Firehouse Technology led strobes

[BingErr]

About to pull the trigger on a set of strobe leds, mostly for a little assistance in keeping (obtaining) VLOS easier when not watching the ipad mini4 shooting video.
Or if / when someone in authority may come up behind me and ask where my drone is.

Those look VERY similar to the CREE STROBE lights I bought off eBay, but can also be found on Amazon. I'm sure they work just the same as mine.

Amazon.com : Strobon 3 Pack Cree Navigation Battery Operated Strobe Lights for Drones (White Red Green) : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Strobon 3 Pack Cree Navigation Battery Operated Strobe Lights for Drones (White Red Green) : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

Very light and very bright. Easy to stick on with just a piece of Velcro. I was able to see my drone easily at 8000 ft. I wouldn't go with anything bigger.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Those look VERY similar to the CREE STROBE lights I bought off eBay, but can also be found on Amazon. I'm sure they work just the same as mine.

Amazon.com : Strobon 3 Pack Cree Navigation Battery Operated Strobe Lights for Drones (White Red Green) : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Strobon 3 Pack Cree Navigation Battery Operated Strobe Lights for Drones (White Red Green) : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

Very light and very bright. Easy to stick on with just a piece of Velcro. I was able to see my drone easily at 8000 ft. I wouldn't go with anything bigger.

Good video.
A single cree ?
Even so, that's pretty good light, and for US$50 off the Amazon link, decent value.

I honestly can't look at even the FHT Dual white without burning a dead spot in my daytime vision for 10 mins or so, at night it would be even worse, and again, the FHT ARCII with 4 crees they are by far the best light output I've seen.

Might do a test sometime in late dusk light too, we can't fly at night and really these are more for the daytime to aid just finding the mavic when it is required.
If I do a dusk test, most likely I'll have to do so at a certain time / same time for x days running to test each strobe under same light conditions.

I'll do the day test with each light velcroed to the back of the mavic for consistency.

May do a short support video, but most of the results will be simple chart of what light and distance in metres / feet it can be clearly seen, vs unlit flight.

 

[BingErr]

Good video.
A single cree ?
Even so, that's pretty good light, and for US$50 off the Amazon link, decent value.

I honestly can't look at even the FHT Dual white without burning a dead spot in my daytime vision for 10 mins or so, at night it would be even worse, and again, the FHT ARCII with 4 crees they are by far the best light output I've seen.

Might do a test sometime in late dusk light too, we can't fly at night and really these are more for the daytime to aid just finding the mavic when it is required.
If I do a dusk test, most likely I'll have to do so at a certain time / same time for x days running to test each strobe under same light conditions.

I'll do the day test with each light velcroed to the back of the mavic for consistency.

May do a short support video, but most of the results will be simple chart of what light and distance in metres / feet it can be clearly seen, vs unlit flight.

That would be great. I'd love to see your vids and findings. Please post back here or just leave your youtube page and I'll sub it. The Cree Lights I bought was a 3 pack, and I used two so I can still tell orientation at a great distance. Excited to see your results.

 

[Thomas B]

Those look VERY similar to the CREE STROBE lights I bought off eBay, but can also be found on Amazon. I'm sure they work just the same as mine.

Amazon.com : Strobon 3 Pack Cree Navigation Battery Operated Strobe Lights for Drones (White Red Green) : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Strobon 3 Pack Cree Navigation Battery Operated Strobe Lights for Drones (White Red Green) : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

Very light and very bright. Easy to stick on with just a piece of Velcro. I was able to see my drone easily at 8000 ft. I wouldn't go with anything bigger.

Here’s a heads up comparison.

Easily clipped on in mounts from @Aerial-Pixel

 

[Mike4884]

I have 3 of the white arc 2's love them....i have tried a few other strobes and these just kill the game with output ... Mavic_south_oz the guy that owns fht is cool peoples. He should take care of u and get it rectified

 

[BingErr]

Here’s a heads up comparison.

Easily clipped on in mounts from @Aerial-Pixel
View attachment 82510

Really nice clips. Very cool. Can't wait to watch the video when I get off work. Thanks for the followup post.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I have 3 of the white arc 2's love them....i have tried a few other strobes and these just kill the game with output ... Mavic_south_oz the guy that owns fht is cool peoples. He should take care of u and get it rectified

Yep, they emailed me pretty quick, and offered to send a replacement to the US address I used before, or refund the one light.
I think I'll get the replacement, and a few more !!

One would be very handy to take on bushwalks (multi day) in case of emergency.
I can see one of the Spark stobes being very useful in combination with a PLB event, to help people find you on the ground, day or (especially) night.

Also, when doing 4WD trips, one in the vehicle console would be a great idea.
Imagine going off the road and being stuck, this would attract a lot of attention, at night at least . . . or if mechanical or tyre problems at night, placing one on the roof of the car while you do a roadside task ?
Maybe a small rare earth magnet urethaned on the back.

Hoping to fly this weekend, have almost caught up with work since my trip away, and plan to just do a test flight with any updates, reaffirm everything is OK with the MP flight, and test these other strobes.

 

[Mike4884]

Yep, they emailed me pretty quick, and offered to send a replacement to the US address I used before, or refund the one light.
I think I'll get the replacement, and a few more !!

One would be very handy to take on bushwalks (multi day) in case of emergency.
I can see one of the Spark stobes being very useful in combination with a PLB event, to help people find you on the ground, day or (especially) night.

Also, when doing 4WD trips, one in the vehicle console would be a great idea.
Imagine going off the road and being stuck, this would attract a lot of attention, at night at least . . . or if mechanical or tyre problems at night, placing one on the roof of the car while you do a roadside task ?
Maybe a small rare earth magnet urethaned on the back.

Hoping to fly this weekend, have almost caught up with work since my trip away, and plan to just do a test flight with any updates, reaffirm everything is OK with the MP flight, and test these other strobes.

Oh yea i showed these led's to some of my other friends and they can't believe how bright they are....my one buddy bought a few for camping!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Well, today it was a bit windy, got a few spots of rain, but finally got out to try out the new strobes and have a fly !!
I didn't get around to testing the strobes for distance, will do sometime into our Summer (in a couple of months).
There was simply too much wind to fly far, and way too much to photograph and video today

I flew out 4 M1P batteries to less than 30% and a Spark battery to 10%, so a great 5 hrs this morning.

So, here are a few shots of the M1P with just the rear one going, used the ARCII public safety series RED/WHITE, and it was clearly visible against a bright light grey cloud out to 480m at furthest point.
There is no way I could have seen the drone without the light.

Strobing white and red



The stock rear status light



I will get around to testing all that I purchased properly and as scientifically as I can, just need naff all wind, and a good 2km of safe flying area to do it, not over the river estuary like I did today.

Will post up some pics from today in the pics / vid forum, plus have some awesome ship video to edit (will do that on a 2+ hr flight Tuesday).

(Edited typos, darn them !)

 

[AMann]

Yep, they emailed me pretty quick, and offered to send a replacement to the US address I used before, or refund the one light.
I think I'll get the replacement, and a few more !!

One would be very handy to take on bushwalks (multi day) in case of emergency.
I can see one of the Spark stobes being very useful in combination with a PLB event, to help people find you on the ground, day or (especially) night.

Also, when doing 4WD trips, one in the vehicle console would be a great idea.
Imagine going off the road and being stuck, this would attract a lot of attention, at night at least . . . or if mechanical or tyre problems at night, placing one on the roof of the car while you do a roadside task ?
Maybe a small rare earth magnet urethaned on the back.

Hoping to fly this weekend, have almost caught up with work since my trip away, and plan to just do a test flight with any updates, reaffirm everything is OK with the MP flight, and test these other strobes.

I used similar lights when doing cross country night hikes back to the truck when I used to do owl studies. They work very well, even through the forest at night. They would be good to use as a backup light for bikes too.

Firehouse was very quick to send me a replacement when one of mine was acting up also, a great company to work with!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I used similar lights when doing cross country night hikes back to the truck when I used to do owl studies. They work very well, even through the forest at night. They would be good to use as a backup light for bikes too.

Firehouse was very quick to send me a replacement when one of mine was acting up also, a great company to work with!

Yes, they'd be awesome cycling lights, maybe the Duals (aimed low !!), I think the ARCIIs would blind drivers, and that's not a good thing !!
I'm still working out getting a few more to have sent with the Dual they missed for me . . . not sure what I want, think after today I might get a couple of ARCII in straight white, they will be great for 1km + flights for sure . . . I don't do many like that, very rare I will go more than half a km, but I have a couple of flights I'd like to do where a little over 1km.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Here’s the BILs Air descending with the FHT ‘Spark’ strobing.

 

[wendyc]

I really want to get the Firehouse Arc II lights, even just one, tight budget, but either they wont send to me here in New Zealand or charge an arm and a leg to do so, I've spent hours researching on the net. . One quote was NZD 135.33 - Shipping . I love living here but getting stuff is painful, none in NZ

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

One ARCII would probably be ample, I can see my dual white flashing even from the side a little.
It’s easy to do a little slow turn if needed, if one is placed on the back area of a drone for example.
Yes that’s crazy pricing wendyc . . . even by Australian pricing, which is bad enough (one small drone shop importer / distributor).
If you don’t fly too far (maybe just need that little extra assistance finding your drones in the sky sometimes), maybe the Cree Strobon (Flytron) is an option in that case ?
(ARCIIs are blinding !!)
These might be more affordable and / or easier to source ?
I’m going to send you a message too, so keep an eye out for that later.

 

[wendyc]

One ARCII would probably be ample, I can see my dual white flashing even from the side a little.
It’s easy to do a little slow turn if needed, if one is placed on the back area of a drone for example.
Yes that’s crazy pricing wendyc . . . even by Australian pricing, which is bad enough (one small drone shop importer / distributor).
If you don’t fly too far (maybe just need that little extra assistance finding your drones in the sky sometimes), maybe the Cree Strobon (Flytron) is an option in that case ?
(ARCIIs are blinding !!)
These might be more affordable and / or easier to source ?
I’m going to send you a message too, so keep an eye out for that later.

Thank you! I lose my drone all the time, I need bright lights

 

[dronerdave]

I just purchased a couple strobes that Firehouse is calling the Spark. $29.99 US. I also see it offered on Amazon as TOPSUN drone strobe. They're a bit brighter than the Arc-II's and have a magnifier dome that helps seeing the flash at angles the Arc-II would be difficult to see. Only flashes in white but the on/off switch is much easier to use. They are larger than the Arc-II's though. I'd be more incline to have one of these on the bottom if your aircraft has room for it. They say 3 hour run time but haven't tested it yet other than a few minutes. On a side note, a buddy bought a strobe from Amazon made by FUNTEN. He tested it and the thing caught fire and burned a hole in his carpet. So I'd test all these strobe before using them. I have yet to experiance any trouble with Firehouse's line of strobes and prefer to deal directly with them.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

That’s a good strobe @dronerdave
Post 52 above shows a short video clip of one I bought on my BILs Air.
I’m not 100% sure it’s brighter than an ARCII, has 5 cree leds vs ARC 4, but leds vary a lot in output.
I put a Dual on my Spark (drone) RH side under front arm, aiming slightly down.
I can see that from a surprising angle, but yeah the Spark strobe dome throws like out well.
Velcro on each battery underneath the Air was the only place we could fit it.

 

[dronerdave]

I hate to say that I tested the Spark strobe and found they were more difficult to see as compared to the Arc-II's in full sun. I did this on a fixed wing plane to see what it looked like at various angles and heights. I actually was able to see the Arc-II red and green strobes much easier than the Spark (which is white) at the same angles and distances. I did not expect that. It might be totally different at dawn or dusk though but for daylight the Arc-II white strobes seem to rule. I plan to do more tests as this wasn't a long distance test. The Spark is supposed to have higher lumes (five emmiters vs four) so it might be brighter at a further distance and might be seen easier at odd angles but close by it failed IMO.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Arc-II white strobes seem to rule. I plan to do more tests as this wasn't a long distance test. The Spark is supposed to have higher lumes (five emmiters vs four)

Both ARCII and the Spark strobe are listed by FHT as having 600 lumen output, led count isn't ever easy when there are so many various rated cree leds used.

That said, I think the ARCII will have a slight edge with visibility, those leds are just dazzling to look at, and no dispersed light as with the Spark and the dome lens to scatter light to lower angles.

 

[dronerdave]

Both ARCII and the Spark strobe are listed by FHT as having 600 lumen output, led count isn't ever easy when there are so many various rated cree leds used.

That said, I think the ARCII will have a slight edge with visibility, those leds are just dazzling to look at, and no dispersed light as with the Spark and the dome lens to scatter light to lower angles.

For some reason I thought the Arc-II were 500. It did surprise me how much more I could see the Arc-II's in the test. Perhaps dead on the Spark might be as visible but if it's slightly off angle you seem to lose it quickly against a bright sky background. On my Mavic Pro I've been able to see my Arc-II strobes against green hills over a 1/2 mile out. I was only up about 50 feet on this test and although I could see the spark, it looked more like the blink mode on the Arc-II. The Spark also has limited run times compared to the Arc-II strobes. Too bad Firehouse doesn't package the Arc series in a similar case with a nice mode switch.