New Portable Light Rig

[modestomoths]

I just finished building a portable, lightweight setup for night collecting. This will work anywhere, but it is especially handy for places where there are few trees or uneven terrain.

The frame is made of aluminum and packs into a small bag. The rest of the materials, including an extra bulb, fit into the box. The heaviest piece (apart from a generator) is the ballast for the 400 W mercury vapor bulb.





I attached a piece of pipe off the back of the center column to hold a blacklight tube. I usually use a 40 W BL behind the sheet to bring in the shy ones.



The setup is very stable on its own, but I attached some ropes to the ends of the crossbar so if the wind picks up, it won't twist or blow down.





Everything (besides the frame) fits in the box.



Here is the entire thing broken down.



And away we go ...



Happy hunting,

Travis

[admin]

Dynamite! Thanks for sharing!

[58chevy]

Travis,

Great rig! Where did you get the ballast? How much did it (the ballast) cost?

[modestomoths]

I bought the entire MH fixture as a unit for about $130 a few years ago. I picked it up at a local electrical supply shop.

Here's the exact same unit online for less than $100.
www.1000bulbs.com/product/8303/TEMP-RK400PS.html

I rewired it with a long cord coming out the top so the bulb could stand separate from the ballast. Next time, I think I'll try to find the ballast parts and build my own ballast box. It might be cheaper. Or one could always use self-ballasted bulbs to save a lot of weight, though they're not cheap.

Travis

[Chris Grinter]

That's a great setup!

[iansnyder]

really nice alredy want to build one.

[downundermoths]

self-ballasted bulbs are the way to go...

[lucanidae25]

How heavy is the while setup?
How many kg?

[58chevy]

I use MV bulbs with a separate ballast. I've heard self-ballasted bulbs get too hot and will explode in the rain. What are the pros/cons of each type?

[evra]

I use pre-wired ballast kits like this:

www.1000bulbs.com/product/55402/PLT-400MA48TK.html

Lots of different manufacturers make them. I don't think the brand matters, they all seem to work. The 400 watt kits they are about $40-$60, for 1000 watt kits they are more like $100-$130. The most difficult part about using them is drilling 4 holes in the correct spot in the bottom of your tacklebox or whatever you want to use as a housing for the screws you need to secure the mounting bracket. Getting the thing hooked down is most of the battle.

The wiring's a snap. It basically involves connecting 4 wires coming out of the transformer into the white/black lines from a regular old extension cord that you cut into two pieces. Even if you know nothing about electrical wiring you can have it done in about 10 minutes.

Self-ballasted bulbs are really simple, but they get really hot, and can explode in rain, or if wind knocks the rig around I've had them burn holes in my sheet and melt parts of my pvc frame. They're also usually more expensive, less available, and have fewer options for different power (300 watts is the maximum I've seen).

If you've got a generator that can handle 400 watts, it's well worth it to go non self-ballasted. For about $100-120 you should be able to get everything to make one (ballast kit, bulb, socket, extension cord, housing), and it only takes about an hour to assemble it all.

[modestomoths]

Jan 24, 2011 2:17:18 GMT -8 lucanidae25 said:

How heavy is the whole setup?
How many kg?

The entire setup (box and all) is 17.5 kg (39 lbs).
Nearly half the weight is the ballast: 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs).
The aluminum frame is only 4.5 kg (10 lbs).

My goal was to make it as sturdy as possible with as little weight as possible. I also wanted something that would set up and break down quickly (it takes about 2 minutes).

The only reason I would use a self-ballasted bulb would be for increased portability. Otherwise I agree that the ballasted setup is more durable.

Travis

[lucanidae25]

Travis,

That's still far too heavy to bring it onto a plane for a collecting trip overseas.
Airline wights is between 15kg to 25kg.
I only bring a light sheet and 120W self-ballasted bulb when I'm going overseas collecting.
If I'm going in China collecting, I don't even bring a bulb. It's so cheap over there.

Raymond

[longhorn]

Neighbours will be very happy with this, Travis ;D

[leptraps]

The rig looks great. Should try Self Ballast bulbs.

I use Two 500 Watt Self Ballast Mercury Vapor bulbs on my own rig. Yes they run hot like any other MV bulb, self ballast or Magnetic ballast. I point the bulbs down at a 45 degree angle. If rain gets in the socket/base, it will boil and create pressure that will crack the bulb. I have never seen one explode although I did witness a Sun Lamp "pop" in the rain.

I have sold hundreds of Self Ballast MV bulbs and have never had anyone tell me they exploded or cracked. All SBMV are 110 VAC.
I did have a customer who plugged a 750 Watt SBMV into a 220 VAC and the bulb cracked and "popped".

Recently I have tried several different LED's. Although they are difficult to mount into a set (26 LED's). I have a set or 4 across and 12 down in four units, I had very little luck last fall. The UV meter reads 755 NM at 200 feet. I think the UV bands distort because of the number of LED's and become ineffective. I also have a light trap with 36 LED's ready for this season. The Nanometers are exceptional and I can not seem to find the correct process to make them work.

Has anyone out there tried LED's?

Do not ever inquire about LED's on one of the supplier agent web sites. I have received several hundred emails from every manufacturer of bulbs in Asia and every con-artist and scammers in the world.

[lucanidae25]

leptraps

I did try LED light in Vietnam because it's vrey light in wight but I got nothing on my light sheet. Zero!!!!

Raymond