Firehouse Technology led strobes

[DGNOO]

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.

So, I thought the ARCII 4 led ones would be best, but they are fairly large !
1.5" x 1" (~ 38mm x 25mm) to be precise.
With a 230mah battery on board, they have a strobe run time of about 6 hrs, which is nice.

I also recall someone here saying they are that bright, if you look at them when taking off / landing, you can give yourself a bit of 'led burn' in the eyes for a minute or two, a bit like mucking up your night vision looking at a torch light at night.

I was looking at this ARCII set on their site, 2 sets / 4 units (2 white, 1 of ea green / red), they don't have size specs on there, not sure why, I found that info on other sites . . .

drone strobe lights

drone strobe lights

www.firehousetechnology.com

So . . . I looked through Firehouse Techs website, and besides the ARCIIs on special they have the dual cree model.
This one is for 2 lights (it's cheaper than their 3 light package), so I was going to get one pair as white white, and another in red / green.

"Dual" Strobe Light 2-Pack For DJI Inspire 1 2 Mavic Pro Phantom Spark Quadcopters RC Plane

Motorcycle stereo speakers radio atv drone strobe lights dji strobe faa 107 anti collision lights drone spotlights uas strobe drones dji mavic mavic pro inspire phantom spark matrice

www.firehousetechnology.com

So, has anyone had both, or just the duals, and can say they were happy with them in relation to reasonable daylight and dusk VLOS assistance ?
Do people running ARCIIs think dual 2 leds would be enough for them ?

I'm not sure about comparison to the 4 led ARCIIs (would it be basically twice as bright ?), but they both use 5w cree, the dual having 2 led (obviously ) and the ARCII uses 4 led.

The duals will certainly be nicer size when fitting to legs / arms of the MP.
Not too fussed about the dual strobe battery being only 90mah, it is supposed to give a run time of 2+ hrs, more than enough for 4 batteries.

Feedback or thoughts appreciated.

Hi on my Mavic 2 Pro work great.
Cheers
??

 

[GGehret]

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.

So, I thought the ARCII 4 led ones would be best, but they are fairly large !
1.5" x 1" (~ 38mm x 25mm) to be precise.
With a 230mah battery on board, they have a strobe run time of about 6 hrs, which is nice.

I also recall someone here saying they are that bright, if you look at them when taking off / landing, you can give yourself a bit of 'led burn' in the eyes for a minute or two, a bit like mucking up your night vision looking at a torch light at night.

I was looking at this ARCII set on their site, 2 sets / 4 units (2 white, 1 of ea green / red), they don't have size specs on there, not sure why, I found that info on other sites . . .

drone strobe lights

drone strobe lights

www.firehousetechnology.com

So . . . I looked through Firehouse Techs website, and besides the ARCIIs on special they have the dual cree model.
This one is for 2 lights (it's cheaper than their 3 light package), so I was going to get one pair as white white, and another in red / green.

"Dual" Strobe Light 2-Pack For DJI Inspire 1 2 Mavic Pro Phantom Spark Quadcopters RC Plane

Motorcycle stereo speakers radio atv drone strobe lights dji strobe faa 107 anti collision lights drone spotlights uas strobe drones dji mavic mavic pro inspire phantom spark matrice

www.firehousetechnology.com

So, has anyone had both, or just the duals, and can say they were happy with them in relation to reasonable daylight and dusk VLOS assistance ?
Do people running ARCIIs think dual 2 leds would be enough for them ?

I'm not sure about comparison to the 4 led ARCIIs (would it be basically twice as bright ?), but they both use 5w cree, the dual having 2 led (obviously ) and the ARCII uses 4 led.

The duals will certainly be nicer size when fitting to legs / arms of the MP.
Not too fussed about the dual strobe battery being only 90mah, it is supposed to give a run time of 2+ hrs, more than enough for 4 batteries.

Feedback or thoughts appreciated.

I have a pair of the white Firehouse cree LED strobes on mine--the 4 lights one. I really like them. I out one on the front facing forward, of course, and one on the opposite corner on the back arm, facing outward--that way I can see my drone flying in either direction. They really help me keep VLOS, especially if the sky is blue or dark. When my VLOS lines up with while clouds, it's a little harder, but if I lose sight, I just bring her home my way until I catch sight of the strobes again. I know the 4-led set is more expensive, but, in the end, they ARE worth it, at least for me. I also think they help scare birds off too--just my opinion.

 

[DGNOO]

I have a pair of the white Firehouse cree LED strobes on mine--the 4 lights one. I really like them. I out one on the front facing forward, of course, and one on the opposite corner on the back arm, facing outward--that way I can see my drone flying in either direction. They really help me keep VLOS, especially if the sky is blue or dark. When my VLOS lines up with while clouds, it's a little harder, but if I lose sight, I just bring her home my way until I catch sight of the strobes again. I know the 4-led set is more expensive, but, in the end, they ARE worth it, at least for me. I also think they help scare birds off too--just my opinion.

I have 2 white ArcsII on the front
Legs and one red in the middle of the back on the butt stuck on with 3m very heavy duty Velcro and works great. ??

 

[JimD19]

@Thomas B , is that the ARC II 4-LED system in that photo? Also, it looks like the mounts for the LEDs are integrated into leg extenders. Am I seeing that right? If so, who makes those?

 

[JimD19]

Do any of you have experience with the Lume Cube?

 

[Hauptmann]

Do any of you have experience with the Lume Cube?

I bought 2 Lume Cubes, but haven't tried distance/visibility tests yet--been too dang hot here in Texas. Did an indoor hover test with one cube mounted: Hover time decreased by 4 minutes! I'm concerned about reduced flight time with 1 and 2 cubes mounted.

I'm planning a trip to San Francisco Sept 6, where I'll test for distance/visibility and flight time. I'll post the results, of course.

Stay tuned!

 

[dronerdave]

Out drones are of course unusual in their use of these lights, but would the white also not be any sort of potential problem with the strobing and white showing in forward video ?
This has been noted to not be a problem for red / green, but white is the brightest of these, and it could be a problem at dusk etc in low light, or if there was a little haze / dust in the air.

At dawn or dusk the white strobe in front of my MP points down. When landing it really lights up the ground
when they flash that is easily seen in the camera. But I haven't seen what it would do to video if on the front facing forward. Maybe Thomas B can answer that.

Well I realize The Strobes assist in v l o s, they also invoke the law of unintended consequences. They provide attention to and a target for "Purple Necks" (privacy crazed nitwit with gun). I would carefully Ponder this before turning them on in rural or semi rural areas.

As far as idiots shooting at your flashing drone, yeah there are places where I leave them off. I try to fly at places away from people but if I'm flying at a rural spot that's public property and there are a few people around I usually leave them on. I've had a few comment why the lights and I tell them first that with the lights on it's obvious I'm not snooping or spying. Then I tell them they are actually anti collision lights because the aircraft is registered with the FAA.

Also they can help to locate your quad if it does go down for some reason.

 

[dronerdave]

I bought 2 Lume Cubes, but haven't tried distance/visibility tests yet--been too dang hot here in Texas. Did an indoor hover test with one cube mounted: Hover time decreased by 4 minutes! I'm concerned about reduced flight time with 1 and 2 cubes mounted.

I'm planning a trip to San Francisco Sept 6, where I'll test for distance/visibility and flight time. I'll post the results, of course.

Stay tuned!

That doesn't seem right. I'd try an outdoor flight just to compare.

 

[GGehret]

@Thomas B , is that the ARC II 4-LED system in that photo? Also, it looks like the mounts for the LEDs are integrated into leg extenders. Am I seeing that right? If so, who makes those?

I bought very nice holders from a person on ETSY who 3-d prints them. Just go to Etsy and type in what you are looking for. Make sure they are for your correct drone.

 

[JimD19]

Thanks, @GGehret .

 

[RobW01]

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.

So, I thought the ARCII 4 led ones would be best, but they are fairly large !
1.5" x 1" (~ 38mm x 25mm) to be precise.
With a 230mah battery on board, they have a strobe run time of about 6 hrs, which is nice.

I also recall someone here saying they are that bright, if you look at them when taking off / landing, you can give yourself a bit of 'led burn' in the eyes for a minute or two, a bit like mucking up your night vision looking at a torch light at night.

I was looking at this ARCII set on their site, 2 sets / 4 units (2 white, 1 of ea green / red), they don't have size specs on there, not sure why, I found that info on other sites . . .

drone strobe lights

drone strobe lights

www.firehousetechnology.com

So . . . I looked through Firehouse Techs website, and besides the ARCIIs on special they have the dual cree model.
This one is for 2 lights (it's cheaper than their 3 light package), so I was going to get one pair as white white, and another in red / green.

"Dual" Strobe Light 2-Pack For DJI Inspire 1 2 Mavic Pro Phantom Spark Quadcopters RC Plane

Motorcycle stereo speakers radio atv drone strobe lights dji strobe faa 107 anti collision lights drone spotlights uas strobe drones dji mavic mavic pro inspire phantom spark matrice

www.firehousetechnology.com

So, has anyone had both, or just the duals, and can say they were happy with them in relation to reasonable daylight and dusk VLOS assistance ?
Do people running ARCIIs think dual 2 leds would be enough for them ?

I'm not sure about comparison to the 4 led ARCIIs (would it be basically twice as bright ?), but they both use 5w cree, the dual having 2 led (obviously ) and the ARCII uses 4 led.

The duals will certainly be nicer size when fitting to legs / arms of the MP.
Not too fussed about the dual strobe battery being only 90mah, it is supposed to give a run time of 2+ hrs, more than enough for 4 batteries.

Feedback or thoughts appreciated.

I have a pair of Firehouse Tech white 4 LED Arc2s mounted on the rear arms.That way the strobing doesn’t affect the camera. The mounts are from Aerial Pixel. The Arc2s are excellent, allowing you to see the kite easily at. 400 metres plus metres in bright sunlight and much further in darker conditions. I also have a pair of single Strobon Crees, which I bought first. They don’t help much in bright sunlight but are okay around dusk. White is by. Far the brightest option in both cases.

 

[Thomas B]

@Thomas B , is that the ARC II 4-LED system in that photo? Also, it looks like the mounts for the LEDs are integrated into leg extenders. Am I seeing that right? If so, who makes those?

@JimD19 ... they are ARC2s. They are mounted in Aerial Pixel mounts. The front fit on the legs over my PolarPro landing gear.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I know the 4-led set is more expensive, but, in the end, they ARE worth it, at least for me.

They aren't that much more than the dual leds really, and I know the ARCIIs would give more bang for buck for sure.
I will get the one ARCII red / white strobe, I think having that available to put on the back will be the telling factor when comparing to how I can see the duals.
I am pretty sure the duals with their far smaller footprint will be ample for me on the std arms setup, but I'll do a comparison report on all of them (inc the little spark strobe module I will place underneath) once I receive and have played with all of them on the MP.

I'll take them out and reports distances of visibility for them all.

Anyway, catch up with BIL this weekend and see if he wants any too, and order them at last.
Could take a month to get them shipped US, then picked up and brought back, or posted to me here in Australia.

Cheers all for the feedback.

 

[Hudsonguy]

I have a couple sets of these 4 diode strobe. I have grey rubbery holders that work better than the black plastic ones that break.

In full strobe they are crazy bright. In slow strobe they are more manageable, but in the end don’t look at them.

I have fast strobe white on top with slow strobe green on right front and and slow strobe red on left front .

I have a Mavic 2 Zoom with an LED underneath that can be turned on/off with the controller.

The bird is visible and with practice you can figure out the orientation relative to you.

For night time practice I turned the red and green to full on. I have considered single diode red /green (in addition) pointed down to improve my night time instincts and get better comfort with full strobe orientation.

I haven’t needed them it because I have a pretty safe flying area. Turning the under carriage light on helps a ton.

Secretly I’d like to stealth fly at night , but I’m a rule follower and have too much respect for the hardworking folks who keep our airspace regulated.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

About to pull the trigger . . .

Trigger pulled !!
Now, to wait for the US delivery leg on their journey, then the on-posting to the 'land down under'.

I just checked on the US delivery leg, FHT in Willoughby OH is only 495 miles inland from my NJ delivery on the coast

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Whoo hoo !!
Just back from a 3 week working trip interstate, and FHT order was waiting !!!
Shipping to niece in NJ, and then straight into another bubble pack to Australia 1st class post (took 12 days or so).

Only one small problem, to touch on later in this post, but firstly what I ordered and first impressions . . .

FHT Duals 2 x 2 (twin) pk
2 x white
1 x green / 1 x red

All perfect, no sign of irregularities as was seen quite some time ago in various threads.
All were almost fully charged when received, charging light indicators, switch functions for strobe, flash, and on all work perfectly.
VERY bright !! I think these will easily do me to help keep craft in VLOS and locateable to the eye in most all circumstances.

FHT ARCII public safety series
1 x white / red combo
Just to try
Again, all works perfectly, and yeah, the ARCIIs are bright ! (Overkill ?)
The red / white combo (and probably moreso the red / blue) is probably a little less hurtful to the eyes / vision.

FHT 'Spark' strobe light
Nothing to do with the DJI drone of same name . . .
This is a beaut little light !
A bit bulkier than dual, and bulk / weight a little more than arcII even, but totally self contained in neat package and awesome visibility !!
The dome magnifier works. Well.
If you put this on your drone top / underbelly, you will see it to some effect at 90 degrees forward or back etc.
5 x hi intensity crees it is hard to look at for long.

My BIL has an air, and with sensors / drone size, he had issues fitting something that will give him good almost 180 degree view.
This Spark light fits on the rear above sensors over the hatch there.
He's very impressed with it's performance, just turns drone to find it if needed.
The only thing is this light simply strobes, no flash or fixed on settings, but is IP67 dust / waterproof.

Ok, so my only problem ?
FHT only shipped one of the dual whites, probably a picker confused by the order info . . .

Order Summary

"Dual" Strobe Light 2-Pack For DJI Inspire 1 2 Mavic Pro Phantom Spark Quadcopters RC Plane Color: white Qty: 1 $44.99​ "Dual" Strobe Light 2-Pack For DJI Inspire 1 2 Mavic Pro Phantom Spark Quadcopters RC Plane Color: RED/GREEN Qty: 1 $44.99​ "Spark" UAS Commercial White Drone Strobe Light 600 Lumen FAA 107 Compliant IP67 Rated Fits all DJI Autel Parrot Yuneec Drones and RC Aircraft Qty: 2 $59.98​ "ARC" Public Safety Series Police/ Fire Cree LED Strobe Light for Drones FAA 107.29 Color: Red/White Qty: 1 $32.99​ The first 2 items are the duals, and the red / green info is great, shows there is 2 items in those colours. I think FHT need to list the white 2 pk as Color: WHITE / WHITE to avoid confusion when picking items for the orders. I've emailed them about it, asking if they trust me on it being missing and if they can complete the order. Main problem is shipping, they won't normally ship direct Australia. I've offered to get a 4 pk ARCIIs as well, and ship again via NJ . . . if they can trust me on this. I will use them as a light for night / dusk cycling, and also take with me as a locator strobe in case of emergency situs when bushwalking (backcountry hiking). Also said if they can't trust me the order was short by that one dual white light, then I understand. Will see what they reply with in the coming days.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Oh, when I get a chance, I'm going to test these and post the results . . . fly out against a blue sky and test both VLOS for no light, and then for each of these lights.
Should be easy to do with metres distance, and give some real feedback on just how good they all perform.

Hopefully within a week or so, have come back to a heap of work here at home too !!

 

[Thomas B]

Oh, when I get a chance, I'm going to test these and post the results . . . fly out against a blue sky and test both VLOS for no light, and then for each of these lights.
Should be easy to do with metres distance, and give some real feedback on just how good they all perform.

Hopefully within a week or so, have come back to a heap of work here at home too !!

Here’s a test... at night though, from our own @Aerial-Pixel

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Here’s a test... at night though, from our own @Aerial-Pixel

Thanks Thomas, yes have watched that a couple of times.
Gave me the idea to do same in daylight.

We can't fly at night in Australia, I think RePL (part 107) licenced pilots also need special night clearance training here too.

 

[Thomas B]

Thanks Thomas, yes have watched that a couple of times.
Gave me the idea to do same in daylight.

We can't fly at night in Australia, I think RePL (part 107) licenced pilots also need special night clearance training here too.

Should give you an idea about VLOS, but I would suggest that relative brightness will not change.
Interested to see your test and results.