Police Helicopter Searchlight

[Flashanator]

@ that Guy, thanks for your reply. I tried tellin him that a cheapo 15MCP is a joke compared to nightsun. Even Maxabeam wasnt bright compared to the 2 beams I saw.

So 1.6kw with 60,000 lumens? Thats very imressive. That explains its blinding flood capability i saw.

:thumbsup:

 

[TECENG]

The system is called Nightsun.

I actually did some preliminary product renderings of the Nightsun as a consultant for Hughes/Spectrolab. You can see one of the images on my web site: http://www.tecengineering.com/render_images_1.html

I have some others that were kind of cool...different colors, even one with cammo for military use. I'll try to dig them up and post.

Too bad I couldn't snag a prototype unit or two

 

[BVH]

I find it very interesting that I interviewed for a position with Spectrolab in their Sun Valley site back in the early 70's, just out of high school. Took a mechanic's job instead. Good thing!

 

[Ken_McE]

I love the fact that you cant hide from the chopper with nightvision & IR.

I would say you could hide, but your average low life wouldn't know how to do it.

 

[elamh]

Check out the CHIS land/vehicle based spotlight on the spectrolab website - A portable(ish - 86Kg) monster providing 200-300 million candlepower!

 

[Burgess]

Weighs ~ 84 pounds, not Kilograms.


But where are we supposed ta' get 26-28 Volts DC ? ? ?


Sorry, my aircraft are currently unavailable.




Oh, to elamh --


Welcome to CandlePowerForums !

:welcome:

_

 

[BVH]

Same place I get 27 Volts for my tank light and Locators - two sla's in series.

 

[CM]

I wonder how much one of those searchlights cost.

Edit: Never mind. Found it.

 

[BVH]

I thought Short Arcs were typically over 100 Lumens per Watts which would put Lumens output at a minimum of 160,000.

 

[That_Guy]

Xenon short-arc lamps are the least efficient of all HIDs. Most are around 30 - 40 lm/w. Efficiency rises with wattage, peaking at about 50lm/w for the really big lamps (10kW+) and going as low as 15 lm/w for the smaller lamps like the one used in the Maxabeam (75W).

 

[Jay_Ev]

Would the NightSun on the police helicopters be any more bright than those search lights commonly seen at high profile celebrity events in Hollywood? The ones that are so large they are on their own trailer in groups of 4 pointed upwards into the sky. To get a mental image of what I am talking about, picture the "Bat Signal" (from Batman).

-Jay

 

[BVH]

Jay, the lights to which you refer are actually "spotlights", not "searchlights" and are usually 2KW or so HID fixtures. They are somewhat comparable to the night sun. The rigs usually have either 2 or 4 fixtures on them.

A true "searchlight" is a completely different class of light.

search·light (sʉrc̸h′līt′)

noun

an apparatus containing a light and reflector on a swivel, for projecting a strong, far-reaching beam in any direction

 

[Mach1]

 

[e2x2e]

Helicopter included?

That thing is AWESOME.

 

[husky20]

I think that guy still has a chance to getaway

 

[jonpmc]

I think that guy still has a chance to getaway

Two guns pointed at your back and at least a step and a half to the wrong side of the nearest object that could slow down a bullet is not the kind of chance I would bet on. But if you want to try that we can get some paintball markers and see how it turns out.

 

[Anigmalistic]

Hey there,

Slight risk of a mild de-rail here but I found this forum whilst searching for the specs of a police helicopter searchlight.

My predicament is this: I am an officer on board an offshore supply vessel and we have been instructed to perform some fairly delicate manoevres at night. I have been put in charge of sourcing two searchlights for this operation but I dont really know a lot about the subject.

The searchlights we have on board are 1kw Halogen things and to be honest they are pretty rubbish, I have been given authorisation to order up something far more.... substantial.

Would the police helicopter nightsun be suitable for maritime use? I see that it is a Xenon light not Halogen so does anyone know of a supplier of super-bright Xenon searchlights for maritime use (i.e. it wont break down if subjected to a lot of salt water spray)

Money isn't REALLY an object... within reason. I like toys, so if anyone knows of some bad-*** equipment that I can boil the sea at 2 miles with I would be very appreciative!

Rgds,
A newbie.

 

[Walterk]

I think you might look for the model 'Aurora' from the manufacturer Francis from the UK.

 

[Lips]

Hey there,

Slight risk of a mild de-rail here but I found this forum whilst searching for the specs of a police helicopter searchlight.

My predicament is this: I am an officer on board an offshore supply vessel and we have been instructed to perform some fairly delicate manoevres at night. I have been put in charge of sourcing two searchlights for this operation but I dont really know a lot about the subject.

The searchlights we have on board are 1kw Halogen things and to be honest they are pretty rubbish, I have been given authorisation to order up something far more.... substantial.

Would the police helicopter nightsun be suitable for maritime use? I see that it is a Xenon light not Halogen so does anyone know of a supplier of super-bright Xenon searchlights for maritime use (i.e. it wont break down if subjected to a lot of salt water spray)

Money isn't REALLY an object... within reason. I like toys, so if anyone knows of some bad-*** equipment that I can boil the sea at 2 miles with I would be very appreciative!

Rgds,
A newbie.

Marine Grade power-house lights here:
http://www.carlislefinch.com/


Small thread here also
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/250739

 

[chanjyj]

I would say you could hide, but your average low life wouldn't know how to do it.

You can hide, but you will need preparation time.

If in an urban area and you are running from the police? That's easy