface under coatings.



*New 1-1:2 inch diameter steel pipe Arbor*




Now using a one and a half inch diameter steep pipe for the arbor. Will use multiple point rolling bearing system for solid searchlight operation.

Hopefully I will have some good finish photos soon. This is getting embarrassing to me, the client and everyone else. Live and learn.. Need more time, overhead etc.


----------



## LightSward

Arbor is 1-1/2 inch diameter outside diameter pipe! Finishing the reflector refurbishing before film replacement.


----------



## LightSward

Just a quick up-date on the 30 inch NightHawk Progress.

The very first NightHawk is again outfitted with a 100 watt Home Depot HID 7 mm arc metal halide bulb with daylight color temp. Great for working on my projects such as electrical, searchlight and some reading! Provides an excellent light source for those long cloudy, rainy days we get here in the Northwest. Can go over a mile like this and put a dim spot on clouds in the mile height above ground range.



*Searchlight finally removed old defective base coats*





All that drama for the failed AlsaCorp RIP-OFF coatings is over with the final removal of all those coatings last week. Still debating and analyzing what, if any, under coat to use.




*Searchlight ready for another paint coating*





Searchlight is getting another paint job after it's first test run proved disastrous from the AlsaCorp Crummy paint and reflector try-out..


*Searchlight Stand*




Searchlight stand with stabilizing wheel. Helps with turning searchlight. Will use dual locking plates for searchlight pitch angle.



*Close up searchlight stand and yoke support and grip*




Searchlight stand with stabilizing wheel close-up. Helps with turning searchlight with hand or added motorized servo.Electrical wiring

*
Electrical wiring*




Re-wiring functions. Weather-proofing this art form.

Hopefully the stand workings and bottom ring try-out will be successful. I hope to get this thing in final form with-in the next week or so and have it ready for photo-shoot and comparison beam shots by then and shipped to the client after that. This has been an important learning experience for me. Next light(s) I make will be much faster. Took a while to figure out replacements for spit wads and bailing wire. 
Can't usually sell a light like that.


----------



## get-lit

The use of household items is very creative and amusing. I bet there'll be a toaster in there next. Oh wait.. next will be Mr. Fusion!


----------



## LightSward

get-lit said:


> The use of household items is very creative and amusing. I bet there'll be a toaster in there next. Oh wait.. next will be Mr. Fusion!



Yes, I considered using resistor, heating elements, halogen light bulbs and even a heater for a type of ballast if I couldn't find one for the HMI. Mr. Fusion sounds good.


----------



## get-lit

From back to the future - the mad scientist.


----------



## LightSward

I had to use my Facebook photo bucket to post these photos. Hope it works:

Getting ready for final paint jobs, apply reflective film, finalize electrical, tempered glass protective lens, mount personalized Bat Symbol behind lens for safety and do a check list of items. Will do a photo shoot and beam comparison shot for analysis.

My Flickr photo bucket isn't working again for 30 Inch NightHawk CPF Thread I maintain. I had to use Facebook. This particular searchlight is destined for a highrise condominium's balcony in New York City
*
I took the original Nighthawk I made a couple years back, put a lower wattage HID bulb in, and made it a work and reading light*




Older original version of this searchlight has been re-outfitted to hang neatly out of the way in the ceiling, with a lower wattage bulb...a 100 watt HID 6000 lumen reading, workshop and desk light. Comes in handy for our long cloudy, rainy Winters.

*
Searchlight main body is lowered onto yoke stand for first fitting.*




Reflective film is to be applied soon after the paint jobs.

*
Back View of yoke mounting and light*




Back view of the Production NightHawk, resting for the first time on one and a half inch diameter steel yoke stand system. Wiring, painting, glass fitting and ventilation, cooling system work in progress.


*Searchlight tilt angle locking plate*




Close-up searchlight tilt angle locking plate. Locking knob to be fabricated and added next few days. Paint to be applied after final electrical conduits finalized, followed by reflective film coating.

*
Tempered glass check...no I didn't hit it very hard*. *Mostly checking for fit.*




Searchlight tempered glass lens checked for fit and durability...lol.


*Figuring out the best way to ensure weather resistance.*




Tempered glass lens checked for fitting security and weather resistance.

I'll get this thing out the door next couple weeks!


----------



## LightSward

I'm almost done with the 30 inch NightHawk searchlight. The client has been very patient. Hopefully Saturday night, (tonight), I'll be able to do a beam shot photo shoot. I'll have the rest done early next week...(glass sealing, vents, safety inspection, etc.).

Here are some photos to keep you informed.

*30 inch NightHawk getting weatherization and electrical inspections*



30 inch NightHawk getting weatherization and electrical inspections, as light will spend most of the time outside with a tarp.


*Reflector prepared to receive reflective film coating*



Reflector prepared to receive reflective film coating after paint finishes.




*Reflective tape is precision cut with craft cutter*




Reflective tape is precision cut with craft cutter using high tech blade...works much better than a razor.




*30 inch NightHawk Reflective film is applied and checked for reflectivity*



30 inch NightHawk Reflective film is applied and checked for reflectivity using my hand.





*30 inch NightHawk reflective film looking good*




30 inch NightHawk reflective film looking good after half is applied. No air bubbles or off gassing issues yet. Fingers crossed.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
*

Hopefully this will be the NightHawk production model 1,000 watt Halogen 30,000 lumen Osram bulb powered beauty!* 


*Searchlight pointed away from us 12-31-12 New Years Eve*


----------



## LightSward

Reflector film finished though had a slight snag when sealing the edges, which caused some slight scratch marks. May have to do some reflector re-filming.


----------



## RetiredFireCaptain

Awesome build!


----------



## LightSward

RetiredFireCaptain said:


> Awesome build!



Thanks! Much fun, but hard work sometimes. Here are some recent near finish photos and preliminary beam shots. Still needs focusing.

About to be turned on and focused.



:thumbsup:
Still little details to be done.


Beam Shot from old camera










Beam shots from preliminary focus.


Light cooling down and ready for detailing and rain protection add ons.


----------



## LightSward

I'm almost done with the production 30 inch NightHawk searchlight Only seven weeks behind schedule, because I wanted to make it perfect. I'm still finding and correcting mistakes. At the same time I fiberglass each small final detail of the NightHawk slated for New York City delivery, I am working on the lightweight Sport Model that will be hand carry-able. The light slated for New York should be able to light the Stature of Liberty from it's slated new home.



I am finding small flaws in the mold and wax building them up.




Hopefully I will have this fast track , simple; 1,000 watt Halogen, 30,000 lumen light up and running by the Seattle Area Get Together in a couple weeks! I will also bring the 1,200 watt HMI, 100,000 lumen version as well...my Flagship piece right now.:thumbsup:


----------



## M2 Outfit

Awesome project, I like the molding of the junction box right into the back of the housing.


----------



## jaylang

yup, awesome thread, great read too :thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

Sometimes I need portable cooing, either in my car, front porch, garage, or searchlight bulb. I made this portable cooler that gets 3 to 6 hours of cooling per bag of cold ice. A bath fan blower, portable battery operated fan or other squirrel cage fan will provide good air flow.




*Ice Chest Air Conditioner and heat exchanger*



Provides 3 to 6 hours of cooling, Hot days use ice faster. Home ice is 0 degrees F but store bought ice is often only around 32 degrees and melts faster.

 




*Ice Chest Air Conditioner and heat exchanger ready for fan*






Provides 3 to 6 hours of cooling, more when used like an ice chest without fan on, up to 36 hours.

 






*Ice chest cooler*



Core fits nicely in ice chest.
A combination of some cold ice water, super cold ice cubes and a large solid block of ice, provide the best cooling and duration.


*Ice Chest Air Conditioner and heat exchanger core*




:thumbsup:
Finished core, can go into any sizable ice chest, attach fan blower and air ducts to comfort area.



I made this to be used at warm locations, and lights that need extra cooling.


----------



## LightSward

Recently had a CPF Get Together in the Seattle Renton, Washington area. Here are a few pictures taken at that exciting event and a few days before.


*The 1,200 watt HMI NightHawk*





The surface of the Nighthawk has some irregularities that give each light a unique character that no two lights share. this light imitate in many ways, the old 60 " WWII lights. I am very pleased with the results.



*The 1,000 watt Junior Nighthawk is nothing to kid around with*




This light packs a punch that makes it a light anyone wanting to really light something up, needs to have.



*Night Hawk shines on neighbors homes*




Just before sunset, beam looks bigger than actual, because of brightness.





*NightHawk sits comfortably on back car seat for three hour journey from Portland, Oregon to the Seattle area.*


The NightHawk was designed for easy carry and transport in small cars. It also has a powerful 'punch' due to it's size.




*The two Night Hawks ready for the night-time picnic fun*




The 1,000 watt halogen and 1,200 watt HMI Night-Hawks are readied for action. The 1,000 watt halogen Nighthawk sits in chair because it was made in just two or three days and hasn't been 'fitted' with a stand yet. The quick build of this 1,000 watt halogen model was actually for testing and calibration to examine the performance of the _production Nighthawk_ being sent to New York's ground zero area to make that part of our nation more secure under it's watchful light beam.




*1,000 watt Halogen and 1,200 watt HMI 30" Night-Hawks beams light the clouds at dusk*




Seen the two Night-Hawks showing their stuff. One is a powerful 1,000 watt halogen light weight model that can be carried anywhere and the other the brighter 1,200 watt HMI super model lights the evening clouds.




*1,000 watt Halogen and 1,200 watt HMI 30" Night-Hawks plus hand flashlight beams seen in the Spring time night sky*





You can see the handheld flashlight beam jutting from the person seen just below the 1,000 watt halogen Night Hawk's beam.




*1,000 watt Halogen and 1,200 watt HMI 30" Night-Hawks beam shot at dusk with hand light*




A small yet powerful hand held light gets involved with the cloud shoot! You can see it on the left.



*1,000 watt Halogen and 1,200 watt HMI 30" Night-Hawk's plus hand flashlight beams** shot*




you can see the three beautiful beams painting the night sky.


*Beam shot from a block away*




The two Night Hawk beams as seen from a block away.




*1,000 watt Halogen and 1,200 watt HMI 30" Night-Hawks light clouds*





The 1,000 watt Halogen Night Hawk produces a red orange glow on the clouds. The 1,200 watt HMI Nighthawk chops away with it's snow white and turquoise blue tinted cloud spot of light, as seen from a block away.



All the people attending had a great time! Those who(m) had the misfortune of not attending, we feel for yah! Make sure you come next time so you don't get left out. We'll see everyone back at the Barn in September.


I should have the New York bound light ready this week or so...No More delays!


----------



## Vortus

Congrats and cool pics!


----------



## LightSward

I'm assisting with restoration efforts of some of the 60 inch WWII carbon arc searchlights. Many of the mirrors have dulled to the point the lights are almost useless. Sad but kind of interesting to note my 30 inch NightHawk with the small 1,200 watt HMI is almost as bright as, (and even brighter in one case), many of these 'time dulled' beauties. It will be nice to get them 're-mirrored' so that they can shine with their former glory.:thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

Here are some nice beam shots from 4th of July. Some taken during twilight before total darkness.


*30 inch Night-Hawk illuminates yard.*




30 inch Night-Hawk illuminates yard with secondary wash light.
*

30 inch Night-Hawk illuminates twilight sky*





30 inch Night-Hawk illuminates twilight sky*30 inch Searchlight aimed away towards Aloha High School*





30 inch Searchlight aimed away towards Aloha High School after sunset 4th of July 2013

*Limited sky view, but what the heck.*




Not too many options for pointing the searchlight in the sky. I have to remove potted plants and squeeze the light beam between trees.



*30 inch Searchlight after sunset 4th of July 2013*




30 inch Searchlight aimed away towards Aloha High School after sunset 4th of July 2013. This photo taken a block away.


*Taken a couple blocks from Aloha High.*




Taken a couple blocks from Aloha High, Night-Hawk shines from nearly two miles away.






*30 inch Night-Hawk shines from nearly two miles away.*





30 inch Night-Hawk shines from nearly two miles away. Different atmospheric conditions greatly affect the beam appearance.



*Searchlight is brighter than photo shows, from over two miles away.*

*



*

Searchlight is brighter than photo shows, from over two miles away. Picture taken at the Aloha High school Sports field.






*30 inch NightHawk shines from my deck.*






30 inch NightHawk shines from my deck. I am very limited in the directions I can shine the light as the trees grow taller.


Fun to look at. Long delayed production model looks easy to build now that I have figured many things out.


----------



## BVH

No pics?


----------



## LightSward

BVH said:


> No pics?



Aren't the pictures showing up? My Android chops the pictures vertically in half. No beams in some of them. Flickr has changed so much, maybe I am not doing something correctly...:huh: 



http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/9221727868/









How does this load. I may try adjusting to this smaller size...

Humn...This last photo loads just fine into the Android. I couldn't get the smaller size to work corrctly...???


----------



## petrev

Hi,

Last post shows as . . .

Direct Link
Thumbnail
Full Size Picture

:thumbsup:

Great set of Pics - Thanks.
Pete


----------



## LightSward

Here is how the Production 30 inch Nighthawk is looking before final painting etc. The "Lamb" is a custom addition, kind of like the Bat Symbol.

[h=1]Production 30 inch Nighthawk almost ready with custom "Lamb" added for personal touch for client.[/h]





The Production 30 inch Nighthawk is almost ready with a custom "Lamb" added for personal touch for the client. This searchlight will reside outside most of the time on a deck overlooking the ground zero 9-11 area of New York City. this searchlight will be resistant to most weather conditions and provide a strong and powerful light beam to shine around the lower Manhattan area.

There are several variations of the NightHawk: one of which is like this one, a weather resistant, powerful 1000 watt Halogen version, for quick on and off operation. Another variation is a sporty lightweight hike-able version that is easy to carry on a trail even a back pack mounted version for filming, night patrol, search and rescue or just plain having fun with a big flashlight!.


----------



## LightSward

Production model Night Hawk Searchlight is nearing completion. Just have to add final weatherizing details and finish paint. I have some testing to do such as rain penetration and heat load. I will add a "safety" thermo-protection switch, after I determine the "normal" operating range.


----------



## LightSward

Two different NightHawk model searchlights have their cooling fans permanently attached. The fan motor and fan blade can still easily be removed and replaced with a common replacement kit if necessary.


----------



## LightSward

Can't understand why during the time I'm still logged into CPF, while I'm in the middle of posting, I suddenly get message saying I don't have permission for this action, even though it worked a few seconds earlier. I have to log off re log on then re-find this page to finish my posting sometimes loosing what I've been typing! Very annoying!


----------



## LightSward

Almost ready to ship to client.

Night Hawk searchlight with Lamb symbol on final check




[h=1]Lighting up the Night Hawk with Lamb symbol



[/h]
Have the front glass cover in place with 1000 watt light powered up, shining through client's Lamb for Bat symbol


----------



## LightSward

This light will live near the NYC 9-11 site, hopefully in time for this year's memorial. I'm a perfectionist, but I know there are limits. Every time I think I'm ready to ship the light, I see another small detail I forgot from months earlier, and have to partially disassemble searchlight to make the changes. I want the client to have a great light that last years in the outside salt air environment. I'm getting closer to finishing it and out the door. Shipping itself may be an issue, on-line and over the phone prices all over the spectrum and building a crate for shipping with Styrofoam can be expensive. If anyone has ever shipped something like this, let me know. roughly 35" x 35" x 55" tall on a pallet at around 60 pounds plus or minus 20 pounds depending on finished state and crating.

I've learned a lot, and the next light will take much less time. The client has been very patient. Often I'll tell him it about to be shipped and I notice another time consuming small detail that still needs finishing. From all this I'll be much better at scheduling and coordinating the construction of these lights, but I had to get my learning from this. Engineering it will be much easier too. Hands on makes a big difference than seeing it just on paper or a computer scree. Thanks everybody for your support and ideas.


----------



## LightSward

Well it's finally finished. The NightHawk is ready to ship..Love the handling and weather resistance of this wonderful model.



Production Nighthawk ready for shipping to NYC WTC 9-11 area. Hopefully in time for the 9-11 memorial. Client lives just a few blocks away from ground zero. 

Here you can see the 3/4 full moon sharing the sky with the NightHawk. 



















Beam shot from a block away


----------



## petrev

Yay - Looking good.

Congrats on getting everything sorted.

Hope you can get some in situ shots when it is installed


Pete


----------



## LightSward

petrev said:


> Yay - Looking good.
> 
> Congrats on getting everything sorted.
> 
> Hope you can get some in situ shots when it is installed
> 
> 
> Pete



Great learning experience. Next light will take nowhere as long. I know what to do and not to do. Great light. Awesome the way it feels aiming it.:thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

Searchlight just about ready.

Searchlight ready to light up the New York City skyline.


----------



## LightSward

I realize I'm the least technical about my searchlight. I guess I'm tired of all the numbers when I'm building these and just take photos. I should start adding more technical jargon in the future...but for now: Here are some of the most recent photos of the purchased 1000 watt halogen 30 inch Nighthawk headed to New York City.

Searchlight ready to light up the New York City skyline. 








I'll be glad to get this to the customer. What a learning experience. Now I feel I can produce these lights fast. No delays trying products I don't know much about while in a production run. I now know how to make a weather resistant searchlight. 

It feels good standing across the street from the light. Bright and warm, like a pleasant late Summer evening sun.








My shadow










various views of the light.











Light being crated for shipping.




Light as viewed from across the street.


----------



## LightSward

Searchlight crate almost finished. Need to install Styrofoam padding. Here is a photo taken of searchlight beam shining across the street to a garage door, an hour or so before sunset.










Shipping soon!


----------



## LightSward

Searchlight and palatized crate are ready to go. The whole package weighs around 255 pounds! I need to make one of these weather resistant models, or modify the existing 1,200 watt HMI model for myself. Just in case I need to operate this in increment waether.

Searchlight is 90 lbs at 53 inches tall. Crate is 165 lbs...built as light weight as possible with the strength needed. Total shipping weight is 255lbs. Shipping size 32" x 37" x 64" = dimensions of crate including built in 4 inch tall pallet. 


Bright searchlight beam test. 





Final testing of the 1000 watt halogen light and water/rain wetness resistance test. Stayed dry inside and quickly dried on the outside.





One last look at the searchlight before being placed in palatized crate.





Inside of crate with Styrofoam ply suspension flooring installed and key contact Styrofoam panels installed.





More info soon.:thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

*First **NightHawk** sold and paid! 

Ready for **New** York** City!*


----------



## LightSward

The client made the final payment for the 30 inch NightHawk and is now ready for shipping.
*First **NightHawk** sold and paid for! Ready to ship to **New** York** City!* ​


----------



## LightSward

LightSward said:


> The client made the final payment for the 30 inch NightHawk and is now ready for shipping.*First **NightHawk** sold and paid for! Ready to ship to **New** York** City!*​


 Crate has final large markings painted for first light shipment.




Final shipping markings to come.


----------



## LightSward

A few beam shots of the NightHawk on Halloween 2013 Brought many people in. Could be seen for miles.





Happy Halloween. The NightHawk was so bright, you could see the beam half a block away, before it was totally dark.


----------



## LightSward

30 inch NightHawk is finally going to New York City.




Loaded onto truck with loving care.




Just about all secure almost ready to go to it's new location located over 200 feet above the city of New York by the World Trade Center.




Go USA!


----------



## LightSward

This light is becoming a success! I am excited to move this into full production. Lights range from basic reflector and lamp and housing with cooling fan for around $295 or a more complete light as pictured above $695 to $1995 depending on light source and extras like panning mechanism.

Check out my latest light, "The World's most Powerful Searchlight". :
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...rld%92s-Most-Powerful-Single-Searchlight-Unit


----------



## UNiT5

Nice light!!!  great work!!


----------



## LightSward

UNiT5 said:


> Nice light!!!  great work!!



Thanks. It's really a great "work horse" light. Planning several models, including a back pack model.


----------



## UNiT5

the lens adds that "official" look to it.


----------



## LightSward

UNiT5 said:


> the lens adds that "official" look to it.



Yes, the lens really does add that 'finished, official look', people expect.  People looking for the source of the light-beam they've seen for many miles, will round the street corner, and be amazed when they finally see the source of the beam is often an: 'unfinished' raw test phase construction and be amazed such a 'homemade', flat, unassuming, 'planter' looking 'thing' laying on the driveway, can make such a powerful, and fairly well focused light beam that often touches the clouds. 

Another huge advantage of the lens, (...strong, tempered, inexpensive, glass table top; from Pier One Imports...), is that it drastically changes the whole weather vulnerability issue if done properly. During test on this actual searchlight while operating, I poured and sprayed water all over it from many different angles, inside the searchlight stayed dry. 

A third plus of the front weather lens, is obviously the hot bulb needs to be protected from the elements, but just as importantly, a forth advantage is protecting the the reflector. As with most surface mirrored reflectors, scratching can be a real issue. Normal glass cleaners can be absolutely brutal to a reflector. Many of the Cyclops and other LED and HID flashlights and headlights can be scratched with just one cleaning if optimal care is not taken. I try to just "dust" the reflector with air blast and clean dusting feathers only! Once in a very long while I'll use a carefully applied layer of Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish, actually helps protect and is done on finished products to add longevity to reflector, but should only be applied once every few years if absolutely necessary. Works wonders on reflectors already scratched! 

Fortunately, for the foreseeable future, if any part of one of my reflectors is damaged or scratched bad enough to affect beam quality, that section can be carefully removed and replaced with inexpensive, easy to purchase and apply; replacement kits, found at any automotive parts supply store...making sure the 'roll of tape or film" is just about good enough to shave with, when laid flat.

The lens was a big step in making a finished product with all my searchlights, which are now slowly entering the '''For Sale''' category. I'm building these lights to give years of reliable performance.:thumbsup:


----------



## LightSward

I did get word, the searchlight made it's journey safe and sound through horrendous, blizzardous, icy, wintery conditions. The owner had to leave the country for a few weeks, so I won't know if it actually turns on and shines for a while.


----------



## LightSward

Owner is still not back home yet. Here is how the 4,000 watt HMI light source is working out that I will place in this and some of my other searchlights like the 36 inch Gorilla or 50 inch Monster.

I may be putting this four thousand watt HMI 380,000 lumen powerhouse bulb into the Monster if things fit correctly. Slowly I'm getting this together. Four thousand watt HMI ignited for the first time with my homemade Tesla coil ignitor. May use a spark gap to connect to the ballast.:thumbsup:


Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.




First time ignition of the 4000 watt H.M.I. hi tech light bulb arc chamber. Now I just have to hook up the ballast with this home made Tesla coil.

One of my homemade Tesla coils with PVC and 1/4" bolt adjustable spark gap, 915 turns of bell wire on PVC 'tower' and high voltage 2 liter/ foil capacitor with bleeder safety resistors instead of $200 'bank capacitor' or equivalent.

Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.




Using a 12 volt NAPA parts relay as an 'interrupter' to "pulse" the steady dc current to act like the points of an old school car ignition allow the ignition coil to power the homemade high voltage capacitor, spark gap and Tesla coil tower. I also purchased the coil at NAPA.


Don't have to actually hook a wire to get the arc chamber to ionize...just having the Tesla coil in the vicinity ignites any discharge bulb in vicinity such as CFL, fluorescent, metal halides, sodium vapor and of course HMI.

Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.




First time ignition with homemade Tesla coil as the ignitor. This will be used in conjunction with a real magnetic ballast to regulate, ignite and operate the four thousand watt HMI bulb.


One of my three Tesla Coils. I have better designs but cost have kept me with this smaller one as the main working unit.





Homemade Tesla coil cost far less than when I was trying to build one in the 1970's... Today internet demonstrates how to make high voltage parts like capacitor out of foil and 2 liter soda bottle and coil tower from plastic pipe and bell wire, for pennies that would otherwise cost hundreds of dollars if purchased. Estimated voltage, determined by length of spark, is around 250,000 volts

Five hundred dollars to build a Tesla coil back in the 1970's, and no guarantee of operating, I abandoned "Tesla" until a few years ago thanks to the internet.

The Monster will be literally 10 times brighter than most of the shots seen before when I had the 38,000 lumen 400 watt larger arc tube in it. Arc tube on the 4000 watt HMI isn't even one inch, it's about the same as the carbon arc area of the 60 inch WWII light and almost as many lumen. This light will shine brightly. One of my searchlights, either the 50 inch Monster and/or the 72 inch World's biggest searchlight will have a beam very similar to the 60 inch WWII carbon arc searchlight, and the smaller searchlights will have a slightly wider beam.


----------



## LightSward

Just got word the owner of the NightHawk Halogen version, had an unveiling party last week. They loved it and want more. Here are a few photos from the 21st floor one block from the New York City World Trade Center. Will get more photos as they become available.

Group of friends, (some of which just returned to this country from business trips and family visits during Christmas) enjoying the NightHawk searchlight..




Large two story windows will provide ample area to shine light on the surrounding new York Cityscape.

30 inch 1,000 watt Halogen searchlight doing it's thing.




Lamb is a type of fraternity symbol amongst these friends.


Two story high ceiling with second floor loft give room to shine light and make shadow creations. The entire 21st floor is under NightHawk patrol.




Let Nighthawk be the center of your next party!

More shots of the NightHawk surveying the new York City skyline as they become available.


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## IgNITEor

Big congrats on designing, building, selling, and shipping your halogen 30-incher sir! 
The crew on the receiving end look super happy. 
There is something uniquely powerful about having the lights we enjoy here, either by our own hands or 
from those that have kindly offered to share their hard work for a very reasonable price.

Your ignition hardware for the 4k HMI is bringing back some interesting memories!
When you power-up into the 20 kV range and above, and you have not connected the lamp in the circuit
you can sometimes see a eerie glow around the coil and secondary wiring when the room is dark.

One key component that I had to fab very carefully was a air-core induction coil. The first successful one is
still used to strike the lamp for the 24" KK light. Normally, the wire used for the lamp circuit is "properly" sized
to handle the continuous full-load of the lamp plus the losses for being tightly wound with no metal core. 
I didn't match that correctly and as a result it overheats. I used a relay to bypass the coil after the lamp strikes.

If I were to do it again, I would like to use HV transformer wire. It's out there somewhere. I don't recall the 
turns ratio for the lamp side and the HV side, that was 20 plus years ago, but it was a lot. Like 40:1 to get the 
most from the spark gap.

Your 4k lamp is going to be insanely bright! A big cheers to your efforts.


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## LightSward

Thanks for the good words IgNITEor. You were a very big part of helping me into the high powered HMI world...Thanks you. 
So little info out there, mostly attempts by companies for me to purchase complete searchlights. Even though I have multiple Ignitor parts info, hard to find the dealers to purchase just one or two. Many companies want me to buy at least five or more ignitors minimum order.

The World's Biggest Searchlight at 72 inches diameter is being built right now, hopefully scheduling will allow me to perhaps bring it to the June CPF 'Seattle Area Get together'. I'll need 40 amp?? ..220 volt generator power outlet, but will bring the 1,200 watt HMI set up to install into the 72 inch searchlight if needed for lower power availability.
*
Here is a snapshot of the current stage of production.*




Well almost done with this part of the searchlight reflector 72 inch. Appears to have gone well I will put more fiberglass on. Next will pry reflector off the mold and hopefully it came out well.

Now I just have to make three more of these to bolt together into the one 72 inch reflector.

Cheers.


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## LightSward

I'm spinning reflectors out of steel and aluminum and hopefully soon I'll be able to spin them as large as the 30-inch Nighthawk.


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## LightSward

Starting with the 24 inch LightSward reflector redesigned and turned from a solid steel, and eventually aluminum, and eventually the World's biggest searchlight, I am building reflectors now out of steel and aluminum. Fingers crossed.

Here is the starting phase of the mandrel for spinning the metal reflector. Much like a potters wheel for clay pottery, I am now spinning the reflectors and will see how this turns out.






Hopefully in a few days this will be mounted on the homemade spinning lathe and a great reflector series will begin.


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## LightSward

*I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time. *


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## get-lit

It's not an issue with the CPF website. I see your images are hosted at scontent-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net, so you will need to check with them or upload the images to another host and update the links in your posts to the URLs for the images at the new host.


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## LightSward

Testing out the and nearing completion of the 4,000 watt upgrade to the Gorilla. 

This Gorilla conversion is similar to the upgrade going on with the Nighthawk to make it all weather ready with it's new glass lens top and yoke system.

With the massive amount of heat produced by the 4,000 watt HMI bulb, I had to use three cooling fans with a forth passive forced exhaust vent mounted directly over the intense light-bulb, integrated with the split back reflector..! I've had to upgrade my, still home-made, ignition system directly into the fiberglass shell to make all the components weather resistant to allow searchlight operation in rain, sleet, light hail, snow with little or no winds, or fair to light winds with no precipitation, all possible to operate the searchlight in. I have to work on the ballast and generator being more weather resistant now... This is going to fit on the roof of my car now. Maybe I can transport the Monster with my near homemade roof rack that's better than the one I purchased.

Will upgrade to a better photo system soon.


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## LightSward

Learned a lot building the 30 inch NightHawk and building the weatherproof version next to the 36 inch Gorilla about to be fired up...

This is kind of my final masterpiece for a little while. I've combined all the elements of the searchlights and created this light. Hopefully it works well. Do wish I had a pick-up truck to make transporting and show casing the light easier. Maybe if I get a few sales for rentals I'll get an old clunker.

Getting ready for a testing. The focusing is accomplished with a delta plate for three dimensional adjustments. I'll add vent hoods and other weather proofing soon. I have a tempered glass front lens and a plexiglass front lens for when I need the searchlight to be lighter in weight. The cooling fans provide more than adequate air to keep things cool under 100 degrees on an 80 degree night. I was surprised by how well the bath fans work at only $15.00 Home Depot.


Click here to view the original image of 953x1024px.





Ready to test after some basic adjustments. Gorilla searchlight now outfitted with 4k watt HMI 
The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted to operate in inclement weather, a four thousand watt HMI lamp producing over 385,000 lumen light output.


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## LightSward

This whole basic enclosure and look came from the NightHawk searchlight, so I just thought a few pics would be nice.

Here's the new 36 inch Gorilla reconditioned into the 4 Kwatt beast it is now. Want to test this at night, but the touchy situation with a neighbor having a fight with her boyfriend means I'll probably have to pack this like sardines into my car and find a parking lot somewhere and not get into too much trouble...lol. 




The horizontal bars are from the magnetic ballast lag wave.




Plastic lens works well under the heat, but I wasn't cooling the back reflector enough so it tarnished unevenly into a deep golden color. Will have to work on that, add maybe a forth fan just for cooling some of those critical components, or decide it works well enough for now and make improvements along the way...it's already way super bright..!

→ ← 


Getting an idea of the beam


Forms a nice tight beam for several hundred feet, but I wasn't able to shine it way out, for fear of disturbing people....I'm going to have to work on this.




Looks like daylight. 





Here's how it looks sitting outside my humble garage / shop.






Looking forward to testing this beauty at night soon. I have a hundred foot extension chord made just for the output from the ballast.


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## Onestep

Have you tried your local police station? Just go in and ask if you can run it in their parking lot. Who is going to call and complain then?


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## Timothybil

Try and find an outdoor shooting range with the 2k yd range for long rifles. They will always have a nice berm/backstop to stop and misses that will work well for not zapping any neighbors as well. They may even have some shooters who would want to try their aim with such illumination! Sounds like fun to me.


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## electromage

You should test it up here! I just started a new thread for a Seattle GTG.


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## LightSward

Yes, I would love to start getting this thing toted around a bit. Need to make a few focusing adjustments and a newer back split reflector and adjust the cooling air flow. I managed to do a ten minute test when some of the "sensitive" neighbors were gone or busy doing stuff deep inside their homes.

With the performance of the Gorilla adequate, but not as well focused as the Monster will be, with a longer focal length, will make a more collimated beam, though it may not be quite as bright, as it gathers less light by design to get it's incredible focal length.
Had everything set up and by chance many neighbors weren't home and others were up past their bedtime, so I took a quick ten minutes and fired up this bad boy and took some night shots. Beam isn't as well collimated as I wanted, still needs some focus fine tuning, but it still makes a very impressive beam that can be seen for many miles and draws quite the crowd. 

Click here to view the original image of 1600x1055px.




Here's a view from a block away. Very impressive. I'll get better photos as time permits.


Beam as seen from near my shop with searchlight.



You can see part of a cloud lit up. It does very well lighting up the cumulonimbus clouds during rain storms.







As seen from a block away, The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted and upgraded for weather resistance but now Much Brighter at 385,000 lumen.


Click here to view the original image of 1600x1085px.




Beam looks cool seen through the trees. Dominates the sky and looks quite beautiful. Won't look like UFO's in the clouds, as the beam spreads just enough to still light the clouds, but not so bright and with a beam that can be seen connecting it to it's source for customers to travel joyfully to...lol.


I coudln't go very far as I only had a few minutes, as many people noticed this bright beam in the sky and start to travel towards it. I had to stop the migration before my neighbors got upset over another spotlight traffic jam.


Click here to view the original image of 1024x732px.








As seen from half a block away, The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted and upgraded for weather resistance but now Much Brighter at 385,000 lumen.

In the Monster, the beam will travel farther, just not as bright as the beginning, but brighter out towards it's ending part of beam.


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## PolarLi

> spotlight traffic jam



Yeah, I know a thing about that  It's a shame you have such "sensitive" neighbors :shakehead


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## LightSward

PolarLi said:


> Yeah, I know a thing about that  It's a shame you have such "sensitive" neighbors :shakehead



COMING NOW! ALUMINUM AND OTHER METAL Reflectors. Superior performance..!

Here is a good compromise for all my lights...the older 50 inch MONSTER substitute for the WWII 60 inch Carbon Arc design.*Big learning experience. I built this 50 inch Monster reflector six years ago and sort of didn't do much becasue it needed a very bright bulb to do it justice. Dimmer bulbs just barely mad e abeam. This thing took the light a and shot it into the night sky. For ease of transport, storage with ease of extraction, I have decided to make this my big light for now. The 72 inch is so big, I had to partially disassemble it just to store the pieces. For now the 50 inch MONSTER will be the big dominant light until I get a shop where I won't drive my neighbors crazy. Have to decommission things a little until I can get into a production facility.

This thing is "AWESOME" Had kind of shelved this light in favor of more efficient reflector designs. This set up allows for less light to be collected from bulb, but with a much longer focal length, the light travels further in a more parallel beam configuration. Beam had the effect of looking somewhat like a laser and was hard to tell from which direction it was coming from when beam aimed near horizon.

50 inch Searchlight MONSTER was shelved for a few years while I was waiting to secure a 4,000 watt HMI 385,000 lumen light source. It is a good substitute for the 60 inch WWII searchlights that need much loving care to keep going. This 50 inch MONSTER will help keep the big light legacy going well into the 21st century and beyond. The beautiful beam is a nice painting to a glorious night sky. Photo from a yard or two away.*






Photo taken behind MONSTER showing the beam traveling several miles.

Photo taken from a block away
 





Photos taken a few blocks away.









*Photo from a block away. Beam paints a nice color in the night sky. Turquoise blue color looks nice.

*







Photos taken around and from a few hundred feet distance.





*Photo from a block away. Walking way from searchlight, the beam appears to follow. Aimed near the horizon, people couldn't tell which direction it was coming from...nice narrow beam compared to my other searchlights.
*
 





*The beautiful beam is a nice painting to a glorious night sky. Photo from directly beneath the beam, next to searchlight.
*
 





* Photo from near mail boxes, block away...300 feet...
*
 




Some good views from a block away...several hundred feet. Couldn't go any where with the crowds coming to see. Police almost said they'd stay and watch while I drove around to take photos.







Some of these composites were hard to align with the camera tripod. Software to straighten the photos was unavailable.








*Photo from a block away.
*

 





*Photo from a block away.*








*Photo from a block away.
*





Photos showing beam traveling overhead. Laser like look, hard to tell direction beam came from when aimed near horizon.








*Photo from a block away. Beam paints a nice color in the night sky. Turquoise blue color looks nice.
*








*Photo from behind searchlight.
*I'll get back to posting on this shortly.


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## LightSward

The 30 inch NightHawk has become a great light to work with....bright, powerful and small enough to be transported easily. One day I'd like o power all my great lights at once, some day. Here is how the 50 inch Monster looked Halloween Night.
Hard to say, I'd like to one day have the means to compare many of my searchlights together. For now I can do a 1,200 watt HMI, NightHawk or 36 inch Gorilla, comparison to the 4,000 HMI 50 inch Monster, when the neighbors won't be bothered. Have to do it when the nights come real early next month.

Just wanted everyone to know this MONSTER 50 inch searchlight is a winner. So many cars came by and used up much of our trick or treat candy..! Met many people from far away towns and small cities. People from towns twenty miles distance said it was bright where they were located.

Here are some quick photos, (better ones to be transferred soon), of the awesome Halloween night 50 inch MONSTER searchlight Trick or Treaters flood and hundreds of vehicles on our private street to see what the "Big Light", was all about.. Awesome. Met many great people.


This is a shot I need to download from this hard to digitize access camera, but takes great pictures:






* Another shot taken from a camera hard to transfer photos from. Looks great, will get it in better quality soon.
*


First photo of the night my cell phone camera could actually take.
*




*
* Halloween begins with this brilliant beam that could be seen twenty miles in distant small towns.*




*My 385,000 lumen Four thousand watt, HMI high efficiency, medium arc, 50 inch diameter MONSTER searchlight drew in Hundreds and hundreds of vehicles, multiple dozens of "Trick or Treaters", more than all other years here combined. One photo is from cell phone and one with a rainbow vein, like a rainbow caught in the light beam.
(You can see the high tech light bulb cooling down next to the air cooled 'split half reflector', which redirects otherwise wasted back light, back through the arc chamber, and onto the main reflector.)

*






Had to take this off one of my other cameras. I'll transfer some of these soon for better quality.



*Cool photo showing beam splitting raindrops up into colors like a rainbow.*






While the rain was falling heavily, rainbow patterns were visible at various parts of the light beam. Looked real neat.


*4,000 watt, 385,000 lumen HMI High Tech bulb cooling down.*






The split reflector cooling system has reduced the tarnishing effects of the intense heat assaulting the back split reflector.

*
Beam was bright enough for the my cell phone to capture the beam in rain*.







Very impressive. The beam could be seen for many, many miles. People from many of the small and large towns and small cities scattered in the area, came for some candy and to see a searchlight, many had never seen one in person before. The look on many people's faces was like they had just seen God, or were otherwise spiritually lifted. 

Way worth the effort. Now we get many Trick or Treaters when in the entire history of our small part of town, we had almost no people come by on Halloween...ever. I'm stoked....don't have to eat so much left over candy now....HA.


Will have to do this again. Originally I was going to make this the last appearance of the light, but due to high public approval, I may do it again, next year..!







When resources allow, the World's Biggest Searchlight will be "resurrected". For now the 60 inch WWII wann-a-BE Monster 50 inch searchlight will be my Big Light for now. A true WWII searchlight will blow mine away, but it'll be interesting to see how the two would compare. Maybe at Flash-a-holic event to be scheduled soon...I hope..!


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## kuna

Wow, seems like everything went pretty well there. Those photos are amazing, especially the first and third. I wonder what the cloud ceiling was there in the third photo? That beam looks pretty tight for an HMI bulb, awesome work. Last night I noticed one of the four beam units running from about 2.2 miles away, and the spots on the clouds were up very high in the sky.(about 65-70 degrees) The clouds had to be up there like 20Kft or so, maybe more. I thought I could take the bike out and track them down, but I was unable to get too close to them because of a highway lol. I probably got within a half mile, and those beams were pretty impressive, especially in darker areas. I'd bet your 50" searchlight was probably brighter than the four beam unit. Definitely the best halloween decoration ever, and it's what's needed to finally get people to that small town of yours on Halloween . if I had a similar light here my neighborhood would be overrun with people lol. I still have that 575W HMI searchlight in consideration and the power supply for the 2kW XBO should be finished within a couple months so I may do something similar, though definitely on a smaller scale. If you do run multiple lights at once, point them in opposite directions and it'll get even more attention I think ;D


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## LightSward

kuna said:


> Wow, seems like everything went pretty well there. Those photos are amazing, especially the first and third. I wonder what the cloud ceiling was there in the third photo? That beam looks pretty tight for an HMI bulb, awesome work. Last night I noticed one of the four beam units running from about 2.2 miles away, and the spots on the clouds were up very high in the sky.(about 65-70 degrees) The clouds had to be up there like 20Kft or so, maybe more. I thought I could take the bike out and track them down, but I was unable to get too close to them because of a highway lol. I probably got within a half mile, and those beams were pretty impressive, especially in darker areas. I'd bet your 50" searchlight was probably brighter than the four beam unit. Definitely the best halloween decoration ever, and it's what's needed to finally get people to that small town of yours on Halloween . if I had a similar light here my neighborhood would be overrun with people lol. I still have that 575W HMI searchlight in consideration and the power supply for the 2kW XBO should be finished within a couple months so I may do something similar, though definitely on a smaller scale. If you do run multiple lights at once, point them in opposite directions and it'll get even more attention I think ;D



it will be good to see how your lights turn out. Looking forward to that. 

The beam was largely affected during the early night hours due to the rain which of course is a physical obstruction over distance and beam didn't make it very high to the low cloud deck very well. Once the rain cleared, the higher up clouds were easily illuminated and after the sky totally cleared, an upper layer of less dense air, always in the atmosphere...?... seems to always form a 'ceiling' the batman symbol can appear on....LOL. I really wanted to go to remote areas myself, instead of having to really on other people's words. Hard to find a situation were I can find it easy to leave and go look. 

Looking at some new designs with this 50 inch Monster light in mind, but a little smaller and more portable.


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## LightSward

Yes the light was phenomenal. Never had such a line of vehicles like this before.
Just wanted everyone to know this MONSTER 50 inch searchlight is a winner. So many cars came by and used up much of our trick or treat candy..! Met many people from far away towns and small cities. People from towns twenty miles distance said it was bright where they were located.

One day would like to power all the lights at once, but will take a while to have the resources to power all the lights at once. Would like to have them all on at once, some day. Here is how the 50 inch Monster looked Halloween Night.
Hard to say, I'd like to one day have the means to compare many of my searchlights together. For now I can do a 1,200 watt HMI, NightHawk or 36 inch Gorilla, comparison to the 4,000 HMI 50 inch Monster, when the neighbors won't be bothered. Have to do it when the nights come real early next month.

Just wanted everyone to know this MONSTER 50 inch searchlight is a winner. So many cars came by and used up much of our trick or treat candy..! Met many people from far away towns and small cities. People from towns twenty miles distance said it was bright where they were located.

Here are some quick photos, (better ones to be transferred soon), of the awesome Halloween night 50 inch MONSTER searchlight Trick or Treaters flood and hundreds of vehicles on our private street to see what the "Big Light", was all about.. Awesome. Met many great people.


Click here to view the original image of 1578x885px.





*Another shot taken from a camera hard to transfer photos from. Looks great, will get it in better quality soon.
*


First photo of the night my cell phone camera could actually take.
*At sunset I turned the searchlight on and found it was already dark enough to be seen.:naughty: :thinking: :welcome:


Click here to view the original image of 1024x751px.




Searchlight is bright enough to be seen at sunset.

*
* Halloween begins with this brilliant beam that could be seen twenty miles in distant small towns.*




*My 385,000 lumen Four thousand watt, HMI high efficiency, medium arc, 50 inch diameter MONSTER searchlight drew in Hundreds and hundreds of vehicles, multiple dozens of "Trick or Treaters", more than all other years here combined. One photo is from cell phone and one with a rainbow vein, like a rainbow caught in the light beam.
(You can see the high tech light bulb cooling down next to the air cooled 'split half reflector', which redirects otherwise wasted back light, back through the arc chamber, and onto the main reflector.)
*




Beam looked thinner to the eye, but cloud nicely lit.


*Cool photo showing beam splitting raindrops up into colors like a rainbow.*

Click here to view the original image of 1578x1182px.




While the rain was falling heavily, rainbow patterns were visible at various parts of the light beam. Looked real neat.


*4,000 watt, 385,000 lumen HMI High Tech bulb cooling down.*

Click here to view the original image of 1024x774px.




The split reflector cooling system has reduced the tarnishing effects of the intense heat assaulting the back split reflector.

*
Beam was bright enough for the my cell phone to capture the beam in rain*.

Click here to view the original image of 1024x756px.





Very impressive. The beam could be seen for many, many miles. People from many of the small and large towns and small cities scattered in the area, came for some candy and to see a searchlight, many had never seen one in person before. The look on many people's faces was like they had just seen God, or were otherwise spiritually lifted. 



Car headlights compete with the much brighter searchlight beam 1:200 ratio in brightness.






Beam isn't totally culminated, but it looks like a laser when underneath it in another neighborhood...I'm told.


Way worth the effort. Now we get many Trick or Treaters when in the entire history of our small part of town, we had almost no people come by on Halloween...ever. I'm stoked....don't have to eat so much left over candy now....HA.

Will have to do this again. Originally I was going to make this the last appearance of the light, but due to high public approval, I may do it again, next year..!







When resources allow, the World's Biggest Searchlight will be "resurrected". For now the 60 inch WWII wann-a-BE Monster 50 inch searchlight will be my Big Light for now. A true WWII searchlight will blow mine away, but it'll be interesting to see how the two would compare. Maybe at Flash-a-holic event to be scheduled soon...I hope..!


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## LightSward

The 30 inch NightHawk has been my workhorse for a few years now. It's easily transported, very bright and powerful, and now has a substantial upgrade from Fiberglass to Aluminum metal. Much easier for me to make.

*The original big light; The 24inch LightSward, I made out of Fiberglass as my first successful light, has now been upgraded to Aluminum. Awesome..!*

*New big changes in how I make my reflectors, now in metal; and how much more significantly improved these Aluminum and steel reflectors are over my successful Fiberglass class of reflectors I've been working on for over half a dozen years on..!

These newly made Aluminum reflectors I've made, along with several others; and more on the way, are truly amazing..! The ease and precision that can be accomplished: quickly, silently, easily, artfully, and without odors or other issues with an incredible result. Still needs to be "dialed in", but the results are already better than the Fiberglass. No Orange Peal effect, that was actually a subtle defects in the Fiberglass surface, invisible until the reflective surface was applied. The metal doesn't have such an issue. Live and learn. This new personal "discovery of skills", will go across the board on all my searchlights. So far several: 7, 24, 26 and 30 inch reflectors are finished or about to be and several 36 inch Aluminum discs are on standby to be converted shortly. Several simultaneous tests on the different reflector designs will occur to determine the best route(s), to be taken at this time. EXCITING!

*_Polishing is not feasible at this time, as it involves too much noise and not as good a reflective surface as this window glazing I used. I'll use the chrome tape with it's better reflectivity in future reflectors. NOW I HAVE A LIGHT METER AND CAN TAKE ACTUAL READINGS.
_
My upside reflections caused by the 'magnifying glass' effect of the two different style reflectors. 





→ →  ⤡ 
Aluminum reflectors made from flat bottom water tank collection pan.






*
My upside reflections caused by the 'magnifying glass' effect of the two different style reflectors. One is a deep 200 degree capture design with more light reflectivity compared to the 130 degree capture with it's superior long distance light throw..* 




Click here to view the original image of 1024x773px.




These reflectors are so much more easier to make out of Aluminum discs than the Fiberglass process I've been using. I did a "quick" production routine to make these and others in progress at a larger diameter, I'm just amazed. The beams are much more culminated with a smaller diameter reflector needed for better, narrow beam effect. Will experiment with the different reflector designs.

This is very exciting..!

Stay tuned.


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## LightSward

This new generation of lights will make things bright..
The telescope reflector version of the 36 inch Gorilla is moving along. Not sure what to call it, Monster Jr., the New Gorilla, etc. Bottom picture you can see the two high powered searchlights together before beam shots are taken soon.

High powered stuff..!

More progress:






*Searchlight reflecting sky to light*

*Nice view of the searchlight and cooling equipment.
*



A little closer to see the cooling fans






*Close-up Searchlight*

*Searchlight getting closer to completion.C ooling fans installed. My usual Home Depot $15.00 bath fans. To get twice the CFM capacity, most fan makers charge up to 10 X higher, so I just buy two.

Will fire up both of these at the same time for a total output of 8,000 watts HMI, equivalent to 24,000 watts incandescent of Xenon. 385,000 lumen output each for a TOTAL: 770,000 LUMEN..! That's bright..!


*

→ ← 






*Old and New generations:wave::tired:*
*The old and new high powered telescope style searchlights. Notice the difference in the mirror orange peel effect from fibergalass to aluminum with it's much smoother finish. Hopefully makes a nicer beam..!

*Will keep things posted as I make progress.


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## LightSward

Set up and tooled my shop to make a nice range of reflectors, using a modified English Wheel, in a range of sizes; anywhere from 24 inch, 36 inch Gorilla Reflector up to a 50 inch Monster or any size in this whole range made now from aluminum with polished aluminum, nice but pricey, all with precision geometric control, integrating CAD control in the forming of the reflector. Been real busy doing things I needed to do with little time to posts. Am making huge progress on this and will get back to posting more as I get some time. This is going to be awesome. Hopefully I'll have something worth showing when the time comes. This weekend I could be ready for another test. Need money for some patents.


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## bigburly912

I've been following this thread for a while. Always look forward to new pictures and details. Keep up the good work!


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## IlluminatedOne

Yes keep up the good work always love to see what you come up with, even better now you have some better tools .


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## LightSward

IlluminatedOne said:


> Yes keep up the good work always love to see what you come up with, even better now you have some better tools .



Yes, Thank you. 

I've been busy building four new totally different searchlights, I haven't kept up with posting. Will get back to that soon.


----------

