LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Will be almost as bright as the 12,000 watt carbon arc, using a high efficiency HMI short arc 4,000 watt 380,000 lumen beam to WWII 60 inch's 425,000 lumen output.
I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time.
Sneak Preview:
This thing is "AWESOME" Had kind of shelved this light in favor of more efficient reflector designs. This set up allows for less light to be collected from bulb, but with a much longer focal length, the light travels further in a more parallel beam configuration. Beam had the effect of looking somewhat like a laser and was hard to tell from which direction it was coming from when beam aimed near horizon.
50 inch Searchlight MONSTER was shelved for a few years while I was waiting to secure a 4,000 watt HMI 385,000 lumen light source. It is a good substitute for the 60 inch WWII searchlights that need much loving care to keep going. This 50 inch MONSTER will help keep the big light legacy going well into the 21st century and beyond. The beautiful beam is a nice painting to a glorious night sky. Photo from a block away.
Photo taken behind MONSTER showing the beam traveling several miles.
Photo taken from a block away
Photos showing beam traveling overhead. Laser like look, hard to tell direction beam came from when aimed near horizon.
Photo from a block away. Beam paints a nice color in the night sky. Turquoise blue color looks nice.
Some of these composites were hard to align with the camera tripod. Software to straighten the photos was unavailable.
Photo from behind searchlight.
I'll get back to posting on this shortly.
Beam shot of half finished 50 inch Monster. Searchlight contains a 400 watt HID.
The Monster light beam, as seen from 250 feet away. Monster Searchlight, will be eventually outfitted with a 1000 watt HID medium arc length bulb., actually hop skipping directly to:
Will be almost as bright as the 12,000 watt carbon arc, using a high efficiency HMI short arc 4,000 watt 380,000 lumen beam to WWII 60 inch's 425,000 lumen output. I'm doing this conversion now and should have it ready, mostly cooling system and ignitor installation time.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
I've learned much during the building and operation of the searchlight I call the "LightSward". I am forever impressed with the performance of this homemade 24 inch reflector light.:thumbsup:
I am moving on to a new project that should rock the skies! I am in the midst of designing and constructing a 50 inch parabolic mirror (reflector) searchlight...for now called the "Monster"!:twothumbs It will utilize all that I learned from building previous lights.
I have conducted many experiments in recent weeks, and have developed a means of producing a superior reflector system. This searchlight will be designed around a standard 1000 watt HID lighting system, yet upgradable. I expect much more dramatic performance than with previous lighting equipment I've built (With more cash flow, I may upgrade to a short arc).:candle: I'm designing this light to be quickly disassembled, so that it can be easily transported, even with my small car!
I'm hoping the sales cost(s) of this will be around $600.oo for basic set-up and around $1,000.oo for a complete weatherized version, (this includes time). These are just prelims.
I will begin posting some design diagrams, tests results and production photos as I build this "Monster!" This is fun!
Stay tuned!
I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time.
Sneak Preview:
This thing is "AWESOME" Had kind of shelved this light in favor of more efficient reflector designs. This set up allows for less light to be collected from bulb, but with a much longer focal length, the light travels further in a more parallel beam configuration. Beam had the effect of looking somewhat like a laser and was hard to tell from which direction it was coming from when beam aimed near horizon.
50 inch Searchlight MONSTER was shelved for a few years while I was waiting to secure a 4,000 watt HMI 385,000 lumen light source. It is a good substitute for the 60 inch WWII searchlights that need much loving care to keep going. This 50 inch MONSTER will help keep the big light legacy going well into the 21st century and beyond. The beautiful beam is a nice painting to a glorious night sky. Photo from a block away.
Photo taken behind MONSTER showing the beam traveling several miles.
Photo taken from a block away
Photos showing beam traveling overhead. Laser like look, hard to tell direction beam came from when aimed near horizon.
Photo from a block away. Beam paints a nice color in the night sky. Turquoise blue color looks nice.
Some of these composites were hard to align with the camera tripod. Software to straighten the photos was unavailable.
Photo from behind searchlight.
I'll get back to posting on this shortly.
Beam shot of half finished 50 inch Monster. Searchlight contains a 400 watt HID.
The Monster light beam, as seen from 250 feet away. Monster Searchlight, will be eventually outfitted with a 1000 watt HID medium arc length bulb., actually hop skipping directly to:
Will be almost as bright as the 12,000 watt carbon arc, using a high efficiency HMI short arc 4,000 watt 380,000 lumen beam to WWII 60 inch's 425,000 lumen output. I'm doing this conversion now and should have it ready, mostly cooling system and ignitor installation time.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
I've learned much during the building and operation of the searchlight I call the "LightSward". I am forever impressed with the performance of this homemade 24 inch reflector light.:thumbsup:I am moving on to a new project that should rock the skies! I am in the midst of designing and constructing a 50 inch parabolic mirror (reflector) searchlight...for now called the "Monster"!:twothumbs It will utilize all that I learned from building previous lights.
I have conducted many experiments in recent weeks, and have developed a means of producing a superior reflector system. This searchlight will be designed around a standard 1000 watt HID lighting system, yet upgradable. I expect much more dramatic performance than with previous lighting equipment I've built (With more cash flow, I may upgrade to a short arc).:candle: I'm designing this light to be quickly disassembled, so that it can be easily transported, even with my small car!
I'm hoping the sales cost(s) of this will be around $600.oo for basic set-up and around $1,000.oo for a complete weatherized version, (this includes time). These are just prelims.
I will begin posting some design diagrams, tests results and production photos as I build this "Monster!"
This is fun!Stay tuned!
Last edited:
I'm always experimenting, but the "Chrome Brite" brand: Trim Brite :twothumbsproduct seems to be the best compromise; a mirror like surface, (I can shave, using it..see the whiskers at a couple feet distance) and it seems to reflect just about as much light as my bathroom mirror. I put several strips of various brands and reflective products on the bathroom mirror for comparison. 
