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#11
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
"Maywood" wrote in message t... Ok, but has anyone really tried this? The information on the Vagabond/Alien Bees is that the flash units may be damaged by anything other than a true sine wave inverter. You will destroy your units if you don't use a true sine wave inverter. You do not have to use the Vagabond, but you MUST use a sine wave unit. Tom |
#12
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
"Tom" wrote in message news:C7dLb.88350$I07.421698@attbi_s53... "Maywood" wrote in message t... Ok, but has anyone really tried this? The information on the Vagabond/Alien Bees is that the flash units may be damaged by anything other than a true sine wave inverter. You will destroy your units if you don't use a true sine wave inverter. You do not have to use the Vagabond, but you MUST use a sine wave unit. Tom So how do you know if it is a true sine wave, put it on an O-scope? Patrick |
#13
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
Patrick L. wrote:
So how do you know if it is a true sine wave, put it on an O-scope? Patrick Sine wave inverters are declared as such. They cost more too. -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch. |
#14
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
Bobs wrote:
On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:42:13 GMT, "Patrick L." wrote: The whole Vagabond thing is very expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative? Patrick Seems to me that all they're using is a 12V DC/AC converter (inverter) to supply 110V power to the flash. Can't you find something like this at Radio Shack or elsewhere? Just make a compact bundle out of a lead-acid 12V battery (the kind used in UPS units) and the inverter, that's all there is to it. Read Tom's post. I heartilly concur. The P/S in monolights (in fact many electronic products) do not handle the power generated by a 'chopping' inverter. Sine only. The thing they (Alien Bees, et al) don't tell you is that they could design their P/S to handle choppers (bigger P/S caps, isolation trasformer, better P/S design), but it would drive up the size, weight and cost of the unit. In the end this is the right decision as most strobe shooting is in a studio. http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1410.htm these go up to 600 watts which might not be enough for two AlienBees when they recycle. http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1395.htm is a lot more $ but can probably handle a couple AlienBees 800's. Cheers, Alan. -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch. |
#15
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
"Alan Browne" wrote in message ... Bobs wrote: On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:42:13 GMT, "Patrick L." wrote: The whole Vagabond thing is very expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative? Patrick Seems to me that all they're using is a 12V DC/AC converter (inverter) to supply 110V power to the flash. Can't you find something like this at Radio Shack or elsewhere? Just make a compact bundle out of a lead-acid 12V battery (the kind used in UPS units) and the inverter, that's all there is to it. Read Tom's post. I heartilly concur. The P/S in monolights (in fact many electronic products) do not handle the power generated by a 'chopping' inverter. Sine only. The thing they (Alien Bees, et al) don't tell you is that they could design their P/S to handle choppers (bigger P/S caps, isolation trasformer, better P/S design), but it would drive up the size, weight and cost of the unit. In the end this is the right decision as most strobe shooting is in a studio. http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1410.htm these go up to 600 watts which might not be enough for two AlienBees when they recycle. http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1395.htm is a lot more $ but can probably handle a couple AlienBees 800's. Cheers, Alan. -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch. They're more than the Vagabond, which was designed for AlienBees, and so I guess I will have to go with the Vagabond. Thanks, all. Patrick |
#16
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
Dave wrote:
There is an alternative, but without the nice carrying bag. Wal-Mart has a portable 15 Amp Hour vehicle battery/DC Power Source with its own charger for about $40.00. They also have a 350 watt inverter for about $60.00. ....I don't know if 350W is enough to handle two 800's during a 1/1 recyle...sounds like a stretch. |
#17
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
Patrick L. wrote:
So how do you know if it is a true sine wave, put it on an O-scope? Patrick At a Canadian Tire (hardware/automotive) store yesterday I saw some inverters (175W and 700W). Both of them had explicit "NON-SINUSOIDAL" warnings on the data plate. This doesn't mean that all manufacturers put that warning on their plates, but at least this manufacturer did. Cheers, Alan |
#18
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
Hi ,
The Alien Bees will only work with a true sine wave power inverter. If you don't use one it will damage the bees. Check out www.alienbees.com "Alan Browne" wrote in message .. . Dave wrote: There is an alternative, but without the nice carrying bag. Wal-Mart has a portable 15 Amp Hour vehicle battery/DC Power Source with its own charger for about $40.00. They also have a 350 watt inverter for about $60.00. ...I don't know if 350W is enough to handle two 800's during a 1/1 recyle...sounds like a stretch. |
#19
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
Robert Brodie wrote:
Hi , The Alien Bees will only work with a true sine wave power inverter. If you don't use one it will damage the bees. Check out www.alienbees.com ....missed the rest of the thread when it was still news, didya? |
#20
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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery
On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 02:47:59 GMT, "Patrick L."
wrote: "Alan Browne" wrote in message .. . Bobs wrote: On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:42:13 GMT, "Patrick L." wrote: The whole Vagabond thing is very expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative? I've often thought that these Vagabond gadgets could be easily cobbled together from a common DC-AC converter, and a great many of them now produce quasi-sinewave output, so should in theory work all right. The problem that I see with these is the very large inrush current that occurs during the first period following each flash. Studio flashes can draw upwards of 80 amps and more during these short transients--usually to short a period to blow fuses, unless you fire in quick succession. So my concern would be that an inverter of this type may need to have higher capacity than expected in order to handle these transient inrush currents. I'd be anxious to hear if anyone has any luck with this. Also consider that D-size NiMH cells having a 9 amp-hour capacity and solder tabs are available (on eBay and elsewhere), and 10 of these might make an ideal battery for this. |
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