Polarion Night Reaper (CSWL)

[Ken J. Good]

Be glad to entertain the idea of doing a limited time CPF group buy on the Night Reaper if there is interest and it's Okay to do that on this forum.
Don't want to get blasted for running a fire sale here.

On a technical note, the internal electronics on the Night Reaper has gone and is going through changes to ensure the highest reliability we can given the application.

Some of the internal physical changes you will note:

The connection terminals between the battery and the electronics package are now vertical/spring loaded "towers" as opposed to leaf springs.

The battery sits against a internal shelf so that it can not apply any significant force against these towers when the light in used in a heavy weapon application. Not good to have a battery (1 lb. piston) moving back and forth against your electronics!

The entire electronics and platform the lamp sits on is now milled out of a solid piece of aluminum and press fit together. Then that whole assembly is press-fit into the searchlight. Gone are the relatively weak plastic molded parts and adjustments screws to center/focus the lamp.

The now tighter tolerances make for a no need to adjust lamp replacement process. We also eliminated the difficult to exchange lamp retention clips.
Now it's just a simple clamp that slides over the lamp assembly. 2 screws and you are done. The lamp will be perfectly centered and in in focus.

We will eliminate the 2 access plates that cover the toggle switches fairly soon. This will prevent the possibility of any water intrusion through that area and eliminate parts.

I suspect the what appears to be a better beam signature might be attributed to this now near perfect focus system. A few thousand's of an inch makes a difference.

Some of the changes incorporated into the Night Reaper are going to find their way into Polarion's handheld searchlight line.

It's akin to running a race car team. Good stuff is revealed when you are trying to push it so to speak.

Although the light outwardly appears to be the same from it's initial inception. It's not. Based on fairly extensive testing at this point, we have made a myriad of changes from front to back.

We went through a brutal round of testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground for the US Army and did fairly well to say the least. These things were soaked in water and salt-water, dropped on concrete, subjected to a wide range of temperatures and temperature shock scenarios, EMI signature determined etc. etc. A few things did show up, but virtually every one of those we were aware of prior to submission of our samples. We just did not have time to implement those changes prior to the test samples submission dates.

Everyone of those issues have been addressed in our latest production units.

We are now submitting units for testing for the SpecOps community.
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportu...6b75a9602&tab=core&_cview=1CSFS&cck=1&au=&ck=

After meeting the program managers a couple of weeks ago, we are fairly optimistic that would should have Polarion's in the hands of that community fairly soon.

We are also in process of retrofitting quite a few US Military Vehicles with Night Reaper variants as well as in the hunt for some fairly substantial foreign opportunities.

2010 will be a wild ride for Polarion-USA, but I am having fun to say the least!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[Lips]

Be glad to entertain the idea of doing a limited time CPF group buy on the Night Reaper if their is interest and it's Okay to do that on this forum.

That sounds like a Dichotomy in you philosophy...!




.

 

[BVH]

Ken, I'd possibly be interested in a group buy. There's a section over on the Marketplace for "Group Buys and Passarounds". I don't know if you would have to register as a manufacturer to be able to do it or not?

Would the light you offer in a possible group buy be a version that incorporates the improvements you describe in your post above?

EDIT: I just read this over at MP so it doesn't look like you need to be a registered dealer to hold one:

A "Group Buy" (GB) is a sale conducted by a member who is selling a product to a group of buyers. The participants are leveraging their buying power/numbers to obtain said items.
• A GB should offer some advantage to the group such as a special price or an item that's not normally available to an individual or merely a handful of individuals (a certain number of participants are typically required to get the item or applicable price breaks). It is NOT another opportunity for dealers to offer their wares. Supporting dealer's may offer any discount they wish in the Dealer's Corner.
• Typically a GB is offered for a limited amount of time or to a limited number of individuals and then closed.
• The GB coordinator posts their offer with description of the item, cost, time frame, number or participants, and other applicable information.
• Participants typically post their interest in the thread and/or contact the seller via other methods.
• A list of participants is maintained in a single post by the GB coordinator or other designated individual. This keeps the "post clutter" limited & cleaned up throughout the thread.
• Pre-pays on a GB are up to the coordinator and participants to work out. The administration and owner of CandlePowerForums and CPFMarketPlace will not prohibit pre-sales but also will not be responsible for or get involved in any issues that may result.
• Questions regarding these policies can be addressed in the Issues & Inquiries forum.

 

[CajunJosh]

I would also more than likely be interested in a group buy although I need to sell my PH50 first.

*Edit - I just realized the system configured with a battery and power cable is over $5000

 

[Patriot]

You're frightening me again Lux...

 

[Mr Brandy]

Nice "flashlight" (?)
But I wonder if the DIN connector isn't missing its protective cap?

What I'm used from the military is that all connectors have a cap protecting the terminals from corrosion and dirt.
It's one thing if the light is going to be permanent installed, but I doubt that in this case.


What a pitty that Sweden is such a dark country without nice HIDs in the stores.

 

[Patriot]

Nice "flashlight" (?)
But I wonder if the DIN connector isn't missing its protective cap?

What I'm used from the military is that all connectors have a cap protecting the terminals from corrosion and dirt.
It's one thing if the light is going to be permanent installed, but I doubt that in this case.


What a pitty that Sweden is such a dark country without nice HIDs in the stores.

:welcome:


Hi Mr Brandy,

I suspect that it doesn't have one because the CSWL spends most of its time connected to external power and the battery is only used for emergency mobility power. The current design doesn't even charge the battery from the DIN so it's truly meant to be used just for back up.

If you were going to go through the trouble of having a cap you'd want to have it captive to the light but at the same time you don't want it dangling from a wire, banging against the light or filling up with dust and mud as the open end is exposed to the elements. For emergency dismounting purposes, soldiers probably don't have the time or calm wherewithal to think about removing a stored protective cap and installing it over the port. If it get's dirty, they're just blow it out in order to remount it to the crew served weapon. Additionally, when mounted the plug faces downward so any debris would probably fall out on its own.

It would make a nice accessory but I don't know how a cap could be carried around with the light all the time without making a dummy mirror port just in order to hold it. As a civilian, I'll probably just stop by the hardware store and get a plastic plug that fits over it.

 

[Mr Brandy]

Yes, you are right Patriot.
I forgot that the guns and accesories aren't dismantled every day for storage, as that is what I'm used to with my "week-end-runs".
(As it is now days. Was different in the Airforce where even the protective cap had its own dust bag when it was not in use (airplane service))


To return to the subject.
It is intressting to see a flashlight with dual input modes, batteries or extrenal source via cable.
And I suppose that it is possible for civilian to make/buy an cable to run it from the car for an example?


Reading this forum isn't any good.
I just makes me want to have!
I'll keep on reading for a while, I might come back with some questions in an appropirate thread.

 

[DM51]

Reading this forum isn't any good.
I just makes me want to have!
I'll keep on reading for a while

LOL! Welcome to CPF, Mr Brandy!

I can already tell you are doomed, just like the rest of us...

 

[vee73]

Night Reaper is here in Finland. Oh, boy! What I would say .. First, the appearance is impressive. The light is really bright. I have the PH 40 and PH50. Still, I say that this is bright! I was just a light in my hand, and now I will take a few photos, and over the power. I give the lamp to cool that I get measured at the same time how quickly it comes on.
Now, I must say that I can not thank enough Ken J. Good. Thank you! ..
I will return to this when I read the more light the lamp.

Edit:

 

[Bronco]

Wow! This Night Raper, er um Reaper, looks like quite the impressive piece of gear. Come on lotto numbers.

 

[Patriot]

Congrats Vesa! I'm very excited that you received your light and have already posted an output graph. Very cool!

Now that Vee73 has received his light I figure it's a good time to mention my thanks and appreciation to Ken Good. I told you that there was a special story behind how I acquired the Polarion CSWL but the story is actually pretty short. Ken PM'd me one day last week and thanked me for my enthusiasm for his products and offered to send me a "like new" Night Reaper, no strings attached!!! Rather than try to recapture my emotion, I'll just post my own PM responses with personal information removed.


"Ken, I'm flabbergasted by your incredible offer! You literally just took the breath out of my lungs and I'm sitting here with my jaw open. I'm so stunned with excitement that I'm not even sure what to say yet except a huge THANK YOU...and yes, I gratefully accept Ken.

I've never received a physical gift of this magnitude my entire life, never mind for Christmas...lol.

Thank you very much once again Ken, I'm so charged up right now I think I'll go sprint around the house with my PH50...haha. I've been down with the flu most of the week so this is a huge uplift to my moral and renews my strength greatly. I'm now excited to handle, review, take beamshots, and just to show this thing to people, including the guys at Dillon Aero and Scottsdale Gun Club.

THANKS KEN!

Paul :twothumbs:thumbsup:"


This is my PM to Ken after the light arrived......


"...and now I've been blessed once again!

The light arrived about an hour ago and I've just been stumbling around here in stunned amazement ever since. I did manage to settle down enough in order to run a few tests though. The NR has a slightly smaller and tighter hotspot than my PH50. Fully warmed and stabilized, after its initial start-up boost, it's outputting 9% more light than my PH50!!! That's about 450-500 lumens. Amazing! I suppose that has something to due with the additional heat sinking, special temperature control circuit and how high it allows the wattage to go. This is one meaty piece of serious hardware and you built and designed it piece by piece Ken. I'm honored to own it at the hands of your generosity.

I started taking measurements and drawing up a handle design for it which I plan of finishing tonight. I'm going to send the specs off to the machinist in the morning and get some of his feed back. The straight tube body should allow for a robust KISS design though. Ultimately he'll want to have the light in person so I'll have to drive out of town to see him. Additionally, I thought I'd have him machine a knurled collar to fit over the 5 pin external power port. Either that or acquire the proper connector and have it modified with a closed end to protect the pins while keeping dirt out. Yeah, I'm pumped and the creative juices are flowing...lol.

As a long time fan, I was also very surprised and happy to get a copy of your low-light strategies manual. I've seen part's of it in PDF form before but all of the illustrations are new to me. Very cool stuff.

I don't have the words to thank you for this and honestly it hasn't all completely sunk in yet. The more I carry it around like a baby the more it will seem real I suppose. I'm too happy for words even though I've rambled on pretty freely thus far.

Thank you again Ken.

Paul"

 

[karlthev]

Kudos to Ken for such a generous gift to such a worthy recipient! Enjoy Paul!! Well deserved!


Karl

 

[Patriot]

Thanks Karl, but instead of "deserved" I would argue to say that it was "graciously received" instead.

 

[Patriot]

For this post I'll be performing a video series of varios HID warm up times and relative output levels. A graph would probably tell the story just as well, if not better, but in many ways the video process saves me some time. I'll save the Night Reaper for last.


Jil Lite EZNite 10W HID
28 lux stabilized at 1:15
45 lux peak at 14 sec


AE Light PL24/S 24W HID
100 lux stabilized at 1:00
101 lux peak


Wolf Eyes Boxer 24W HID
151 lux stabilized at 1:35
152 lux peak


Microfire Warrior K3500 35W HID
305 lux stabilized at 1:30
310 lux peak


Costco / Harbor Freight 35W HID
296 lux stabilized at 1:10
419 lux peak at 35 sec.


ower on Board 35W HID
326 lux stabilized at 1:35
333 lux peak at 2:00


Polarion PH50 Helios 50W HID
650 lux stabilized at 50 sec.
1000 lux peak at 9 sec.


Polarion Night Reaper (CSWL) 50+W HID
740 lux stabilized at 1:00
1134 lux peak at 11 sec.

 

[BVH]

Paul, great stuff! You mentioned a "boost of Voltage" in the Costco video. Just something of interest I noticed in a test with one of Lips 50 watt slim Ebay ballasts. When lighting his 100 Watt bulb, and about 1 second into warm-up (so the 23 KV starting cycle is completely over) there is actually an Amperage boost as opposed to a Voltage boost. Voltage at the bulb at the one second mark is a low 23V but the Amps are around 7 (154 Watts). Over the next 30 seconds, Amps falls very quickly and Voltage increases quickly finally settling on 85 Volts and about .63 Amps for 53.x Watts.

 

[Patriot]

Thanks Bob. That's a great point about the bulb voltage and I'll probably have to go annotate that video to the proper terminology and state increased amperage instead. I think I learned through one of your threads, possibly the 84W Blitz thread, that the voltage spike only lasted for milliseconds followed by a steep voltage drop coinciding with increased amps. Thank you for the reminder.

 

[BVH]

Paul, I was not saying that you got it wrong in your videos. This is just the results of one particular brand of ballast that happens to boost Amperage. There are probably dozens of ways to use a combination of Voltage and Amperage boost circuits depending on what the manufacturer wants to accomplish. I wouldn't change anything you did.

And another thing.....why haven't you added your NR to your rotating Avatar?

 

[Patriot]

Paul, I was not saying that you got it wrong in your videos. This is just the results of one particular brand of ballast that happens to boost Amperage. There are probably dozens of ways to use a combination of Voltage and Amperage boost circuits depending on what the manufacturer wants to accomplish. I wouldn't change anything you did.

And another thing.....why haven't you added your NR to your rotating Avatar?

Oh ok, no prob either way Bob. That was interesting about that particular ballast and amperage boost. But generally speaking I think you're right on the money when it comes to voltage. The highest voltage (kV) is only for milliseconds. I see what you're saying though that higher voltage may remain so it could be coincidentally true when when I made the comment about "voltage boost." But thanks because I handn't thought about it in depth until you mentioned it. I also appreciate the brain exercise. It's so easy to miss something on video or to misstate something that I really am thankful for any help. I'll leave the video "as is" upon your recommendation. :thumbsup:

If I wasn't so busy with NR data and now the new Maratac AA, I would have changed my signature already...lol. I have to size each one of those little pictures and then stack 'em all into a gif. so it may be a few days yet.

 

[Patriot]

CSWL and PH50 now added to post #79