Batsignal?

[randomlugia]

LED tech has become ridiculously bright, and with producing little or no heat they can be used for almost any purpose. more recently newer football stadium lighting.

Really? That's awesome. LEDs are becoming the light of the future, seeing how efficient they are, plus you don't have to worry about burning out a filament. And of course, perfect beam patterns.

 

[Things]

Even a huge 100W LED bar won't even compare to a metal-halide globe of around the same power. Using LED's to write on the clouds is still a bit our of reach.

Doing this with a laser is impractical, well, unless you have a laserscope laying around or something.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

That's weird, I've tried that. Maybe we just have a low elevation or something...

my elevation is about 1000 feet.

I'm at sea level, plus we get some very low clouds. We get 3 layers sometimes.

 

[randomlugia]

I'm in a valley, so... there might be a slight difference.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Even with the low flying clouds it was extremely faint. You'd obviously need a very high power laser to attract attention. But, I did see some images being projected on the clouds at the last Pink Floyd show I saw in '94 from a gold laser. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. It was just basic outline designs though.

 

[Things]

Hahaha, Pink Floyd, I'm sure they have plenty of lasers that would work

The gold laser was most likely a copper vapour laser, those things go up into the watt range.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

They got me hooked on lasers, but I could never afford to put anything together. Then I found this forum, and they still cost a pile of cash LOL. At least for the exotic colors I like. I cant just dish out ~$300 for a 1mW yellow laser.

 

[bloompyle]

I'm at 5600ft I haven't tried with my green though, if we have clouds tonight, I'll give it a go. If my PHR didn't die in 2 hours of use then I'd use that...

 

[iwannapony]

metal-halides light also doesnt dissipate with distance as easily as LEDS, lasers would be inpractical (now) but in the future a massive OEM with a mega beam expander and some sort of filter could work...maybe.

 

[randomlugia]

Wavelength has a lot to do with that. A high powered incan would work the best for distance, but it would be less noticeable in the air and on the cloud; it would look better with a cooler tinted light source. Even a warm tinted LED would go further than a pure white HID. But sadly, warm LEDs aren't capable of too much power now.

 

[Cyparagon]

HIDs are made in warm colors. AND for far less cost than LED. The color temp of a high pressure sodium lamp is 2000K... warm enough for you? A 100W HPS lamp that gives about 9,500 lumens is SEVEN DOLLARS. How much does 9,500 lumens of warm white LEDs cost?

LED... producing little or no heat

I call bullsht. You've obviously never worked with high power LEDs.

LED tech has become... used for... football stadium lighting.

Where? You'd need tens of Thousands of them. It is much cheaper to use Metal Halide lamps.

LEDs are becoming the light of the future, seeing how efficient they are, plus you don't have to worry about burning out a filament. And of course, perfect beam patterns.

The same applies to metal halide lamps, except metal halide is MUCH cheaper per lumen.

The gold laser was most likely a copper vapour laser, those things go up into the watt range.

And they don't come back down

 

[randomlugia]

I never said HIDs couldn't be warm, just using a white HID as an example of a cooler light source. And you can get an OSRAM 8000+ lumen bulb for about $4.

 

[Antimony Trioxide]

Haha, sorry about the triple post.

I think your better off with a high powered flashlight. A single LED with an aspheric lens. It can be down if you paint the under side of the aspheric lens the bat symbol. Hitting the clouds? Maybe if you have an sst-90 (2200 lumen LED). Im sure it can do it.

A high powered incandescent would work the best for distance, but it would be less noticeable in the air and on the cloud; it would look better with a cooler tinted light source. Even a warm tinted LED would go further than a pure white HID. But sadly, warm LEDs aren't capable of too much power now.

Yes Incandescent and HID emitters are considered to be better for throwing (long range light). This is because they emit there light in 360 degrees, most of witch hit the reflector, and reflect outwards. Unfortunently you cant put the batman symbol right on the lens and expect it to work. The light has to be coming from a single point

LED"s on the other hand would most likely work. If you use an aspheric lens to straighten the beam. And you can paint the aspheric lens to whatever shape you want the spot.

I'll try to get pictures up as an example

 

[randomlugia]

Antimony Trioxide, you know there's an "edit" button, right? You don't have to try three times to get the post right...