300 Watt HID. The "Locator" - Blackhawk Targeting Light

BVH

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350 Watt HID. The "Locator" - Blackhawk Targeting Light

I found this gem recently and just received it this morning. Pics are from before it's been cleaned. I don't remember seeing this light on CPF before but i only go back to Sept of 04.

It's a "Locator" made by Optical Radiation Corporation. They're still around, sort of, and make different products now. I think the vintage is somewhere around the mid 70's. I'm told it was/is used on Blackhawk military helicopters as a targeting light. It measures 19" tall and is about 9" at its max diameter. The reflector measures about 5.5" and is Rhodium plated. It weighs 21 pounds according to my bathroom scale. It looks "military" in all respects, very well made.

It's of aluminum construction and the dome is glass. It works off of 28 Volts and the label says it consumes 20 Amps. The person that sold it to me said he had it operating off of 14 amps @26.5 Volts. and that's how I'm powering it.

I fired it up and ran it for about 2 minutes just to verify that it lights and moves in both axis. It appears to me as though it's somewhere between 5000K and 5500K in color temp. It appears to have a warm up time similar to the BB, 15 - 20 seconds. Tonight will be loads of fun playing with it. Looks like I'll be soldering some more Amphenol connectors!

The 300 Watt lamp in it now is an original special military version similar to the now obsolete GE Marc EZS. Replacement lamps EZS are available but require an adapter to be made to accommodate the different lamp end configuration. However, the replacement lamps are 3500K in color, not the original 5000K. The seller is sending me a CAD drawing of the adapters he has made in the past so it should not be a problem getting them made. The cooling fan comes on after about 1 minute. There are no vent holes so it just moves the air around in the chamber.

The seller, who seemed very knowledgeable, said he can see the beam from a little over a mile away. Not sure how far it throws its spot.

What am I going to do with it? Heck if I know! I just have to have these wonderful HID's to satisfy my insatiable desire for them. I'll post some beam shots tonight. Is it night time yet!!!!!

Locatortaglarge.jpg


Frontassembledlookingdown.jpg


ComparisonBBMagelevated.jpg


ComparisonBBmag.jpg


Fronttop.jpg


Rightcloseoftopelevation.jpg


Fullrightprofile.jpg


Pangearlighter.jpg


Fan.jpg


Lamp.jpg


Rearyolk.jpg


Rearquarter.jpg
 
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Eric242

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Wow, very nice! Looking forward for some beamshots ;) How is the light moving without the helicopter controling it? Just by hand putting it into the direction you want it to or is there still the possibility to use the engines?

Eric
 

BVH

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Temporarily, I'm going to use 2 sets of 3-position, spring loaded (up - neutral - down) (left - neutral - right) toggle switches. One switch will be able to move the light both up and down and the other switch will move it left and right. There are built in limit switches so there are no concerns about it going to far in any direction. A third rocker switch will turn it on and off. In the future, I will buy a joystick controller so I can move it in 3D so to speak - both axis's at one time.

Everything works. I just need to figure out how I want the finished product to look.
 

java_man

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Sweeet !

That reflector looks nearly perfect, you can't beat the quality of good ol mil-spec hardware

Does it look like it has adjustable beam width also ?

Looking forward to seeing some action shots from that !
 

BVH

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No beam adjustment on her. Found some Amphenol fittings out at a junk electronics store. Kind of like an automotive boneyard but for aerospace surplus. There sure is a lot of really neat stuff in there. I'd bet they have just about every Amphenol fitting there is....The only problem is finding them. Boxes and boxes af marked, non-marked, mis marked etc.

I got a matching 9-pin female size 24 for $5.00. I'm sure that Allied would get $30.00 for it. I'll bet I could find the VSS-1 and -3 fittings there and they'd be $10.00 each instead of $65.00 at Allied. Just about got the mating plug wired and switches attached. Gonna have fun tonight.
 

mtbkndad

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I jut got back from BVH's house and this little light looks great.
I can't wait to see beam shots. On of my first thoughts was this would be great as a hand held and BVH said he had thought of the same thing.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 

matrixshaman

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Awesome find! :popcorn: on those beam shots - oops it's probably still not quite totally dark yet in CA. Can you tells us what you are using for a power supply?
 

BVH

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I have three choices for power. The 4 group 31 AGM batteries that power my VSS-1, The 2 group 31 AGM batteries that supply my VSS-3 or the 24 Volt Iota inverter/smart battery charger that is capable of 40 Amps off of a 120 Volt circuit. Beam shots in about an hour or so. But with that less than perfect camera limiting me to 1 second shots. Mtbkndad turned me onto a better Canon that will give me full manual control and still give me a 12x's optical zoom. As soon as I get that, I'll redo all the beam shots here and on the VSS-1/VSS-3 shootout.
 

BVH

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This is a bright little pod light! I would describe the beam style as similar to my Helios - It very slightly favors a flood style and its transition/cone is extremely smooth versus having a very bright center spot and a noticeably dimmer corona. The VSS-3 is definitely a more collimated beam. To my eye, the Locator beam appears to extend out the same distance as the VSS-3. In the next couple of weeks when I have a new camera, I will take these lights to a better spot where I can actually place the spots on a target over a mile away - or attempt to. I'm extremely pleased with my POD light. For a little fan, it is fairly loud and the casing just below the lens got somewhat hot after about 25 minutes of running. It probably relies on forward motion of the helicopter to help keep it cool. I can't run that fast.

VSS3Locoofocus.jpg

Locator on the left and VSS-3a on the right.

LocVSS3both.jpg

Locator is the lower beam.

VSS3Loc.jpg

Locator is the lower beam.

LocVSS3-1.jpg

Locator beam on the right.

Loclightinpic.jpg

Locator in action.

BBLocbeams.jpg

Locator is the lower beam. Look closely above for the Barn Burner beam.

BBonwall.jpg

Barn burner spot on the house.


BBonhouse.jpg

Locator spot on the house.
 

mtbkndad

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Mtbkndad turned me onto a better Canon that will give me full manual control and still give me a 12x's optical zoom. As soon as I get that, I'll redo all the beam shots here and on the VSS-1/VSS-3 shootout.


:eek: What was I thinking? Now you will have no need for me to hang around anymore :hairpull: . Oh well, at least you may need help moving all of those monster lights around. :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: .

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 

BVH

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Wrong! I'll still need directions on how to operate the complicated camera! No matter how much I try, nor how much of a gadget nut I am, I can't get into cameras and therefore will not remember from time to time, how to set the settings.
 

mtbkndad

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Wow, when you consider the reflector of the 300 watt light is only around 5 and no more then 6 inches in diameter that is simply amazing.

You really scored with this one! :thumbsup: .

By the way, you are doing a great job working within the parameters that your camera will allow. :thumbsup: .

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 

FlashInThePan

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Nice work!

Wow. My favorite shot is the comparison between the barn burner and the locator. I can just barely make out the beam of the barn burner struggling to make itself visible above the locator.

Wow, that locator must be bright. =)

- FITP
 

BVH

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Has anyone found a chemical that will remove calcium deposits from glass without damaging it? The glass dome has what I believe to be calcium deposits on it from water droplets or some other residue. I used a razor and glass cleaner for about two hours yesterday and thought I did a good job - until I turned the light on. A lot of them are still present.
 

rdh226

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Has anyone found a chemical that will remove calcium deposits from glass without damaging it? The glass dome has what I believe to be calcium deposits on it from water droplets or some other residue. I used a razor and glass cleaner for about two hours yesterday and thought I did a good job - until I turned the light on. A lot of them are still present.
Aiyee! NONONO razor! You'll scratch the glass.

Try "LimeAway" in the kitchen/bathroom section of your local supermarket.

As I recall, vinegar also works.

-RDH

P.S. Where do you find such toys? Mind if I ask how much it set you back?
 

BB

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One of the links that I followed from the Tank Light threads:

Carbon Arc Tips:
Glass Cleaner: To remove the chemical etching off the glass you can use the Janvil Glass Restore system.

One operator reported that he had streaking on the inside his glass.... almost like water channels. It could have been from when the mirror was acid washed years ago, and that there was splash over onto the glass. It would not come off with any household chemicals. I bought the product and used it as directed. The stuff worked wonderfully. Using only the "glass renew" 90% of the staining/etching was removed. The tough spots and I used the scratch remover and then the glass renew and that took off the tough stuff. It looks 100% better.

It is definitely easier doing it with the glass out and seems to do a better job. Took me about an hour to do the whole lamp. Used about 1/3 of the bottle of the "Glass Renew". I highly recommend it.
Get it here.....

http://www.janvil.com/glass_restoration.htm

Don't know anything about it myself...

Neat "lights"...

-Bill
 

JetskiMark

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Hello BVH,

Congratulations on another great light. How does your LarryK14 compare to it? I would like to see some beam shots from that added to the comparison when you have the time.

I see someone posted a "Locator" want ad on eBay yesterday. I wonder where they got that idea from?

Regards,
Mark
 
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