speleo techincs Novas

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Huw Groucutt

Guest
so any good? Anyone got any experience with them?
 

bubba

Administrator
Never seen one but if the claims of "as bright as 35 normal LEDs" is true, then it must kick out some serious light. Sounds good - waterproof to -50m too.
 

SamT

Moderator
Probably not - they're from speleonumpties :wink: .

probably a bit harsh but once again - a hell of a lot of money. Bet you something will start to go wrong with them.

As Ive said before, Blue/white light in caves flattens everything and makes it look colourless and lifeless and with the nova - you have no option for a spotting beam.

Most people agree that carbide gives off the best light, in terms of making a cave look and feel nice :love:

I reckon a nice Oldham yellowee beam next. <3

Then cold hollow lifeless LED's. :borg:

Cant beat them for backup bulbs though :rocker2: .
 

bubba

Administrator
I think it's just a case of what you're used to - when I first started using LEDs I thought the light was weird and "cold" but now when I use a traditional bulb, I just don't like it at all.

I agree about carbide giving the best light, but then carbide stinks, and I get fed up seeing piles of spent carbide that dickheads have left in the cave.
 
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Huw Groucutt

Guest
They sound because of the way you can vary the power, very good for long trips. Though its only 5 hours from an FX3 battery on the brightest setting.

Cant use carbide in most south wales caves.

No way am i lugging an oldham around! Unless i'm going to be freediving any sumps, and need a bit of extra weight like!
 

Hammy

Member
The 5 brightness settings are way too much - 3 or even better 2 would have been quite adequate - you spend half your time trying to work out which one you are on!!!!

Other than that having the equivalent of 35 LEDs is pretty awesome!! - its like having a searchlight on your head!!

As for the cost - well it might not be worth it unless you were upgrading your light - and as we all know nothing is perfect.....
 

paul

Moderator
Huw Groucutt said:
so any good? Anyone got any experience with them?

I haven't used one myself but those that do compalin about setting the brightness level. With 5 settings you have to cycle through for ages to change form brihter to dimmer (or vice versa) - its like setting a digital clock that only goes forward - you miss the right time and have to go through 24 hours again to get tit right. Plus on the brightest setting, an FX3 only lasts 5 hours or so.
 

paul

Moderator
I saw a new design of LED in Caving Supplies a fortnight ago - this is 1w power (hence 4x average running time when used in an Oldhams setup) BUT the light isthrown sideways so that it can be focussed by the reflector). Phil Brown showed me how when you set a Nova to a similar brightness (~ 1 watt) then this LED was far better. Because it is focussed by the reflector it was just like a normal halogen bulb but a bluish colour. It was very bright in the centre - much brighter than the Nova - and about the same around the edges. I would go for that option, myself, as they cost about 18.50 as opposed to the 99 quid for the Nova.
 

SamT

Moderator
I wonder how long it will be untill those little rubber magnet switch bit begins to perish and fall off.

That would be handy - 3 hours underground, probably 4 needed to return - you discover your on the brightest setting and decide to reduce - opps the switch magnets bust off somewhere - probably in that awkward squeeze. Can you take it to bits and fix it under your mates light - no cause its a sealed unit. :(

Then you realize your fx3 wasnt fully charged. 1 hours light left. Doh.
 

dunc

New member
I had the pleasure of trying one out a while back and as a result won't be buying one.. I'll stick with my fx3 and 7led reflector.

I found the 5 brightness levels and the switch far too fiddly and like someone else said its not that easy to distinguish between the different settings - does anyone really need 5 different levels of light? :?

Nice idea, poorly implemented.
 

SamT

Moderator
Dunc said:
Nice idea, poorly implemented.

Haha - should be speleoshitenics mission statement. :LOL:

Is it so inovative that it required a double spread reveiw in Descent. Anyone would have thought that they'd just invented the Jumar.
 
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Huw Groucutt

Guest
paul said:
I saw a new design of LED in Caving Supplies a fortnight ago

That wouldnt be very bright though would it? What would that be like compared to a 7 LED array?
 

paul

Moderator
Huw Groucutt said:
paul said:
I saw a new design of LED in Caving Supplies a fortnight ago

That wouldnt be very bright though would it? What would that be like compared to a 7 LED array?

Does pointing a 7 LED array at somebody hurt their eyes?

Can you see light from the array on a wall 20 feet away bright enough to illuminate a poster?

Its like the difference between a halogen bulb with and without a reflector.
 
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Huw Groucutt

Guest
paul said:
Can you see light from the array on a wall 20 feet away bright enough to illuminate a poster?

No idea, tend not to carry a poster in my tackle sack.

So its good then? Cos as you say, hell of a lot cheaper than a nova or whatever
 

paul

Moderator
Huw Groucutt said:
paul said:
Can you see light from the array on a wall 20 feet away bright enough to illuminate a poster?

No idea, tend not to carry a poster in my tackle sack.

So its good then? Cos as you say, hell of a lot cheaper than a nova or whatever

Yes its is impressive - at least I thought so. Much better than a Nova at the same power. That's the important point, you can get a brighter widespread light with the Nova at greater power settings, if you don't mind the battery running down quickly. With these LEDs, you get a longer throw beam which is much brighter than the Nova when set downwards to the same power so that you get loads of time from the battery.

Like I said, its because of the way the light emitted from the LED is actually focussed by the reflector that makes the difference: exactly like a "normal" halogen bulb with and without a reflector.
 

underground

Active member
paul, objectively, do you think you'd get away with the Luxeon LED as a main bulb? (obviously i can appreciate it's limitations, especially in large chambers and long passages, but perhaps in the usual Peak caves of an evening...)
 

paul

Moderator
underground said:
paul, objectively, do you think you'd get away with the Luxeon LED as a main bulb? (obviously i can appreciate it's limitations, especially in large chambers and long passages, but perhaps in the usual Peak caves of an evening...)

A fellow clubmate has started using a "normal" LED recently as his main light (in an FX3 with the usual 7-LED array). This is probably of the same power (1W) but has the usual "forward-facing" light spread. On a recent trip around County Pot he seemed more than happy with it - and he was leading from the front.

With the LED I described before, providing a focussed beam, I would have thought thet set up would be even better... Of coure this is a bit subjective. Another club member managed a visit to Camp 1 and back in the Berger a couple of years ago on a 5-LED headtorch(!) mainly to save weight as she was on a litrally flying visit for a couple of days while we were there.

I haven't any personal experience of these myself other than a demo in a shop with the lights off. I would have bought one there and then but as I normally use a Kirby lamb rated at 6V, and this is too much a voltage for these. However, Phil B. recons there will soon be a 6V option (same power, using an internal resistor to drop the voltage). When these become available (2 or 3 weeks) I intend to try one out (I'll be on a caving trip to Thailand later this year and battery length will need to be as much as possible). It seems a good option for a Petzl Duo.
 

underground

Active member
paul said:
I haven't any personal experience of these myself other than a demo in a shop with the lights off. I would have bought one there and then but as I normally use a Kirby lamb rated at 6V, and this is too much a voltage for these. However, Phil B. recons there will soon be a 6V option (same power, using an internal resistor to drop the voltage). When these become available (2 or 3 weeks) I intend to try one out (I'll be on a caving trip to Thailand later this year and battery length will need to be as much as possible). It seems a good option for a Petzl Duo.

Are they the same as THESE from Hitch n Hike?
 

paul

Moderator
underground said:
paul said:
I haven't any personal experience of these myself other than a demo in a shop with the lights off. I would have bought one there and then but as I normally use a Kirby lamb rated at 6V, and this is too much a voltage for these. However, Phil B. recons there will soon be a 6V option (same power, using an internal resistor to drop the voltage). When these become available (2 or 3 weeks) I intend to try one out (I'll be on a caving trip to Thailand later this year and battery length will need to be as much as possible). It seems a good option for a Petzl Duo.

Are they the same as THESE from Hitch n Hike?

Ahaa! It certainly looks the same. But Phil was talking of around £18.45 each.
 
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Huw Groucutt

Guest
paul said:
in the Berger a couple of years ago on a 5-LED headtorch(!) mainly to save weight as she was on a litrally flying visit for a couple of days while we were there.

Its been done on 3 LED's!!! and no not by me
 
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