300 Yard target shooting spotlight?

[matt304]

I would like to use my 300 yard shooting range at night. I would like to sit a spotlight on my bench, and beam the target from next to me. I think the illumination would need to be fairly bright to see the target well through a 25X scope at nighttime. I have one of those 10 million candlepower halogen spotlights, and it is not nearly bright enough.

I can run an extension cord out to the bench, or I could use battery power. Although, I don't imagine battery power would suffice at these power levels.

Any suggestions of what to look at?

Thanks!

 

[BlueBeam22]

Yes, you need to get the Vector Power On Board HID Spotlight. I have one and it is amazing. It can light up trees nearly a mile away so 300 yards would be nothing for it. I have used mine to light up clouds, tops of sky scrapers, far away buildings, huge fields, etc.
It is rechargeable and unlike halogen spotlights it doesn't dim. It runs for over 1 hour at full brightness.
I have a 10 million candlepower halogen spotlight and it is nothing compared to the Power On Board HID... It doesn't have nearly as much throw and only looks about half as bright. The HID makes it look like a joke, there is no comparison.

The Power On Board HID has a laser like beam with a very bright hotspot, nice floody corona, and bright spill. It is a very nice blue/white color beam.

It is smaller and lighter weight than my huge 10 million candlepower spotlight, and sure does smoke it!

You can get the Power On Board HID on Ebay for under $50.

 

[matt304]

Is the hotspot bright enough to the point that a 3x3 foot target at that distance would appear as bright as it does in broad daylight?

Because, the high-magnification scope I use steals a lot of light. So if the illumination is not excellent, the scope image will be rather dim.

I did not expect something able to do the job to be under $50! I'm almost a little reluctant at that price, but if you say so...

 

[BlueBeam22]

Is the hotspot bright enough to the point that a 3x3 foot target at that distance would appear as bright as it does in broad daylight?

Because, the high-magnification scope I use steals a lot of light. So if the illumination is not excellent, the scope image will be rather dim.

I did not expect something able to do the job to be under $50! I'm almost a little reluctant at that price, but if you say so...

I just went outside to do a direct comparison between my 10 million candlepower halogen and my Power On Board HID. I shined them both at the neighbor's house across the street (who isn't home) and the HID really smoked the 10 million candlepower. At that distance (about 150 feet) the HID's hotspot was over 50% brighter than the 10 million candlepower's hotspot and when I shined them right in the same place the halogen spotlight's beam wasn't even visible because the HID was SO much brighter. I shined them at a building about 1000 feet away and the HID lit it up MUCH brighter than the halogen did and at that distance the HID's hotspot was still well defined and the halogen's hotspot was spread out and dim.

I am not sure if it will illuminate something 3X3 in the distance like broad daylight but the difference between it and a 10 million candlepower halogen spotlight is NIGHT & DAY.

Hope this helps!

 

[BlueBeam22]

Here is a website with a demonstrational video of the Power On Board HID where they are comparing it to a 10 million candlepower spotlight. This is exactly how they compared when I went outside a few minutes ago (except in the video the HID doesn't look nearly as bright as in person).

My Power On Board HID easily lights trees 1/2 a mile away that my 10 million candlepower struggles to reach at all.

EDIT: The video on the Cabela's website doesn't seem to be working now, sorry.

The great thing about the Power On Board HID is that its hotspot is laser like and stays small and extremely bright even on objects at great distances which makes it many times better than the 10 million candlepower which is very dim at those distances with no distinct hotspot.

 

[Flashanator]

Matt I know how you feel about the 10 Million Candle power searchlight. It fails bad.

For 3x3 @ 300yards no light could possible match the brightness of daylight.

Cheapest way for HID would be the mega illuminator (best thrower), but that realistically isn't "a huge" diff over the 10MCP, the old saying 2x brightness for a noticeable difference. But still the mega illum is superior to your 10mcp. Just not daylight.

Other high end option is to spend min $2500 on military maxabeam. Thats as best as it gets.

 

[BlueBeam22]

Here is where you can get the Mega Illuminator. It would have more throw than the Power On Board HID, and would also be a great choice!:thumbsup:

Either HID will completely blow away your 10 million candlepower spotlight.

 

[Patriot]

Matt304,

The POB will actually work quite well at 300 yards but the Illuminator will work even better and is almost ideal for the application. My family and I do a fair amount of long range shooting and the POB has worked out alright to 585 yards. The Illuminator has worked well out to as far as we shoot at night which is 735 yards. It just happens to be the distance to the stump where we hang the target frame. The frame is 4.5' tall by 3' wide and it's visible to the naked eye when illuminated at 585 yards. Through the scope it's very bright. Some of the scopes we use are 6.5-20 X 50mm Leupold, 6-24 X 50 Pentax, Springfield 4-14 X 56, and 6.5-20 X 40mm Leupold. I'm not sure what you're using but maybe one of those has similar optical geometry and light transmission characteristics. We can see .30 caliber holes on white target paper out to 240 yards with the Mega Illuminator and a good spotting scope. I was using a Leica77 APO, but my Uncle could usually see them with a 60mm Leupold spotter. I'm guessing they might even be visible a bit further but that's just where the target happened to be that night. Obviously the target and the amount of contrast is going to have a huge bearing on how well you can see your cross hairs. Most of my scopes have illuminated reticles but depending on the target you can see black cross hairs too.

Our typical target would be a black torso sillouette against vanilla paper, with 3" white painted, cardboard disks on the head and chest. The 3" white disk is very visible through the scope even at 735 yards. In any case, three or four hundred yards shouldn't be any problem at long as you have quality optics. Magnification is most important and actually, the "twilight factor" increase at higher magnification. Just what's needed when trying to make out tiny, dim objects at long range. That's to say that even though the exit pupil of lower 6x power scopes is larger, it can't compare to how much better the image is seen at 20-25x. Of course there is a point of diminishing return since 56mm objectives (in high quality optics) are usually as big as it gets in the rifle scope family.

Let us know what you end up getting.

 

[BlueBeam22]

I will state a few facts about the 2 HID spotlights being discussed here:

The Mega Illuminator will noticeably out throw the Power On Board HID and have a larger hotspot. The Mega Illuminator uses a 4200K HID bulb and the Power On Board uses a 6000K, which means the Mega Illuminator will have a yellowish white beam and the Power On Board will have a bluish white beam.

The Mega Illuminator puts out more light than the Power On Board as 4200K HID gives more lumens per watt than 6000K.

The Power On Board HID will be smaller and lighter weight than a 10 million candlepower spotlight, and the Mega Illuminator will be larger and quite a bit heavier than the 10 million.

I believe the Power On Board HID has a more floody beam than the Mega Illuminator, but still a super bright tight hotspot with amazing throw.:thumbsup:

 

[TheGreyEminence]

Can you say "Polarion Helios PH50"?

Regards...

 

[Flashanator]

I can't :mecry:

 

[BVH]

The Mega Illuminator is the best solution for his needs. It throws the furthest and since weight and size are not a problem, its bulk does not matter. It does not cost an arm and a leg. If I remember correctly, it will run off the cigarette lighter cord so a small, plug-in, 12 Volt battery charger capable of 3 or more amps would do the trick. Just plug it into the extension cord.

Great info, Patriot! Exactly the kind of info he was looking for!

 

[BIGIRON]

Just light the target. You don't need to light up 300 yds of air.

 

[Patriot]

Just light the target. You don't need to light up 300 yds of air.

Definitely an option if convenience allows. We have used Coleman propane lanterns placed next to the target before but some years the grass was too dry and you just didn't want that thing sitting out there with no way of getting to it quickly. The lantern has the advantage of being very bright and has a long run-time. The option would be to put a spotlight up close to the target but the problem was logistical because you would have to walk out to turn the light on and off when changing shooters or spotters, or when starting or stopping a shooting session. We found that the big throw HID provided the necessary illumination but also convenience during a 3-4 hour shooting evening, as they could be switched on and off at will.




On a side note, the PH50 definitely produces far more overall lumens but just can't match the throw of the 9" reflector in the Costco/Harborfreight/Mega Illuminator.

 

[BMF]

Is this light good enough for you? Definitely no spill at all.

 

[CM]

Just light the target. You don't need to light up 300 yds of air.

Precisely what I was thinking. You can even rig up something remotely and just use an LED with a semi-flood type of beam. A lot more efficient than wasting power trying to overcome the inverse square effect.

 

[matt304]

Thanks a lot everyone on the input. And it really helps hearing a little more recommendation from another shooter.

I am going to go with the Mega Illuminator, as recommended.

The reason I don't light the target up close is because there is no way I can run enough cord down to the target. I could run it off the batteries, but sometimes I am out there for a few hours shooting. The bench is somewhat near the house, and my ranges extend down into a valley. I have 300 and 500 yard ranges. I will have to try the longer range as well.

I wish I could afford one of those military beams that can light up a car from 3 miles away, but unfortunately, I cannot.

 

[BlueBeam22]

Thanks a lot everyone on the input. And it really helps hearing a little more recommendation from another shooter.

I am going to go with the Mega Illuminator, as recommended.

The reason I don't light the target up close is because there is no way I can run enough cord down to the target. I could run it off the batteries, but sometimes I am out there for a few hours shooting. The bench is somewhat near the house, and my ranges extend down into a valley. I have 300 and 500 yard ranges. I will have to try the longer range as well.

I wish I could afford one of those military beams that can light up a car from 3 miles away, but unfortunately, I cannot.

You have made a great choice getting the Mega Illuminator. Please let us know how you like it!:thumbsup:

 

[SafetyBob]

How would the N30 compare to the Mega Illuminator since they are both 35 watt HID's?

Just wondering.

Bob E.

 

[BlueBeam22]

How would the N30 compare to the Mega Illuminator since they are both 35 watt HID's?

Just wondering.

Bob E.

The N30 is a 35 watt HID driven at 30 watts, so it would put out around 500 lumens less than the Mega Illuminator. The N30 has a small 4'' reflector and Mega Illuminator has a giant 9'' reflector, so the Mega Illuminator would out throw the N30 by an enormous margin. The Mega Illuminator would have more of a laser like pencil beam and the N30 would be more floody.