Another bulb bites the dust...

[Rev. Redmond Farrier]

I was putting together a second light sheet to collect on another portion of my property today. I thought I had it stabilized, but a little storm blew through and the wind toppled the sheet onto the bulb stand which in turn hit the ground. The bulb itself didn't break, but everything inside it got bent and broken.

I remembered reading on here that some had tried metal halide and saw no significant difference in what came to the sheet, so in a fit of frustration, I went to Home Depot and purchased a 100watt MH area light (basically, a street lamp head). I was worried that 100watts wouldn't be enough, but when I got it wired up I discovered that it is actually much brighter than my mv bulb.

After the rain finally stopped and I was able to try it out, I got a tulip tree moth, an interesting tiger beetle, and a moderately interesting cicada. I also was able to see a sphingidae moth on the sheet from my kitchen window a moment ago. Not bad for a rainy night with a full moon coming out as soon as the rain stopped. At the other sheet I found nothing so far.

I discovered that the tripod and mount from an old broken telescope works quite well as a stand for the light.

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[Rev. Redmond Farrier]

Here is the actual fixture I purchased and the telescope mount that is holding it. Please ignore my hand. I had to block out the bulb from the shot so the camera would pick up the setup.

After this purchase, I may be living off of cans of spaghetti and meatballs for a while.

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[anthony]

I sincerely hope you luck takes a upturn, at least you will enjoy the collecting season.

[rjb]

Just a note on the brightness of the new lamp. The mercury vapor light produces more UV light which you can't see and less down in the visible. So if the metal hydride light looks brighter, it is probably the sensitivity of human eyes rather than the actual brightness (100 watts of pure 256 nm UV light from the Hg lamp would look totally black and would also blind you rapidly). Since the insects can see further into the UV, they might perceive the brightness differently. However, everyone says both lights are quite effective so whatever works...
Rick