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From: <kirvine@sa*.ne*>
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 15:11:06 -0400
To: Maggie Owens <mmowens@pa*.co*>
CC: techdiver@aq*.co*, cavers@cavers.com
Subject: Re: HID Lights
Mags, I use an HID light run off of my nicad canister. I use removeable
HID heads which are interchangeable with regular heads on the underwater
conectors. I keep two diferent wattagges in my pocket so if the HID
blows, I have a low power normal light to travel on, and can go to the
normal power to explore without bagging my batteries. 

My particular HID draws 1.8 amps, so lasts 13 hours with my nicads. On
JJ's Barry Light pack it lasts about 9 hours, and on a normal Barry
Light is lasts more than five hours.

The HID is putting out the far blue end of the spectrum which is not as
well absorbed by water so you can "see" farther than with a lower color
temp, or longer wavelength light. This is like the effect at depth where
with no light you can only see the blues which penetrate to that depth
due to their higher frequency/shorter wavelenght.

This makes you effectively feel like you have a lot more light than with
a bigger normal light, yet the smaller light ( smaller wattage ) draws
much less current. The lumens make no difference except in comparison to
the same frequency, as in video where you would use a larger HID bulb
for more "light".

JJ and I had to go to these lights due to our bottom times in some
caves, and due to the fact that we have to decompress in the cave at
other sites for hours before getting to the sinkhole. In ocean, this is
an awesome tool for signalling at great distance and seeing things at
distance, just as in cave it lets JJ and I see down passages and make a
decision on them without ever going near them.

Glad you brought this up, I forgot all about it. The ones we have are
very small, fit in the normal Gavin head, have no other electonics in
the cannister, use the same voltage out the cord as a regular light, and
can actually be used with any existing light.

I got mine from Extreme Exposure. I tried all the other versions while
we were working on lighting, but none of them had their stuff together
or made any sense. One came in two separate cannisters, had NINETY volts
running out the cord, arced like a sparkplug if the cord was too long,
and was a cluster in a box. The German versions were all one piece, like
a giant flashlight, and of course you saw the Saturday Night Live
version that my favorite moron, Stone, came up with - a hoot in itself.

Give JJ or Barry Miller at Extreme a call for these lights. I can't
believe I forgot all about this . I guess I should say something about
the new scooters too , now that our "competition" has been laid to rest,
but they speak for themselves and are not of general interest like the
lights are.

Monkee Owens wrote:
> 
> Dear List,
> 
> I am considering upgrading one of my two Dive Rite MLS lights to the new
> Dive Rite HID light. Let me say first that I KNOW that an EE light is
> preferable (and I plan to get one at some point in the future), but I am
> seduced by the idea of using a light that is as small as the one I have
> now, but has a longer burn time with a brighter bulb. Let me also say that
> I don't know much at all (that would be, I really know nothing) about this
> technology, which is why I'm posting this question. (So please be gentle!)
> 
> What I am wondering is
> (1) are HID lights really all they are cracked up to be? and
> (2) Is there something about them that makes them *NOT* DIR, and if so,
> what is it and why?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> ----------
> Maggie, who seems to be a northeast-wreck-diving-geek and boat monkee
> mmowens@pa*.co*
> http://www.panix.com/~mmowens


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