Things are not always what they seem

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I had to chuckle when I looked carefully at this little Strobe Light:

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What first appears to be a typical Xenon flash tube is ‘all done by mirrors’

The light source comprises one LED at each end of the parabolic reflector.

There is no misrepresentation, because no claims are made, and it’s a functional strobe.

MichaelG.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Some of the latest disco lighting is all LED. Stunning arrays too.

Steve.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

At the other extreme to the puny little strobe that I illustrated:

https://smartvisionlights.com/products/xr256/

shows very impressive use of LEDs

MichaelG.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

LEDs, even phosphor types, make better strobes than Xeon tubes. They are much faster. Xeon tubes have a long decay time even when quenched (using a electroinc “switch” across the tube to divert the current and clamp the voltage across the tube). LEDs are at least ten times faster.
I looked at this s part of the day job over 16 years ago. We thought the phosphor would have a persistance but it didn’t. They were faster than a very expensive quenched Perkin Elmer short arc Xeon lamp.

Interesting that they kept the same form factor though. It is possible the LED / reflector assembly was designed as a replacement for the Xeon tubes that are common (possibly mandated) in North American fire alarm sounders.

If your original design was based on the Xeon version why change the case if your supplier offers a LED alternative.

Robert.

 

 

 

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Damm Intel that is Xenon not Xeon

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks, Robert … I thought you might be interested

That general design of reflector, with a straight Xenon tube, has been  very widely used in camera flashguns, and can easily be proportioned to nicely cover a rectangular format.

I was genuinely impressed by the way that two LEDs, firing towards each-other, have replaced the tube.

A clever little bit of optical design, which I may end-up borrowing.

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

For anyone who might share my interest in reflector design … this patent is a geometrical joy:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search?q=pn%3DUS5584572A

MichaelG.

[Author]

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