godman Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'm interested in purchasing the strobes from diyleds, I see they flash 120 per minute, is that standard?Also what's the difference in "I" tube vs "U" tube? I see the U tube has 8 wattscompared to 6 for the I tubeWhat are the pros/cons of those wattage difference? Brighter bulbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 First off strobes to my knowledge come in two flash rates. 2 times a second, or 4 times a second. I like the faster ones. As far as I or u tubes, I have both and can't see any noticeable difference. I found the strobes from Christmaslightshow.com to be durable and bright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paralegalnc Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 well while we are on that subject... I guess - so you get a stobe light... or string of strobe lights? hook them to a channel and when you click it...they just go off... no really controlling them... or making them blink?? I know it is probably a dumb question but I dont have any experience with strobe lights... they look cool in the videos of people's mega trees.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphynes Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 well while we are on that subject... I guess - so you get a stobe light... or string of strobe lights? hook them to a channel and when you click it...they just go off... no really controlling them... or making them blink?? I know it is probably a dumb question but I dont have any experience with strobe lights... they look cool in the videos of people's mega trees.... The strobes I've used are exactly that... when powered on, they strobe at the rate they strobe at (usually 2 or 4 times per second) and they are not synchronized to each other. So, it's going to be more of a "give me 2 seconds of strobe flashing in my tree" not "strobe to this beat". That having been said... the other kind of strobe comes from stage light (or bar lighting). I have one of these: http://www.chauvetlighting.com/led-techno-strobe.html From DMX (and hence from LOR), I can control the strobe rate and the brightness. I can also, rather than using it's "strobe", simply turn it on all at once, for a specific (short) burst, thus having a synchronized strobe. This fixture doesn't particularly lend itself a lot to a Christmas display -- they are sometimes called "blinders" -- but if you can find a DMX-controlled, bright light that can come on instantly, you can get a controlled, synchronized strobe. I suspect a 3W, 5W or 10W white LED would do this quite well. That's my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Curtain Strobes provide a great WOW effect in your show. I too like the 3-4 flash/sec look. Actually there are 2 types beyond the flash rate. You have xenon or LED. The xenon will be the 2-4 flash per second variety and the LEDs are in the 2 flash per sec. I prefer the xenon for the flash rate and the fact that they are more multi-directional. The LEDs are best viewed straight on, but can be seen from the side, just OK (IMHO) BP goes into a whole different approach with the DMX strobes (which I use as well) Those we call Zap Strobes. You need to ensure that you can strobe them on command, because not all DMX strobes allow just a single flash without special circuitry. As an FYI, on my website in my How-To section, is a great presentation I did for Expo in 2010 that has types, use, and xenon repair info. I talk about the "U" tube, and was thinking about updating it for the "I" tubes just haven't gotten around to it. Paralegalnc, you got the concept. However, the curtain strobes can be set up so the they can flash on demand, where each strobe would take a single channel. This can be set up to do like a runway situation. In the How-To above, I reference a good buddy of mine, Wirekat's site as he has a How-To, to do just that if that is what you are interested in. Edited June 28, 2014 by zman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paralegalnc Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 I like the "give me 2 seconds of strobe flashing in my tree" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Ok, not really seeing one of the questions answered here. So, here is my take on it. I asked CDI to loan me both a "I" tube and a LED strobe. I already had a "U" tube strobe. I agree the LED is best viewed from the end, and lacks what many of use call POP. The "I" tube is best looked at from the side in my opinion. Imagine looking at a 1" bar of bright light (side view). And now imagine looking at a dot of light (from the end). Thats what you got going with an "I" tube. Now with the "U" tube you are always looking at the side of the light beam as it arcs through the tube. So, I think there is a fair amount of light seen from the sides or the end. Also with 33% more wattage, the light just has to be brighter in IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphynes Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Paralegalnc, you got the concept. However, the curtain strobes can be set up so the they can flash on demand, where each strobe would take a single channel. This can be set up to do like a runway situation. In the How-To above, I reference a good buddy of mine, Wirekat's site as he has a How-To, to do just that if that is what you are interested in. The curtain strobes that I had (they were cheap, i admit) wouldn't necessarily fire as soon as power was applied nor was it always the same delay. If they were two flashes per second, the first flash could be anywhere from about 50 to 1200 microseconds after power. At one point I tried to wire up a dry contact closure to the hot shoe of a camera flash.... (that was a long time ago). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphynes Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 The curtain strobes that I had (they were cheap, i admit) wouldn't necessarily fire as soon as power was applied nor was it always the same delay. If they were two flashes per second, the first flash could be anywhere from about 50 to 1200 microseconds after power. At one point I tried to wire up a dry contact closure to the hot shoe of a camera flash.... (that was a long time ago). Sorry to quote myself, but I don't know how to edit (or maybe I can't). I see that Wirekat did some extensive modding to get his to behave that way -- which is very cool, but may not be for everyone. Here the direct link that zman references: http://www.christmasinkent.com/howto/HowToChaseStrobes.htm -bph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 The "I" tubes are what they use in camera's for the built in flashes. I never realized that until I started looking into updating the How-To for replacement info and stumbled across that. Makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Sorry to quote myself, but I don't know how to edit (or maybe I can't). I see that Wirekat did some extensive modding to get his to behave that way -- which is very cool, but may not be for everyone. Here the direct link that zman references: http://www.christmasinkent.com/howto/HowToChaseStrobes.htm -bphI looked at what he did and I have to say, I would have done it a bit differently. I would have left the SCR in the circuit and controlled the trigger to the SCR. Might have put an opto isolator in there and had no external high voltage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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