Another "Pair of 5's" - ORC 500 Watt 14" Reflector Gunfire Simulator Short Arc Lights
I just drew a second "Pair of 5's" but I don't have Four-of-a-Kind. Having found the second Starburst using a Google search I hadn't used before, I decided to try a few more new searches and I hit paydirt and they were only 350 miles away round-trip. I was delighted to go pick up more Optical Radiation Corporation Short Arc lights to provide big brothers for the Locators. These are titled "X-500-14 Gunfire Simulators". They are Very Large 500 Watt Short Arcs with large 14" reflectors. They are larger than the 1600 Watt NightSun. I noticed right away these don't have the normal 2 or 3-leg front lamp support spider due to a unique center hub mounting arrangement. There is a fast reacting shutter that covers the lamp similar to the VSS-3A but it's not I.R. and it covers and uncovers very quickly. I'm guessing a very quick burst of light via a quick uncovering and recovering of the lamp is supposed to simulate a cannon shot from the helicopter or tank that these, I'm told, were used on.
On the back of the light is a local control panel with Master switch, Ignition switch & a switch for Light ON (which is the shield) Standby (lamp covered) and Remote Trigger. This leads me to think that all the components needed to ignite and run the light are located inside the shell of the light. To verify, I pulled the back cover off of one light to look at the internals. It looks to me as though it is a complete system. All the ignition components are there along with the 2nd Orange looking box which is tagged as a "Power Supply". The ballast resistor, main and ignition solenoids, main power diode, small transformer and main Capacitor are there as well. These are pretty much all the main components that are present in two different components on both my 1600 and 500 Watt NightSuns. I traced the input power wires from the main power input connector and they pretty much mirror the path that I see in my NightSun, start to finish. This further gives me confidence that everything needed to run these is contained in the case. Now for the big unknown. You can see that there are quite a few small signal input pins in the main power connector. Obviously, some type of power receiving and signal distribution box was located ahead of the light. So will it work if I simply provide 28 Volt power to the 2 main power pins? Or is it similar to the VSS-3A and its' need for the Control Box? It would seem strange to me to put these switches to operate the light on the back panel if it was not meant to be autonomously operated from that position. The VSS-3A has no such operation panel on the light body. And of course one of the other small connectors on the top box had to be connected to a remote control box that was used by the pilot/gunner.
After cleaning all the internals and wiring so they all look nice and shiny, I removed the lamp to ensure it looked operational and so I could clean it. These lights have been sitting for about 20 years. They are circa early 80's and have repair tags dated 1994. The seller said there were 6 originally purchased by his boss at a military surplus event. The seller got 3 and with a friend, took one apart and pretty much destroyed it. Nothing is left and he has no idea what happened to the other 3 or if control boxes were purchased at the same time and lost.
I cleaned the reflector and front window and then re-assembled everything. I then provided Power to the main pins. The result: It does not start, there are no ignition strikes and the fan does not run. It's the same for both lights. In my first inspection, I did not see a thermal sensor for the fan so I am assuming in should come on with the Master Switch.
What does happen: (the same for both lights)
The circuit breaker lever on the top box provides power to the Master switch on the back panel. The Master switch energizes the main power solenoid. The ignition switch activates the ignition solenoid. The Lamp-On & Stand By switch covers and uncovers the lamp as it should. (Nothing happens in the Remote trigger position) The push-to-test button lights the green pilot light when pushed in.
Needless to say, there is zero information available on these anywhere online that I could find. There is no manual, no schematic, no nothing.
If I can get one or both going, I'll have at least one reflector stripped and re-plated. The shiny looking one is at best, very Orange-peeled. The second one was actually overheated I believe. It looks as those the plating was burned off and the substrate has some blue-ing visible. Their shape and surface are fine. The reflectors are almost identical to those in the VSS-3A so I am thinking these are probably 1-degree or less beam profiles. The arc gap is very small, too. I'll bet these throw very well. I'm sure the designers wanted as tight a beam as possible to simulate the small size of a projectile.
Anyone know anything about these?
The lamp tucked into its' home
Never clean a reflector - unless it's already in bad condition and you've got noting to lose.
Reflector all cleaned up but still not in good shape
I think the use of a chemical destroyed the other lights' reflector. The surface is still very smooth and glassy to the touch and there is no evidence of the light overheating to cause the discoloration.
I just drew a second "Pair of 5's" but I don't have Four-of-a-Kind. Having found the second Starburst using a Google search I hadn't used before, I decided to try a few more new searches and I hit paydirt and they were only 350 miles away round-trip. I was delighted to go pick up more Optical Radiation Corporation Short Arc lights to provide big brothers for the Locators. These are titled "X-500-14 Gunfire Simulators". They are Very Large 500 Watt Short Arcs with large 14" reflectors. They are larger than the 1600 Watt NightSun. I noticed right away these don't have the normal 2 or 3-leg front lamp support spider due to a unique center hub mounting arrangement. There is a fast reacting shutter that covers the lamp similar to the VSS-3A but it's not I.R. and it covers and uncovers very quickly. I'm guessing a very quick burst of light via a quick uncovering and recovering of the lamp is supposed to simulate a cannon shot from the helicopter or tank that these, I'm told, were used on.
On the back of the light is a local control panel with Master switch, Ignition switch & a switch for Light ON (which is the shield) Standby (lamp covered) and Remote Trigger. This leads me to think that all the components needed to ignite and run the light are located inside the shell of the light. To verify, I pulled the back cover off of one light to look at the internals. It looks to me as though it is a complete system. All the ignition components are there along with the 2nd Orange looking box which is tagged as a "Power Supply". The ballast resistor, main and ignition solenoids, main power diode, small transformer and main Capacitor are there as well. These are pretty much all the main components that are present in two different components on both my 1600 and 500 Watt NightSuns. I traced the input power wires from the main power input connector and they pretty much mirror the path that I see in my NightSun, start to finish. This further gives me confidence that everything needed to run these is contained in the case. Now for the big unknown. You can see that there are quite a few small signal input pins in the main power connector. Obviously, some type of power receiving and signal distribution box was located ahead of the light. So will it work if I simply provide 28 Volt power to the 2 main power pins? Or is it similar to the VSS-3A and its' need for the Control Box? It would seem strange to me to put these switches to operate the light on the back panel if it was not meant to be autonomously operated from that position. The VSS-3A has no such operation panel on the light body. And of course one of the other small connectors on the top box had to be connected to a remote control box that was used by the pilot/gunner.
After cleaning all the internals and wiring so they all look nice and shiny, I removed the lamp to ensure it looked operational and so I could clean it. These lights have been sitting for about 20 years. They are circa early 80's and have repair tags dated 1994. The seller said there were 6 originally purchased by his boss at a military surplus event. The seller got 3 and with a friend, took one apart and pretty much destroyed it. Nothing is left and he has no idea what happened to the other 3 or if control boxes were purchased at the same time and lost.
I cleaned the reflector and front window and then re-assembled everything. I then provided Power to the main pins. The result: It does not start, there are no ignition strikes and the fan does not run. It's the same for both lights. In my first inspection, I did not see a thermal sensor for the fan so I am assuming in should come on with the Master Switch.
What does happen: (the same for both lights)
The circuit breaker lever on the top box provides power to the Master switch on the back panel. The Master switch energizes the main power solenoid. The ignition switch activates the ignition solenoid. The Lamp-On & Stand By switch covers and uncovers the lamp as it should. (Nothing happens in the Remote trigger position) The push-to-test button lights the green pilot light when pushed in.
Needless to say, there is zero information available on these anywhere online that I could find. There is no manual, no schematic, no nothing.
If I can get one or both going, I'll have at least one reflector stripped and re-plated. The shiny looking one is at best, very Orange-peeled. The second one was actually overheated I believe. It looks as those the plating was burned off and the substrate has some blue-ing visible. Their shape and surface are fine. The reflectors are almost identical to those in the VSS-3A so I am thinking these are probably 1-degree or less beam profiles. The arc gap is very small, too. I'll bet these throw very well. I'm sure the designers wanted as tight a beam as possible to simulate the small size of a projectile.
Anyone know anything about these?
The lamp tucked into its' home
Never clean a reflector - unless it's already in bad condition and you've got noting to lose.
Reflector all cleaned up but still not in good shape
I think the use of a chemical destroyed the other lights' reflector. The surface is still very smooth and glassy to the touch and there is no evidence of the light overheating to cause the discoloration.
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