LED spotlight on patrol car

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FRITZHID

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That's the LED version if Unitys' newest post light. They've been around for ±5 years now.
More lumens than the orig incan 85w but nowhere near the throw. Longer lifespan is a big plus. LED is wall of light after 50', incan can throw ½ mile.
 

SemiMan

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That's the LED version if Unitys' newest post light. They've been around for ±5 years now.
More lumens than the orig incan 85w but nowhere near the throw. Longer lifespan is a big plus. LED is wall of light after 50', incan can throw ½ mile.

Good call on that being a Unity light. I should have looked closer at it, it's looks definitely like a Unity head, but I did not recognize the housing.

Take a real close look at it though, it looks like it is the spot version of that head.

If Unity's claims are to be believed, and looking at the optics, I could see their 2 degree spot being accurate, then they are claiming >200K candlepower versus 250K for the halogen. Through would be similar in real world.

They do make several different versions from a flood to a wide spot, but this would be the narrow spot version from the looks of it.
 

FRITZHID

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That's the "spot" version.... Still a wall of light vs. the incan.
It's Def a better choice for most police applications than the incan.
Bulb replacement factor being the top.
I tested all available models about 4 yrs ago for a client, incan won in the end. No warm-up time but throws far..
 

-Virgil-

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I tested all available models about 4 yrs ago for a client, incan won in the end. No warm-up time but throws far..

The PAR46 halogen-infrared H7680HIR is a fantastic performing spot beam; that's probably the winner in your test. Tight 6-degree spot, 300,000 candela. But it is power hungry (80w) and has a filament that is subject to vibration and eventual burnout. With that said, 4 years ago on the LED time scale is about like 40 years ago on the incandescent time scale; LEDs and their optics have evolved and improved massively in the last 4 years, so those test results probably don't apply to today's situation very well.
 

FRITZHID

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The PAR46 halogen-infrared H7680HIR is a fantastic performing spot beam; that's probably the winner in your test. Tight 6-degree spot, 300,000 candela. But it is power hungry (80w) and has a filament that is subject to vibration and eventual burnout. With that said, 4 years ago on the LED time scale is about like 40 years ago on the incandescent time scale; LEDs and their optics have evolved and improved massively in the last 4 years, so those test results probably don't apply to today's situation very well.

Actually, I just happened to look into these actual lights 3 months ago...
Lumen output is higher but throw hasent improved much. But as I stated before, throw isn't the priority in most situations.
 

SemiMan

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The PAR46 halogen-infrared H7680HIR is a fantastic performing spot beam; that's probably the winner in your test. Tight 6-degree spot, 300,000 candela. But it is power hungry (80w) and has a filament that is subject to vibration and eventual burnout. With that said, 4 years ago on the LED time scale is about like 40 years ago on the incandescent time scale; LEDs and their optics have evolved and improved massively in the last 4 years, so those test results probably don't apply to today's situation very well.

Getting harder and harder to justify the Halogen versions anymore.

I don't get to "play" nearly as much as I used to, but was playing on the weekend with the XHP35 from Cree. 1400-1500 lumens in a very small source size. With just some optics I had lying around, about 40mm diameter, I was hitting over 100,000 candela and certainly not optimized. 3 of these in an array would compete easily with the halogen version and last effectively forever and have a similar footprint (not as deep likely) as the HIR.

Semiman
 

TheIntruder

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This is straying off topic, but that another part of that picture piqued my interest.

AFAIK, LEO vehicles retain functional airbags, so I wonder why the vehicle in question has what looks like a cell-phone mount smack in the middle of the steering wheel hub from whence the driver airbag deploys?

Airbags are powerful enough to cause injury on their own, without additional factors, so the way I see some drivers sit too close to the steering wheel, or how they drip the wheel with forearms draped over the center of the wheel, kinda makes me shudder.

You'd think a "pro" would know better, but some of the worst tire advice I've seen appeared in a magazine catering to law enforcement.
 

SemiMan

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That's the LED version if Unitys' newest post light. They've been around for ±5 years now.
More lumens than the orig incan 85w but nowhere near the throw. Longer lifespan is a big plus. LED is wall of light after 50', incan can throw ½ mile.

Was just rereading this, and you said you tested them 4 years ago, and LED is wall of light after 50 feet.

That does not make sense. If you tested 4 years ago, you likely tested the Whelen LED unit, I don't think Unity had their own spot yet, not till later in 2013. If you tested the Whelan 8 degree, ya that would be a wall of light at 50 feet, but the Whelen 2 degree is definitely not a wall of light at 50 feet by any measure. Not the throw of the Halogen, but no where near a wall of light.

You claimed the Incan can throw 1/2 a mile. No doubt a bit of hyperbole, but let's look at that. The Halogen at 1/2 mile (2640 feet), assuming 275K candela typical for the 85W HIR would be 0.42 lux on target. The Whelen, at 125K candela would be 0.42 at 1780 feet. Unity claims 215K candela for their unit, which would hit 0.42lux at 2330 feet. Sure the beam patterns would be different, but generally TIR optics LEDs have less spill, so their spots can often be more useful.

Your claim of wall of light after 50 feet makes me think you are were not looking at the narrow spots, but maybe the Whelen 8 degree. That would have appeared as a wall of light. The 2 degree is not going to appear as a wall of light, certainly not at 50 feet.
 

Alaric Darconville

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With all the baiting and flaming that went on in this thread, I'm closing it. Calling people names, taunting, baiting, flaming have no place on these forums. There are plenty of other places on the Internet where that sort of thing flies-- those places are decidedly much less friendly than this one.

We have rules for a reason. Just like there are rules for driving, that if everyone follows then most likely everyone will get to their destination, there are rules here, that when followed means that everyone will likely get the information they need, and have their voices heard. When their voices are used to denigrate other members, and when their voices pollute threads, then they're abusing their privileges here.
 
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