So Cal Get Together - Saturday December 15th

Which light was the vintage 6 watt mod? Was it a tri SSC conversion?

Since it is mentioned in the quote, the 400 watt 64663 bulb is overdriven to 520 watts. It is surprising how it beats the 600 watt (overdriven to 720 watts) Q4559X in my LarryK14.

Regards,
Mark

mtbkndad said:

For those that could not make the get together, the 400 Watt Blitz & tank light were a real great study in contrasts. Shining down a long road the tank light brightly lit up a small part of some trees a few hundred yards in the distance. When the Blitz mod was turned on the small spot in the trees did not get appreciably brighter but EVERYTHING up to that point, that was for the most part dark with the Tank light on, lit up like a little patch of daylight.

Each light was the king of the get together in it's own area of design.
I must say for "sleeper" value the little vintage 6 watt light mod was the best light of the group.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

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JetskiMark said:

This park looks interesting. Procuring an after hours use permit would be excellent.

Using the ruler tool in Google Earth, the Hollywood sign is .53 miles from the center of the park. Too bad the sign is so brightly illuminated. That should be no problem for BVH's Carbon Arc or a tank light, but I wonder if any of the HIDs or high power incans could do anything at that distance to such a well lit sign against a low reflective background? We just need to get them to turn off the sign for that evening. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I'm looking forward to the next get-together.

Regards,
Mark

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The HIDs would have a nearby hillside to project on.

When Larry's tank light was in the Bay Area back in January it was able to light up the top of Mission Peak at a distance of 1.6 miles. I'm sure half a mile won't be an issue despite any pre-existing sign illumination.



I merged these images together back in March as an ad for the Flashapalooza. I would be something to really see it happen.



BTW, what does your Blitz mod look like? I haven't seen any pictures of it.

JetskiMark said:

Which light was the vintage 6 watt mod? Was it a tri SSC conversion?

Since it is mentioned in the quote, the 400 watt 64663 bulb is overdriven to 520 watts. It is surprising how it beats the 600 watt (overdriven to 720 watts) Q4559X in my LarryK14.

Regards,
Mark

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Mark,

I mis-wrote that. I meant that neat little 6v lantern style light that looks like it would light up objects about 50 feet away and when you turn it on seems like it will melt objects 50 feet away. I forgot what sealed beam bulb you managed to put into it.

LowBat,

You were missed and Mark's mod is in his signature if I am correct, but he really needs to take and post some picks that show the whole light so people can see just what a great job he has done with it.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

BVH said:

Someone at the March 07 get together stuck their hand in front of Larry's tank light for a moment or two and received a mild sunburn. I'd say they are a wee bit powerful!

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I did that as well but that was right after seeing someone else do it. I did not feel any radiant heat at all myself but I didn't recall if I got sunburned (or lost the little hairs on the back of my hand)

Yes, Mark. Let's see a thread on that Blitz mod of yours!

That Blitz puts any HID to shame with sheer wattage

So who's gonna foot the bill for a 600 watt HID or LED project?

Thanks namelessone and I'm glad you enjoyed our trinkets.

namelessone said:

Sure, post whatever ones you want. Thanks for giving us the lights to make it possible.

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BVH said:

Yes, Mark. Let's see a thread on that Blitz mod of yours!

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That is something that I have been meaning to do. I had originally planned on photographing the entire build. But once I got started, I did not want to stop to take pictures. I just wanted to finish and satiate my lumen lust. Kudos to those who post informative build threads with numerous photos.

Regards,
Mark

I know exactly what you mean Mark about progress pics. I wanted to do that when i built my VSS-1 tank light rig but just couldn't be bothered to stop working when I was on a roll.

OK, here's a little friendly competition for the next get-together. Mark and his Blitz mod vrs BVH and his 300 watt HID Locator. What do ya say? Following the 3 to 1 rule of thumb, the 300 watt HID should equal to a 900 Watt incandescent. The Locator has a less focused beam as compared to the VSS-3a so it may light up the area that the -3 didn't due to it's razor-sharp beam as was indicated in another post? It's reflector is only 4" or 5" so it will lose some ground there. It's a pretty bright little sucker but I didn't get to see Mark's Blitz so it should be fun to compare.

LowBat said:

BTW, what does your Blitz mod look like? I haven't seen any pictures of it.

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I took a quick and crappy picture of my Blitz. I really need to build a lightbox, I hate taking lousy photos.

Here is a quick summary of it:

I took a LightForce 240 Blitz host and attached a Pelican 1040 case to the base for a battery case. I have ten 4000 mAh LiPo cells driving a bi-pin Osram 64663 HLX overdriven to 39.4 Vbulb and over 500 watts. This 36V bulb is rated at 16000 lumens and when re-rated to 39.4V the bulb lumens are about 21943. It is noticeably brighter and throws much better than the stunning 14000 lumen LarryK14. The total weight is 4.25 pounds and it has a calculated run time of almost 20 minutes.

Regards,
Mark

BVH said:

I know exactly what you mean Mark about progress pics. I wanted to do that when i built my VSS-1 tank light rig but just couldn't be bothered to stop working when I was on a roll.

OK, here's a little friendly competition for the next get-together. Mark and his Blitz mod vrs BVH and his 300 watt HID Locator. What do ya say? Following the 3 to 1 rule of thumb, the 300 watt HID should equal to a 900 Watt incandescent. The Locator has a less focused beam as compared to the VSS-3a so it may light up the area that the -3 didn't due to it's razor-sharp beam as was indicated in another post? It's reflector is only 4" or 5" so it will lose some ground there. It's a pretty bright little sucker but I didn't get to see Mark's Blitz so it should be fun to compare.

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That will be fun, but I'm sure the Locator will dominate. In your Locator thread, you posted this photo comparing your Locator to a LarryK14.



My Blitz is brighter than my LK14, but not to that extent. The Blitz has a tighter beam than my LK14, maybe about 2/3 of the size and round. That Locator is putting out a lot of light. I hope to be able to experience it in the near future.

Regards,
Mark

I only wish my Locator was as portable as your Blitz! IIRC, 28 lbs for the light and probably 28 lbs for the two, 18 AH SLA's I hope to get soon. Hmmm...I guess I could mod one of those strap-on baby carriers to hold the light in front and the SLA's in back. That way, I'd be balanced!

Mark,

You said something to me that did not register at the get together about the Ken 5 being made from a Blitz.
Did you essentially make a Ken 5 when you made your Blitz Mod?

I never got to see the Ken 5, but always wanted view it in action.
If the Ken 5 was the model you used for your Blitz mod then I was finally able to see it in use.

The amazing thing about BVH's 300 watt locator is the tiny reflector it uses.
It is really not much bigger then a barn burner reflector.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

The inspiration for my Blitz came from this thread by Queenslander.

I wanted it to be self contained and light, so I went with LiPos, my favorite battery chemistry. After a bit of searching and measuring the packs I already had, I went with the Pelican 1040 case. Using this case and LiPos was my solution for a self contained Blitz.

Since I now owned a Blitz, I was familiar with it's profile and coiled cord. I reread this post with a pic of the Ken5 and I knew that he used a Blitz. You can see part of the coiled cord which must have gone to batteries sitting on the ground. There is another pic of the Ken5 here. Notice how much brighter the spot is compared to the Ken4. I remember reading another post that speculated on the bulb used in the Ken5 and it was the same one that Queenslander used.

Kenshiro mentioned that the Ken5 prototype was underdriven in those pics. I'm speculating that 3 SLA batteries were used along with the lengthly, resistive, coiled cord. That is the setup that Queenslander used. This would result in a bit under 36 Vbulb. I have measured 39.4 Vbulb on mine. So my overdriven version is probably a little brighter than the Ken5 prototype.

Regards,
Mark

mtbkndad said:

Mark,

You said something to me that did not register at the get together about the Ken 5 being made from a Blitz.
Did you essentially make a Ken 5 when you made your Blitz Mod?

I never got to see the Ken 5, but always wanted view it in action.
If the Ken 5 was the model you used for your Blitz mod then I was finally able to see it in use.

The amazing thing about BVH's 300 watt locator is the tiny reflector it uses.
It is really not much bigger then a barn burner reflector.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

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Mark,

Thanks for the info. You did a great job with that light.
Now back to your little vintage lantern style light.
What did you use in that light and can you post a pic of it for everybody that was not at the get together to see?

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

Nice light.


I must have:laughing:

Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!:mecry::mecry:

I found this thread 4 days too late!
BVH or some one plese PM me next time if I dont reply in the get-together thread.

OK, will try to remember to PM you. Write yourself a timed email reminder for around late Feb to look here for any threads on a possible early March (before Daylight Saving Time) get together.

mtbkndad said:

Mark,

Thanks for the info. You did a great job with that light.
Now back to your little vintage lantern style light.
What did you use in that light and can you post a pic of it for everybody that was not at the get together to see?

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

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KeyGrip took a pic of my 1950s era Volkano sealed beam lantern. His pic is in this post and this is the picture he took.



My 14000 Lumen LarryK14 is behind it and the N30 belongs to mtbkndad.

The Flashlight Museum has one here.

The stock Volkano uses a PAR36 sealed beam bulb (GE 4546 4.7V .5A 2.35 watts) and a 6V lantern battery. I installed a GE 4596 PAR36 28V 250W aircraft landing light which is a direct swap. I used three 3S 2500 mAh LiPos wired in series with 14 AWG high strand count silicone jacketed wire using Deans Ultra connectors. This is popular R/C stuff that I already had. The stock switch has been handling the 9.5 amp draw fine so far with maybe a couple hundred actuations. The bulb is overdriven to about 325 watts according to my Astro Flight Super Whatt Meter. Calculated run time is over 15 minutes and it weighs 2 pounds 3.7 ounces. I like the vintage styling and the sleeper factor is quite high. I have amazed many non flashaholics with it and I'm happy to see that the flashaholics are impressed too. It's pretty pathetic compared to my Blitz though.

Regards,
Mark