FLASHING STROBE LIGHT

Flashing Strobe Light, retail $3.99
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Halloween Express (www.halloweenexpress.com)
Last updated 09-15-09




The Flashing Strobe Light really isn't a "STROBE light" in the truest sense of the word, but it is a nifty light designed to be used instead of candles in a Jack-O-Lantern (carved pumpkin) that causes the insides to flash in a spooky manner.

It comes in a yellow cylindrical ("tuna can-shaped" plastic case, and has five self-flashing incandescent light bulbs that are responsible for the spooky lighting effects. The bulbs are in front of holographic reflecting material.

The whole rig feeds from two C cells that you supply yourself.

Unlike candles, there is no smoke, soot, melted wax, or fire hazard to worry about.


Size of product w/hand to show scale SIZE



To use the Flashing Strobe Light, feed it first (see directly below), and THEN you can go and relax the embouchure* - er - uh - I mean - make a Jack-O-Lantern all spooky and scary and frightening and stuff .

On the underside of the unit, you'll see a small slide switch.
Slide it to the "ON" position, and place it inside a Jack-O-Lantern where you might otherwise place a candle.

Within several seconds, the bulbs will start blinking in a more-or-less random sequence.

Slide the same switch to the "OFF" position when finished using the product.



To change the batteries in the Flashing Strobe Light, swing the top of the unit up...there's nothing to actually remove and throw into the graveyard so the zombies find it, drop it into an open grave, and take a leak on it.

If necessary, remove the used C cells from the compartment, and recycle or dispose of them as you see fit.

Install two new C cells into the compartment, orienting each one so its flat-end (-) negative faces a leaf spring for it in each chamber (the bottoms of each chamber are also marked for battery polarity).

Swing the top back down, and be done with it.

Current usage measures 476mA maximum (with all five lamps in their "on" state) on my DMM's 4A scale.



This is a Halloween light for use inside a Jack O Lantern, not a flashlight designed to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused. So I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, try to drown it in the toliet bowl or the cistern, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of an outdoor patio, use a small ball peen hammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata, drop it down the top of Mt. Erupto (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island, and Mt. Erupto is an active volcano on Piņata Island {In the episode "Les Saves the Day...Again", Paulie Preztail says "Hey, ever wonder why this park's called 'Mount Erupto' anyway?", then Franklin Fizzlybear says "I think its an old native term. Means 'very safe.'"}), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or inflict upon it punishments that flashlights (that were born to be flashlights and nothing but flashlights) may have inflicted upon them.

If it fell in water and you suspect it got flooded, disassemble it as you would for a battery change, dump out the water if necessary, and set the parts in a warm dry place for a couple of days or so just to be sure it's completely dry inside before you reassemble and use it again.

If it fell into seawater, got thrown into a glass of milk, if it fell in a root beer float, if somebody squirted a Massengill brand post-menstrual disposable douche or a Fleet brand disposable enema at it (and hit it with the douche or the enema), or if somebody or something peed on it, rinse all the parts out with fresh water before setting them out to dry. You don't want your Flashing Strobe Light to smell like seaweed, sour milk, flowers, fresh butts, or rotten piss when you go to use it next. Besides, salt (from seawater, disposable douches, disposable enemas, or uranation), lactic acid (from moo juice), glycerol (from antifreeze), or sugar (from root beer & ice cream) can't be very good for the insides.

So this section of the Ultimate Strobe Light's evaluation will appear SIGNIFICANTLY more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

The bulbs in the Flashing Strobe Light are self-flashing "bimetal" types; not too unlike those blinking bulbs found in miniature Christmas light sets, except that when these bulbs go to their "off" state, they present themselves as an open circuit instead of a short circuit like the other bulbs will.

There is a warning on the packaging materials that the Flashing Strobe Light is not a toy, and that it is recommended that only children 8 years old and older should use the product.

There's a disc-shaped paper cover over the light bulb bases on the top of the product; it should be left in place rather than peeled off. However, if it does come off through handling or cleaning, no harm will befall the unit - so you really shouldn't worry too much about it. It is there mainly for aesthetic reasons; so if you really don't like it, then by all means remove & dispose of it.

The only major concern I have is that if you carry the unit upside-down (with the bulbs facing the floor), the top *MIGHT* swing open and the C cells *MIGHT* fall out. I didn't say that this *WOULD* occur, but it's a distinct possibility.

Does this web page look an awful lot like the one I made for this product?
Thought you'd say so.
They're functionally very similar; differing mainly in external appearance, so I could use its web page as a template for this one.



Photograph of the product, illuminated, of course.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the incandescent bulbs in this product.


Spectrographic plot
Same as above; white paper was placed behind the bulb to eliminate the "sawtooth" wave pattern caused by the holographic diffractive material behind the lamp under test.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the incandescent bulbs in this product; different spectrometer used to "dig" a bit deeper into the NIR band.


Spectrographic plot
Same as above; white paper was placed behind the bulb to eliminate the "sawtooth" wave pattern caused by the holographic diffractive material behind the lamp under test.





Video clip on YourTube showing the flashing of the Flashing Strobe Light.
This clip is approximately 2.4523949 megabytes (2,553,238 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twelve minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.








TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at a Halloween Express store in Federal Way WA. USA on 09-12-09.

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.

* From the Star Trek: TNG episode "Future Imperfect".


UPDATE: 00-00-00






    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Flashing light for inside Jack-O-Lantern
    LAMP TYPE: Self-flashing incandescent bulb
    No. OF LAMPS: 5
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide switch on/off on bottom
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: Plastic; bulbs mounted above holographic diffractive material
    BATTERY: 2xC cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 476mA maximum
    WATER RESISTANT: Very light splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: None
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    This is a seasonal novelty product (it is intended to replace the candle in a Jack O'Lantern) and will not be assigned a "star" rating for that reason.





Flashing Strobe Light *






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