After hearing about these setups, I've gotten a lot more interested.. however, I'm having a hard time finding an example of such a bulb on websites other than diylabs.org... Can anyone help me out with either a link to, or the model of the exact bulb I need? I'd be going with the 250W...
Thanks
Ben
Thanks
Ben
HQI bulbs
Hello - this is Alan from www.diylabs.org. In addition to the HQI on my website, you can also purchase them at a lot of aquarium supplly websites like www.marinedepot.com, but what you'll find is that the cheapest bulbs out there are $90. The bulbs I carry are the exact same as the other bulbs out there, but I don't jack up my prices like everyone else does. I'm actually pretty proud of this bulb - $90 used to be a cheap price for an HQI bulb until I started carrying them. Maybe that will eventually teach other venders to not charge so much markup in the future.
Let me know if you have any questions. I don't know the part number for these bulbs off the top of my head, but I know that you want to make sure to get a bulb that has at least 4000k color temp. You can go to a 10,000k bulb in theory, but some of those bulbs have strange spectrums that make them look greenish - not good for projection. And I found the hard way that none of those online stores will take back a bulb if you've already lit it, so trial and error ends up being an expensive test method. That's another reason I think that my site as well as diyaudio is so good - once one person does a test, nobody else has to waste money trying to figure it out for themselves.
Hello - this is Alan from www.diylabs.org. In addition to the HQI on my website, you can also purchase them at a lot of aquarium supplly websites like www.marinedepot.com, but what you'll find is that the cheapest bulbs out there are $90. The bulbs I carry are the exact same as the other bulbs out there, but I don't jack up my prices like everyone else does. I'm actually pretty proud of this bulb - $90 used to be a cheap price for an HQI bulb until I started carrying them. Maybe that will eventually teach other venders to not charge so much markup in the future.
Let me know if you have any questions. I don't know the part number for these bulbs off the top of my head, but I know that you want to make sure to get a bulb that has at least 4000k color temp. You can go to a 10,000k bulb in theory, but some of those bulbs have strange spectrums that make them look greenish - not good for projection. And I found the hard way that none of those online stores will take back a bulb if you've already lit it, so trial and error ends up being an expensive test method. That's another reason I think that my site as well as diyaudio is so good - once one person does a test, nobody else has to waste money trying to figure it out for themselves.
Neo, Alan's right, I searched for two days for a 250W Bulb/ballast, and everyone is much more expensive. I believe Alan is keeping his prices extremely low, with almost zero profit mainly in the interest of the DIY projection community.
Light kits and pricing
Snootch, thanks for the backup. I've made my profit margin as low as I possibly can, especially on those metal halide parts. The only way I could possibly get these ballasts for less money is if I were to order hundreds of them from the manufacturer at once, but because my profit margin is so low, there is no way I could afford to do that.
I assure everyone that I truly am in this for the DIY people - not for myself. When I first joined in on the DIY projector idea, it was so hard to find parts and they were so expensive. The lens triplet that I sell is one that was originally made for 3m. They still sell this lens as a replacement part at a cost of $100 per lens! The markup out there is incredible, and it makes me mad, so I decided to offer the same parts and nearly 0% markup. Those other venders have been ripping people off forever, and it only discourages people from buying anything or trying to build their own stuff like these projectors. I'll continue to work hard to keep my prices as low as possible. Thank you for your support.
Snootch, thanks for the backup. I've made my profit margin as low as I possibly can, especially on those metal halide parts. The only way I could possibly get these ballasts for less money is if I were to order hundreds of them from the manufacturer at once, but because my profit margin is so low, there is no way I could afford to do that.
I assure everyone that I truly am in this for the DIY people - not for myself. When I first joined in on the DIY projector idea, it was so hard to find parts and they were so expensive. The lens triplet that I sell is one that was originally made for 3m. They still sell this lens as a replacement part at a cost of $100 per lens! The markup out there is incredible, and it makes me mad, so I decided to offer the same parts and nearly 0% markup. Those other venders have been ripping people off forever, and it only discourages people from buying anything or trying to build their own stuff like these projectors. I'll continue to work hard to keep my prices as low as possible. Thank you for your support.
You rock Alan! That's a really cool thing to do for the DIY'ers, many who otherwise couldn't afford to do it, due to the inflated costs of other retailers. P.S. - I'll be ordering my 250w HQI kit next paycheck. 
Glad to be of help
I'm glad to be of service. Thanks again for your kind comments. I'll continue to update my website and try to improve the parts and services available through the website. I might put a private chat room together that is accessible through the website. Do you think that anyone would be interested in that?
I'm glad to be of service. Thanks again for your kind comments. I'll continue to update my website and try to improve the parts and services available through the website. I might put a private chat room together that is accessible through the website. Do you think that anyone would be interested in that?
I would probably stop in to chat. Would be nice to get real time answeres, feedback and ideas in realtime without the forum getting in the way of the ideas. Needs to have a logging function though, it's invaluable to remembering exactly what the great idea was from last weeks chat.
Didnt someone here have an IRC channel for DIY Projection?
CB.
Didnt someone here have an IRC channel for DIY Projection?
CB.
Alan, I would reccomend an IRC channel. You can host it on one of the many public servers available, or there are comapnies that offer IRCd hosting(your own IRC server). Running it on a public IRC server is completly free. IRC channels can be accessed through a web-based java IRC client(so users do not have to download any software), or from any IRC client. IRC is also easy to log. Anyone with a broadband connection can log the chat easily. If you need help setting one up, I have a fair amount of IRC experience, and can probably help you. My AIM handle is Ehuwiko(same as my nick here).
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