Finally got a Maxabeam

[Echo63]

Glad to see you're likin' the light.

Thanks again ParkerVH
It's a fun light, seeing that beam pierce the darkness makes me giggle every time.
I have been taking it to work too, I know it will be needed one day (I have needed a good thrower before, only had an SF L2 on me)

Walterk, RA, grayhighh,

Thanks for the comments, I am going to try and continue to do longer and longer beamshots (need to find somewhere with approx 2km of space)
I would also love to do a Lux/CP measurement on this light, from what I understand it's a 75w Gen2, but has one of ParkerVH's adapters and a Ushio UXL75-XE, which i believe is around the same brightness, but because of the bulb shape has less optical arc distortion than the stock bulb, so may have a slightly higher CP

Edit - Just measured my maxabeam (on low - indoors, at 8m - so not a great measurment, will try and do a better one at 100m tonight) Converting from EV to Lux and then to CP gave me a measurement of a little over 3.3 million CP

[Echo63]

A package arrived yesterday


what could it be ?


a Maxabeam - for me ?


2x Maxabeams, the original Gen 2 i purchased months ago before i started this thread, and now a Gen 3, with hard case, spare bulb and 25ft power lead (that conveniently fits both maxabeams)


New Beamshots and New Vs Old comparo to come.

also - the orange cat "Lector" in the pics loves anything bright with a small spot, Lasers, the Maxabeam, SF M4, Ultrastinger - he will chase the spot from them all, even jumping up the walls to chase the spot (he can jump 6 foot in the air easily)

[fiberguy]

Looking forward to it!!

[Colonel Sanders]

Non-flashaholics always love my Maxabeam the most of everything I show them.

[Echo63]

Non-flashaholics always love my Maxabeam the most of everything I show them.

Everyone who sees mine says either "holy s**t that's bright" or "wtf is that thing"

They are very impressive lights - that needle thin beam of light reaching out for miles is just awesome.

[FRITZHID]

I've found that people love mine .......... until they see the price tag. Lol

[Litbobber]

A package arrived yesterday


what could it be ?


a Maxabeam - for me ?


2x Maxabeams, the original Gen 2 i purchased months ago before i started this thread, and now a Gen 3, with hard case, spare bulb and 25ft power lead (that conveniently fits both maxabeams)


New Beamshots and New Vs Old comparo to come.

also - the orange cat "Lector" in the pics loves anything bright with a small spot, Lasers, the Maxabeam, SF M4, Ultrastinger - he will chase the spot from them all, even jumping up the walls to chase the spot (he can jump 6 foot in the air easily)

Still waiting for some comparison beam shots.

Thanks

[Echo63]

Still waiting for some comparison beam shots.

Thanks

Still trying to find the time to do them

Im currently 4000km away from both lights.

i can explain the difference pretty easy - the Gen 2 with ParkerVH adapters and Ushio UXL-75XE throws a very tight intense hotspot - with a slightly dimmer corona - i would imagine there is a hotspot in the arc (the tiny spot) and the rest of the arc forms the tight corona
the Gen3 has a stock Peakbeam bulb and throws a nice even spot a similar size to the corona on the Gen2

I will hopefully be able to get some pics towards the end of the week (there is some beamshots of the Gen2 at the start of the thread to tide you over)

[Echo63]

Ok heres a Comparo
Gen2 - with Ushio UXL-75XE on the left, and on the right - Gen3 with stock bulb (looks like a rounded arc chamber, but i havent removed it so cant be sure)

This first one shows the difference in beam shape - the Gen2 focuses down to a tiny little spot, with a dimmer corona, whereas the Gen3 doesnt focus down as tightly - i have tried adjusting the bulb focus limits, but it doesnt get any tighter (the Gen2 doesnt have programmable focus limits)


the spots look the same when out of focus

[BVH]

Somethings going on with your Gen3. It should out-focus the Gen2 with the Ushio. As you're focusing down, is the hotspot continuing to reduce in size and then you reach the limit?

[Echo63]

Somethings going on with your Gen3. It should out-focus the Gen2 with the Ushio. As you're focusing down, is the hotspot continuing to reduce in size and then you reach the limit?

BVH - thats as tight as it gets - then it gets bigger again.

[Ceya!]

E63,

Have you found or think what the reason for the issue?

Maybe the seller you got it from may know.

I may get one so Im curious to see why the difference.

S/F,
CEYA!

[Matt@PeakBeam]

Somethings going on with your Gen3. It should out-focus the Gen2 with the Ushio.

BVH is definitely right here. If you have already tried to override the programmed spot stop (holding the power button followed by rocking the 4-way switch twice forward and attempting to zoom in further) and that is as far forward as it goes, then there is definitely something wrong. There are several possible causes for this but the best place to start would be with the serial number on your searchlight. I'm a new user so I can't send/receive PMs just yet but you could email it to me (just add .com to my username) and I should be able to get you a lot more info on the history of your light.

-Matt

[Echo63]

BVH is definitely right here. If you have already tried to override the programmed spot stop (holding the power button followed by rocking the 4-way switch twice forward and attempting to zoom in further) and that is as far forward as it goes, then there is definitely something wrong. There are several possible causes for this but the best place to start would be with the serial number on your searchlight. I'm a new user so I can't send/receive PMs just yet but you could email it to me (just add .com to my username) and I should be able to get you a lot more info on the history of your light.

-Matt

Yes i have already tried overiding the programming, it did go a tiny bit smaller, but still not as tight as the Gen2
I am sending you an email now.

as for the photos, that tiny little hotspot in the centre of the Gen2 beam is a smidge over a brick and a half high - maybe 2-3inches across, and the hotspot in the gen 3 beam is 2 bricks across at around 100ft from the light to the wall.

Matt@peakbeam - im sending you an email now

[BVH]

Hi Matt. Welcome aboard and thanks for participating here! Say hi to Annie for me.

[Matt@PeakBeam]

Hi Matt. Welcome aboard and thanks for participating here! Say hi to Annie for me.

My pleasure to help out, and I'll let Annie know you said high.

Echo63 - E-mail with some specifics about your lights is on the way.

[Echo63]

Thanks Matt@peakbeam

Matt helped me troubleshoot my light and now it is throwing a spot similar to the my Gen2

PeakBeams service is great - even for a 6 year old second hand Maxabeam.

[BVH]

Glad you got it fixed!

[Parker VH]

Peak Beam has always been top notch in their customer service to me as well. Glad it wasn't anything serious.