UKE HID lamp!

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Hmm, maybe 2x2x2? Yep, the battery arragement makes it look similar to one of those cheap 6V lantern battery lights, not a 6D Mag.

I don't have any rechargeables, but just got back from comparing it to the M6 with the high-power bulb. The M6 blows it away. Even with the low power bulb, it appears much brighter. Maybe the focus is tighter.

BTW, the beam quality is very good. The reflector kind of moves around when you tighten the bezel, but it's more like Surefire than Maglight.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it's rated to 500 ft.

Mark

 

[Brock]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I don't have any rechargeables, but just got back from comparing it to the M6 with the high-power bulb. The M6 blows it away. Even with the low power bulb, it appears much brighter<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh well I feel better not getting one then, since I have the M6.

Brock

 

[Alan]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mr Ted Bear:
Just spoke to the folks at UK.

Third, at present, there are no plans to offer a recharable version of this light BUT they indicated that the light will work with their ** C8R **recharable battery pack.... so, if you happen to own one of the other UK lights that uses the C8R battery, AND you have the charger (CAN NOT be bought seperately from UK, but battery packs can).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's good to hear that:-)

Why bother to get rechargeable from them? You could get your own a real good Smart charger (many already have one if they use chargeable all the time). Besides, you could get better rechargeable cells yourself. They use 2.8ah while you could get 3.0ah from Sanyo. By my experience, Sanyo has the best Nicad while Panasonic is strong on NiMH.

Alan

 

[Alan]

Chris, gel batteries is a bit too heavy for me. I have seen LiteBox from Streamlight which is very rugged and I really like it but its gel cells just turn me off:-(

Alan

 

[Alan]

I really wish they use sub-c instead of C. It will be much lighter, smaller with the same power capacity (both are rated 3ah).

However, it will be a lot cost efficient for UK to use the same case for both alkaline and rechargeable model. Besides, when your rechargeable runs out of juice, you could get alkaline C cell almost anywhere.

Alan

 

[Alan]

Mark, does its light whiter than M6?

I have a few UK lanterns with regular xenon bulb (9.6W and 18W) and they're pretty white and on par with Sure Fire (I don't have a M6 though). I guess this one should be a lot whiter even compare with M6.

Alan

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yes; compared side by side, it makes the Sure-Fire look positively yellow. It looks exactly like the HID car lights, very blue during warm-up, then white with a slight bluish tinge after about 20-30 sec. It makes all my white LED lights look purple.
The M6 is definitely brighter though (at least at close range). But the LC100 is a lot brighter than anything else I have, including the 9P (w/ P90) and Magcharger.

I took a pic with the UK and M6. Can somebody tell me how to post it?

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

OK, I've left it running for about 30 minutes now, and the lens is pretty hot. But the bezel is just a little warm and you can easily cover the light with your hand, as long as you don't touch the lens.

 

[Brock]

Marky, if you want you could attach the image to an e-mail and send it to me ([email protected]) I will stick it on my site. Then I will also post a link and the address here.

 

[Alan]

Originally posted by Marky:
Yes; compared side by side, it makes the Sure-Fire look positively yellow. It looks exactly like the HID car lights, very blue during warm-up, then white with a slight bluish tinge after about 20-30 sec. It makes all my white LED lights look purple.[/QUOTE

Thanks. Now, I'll be waiting for our local distributor to get it.

Alan

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
Marky, if you want you could attach the image to an e-mail and send it to me ([email protected]) I will stick it on my site. Then I will also post a link and the address here.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Brock, I'll do that as soon as I get home.

 

[Brock]

Ok, here are the images from Marky. Marky is the M6 using the 225 lumen lamp or the 500 lumen lamp in these shots?

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

500 lumen bulb for both shots. The beam in the second shot is oval because I had both lights tilted up towards the wall, about 3 feet away. I also underexposed the second shot.

By the way Brock, you're right that the UK beam isn't as blue in person as it looks in the images. It's actually a lot whiter and makes the M6 look real yellowish.

 

[hairydogs]

so it seems to me that the sf m6 is brighter than the uke. Am I wrong?

At least the more usable light, despite yellowish.

What about light shade in longer distance?

It would be great if there are side to side comparison with the sf 10x as well.

Thanks for the photo.

 

[Spidey82]

Y isn't SF into HID lamp??

 

[Chris M.]

Spidey, I think the main trouble SureFire would have with HID lamps is that they don`t light at full brightness straight away.
Most SureFire lights, from what I gather about them, are meant to be quickly "deployed" and give the brightest beam straight away, and for short bursts. A short arc HID lamp like the UK lamp takes between 20 and 40 seconds to reach full brightness (well to 95% or so anyway) depending on temperature and battery condition.
So ideally you don`t turn HIDs on and off quickly, but rather use them for more extended periods. Ideal for underwater exploration, caving, that kind of thing. Not so good in fast moving tactical situations where you want the full light NOW.

Nice idea though, and perhaps if they used a HID system more like the Xenon based lamps in cars that lihgt almost immediately, it could work. But those things cost a fortune- just ask anyone who owns a car with HID headlights, the ballast/inverter assemblies are large, and they eat a lot of power too (especially at the start-up) that could do in a set of expensive Duracell 123s all too quickly. I think they`re doing fine with those blinding incandescent xenon-halogen lamps of theirs.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

What exactly is HID anyway? I know the principle, but a practical discussion of the way it works would be appreciated.

Secondly, do I REALLY need a $175 hairdryer??

Walt

 

[Chris M.]

It`s such a new technology on this small scale, and HID lighting in general is specialised and expensive so up to now I`ve had very little experience with it and can`t fully explain how it works with any real confidence either. But I know a man who can and his name is Don Klipstein. I believe this is the right page, it features all kinds of gas discharge lamps but I`m sure metal halide lamps are in there somewhere....

<center> --> http://www.misty.com/people/don/dschlamp.html <-- </center>

There is also a secion on HID car headlights on that site too, which may be more relavent to these portable short-arc metal halide spotlamps.

 

[JoeyL]

This looks like a really neat lamp. If you try rechargeables in it, let us know if it performs the same. Being able to recharge it would make it more attractive.

By the way, Walts comment about if we really NEED one... that's way different than really wanting one...
"My name is Joey and I haven't bought or modified a flashlight for 27 days." Has there been a flashaholics anonymous forum started somewhere?

 

[Brock]

Another thing to keep in mind with a HID light is that it should be left off for at least 5 seconds bettween uses. Most recommend about a minute before "restarting" the lamp. So this also might be an issue with Surefire lights.

The M6 has the whitest beam of any light I own (besides LED's). So to say the M6 is yellow is not really true, if anything I would be willing to bet the LC100 HID is more on the purpleiish side, or similar to LED in color temp. Think of those used in car healights, they almost look blue/purple.