So I stopped at Pichaccio Peak on the way from Tucson and pointed my L35 at the top of the peak. The beam did not illuminate the peak from where I was standing. So I just google earthed it and it appears the distance was about 1800 meters. Are there any portable or cigarette plug in HID's that will have a visible beam spot on an object from this far??
1800 plus meter HID
- Thread starter SwatDude
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StarHalo
Flashaholic
That's over a mile, only a laser could cover that kind of distance.
BVH
Flashaholic
A Maxabeam will do that but at a very high cost. Lots of threads on the Maxabeam here. Fun reading.
bullettproof
Enlightened
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- Feb 23, 2009
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I read somewhere 6.2km a HID was thrown it might be maxabeam:wave:
I searched some threads on the Maxabeam and it seems that it would hit 1500m or more. It seemed to me it was mostly due to the extremely tight focus of the beam. Do you think it would be possible to mod a Blitz with an HID and a tight focus and get the same performance for a lot less money??
That is CPF member's Thor conversion to Short-arc which was dubbed the Maxablaster. Think, Maxa-beam on steroids.
Regarding the 1800 yard/meter question, a mile plus would be quite the stretch for any production HID. A lot would depend upon atmospheric conditions but a good throwing light like the Mega Illuminator or Streamlight Litebox is going to put a good amount of photons up there regardless. Whether or not there's enough light hitting the peak's surface to reflect all the way back to your eyes or not is the unknown factor.
The Maxabeam is short-arc technology that operates at higher wattage but less lumens. The surface brightness and tiny size of the arc (about 1 spherical mm) combined with electroformed reflector allows it to throw a 1 degree beam very far and 1800 meters or 1968 yards is within it's reach. A minimum lux value would have to be determined to decide what constituted the target being reached or as the OP put it, "have a visible beam spot." A camera with telephoto lens can see the Maxabeam's spot at 2500 yards so on a clear night with low particulates I think a visible spot at 1800 meters is very possible, especially since it's relatively free of light pollution down there.
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Thanks for the input. I don't know that I will be scraping up $1700 anytime soon for a light but the Maxabeam does seem very impressive. I like the fact it has a motorized focus but is there anything that can be built in the $400 to $500 range that would get close to its performance??
BVH
Flashaholic
If I remember correctly, an off-brand (read cheaper) bulb for the Maxabeam is near $400 or more just by itself. I don't think there's a way to build anything that will come to close to the Maxabeam for $400 to $500.
StarHalo
Flashaholic
~$500 could buy you a pocket laser that could hit upper-atmospheric clouds..
I think the closest you'll come to your 1800 meter mark for under $500 for would be to purchase a Mega Illuminator and then convert to a 50W ballast and bulb. This wouldn't cost much and properly tuned would throw better than nearly any production HID light.
As StarHalo mentioned, if you just want to project light a long way, a 15mW green laser can throw 2000 yards and they're super cheap. $500 can get you a used 532nM, 300mW RPL with a impact dot than can be seen for miles. The dot from my smaller 135mW can be seen 2-3 miles with the naken eye and futher with binoculars.
picture added:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t98/Patriot222/green laser/DEFTReview2013.jpg
As StarHalo mentioned, if you just want to project light a long way, a 15mW green laser can throw 2000 yards and they're super cheap. $500 can get you a used 532nM, 300mW RPL with a impact dot than can be seen for miles. The dot from my smaller 135mW can be seen 2-3 miles with the naken eye and futher with binoculars.
picture added:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t98/Patriot222/green laser/DEFTReview2013.jpg
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A laser wasn't really what I was looking for and don't ask me why I want a light that powerful. I guess the L35 just gave me the bug and I want brighter and more throw. Does anyone know why they stopped making the 75 watt XeRay?? Would this light have kept up with the Maxabeam?
BVH
Flashaholic
The barn burner was a one-time, special deal to CPF members, never to the general public. The mfg'r was concerned with this much power and heat in the hands of the general public. Possible liability issues? I don't know.
But the BB and the MB are two, very different animals. The BB provides massive Lumens and light output in a semi-tight beam. It does very well in the flood scenario but also does great in throw due to shear Lumens output. But it uses a somewhat standard design HID bulb as opposed to a short-arc HID bulb that the MB uses. The light source of the short arc bulb is very, very small. The smaller the light source size, the more laser-like it can be focused. Also, the surface brightness of the short arc bulb is much higher than standard HID bulbs. These two characteristics allow for a very fine focus. But you don't get many Lumens relatively speaking, from a short arc bulb. The MB, in my opinion, is not a very close-use light. It's a great long distance signaling light.
But the BB and the MB are two, very different animals. The BB provides massive Lumens and light output in a semi-tight beam. It does very well in the flood scenario but also does great in throw due to shear Lumens output. But it uses a somewhat standard design HID bulb as opposed to a short-arc HID bulb that the MB uses. The light source of the short arc bulb is very, very small. The smaller the light source size, the more laser-like it can be focused. Also, the surface brightness of the short arc bulb is much higher than standard HID bulbs. These two characteristics allow for a very fine focus. But you don't get many Lumens relatively speaking, from a short arc bulb. The MB, in my opinion, is not a very close-use light. It's a great long distance signaling light.
The Costco and updated Titanium Mega throw as well or slightly better than the Barn Burner. Same thing for the Streamlight Litebox. Yes, fewer lumens than the BB, 8500 vs. 3200 but more throw due to much larger reflectors.
Are the Costco lights still available?? I did a search but couldn't locate them. How much is a bulb and ballast mod on the Mega Illuminator??
http://www.batteryjunction.com/mega-illuminator.html
I believe the 55W kits are around $50-75 bucks on ebay.
M@elstrom
Flashlight Enthusiast
Yeah but that's $50-75 USD to upgrade an existing HID light, far cheaper to start with a halogen host and shim/tweak away! 
Yeah but that's $50-75 USD to upgrade an existing HID light, far cheaper to start with a halogen host and shim/tweak away!
The advantage is the shape of the reflector. It doesn't have that large flat area behind the bulb like the Cyclops and Thor. Perhaps one of the other incans would work though.
AlexGT
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have a sunforce spotlight and the reflector is deeper than the Thor by a good margin, it throws better too! and not too big.
Pic, Thor on the left and solarforce on the right, notice the flat part to the side of the HID bulb, its smaller on the sunforce.
Pic, Thor on the left and solarforce on the right, notice the flat part to the side of the HID bulb, its smaller on the sunforce.
That would probably make a great host. Probably more importantly is the quality of the reflector surface. Look how much more crisp the reflected highlights are in the sunforce vs. the thor. That would account for a lot of performance in an HID conversion.
