Hi all:
Someone posted on the DIYPJC site about a vendor on eBay who has a bunch of low priced magnetic 400W S51 HPS ballasts for sale for $28.99 plus shipping (should be ~$10-$12).
Good source for those who want to use the Ushio MH conversion light, I think.
Someone posted on the DIYPJC site about a vendor on eBay who has a bunch of low priced magnetic 400W S51 HPS ballasts for sale for $28.99 plus shipping (should be ~$10-$12).
Good source for those who want to use the Ushio MH conversion light, I think.
excellant price!
I just ordered one of these from the eBay vendor. The cheapest price I found elsewhere was more than twice as much! They still have a bunch of these as of tonight.
Buyer beware, though: These are High Pressure Sodium ballast kits (including condensor, ignitor, and mounting hardware). They will only work with a retrofit MH lamp like a Ushio UHI-S400DD. (Which is a very nice lamp.) NOT with a normal or pulse start MH lamp. The other gotcha is the shipping cost. They weigh 16 pounds and ship from Fairview, TN. You can use the UPS shipping calculator to calculate your cost: $12.45 for me in California.
I just ordered one of these from the eBay vendor. The cheapest price I found elsewhere was more than twice as much! They still have a bunch of these as of tonight.
Buyer beware, though: These are High Pressure Sodium ballast kits (including condensor, ignitor, and mounting hardware). They will only work with a retrofit MH lamp like a Ushio UHI-S400DD. (Which is a very nice lamp.) NOT with a normal or pulse start MH lamp. The other gotcha is the shipping cost. They weigh 16 pounds and ship from Fairview, TN. You can use the UPS shipping calculator to calculate your cost: $12.45 for me in California.
This is awesome. Solves my $ problem. I ordered one of these and a ushio lamp. The lamp cost more than the ballast, lol. Thanks for the tip barawn
🙂 Thanks barawn, been looking for a cheap source.
Also thanks to Guy Grotke for your advice in my thread.
I take it you all are getting the bulb from the atlantalightbulbs.com site?
Also thanks to Guy Grotke for your advice in my thread.
I take it you all are getting the bulb from the atlantalightbulbs.com site?
Ushio retrofit lamp
I order those from atlantalightbulbs.com: $38 US + shipping
They have a great price, and they ship fast with good packing.
You could check around locally to see if anybody nearby stocks them. I doubt they would be cheaper.
This combination has to be the cheapest 400 Watt MH light source now available, with a good color temperature (5200 K). Anything cheaper will be a lamp bigger than your head, and with a 4200 K or lower color temp.
I order those from atlantalightbulbs.com: $38 US + shipping
They have a great price, and they ship fast with good packing.
You could check around locally to see if anybody nearby stocks them. I doubt they would be cheaper.
This combination has to be the cheapest 400 Watt MH light source now available, with a good color temperature (5200 K). Anything cheaper will be a lamp bigger than your head, and with a 4200 K or lower color temp.
I tried posting it here, but it was saying something like search forum something, so i gave up. Anyways, glad someone posted it. Thought it was an awesome deal, and let me tell you, shipping is fffaaassttt. I got it before the other stuff I ordered before it.
hi-bay light fixtures
Can anyone commit on these fixtures?
http://www.prolighting.com/fixtures-high-low-bay-high-bays.html
400watts with a 17in reflector, ballast, and blub for for under $150
Can anyone commit on these fixtures?
http://www.prolighting.com/fixtures-high-low-bay-high-bays.html
400watts with a 17in reflector, ballast, and blub for for under $150
under $150
This is not a great deal for a DIY projector, it is all designed for big-box store or warehouse lighting.
1) They don't say anything about the lamp, so it is probably one of those $23 cheapies: Big as your head, 4200 degrees K or even lower color temp.
2) That reflector will not work in a projector.
You are much better off with the $38 Ushio retrofit lamp and the $29 ballast, both the topics of this thread. That's only $68 plus shipping. (Lamp sockets for the Ushio are available everywhere for about $8.) You get a fairly small lamp with excellant color temp. For a reflector, you can use a polished stainless steel mixing bowl. That'll add another $10.
This is not a great deal for a DIY projector, it is all designed for big-box store or warehouse lighting.
1) They don't say anything about the lamp, so it is probably one of those $23 cheapies: Big as your head, 4200 degrees K or even lower color temp.
2) That reflector will not work in a projector.
You are much better off with the $38 Ushio retrofit lamp and the $29 ballast, both the topics of this thread. That's only $68 plus shipping. (Lamp sockets for the Ushio are available everywhere for about $8.) You get a fairly small lamp with excellant color temp. For a reflector, you can use a polished stainless steel mixing bowl. That'll add another $10.
Guy, You are correct, it would be bigger than my head. My though was that with a reflector that big, putting out almost parallel light you might not need a fresnell lens on that side. And you are right again about the color temp., it's listed as 4000k, 36000 lumins, and 20k hours life. (They did have free shipping.)
Oh well. I really appreciate the time you spend helping unknowlegable people like me. I know it's going to save me money and result in a better PJ.
Question. With a bowl, would you mount the lamp in front or you cut a hole and insert the bulb?
Oh well. I really appreciate the time you spend helping unknowlegable people like me. I know it's going to save me money and result in a better PJ.
Question. With a bowl, would you mount the lamp in front or you cut a hole and insert the bulb?
light fixture
You could do without a condensor fresnel, if you had a parabolic reflector at least the size of your LCD. But the reflector in that fixture is probably not a parabola! If it was, and the lamp arc was placed at the focal point, then the light would leave the fixture in a tight beam to illuminate a very small circle on the floor. That is not what you want from a store fixture. You want the light to spread over a very large circle, so you don't need too many fixtures to light up your big box.
A mixing bowl reflector is just one example of a "found item" that may work as a spherical reflector. Other such items include very large soup ladles and quiche molds. (You can also pay for a real aluminized glass or dichroic spherical reflector from an optics supplier.) The key features for a useful found object are a highly polished stainless steel, aluminum, or silver surface (65%, 90%, & 95% reflectivity respectively), resistance to heat (ie. no plastic), and a perfect spherical section shape. it doesn't need to be an entire hemisphere. It just has to be a large enough section so that reflected rays light all the corners of your condensor fresnel.
You place the center of the lamp arc at the center of curvature (equidistant from all points on the sphere surface), so all reflections pass back through the arc. If you start with a full hemisphere, then you need to cut holes for the lamp to get to the center of curvature. If you have a smaller section, then cutting may not be necessary. Either way, you need a good stream of cool air around the lamp with a spherical reflector. Otherwise the lamp will get pretty hot since quite a bit of the reflected light gets absorbed in the lamp.
You could do without a condensor fresnel, if you had a parabolic reflector at least the size of your LCD. But the reflector in that fixture is probably not a parabola! If it was, and the lamp arc was placed at the focal point, then the light would leave the fixture in a tight beam to illuminate a very small circle on the floor. That is not what you want from a store fixture. You want the light to spread over a very large circle, so you don't need too many fixtures to light up your big box.
A mixing bowl reflector is just one example of a "found item" that may work as a spherical reflector. Other such items include very large soup ladles and quiche molds. (You can also pay for a real aluminized glass or dichroic spherical reflector from an optics supplier.) The key features for a useful found object are a highly polished stainless steel, aluminum, or silver surface (65%, 90%, & 95% reflectivity respectively), resistance to heat (ie. no plastic), and a perfect spherical section shape. it doesn't need to be an entire hemisphere. It just has to be a large enough section so that reflected rays light all the corners of your condensor fresnel.
You place the center of the lamp arc at the center of curvature (equidistant from all points on the sphere surface), so all reflections pass back through the arc. If you start with a full hemisphere, then you need to cut holes for the lamp to get to the center of curvature. If you have a smaller section, then cutting may not be necessary. Either way, you need a good stream of cool air around the lamp with a spherical reflector. Otherwise the lamp will get pretty hot since quite a bit of the reflected light gets absorbed in the lamp.
Ushio
Hi Guy,
I was surpised to hear you using the ushio. As one of the experts here i always figured you'd have some fancy small arc setup. This new purchase is for testing or is it your standard setup? I seem to remember the spectral pattern on that lamp is weak in the red. The pics ive seen also look greenish. Does the OSD let you compensate? Does compansation = lowering the light transmission on the other colors? There is no doubt the price is good and with that many lumens who cares if some are blocked. Is that the approach you took with it?
What do you think of 400w vs 250w vs 150w?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Guy,
I was surpised to hear you using the ushio. As one of the experts here i always figured you'd have some fancy small arc setup. This new purchase is for testing or is it your standard setup? I seem to remember the spectral pattern on that lamp is weak in the red. The pics ive seen also look greenish. Does the OSD let you compensate? Does compansation = lowering the light transmission on the other colors? There is no doubt the price is good and with that many lumens who cares if some are blocked. Is that the approach you took with it?
What do you think of 400w vs 250w vs 150w?
Thanks in advance.
my philosophy
I am using the Ushio retrofit lamps because they fit my basic philosphy about DIY projection: It only makes sense if you can make something usable for much less than the price of a commercial projector. If a big fresnel lens and a cardboard box over your TV worked well enough, then I would use that!
We could make projectors that are incrementally better by using short-arc lamps, elliptical reflectors, process lenses, dichroic beam splitters with three monochrome LCDs, etc. But then they would cost more to build than buying a new commercial projector.
Actually, I see DIY projection beinng squeezed by the new low-cost commercial projectors that have appeared during the last year. The only advantage we have is that most of the low-end commercial products are stuck at 800 by 600 native resolution.
The other huge advantage we have is that we can use lamps that cost $38 and run for 15000-20000 hours. If we switched to short-arc lamps that cost $250 and run for 2500 hours, then we might as well just get a used commercial projector that uses those lamps. Buying a used commercial projector on eBay and modifying it to use a cheaper lamp may not be such a bad idea...
Regarding the Ushio retrofit lamps: I think the emission spectrum in the lamp data sheet may be a bit misleading. It looks like the lamps make a lot more blue and green than red. But what matters is the total energy integrated over the wavelengths that are perceived as red (and get through the red color filters in the LCD). The highest peak is an orange that will get through the red filters. I think the red area, green area, and blue area are pretty well matched. That is why the Color Rendering index is around 90. (That is better than most MH lamps.) The color temperature is 5200 K. If you include a dichroic IR filter, that will push the color temp up by about 300. 5500 K is the color temp of most LCD backlights, so you end up with very good colors without using any adjustments. (I don't need any.)
I watch DVDs and satellite video on my one and only projector, because I think the "proof is in the pudding". (If you can't watch it, then some technical "enhancement" is worthless.) Every new IR filter, fresnel, lens, mirror, etc. that I try goes into that projector.
Regarding lamp wattage: I have been using 250 Watts for a 95" image, and it is not as bright as I would like. If you want an image that large or larger, then I would suggest you use a 400 Watt lamp. The total amount of light gets spread out over whatever size image you make, so doubling the diagonal image size cuts the brightness by 4. Don't try to make a huge image, or you will only be able to watch it in total darkness.
I am using the Ushio retrofit lamps because they fit my basic philosphy about DIY projection: It only makes sense if you can make something usable for much less than the price of a commercial projector. If a big fresnel lens and a cardboard box over your TV worked well enough, then I would use that!
We could make projectors that are incrementally better by using short-arc lamps, elliptical reflectors, process lenses, dichroic beam splitters with three monochrome LCDs, etc. But then they would cost more to build than buying a new commercial projector.
Actually, I see DIY projection beinng squeezed by the new low-cost commercial projectors that have appeared during the last year. The only advantage we have is that most of the low-end commercial products are stuck at 800 by 600 native resolution.
The other huge advantage we have is that we can use lamps that cost $38 and run for 15000-20000 hours. If we switched to short-arc lamps that cost $250 and run for 2500 hours, then we might as well just get a used commercial projector that uses those lamps. Buying a used commercial projector on eBay and modifying it to use a cheaper lamp may not be such a bad idea...
Regarding the Ushio retrofit lamps: I think the emission spectrum in the lamp data sheet may be a bit misleading. It looks like the lamps make a lot more blue and green than red. But what matters is the total energy integrated over the wavelengths that are perceived as red (and get through the red color filters in the LCD). The highest peak is an orange that will get through the red filters. I think the red area, green area, and blue area are pretty well matched. That is why the Color Rendering index is around 90. (That is better than most MH lamps.) The color temperature is 5200 K. If you include a dichroic IR filter, that will push the color temp up by about 300. 5500 K is the color temp of most LCD backlights, so you end up with very good colors without using any adjustments. (I don't need any.)
I watch DVDs and satellite video on my one and only projector, because I think the "proof is in the pudding". (If you can't watch it, then some technical "enhancement" is worthless.) Every new IR filter, fresnel, lens, mirror, etc. that I try goes into that projector.
Regarding lamp wattage: I have been using 250 Watts for a 95" image, and it is not as bright as I would like. If you want an image that large or larger, then I would suggest you use a 400 Watt lamp. The total amount of light gets spread out over whatever size image you make, so doubling the diagonal image size cuts the brightness by 4. Don't try to make a huge image, or you will only be able to watch it in total darkness.
Wiring
Could anyone post a pic of how you wired this ballast?
This is what I have so far:
1. I have my 120v wire connected to black in the outlet, and the one common to the white. There was an extra common but i just placed a wire nut on it. I also put nuts on all the extra volt wires (seperate).
2. The capacitor: I connect one cap wire from the ballast to one side the of capacitor. The other cap wire I connect to the other side of the capacitor. Thats it.
3. Ignitor?? (CD14): The red wire coming from the ignitor is plugged into the the red of the ballast. The blue is connected to the blue of the ballast. The white is connected to the Common wire of the outlet along with the ballast common.
4. Mogul Socket: The hot is connected to the red ballast and red ignitor. The common is connected to the same ballast and ignitor common.
Is this all right? Just looking for some confirmation before I plug this thing in.
Could anyone post a pic of how you wired this ballast?
This is what I have so far:
1. I have my 120v wire connected to black in the outlet, and the one common to the white. There was an extra common but i just placed a wire nut on it. I also put nuts on all the extra volt wires (seperate).
2. The capacitor: I connect one cap wire from the ballast to one side the of capacitor. The other cap wire I connect to the other side of the capacitor. Thats it.
3. Ignitor?? (CD14): The red wire coming from the ignitor is plugged into the the red of the ballast. The blue is connected to the blue of the ballast. The white is connected to the Common wire of the outlet along with the ballast common.
4. Mogul Socket: The hot is connected to the red ballast and red ignitor. The common is connected to the same ballast and ignitor common.
Is this all right? Just looking for some confirmation before I plug this thing in.
Yes, I believe this is correct. My pj is put away in the shed and it's cold and snowy so I can't go out and check my wiring. But I think you've got it right. They give you an extra common so you don't have to nut soo many wires together.
Would this be good for a 15" enclosed projector? I want the screen to be 120" wide, mainly to be used for sporting events and video games.
120" wide
That would make a 90" tall by 120" wide image with a diagonal size of 150". That will have 2.25 times the area of a 100" diagonal image. If you really need to do that, then maybe you DO need to build a 1000 Watt projector!
But are you sure about that size? You would need to have an enormous room for that, since you should sit back from the screen at least 1.5 times the diagonal distance size. (2 times is more comfortable.) If you sit closer than about 19 feet from such a screen, your eyes and neck would get very tired from moving around so much. Like sitting it the front row of a movie theatre.
With that kind of screen size, you also need to plan very carefully where you will sit, relative to the projector. It does you no good to have a floor to ceiling image if you have to sit behind the projector!
That would make a 90" tall by 120" wide image with a diagonal size of 150". That will have 2.25 times the area of a 100" diagonal image. If you really need to do that, then maybe you DO need to build a 1000 Watt projector!
But are you sure about that size? You would need to have an enormous room for that, since you should sit back from the screen at least 1.5 times the diagonal distance size. (2 times is more comfortable.) If you sit closer than about 19 feet from such a screen, your eyes and neck would get very tired from moving around so much. Like sitting it the front row of a movie theatre.
With that kind of screen size, you also need to plan very carefully where you will sit, relative to the projector. It does you no good to have a floor to ceiling image if you have to sit behind the projector!
lol Thanks Guy, Well maybe not 120" but I want it pretty big. 150" Would be kind of rediculous as my 80" right now looks HUGE. I bought that 400w ballast on ebay that was posted eariler in this thread and I'm going to mount it in my OHP. Its a pretty nice OHP but its only 2000 lumens so I gutted it. I'm gonna see what my Telex Magnabyte looks like with the 400w and I'll just go from there and decide if I'm going to build an enclosed one with a 15" panel.
It hasnt shipped yet. I still have to contact to seller for shipping info. It should be around 12 bucks since I live in New York. Guy Grotke lives farther from the shipper. than I do and his was only 12 bucks. I'm not in a hurry right now as I still need to build my box. Brainchild sent me the free lumenlab guide today so I plan on building the LL one to the exact.
Okay mine came today. It was 40 bucks total to ship to New York, it took 3 days. Guy Grotke can you please post a picture of how you wired this? It would be appreciated. Thank you.
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