POWER ON BOARD
HID SPOTLIGHT

Power On Board HID Spotlight, retail $98.00 (No website URL known)
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Vector Products (www.vectormfg.com...)
Last updated 11-26-08




The Power On Board HID Spotlight (hereinafter probably called an HID Spotlight, or a spotlight) is a large, rechargeable HID (high intensity discharge) spotlight. It features a 35 watt HID bulb near the bottom of a mirror-smooth reflector. It also has something found on few other lights - an LED battery status monitor.

Because it is fully self-contained, you can take it anywhere...you can go swimming, you can go horseback ridi...O WAIT!!! WRONG COMMERCIAL!!!

This is, ***BY FAR***, the brightest self-contained light source I have ever owned or even used.


SIZE



To use the HID Spotlight, charge it first (see directly below), and THEN you can go light up the side of a barn.

Under the handle, toward the front, there is a rocker switch. As the spotlight is facing away from you, push the switch so the left side of it goes in.
A blue LED on the left side of the unit (the LED that normally glows red during the charge cycle) will come on at this point.

Press the rocker switch so the right side goes in to turn the spotlight back off.

The HID Spotlight features a battery status monitor. On the left side of the unit's body, less than 2" to the right of the charging receptacle, there is a yellow circle. Press in and hold this yellow circle to activate the battery status LEDs. A full charge is indicated by all four LEDs above this yellow circle (one red, one yellow, and two green) lighting up.
Releasing pressure on the yellow circle turns these LEDs off.

On the underside of the spotlight, there is a tilt bail of sorts; this allows you to place the product on the ground and have it aim up at an angle.



To charge the spotlight when necessary, there are two ways:

1: You can unwind the cord for the AC charger, plug it into the receptacle on the left side of the spotlight marked "13.8 V DC 750mA", and plug the large end into any 110 to 130 volts AC 2- or 3-slot household AC receptacle.
While charging, a bright red LED on the spotlight body right near the plug comes on.
The spotlight will not operate while plugged into the charger, but this LED will glow magenta when the spotlight is turned on while charging.
When charging is complete, this LED goes out and a green LED next to it will come on.

2: Unfurl the cord from the automobile charger, plug the small end of the cord into the charging receptacle on the spotlight, and plug the larger end in the cigerette lighter receptacle in your automobile.

Time to recharge is not stated for either charging method.

You should charge this product every two months even if you don't use it all during that time.
And you should always charge it if you've used it for more than a few minutes - lead-acid batteries really don't like to be left in a state of partial discharge.




Photograph of the HID bulb near the bottom of the reflector.

Because this is a spotlight and not a flashlight meant to be carried around all the time, thrashed, and abused, the punishments I bestow upon flashlights will not be bestowed upon the Power On Board HID Spotlight. So this section of the web page will be significantly more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.





Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Light is ***NOT*** green as it appears in this photograph.

I attempted to measure its inensity on a Meterman LM631 light meter, but
I got that dreadful "OL" display, indicating this product is just too bright.

It exceeds 20,000cd (20,000,000mcd) on this meter, so yes, it really *IS* brighter than "H-E-Double-Bendy-Straws".



Here's another attempt at taking a beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Light is ***NOT*** green as it appears in this photograph.



Beam photograph on a wall at ~10'.

Those rectangular graphic things near the top are marquees from:
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''

upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.



Beam photograph near our front door at ~20' during full daylight (1:07pm PDT 04-05-07).



Beam photograph on a structure ~200 feet away during twilight (7:32pm PDT 04-05-07).
Telephotograph (4x) was used. The albedo of the wall the spotlight's spot is on is ~0.40.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the HID bulb in this spotlight.


Spectrographic plot
Same thing, but deliberately "overexposed" to show weaker spectral lines.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.



Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the HID bulb in this spotlight, using newer software & settings.
This is with ~10 seconds of operation.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the HID bulb in this spotlight, using newer software & settings.
This is with ~45 seconds of operation.


ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis.

Even with the iris closed all the way and the ND filter in place, this spotlight was still slightly too
bright for this instrument; that's why the top of the curve on this chart has a flattened segment.

Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.



Tilt bail used.



Same as above, but aiming the light higher.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was given to me by a Candlepower Forums member on the morning of 04-05-07.

The "wall wart" charger is rated to output 13.8 volts DC at 750mA.
Center of plug is (+) positive, outer can is (-) negative.

Product was made in China. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 05-28-07
I have decided to rate this product five full stars and place it in The Trophy Case on this website!!!


UPDATE: 11-12-08
I have been ordered by my parents to dispose of this product as quickly as possible; I do not do so willingly.
To that end, I'm attempting to locate the person who gave it to me on 04-05-07 so that it may be returned; if he cannot be located within two weeks (by ~11-26-08), I've been ordered to post it for sale on Craigslist and possibly Ebay.


UPDATE: 11-13-08
I have located the person who gave me this product; I will soon be arranging for its return to him.


UPDATE: 11-27-08
The person who gave me this wonderful spotlight came by & picked it up on the afternoon of 11-25-08, so I no longer have it available for future analyses or comparisons.
In addition, the dreadful "" icon will appear next to its listings on this website, denoting this very thing.





PROS:
Brighter than "H-E-Double-Bendy-Straws"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never have to purchase disposable batteries for it
Insanely f%^$#%#$%ing bright
Has LED charge and battery status monitor
Really frickin br...o wait, I've already said that two times!


CONS:
A bit on the heavy side


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Large HID spotlight
    LAMP TYPE: 35W HID bulb
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot w/dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Rocker switch on/off under handle
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: Plastic; plastic window protects bulb & reflector
    BATTERY: 12 volt 7AH sealed lead acid battery
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Splatter-resistant at minimum
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: "Wall wart" charger, cigerette lighter charger, carrying strap, SLA battery
    WARRANTY: 1 year

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Power On Board HID Spotlight *






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