The Nightsword project

[Rat]

So sweet great job :thumbsup:
Its been a blast watching this light come along.

cheers

 

[Toolboxkid]

Awesome light!


Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

 

[kuna]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

I know it's been said before, but that is an awesome beamshot. I say that to myself that every time I see it. Just by judging from the picture alone, that beam can't be more than 2 degrees, and is probably about 1.5-1.75, unless it's a trick of the camera making the beam appear thinner than it actually is. Exactly how far down the road were you from the light when that picture was taken? Did the beam and dot on the clouds actually appear that bright to the eye or was a longer exposure used on the camera? If that beam was 1.75 deg then it would be a roughly 60Mcd beam, which is great for a prototype. Your detail-oriented approach is most notable on this project and I can't wait to see finished result.(and get one myself :devil:)

 

[Mr. Tone]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

^
There's nothing like a good light show on the clouds. :naughty:

 

[get-lit]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

Thanks Kuna.

Because the beam is viewed not from the side, the beam angle can actually seem to get smaller at distance. If you could see the beam from the side, then you could see the beam actually widening, but because the beam is so long, you would have to be very far away to tell. That beamshot was taken from about 4 houses down the road, so maybe only 300 ft.

Those early shots were taken with the Canon Powershot, a very basic point and shoot camera, hand-held in auto mode.

Edit.. I've been buried in work lately and hope to make quick progress soon.

 

[Mr. Tone]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

Any progress or setbacks on this of late, get-lit?

 

[get-lit]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

Well the good news is there's no setbacks. Don't think there's any left anymore lol. Right now it's just about funds, which should be resolved within about a month.

 

[Mr. Tone]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

Ah, yes, I can't imagine the financial investment of this awesome project. I will keep looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

 

[BVH]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

As will I.

 

[BeastFlashlight]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

Regarding the lens, it's currently configured at 11 1/4" diameter by 1/8" thick, which is about the same thickness as tempered window panes, but much smaller in area, so more than plenty for any head wind you're capable of even holding the light in. So wind is not a concern, and impact strength is the only consideration. I tend to prefer 1/8" tempered for strength vs weight for portability. For situations requiring ultimate durability at the expense of portability, a 3/16" glass lens could be made in the future. This would increase the weight by .55 lbs and offset center of gravity .32" making the light "slightly" front heavy when hand held. Of course, as discussed earlier on, the spider support could be added as well, but at the expense of "some" light loss.

I say the high durability of a 3/16" lens is well worth the trade off of the extra weight

 

[Mr. Tone]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

I couldn't resist bumping this great thread to see if get-lit has any more tidbits for us. :naughty:

 

[Rowntree]

Any developments on this project or has it died on the vine?

 

[get-lit]

The project is on hold for a few months while I focus on turning my primary business around.

 

[Juggernaut]

"back in my day" I remember when this was just an idea, Get-Lit if these ever end up in production or for sale in any capacity make sure to send me a PM it's been long enough I could probably afford one lol. Also still remember one of the bulb / reflector combos that "only" made like 8,000ish lumens but had some really crazy surface brightness and Lux probably lost to the depths of this thread somewhere lol.

 

[get-lit]

Yes the lamp was a ruggedized version of the XBO 500, called the XBO 500W/RC OFR with 13,000 initial lumen within a 0.7x0.8mm arc gap at 260,000 cd/cm^2, actual wattage 420W, 400 hour perpendicular life, 200 hour horizontal life.

 

[LightSward]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

I know it's been said before, but that is an awesome beamshot. I say that to myself that every time I see it. Just by judging from the picture alone, that beam can't be more than 2 degrees, and is probably about 1.5-1.75, unless it's a trick of the camera making the beam appear thinner than it actually is. Exactly how far down the road were you from the light when that picture was taken? Did the beam and dot on the clouds actually appear that bright to the eye or was a longer exposure used on the camera? If that beam was 1.75 deg then it would be a roughly 60Mcd beam, which is great for a prototype. Your detail-oriented approach is most notable on this project and I can't wait to see finished result.(and get one myself :devil:)

I agree. I know it's been said many times before, so again THIS LIGHT is AWESOME..! Some day I would like to get a light like this.

 

[Mr. Tone]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

What lamp did you end up going with? Sorry, I know you went through several possibilities and can't remember which one. With your latest design choices what is your estimated lumen and candlepower output? I hope things are going well for you. I read through about 10 pages of this thread in the last 20 minutes and saw where you said you have 4 children. I hope your family is doing well and that you are enjoying the season with them. Merry Christmas to you and your family :)

 

[seery]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

You are a man of great patience. Absolutely beautiful work get-lit.

And your willingness to share knowledge is inspiring.

Question for you...I've read the entire thread, my apologies if I overlooked it.

At what distance (in feet) can you look directly at the beam without the risk of damaging your eyes?

 

[Timothybil]

Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs

Five miles? :devil:

 

[get-lit]

Firstly Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for the continued encouragement.

Mr. Tone, I appreciate your kind thoughts. I'm hoping to have time with the kids at some point over the holidays. Output is estimated at 47,000 Lumen and 150-180 MCP. I had recently posted the lamp in use but was contacted to remove the post due to manufacturer arrangement which I don't want to jeopardize for the development of the super short arc version of the lamp.

Seery and Timothybil, although it will project useful light (1 Lux) out to 8 miles, 5 miles is a far cry from damaging light as the beam would still be spread out to under 3 Lux at 5 miles.

It's not easy to find a resource for what Lux value would cause eye damage. It's also dependent on the amount of exposure time. We could however use the brightness of the sun to compare at 100,000 Lux. I suppose being exposed to the brightness of the sun at night with the pupil fully dilated would be a very bad thing. This light is projected to illuminate 100,000 Lux at 100 feet. Anything closer to that of course is much more intense.

Also for comparison this is roughly 4 times the Lux intensity of the Spectrolab SX-16.

Taken from the SX-16 Manual:
---------------------------------------------------------
The light from the SX-16 Nightsun® is very powerful; the intense beam can cause serious eye injury or blindness, and the high temperatures pose a fire hazard. The Searchlight beam is hazardous to people and certain materials at close range, particularly at distances within 10 feet of the Searchlight. At a 10-foot distance, the beam intensity can be 100 times as powerful as direct sunlight, and its reflection can be more intense.

-Do not look into the Searchlight beam, and never shine the light at anyone within 125 feet of the Searchlight.

-At distances of less than 10 feet, flammable materials (such as human hair, clothing, wiping rags, paper, cardboard, wood boxes, electrical insulation, and most plastics) can and will beset on fire.

-During preflight tests on the ground, make sure that the beam is directed away from nearby people and flammable materials. Make sure to tell people not to look at or to walk through the Searchlight beam.

-For Searchlight adjustments that require visual observation of the light beam, always wear dark glasses that are equivalent to welders’ glasses, shade 3.

-To avoid temporary blindness from reflected light, never operate the Searchlight in dense fog or while the aircraft is flying in clouds.
---------------------------------------------------------

Going by the SX-16 safe distance recommendation, this light would have a safe distance of 250 feet comparatively.

There is a counter-aspect to the Nightsword design that makes it safer for a given output, in that the reflector is long FL versus short FL but the nature of this affect is beyond the scope of the topic.

It's very important to note that the selection of the lamp and reflector combination was chosen based on Net Illuminance or what I refer it as beam power or overall beam visibility, rather than Peak Illuminance or Candlepower. If I were targeting Peak Illuminance for this project, I would have selected a short focal length reflector and 330W 1mm arc gap P-VIP lamp. But such a combination would pale in comparison for Net Illuminance, or overall beam power/visibility because the Peak Illuminance would be contained within just a fraction of the beam area compared to the Net-Illuminance-optimized design I'd decided to go with. This is better explained in the discussion about candlepower vs. beam power.

Edit: Not sure how the title switched to "Re: Superlights shoot-out 2011: The Short Arcs"