Searchlight for a quad

[Augerin]

Ok, this may sound a bit crazy.

When I';ve built my 450 type quad I';m thinking about what I can use it for. I live on a small farm and there have been lots of thefts and break-ins all around me. One idea I have is to mount a searchlight below the quad and have it fly around the perimeter using waypoints. Also mounted will be a sound card with some voice warning that I can activate. Of course I will have to get out of bed in the middle of the night, but I hope that the sight of it will be a deterrent. It';s a sort of a security drone. See, I said it was crazy!

Does anyone have any ideas for such a searchlight? It needs to be compact and light. Flying height will be about 20m so it also needs to be reasonably powerful. Would concentric circles of bright white LED';s cut the mustard? Any ideas would be gratefully received, crazy or not!

[SimonS]

Since it is a deterrant it just has to look bright. Leds look bright if you look at them but don';t actually consume too much power.

couple of these should do the trick - http://www.ledbulbsuk.co.uk/mr16-high-power-led-spot-bulb-4w-p-269.html

[guest325]

You would probably need something like 10 watts of LED';s to get anything like a decent illumination, that';s about equivalent of 200 watts incandescent. You would need a good reflector, maybe a plastic cup shape electroless plated and then the power supply; I suspect weight would present a problem.
Good luck with it!!

[Augerin]

Umm, four of those MR16';s might do it. That';s only 16W. They have a reflector built in as well. Worth thinking about. 

[macspite]

Umm, four of those MR16';s might do it. That';s only 16W. They have a reflector built in as well. Worth thinking about. 

If my brain is working correctly then from a 3S lipo four of them  would be sucking less 2 amps so you don';t need that big a battery - I';d recommend a separate battery as a source for the lights. Depends on the weight of the lights of course but I would have thought a quad with a 600 gram payload should cope well with the "son et lumiere" thief scaring device

[Augerin]

I would have thought a quad with a 600 gram payload should cope well with the "son et lumiere" thief scaring device

Thart made oi larf!!!

Yes, I was going to use a separate lipo. Maybe have a flashing blue light on top as well!!

[Jumpy07]

They seem to have made something similar for the Phantom

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dji-Phantom-High-Power-search-light-11-1V-1300LUX-Not-out-until-summer-2013-UK-/200903597763?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&var=&hash=item2ec6c99ec3

[Biffa]

Would it not be easier just to tape a torch on it?

Seems like a lot of effort working out amp draw and wiring in arrays of LEDs and stuff. I have an LED torch that came from a QD store that runs on 3 AAA batteries and is really quite bright.

Buy a CREE LED torch from Tesco and use some tape, a lot less bovver

[Gaza07]

30 quid for a torch  well worth it not  take biffas advice and get a cheap one from tesco 

They seem to have made something similar for the Phantom

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dji-Phantom-High-Power-search-light-11-1V-1300LUX-Not-out-until-summer-2013-UK-/200903597763?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&var=&hash=item2ec6c99ec3

[Biffa]

I just read the description on that Ebay listing "Fix directly on top of your Dji Phantom with Hot melt Glue for the best result!"

Are they having a laugh

£30 for a torch that you have to glue to your already expensive quad, I think I know what I would tell them to do with it

[Gaza07]

Im not sure I do 

I just read the description on that Ebay listing "Fix directly on top of your Dji Phantom with Hot melt Glue for the best result!"

Are they having a laugh

£30 for a torch that you have to glue to your already expensive quad, I think I know what I would tell them to do with it

[bigbelly]

There are some silly bright out door LED';s that mountain bikers and Road bikers user. They are generally based on the Soeul Semiconductor P7 emitter or as mentioned above the Cree is also a very bright LED.

I got one of these that I ride through London with and very very bright. UK supplier link.

http://www.magicshineonline.co.uk/?gclid=CL-W_OH9j7YCFeXLtAodUGcAbA#/magicshine-mj-808/4559413798

Or - China supplier such as DealXtreme also supply exactly the same light for a lot less but you run  the non-UK supplied gauntlet there.

I bought mine brom DealXtreme about 4 years ago and it';s still going strong.

[Ross]

www.lightingforaeromodellers.co.uk

Half way down the page.

Just thought you might  like to know ....and save money!

[Augerin]

Thanks for the input guys!

The only problem with a ';normal shape'; torch is that it would need to point down, say between 45 to 90 deg from the horizontal. The searchlight that Ross found looks the biz. It could easily be made to point down, and maybe, with a bit of tinkering, be made to be directional. 

No one told me its summer, so how did that Ebay guy get those Phantom ';lets stick it on'; torches? 

[Augerin]

Hi Ross,

Email sent. 

[Flyinegypt]

Very useful thread. I have been looking for some very high intensity LED';s to fit into the front of a Bumblebee Quad. This has given me some idea';s. Also sent email to Lightingforaeromoddlers.

[Tony Campbell]

How about using the kitchen type, spotlight bulbs? They are run from a transformer that gives them 12v. A three cell lipo would do the trick? They would be very directional.

[Cozp83]

Sound like a fun and useful project. Sadly man it ain';t gonna work. You';d have to get out of bed every 8-15 minutes to changes batteries!

Ok, this may sound a bit crazy.

When I';ve built my 450 type quad I';m thinking about what I can use it for. I live on a small farm and there have been lots of thefts and break-ins all around me. One idea I have is to mount a searchlight below the quad and have it fly around the perimeter using waypoints. Also mounted will be a sound card with some voice warning that I can activate. Of course I will have to get out of bed in the middle of the night, but I hope that the sight of it will be a deterrent. It';s a sort of a security drone. See, I said it was crazy!

Does anyone have any ideas for such a searchlight? It needs to be compact and light. Flying height will be about 20m so it also needs to be reasonably powerful. Would concentric circles of bright white LED';s cut the mustard? Any ideas would be gratefully received, crazy or not!

[powerlord]

Have a look at my video on the videos forum. I have a Cree bulb on my gimbal. As on gimbal I can move it up and down, etc. and ultra bright

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=2146.0

Stu

[Cozp83]

i was talking about keeping the quad in the air long enough to fly to each waypoint all night long

[Augerin]

That torch was very impressive!

It was not the intention to fly all night, every night, just to pop out when there was a peak of activity in the area. They are likely to scope me before any theft, so some activity may make them think again. At least it will make me feel better. I used to ask the cops if they could dive by once in a while, but they never did.