Ideas for mercury vapor setup?

[thejsonboss]

Looking at getting an mv rig for the moth setup. Any thoughts or advice on getting a rig are helpful, currently thinking about buying a reptile lamp and hanging it somehow

[kevinkk]

Try Bioquip, they sell mercury vapor set ups, I looked into it, as an extra to use with my ultraviolet lights.
A lot of us use ultraviolet systems for overall cost and power consumption.
Maybe full spectrum lighting would work at night, I've never tried it.
Entomological collection lights are purpose built, you might have success using other light sources.
You could at least see what kind of materials you might want- rain shields, some hanging system for the light and
sheet(s)
Some of our members here make light traps and sell them.

I like night collecting, it's low physical energy requirements meet my abilities nicely.

[mothman55]

I find a 250 watt self ballasted MV lamp in front of a white sheet works very well. You just have to make yourself a stand to support the light. It is becoming more difficult to find self ballasted MV lamps these days. I broke one of mine last year and have just ordered two new ones and had to search dealers before finding one that had a couple in stock. Some dealers list them on their website, but when you order they don't have any in stock. 

[exoticimports]

Leptraps here makes and sells MV and other setups.

I do the 250w and sheet. But I also switch to a 20w BLB bucket trap. The latter is good if it’s going to storm and I don’t want to worry about busting the MV. The bucket is also easy to transport and set up if you travel or want to try a friends yard.

Leptraps has both of the above, with a wide variety of options.

Chuck