Lighting for the MM

lannes · Jan 23, 2020

Capt KO said:
I went as cheap as possible and got these from AliEx work great. Same specs, modes, and time as the more expensive ones. Only place I can find to mount it is on top though. Got it in 11 days from China. Red, green, white, On, strobe, rapid flash. $17.

View attachment 91780 View attachment 91781 View attachment 91782 View attachment 91783

Suggest mounting it on the battery cover, facing backwards.

Capt KO · Jan 23, 2020

lannes said:
Suggest mounting it on the battery cover, facing backwards.

It comes with two mounts and I looked and it might be a good optional place to put it thanks.

Thomas B · Jan 23, 2020

Firehouse ARC XLs got here today as did the @Aerial-Pixel mounts. Charging now... indicator goes green at ful charge. Will get video and open a new thread with review soon.

lannes · Jan 23, 2020

Thomas B said:
Firehouse ARC XLs got here today as did the @Aerial-Pixel mounts. Charging now... indicator goes green at ful charge. Will get video and open a new thread with review soon.
View attachment 91787

Would there be enough room to mount more than one on the MM ?

Thomas B · Jan 23, 2020

lannes said:
Would there be enough room to mount more than one on the MM ?

I believe so depending on the location and any ad-on landing gear... will get you measurements. And also in flight day and night pics.
Maybe @Aerial-Pixel will chime in.
Here’s just an unboxing video... think he does measurements if you’re in a hurry, but I will include them also.

Aerial-Pixel · Jan 23, 2020

lannes said:
Would there be enough room to mount more than one on the MM ?

The ARC XL's are pretty big for the Mavic Mini, I recommend the Firehouse Technology Dual for the Mini. Take a look at the chart below, you can see sizes and weights of all of them and how much bigger the XL is compared to the rest. The dual is the smallest and almost the lightest, but still very bright, a lot of bang-for-your-buck on that one.

lannes · Jan 23, 2020

Aerial-Pixel said:
The ARC XL's are pretty big for the Mavic Mini, I recommend the Firehouse Technology Dual for the Mini. Take a look at the chart below, you can see sizes and weights of all of them and how much bigger the XL is compared to the rest. The dual is the smallest and almost the lightest, but still very bright, a lot of bang-for-your-buck on that one.
View attachment 91798

Does the AR XL have 5x the power output of the Strobon Cree ?

Does the Firehouse Dual Cree have 2x ?

Thomas B · Jan 23, 2020

lannes said:
Does the AR XL have 5x the power output of the Strobon Cree ?

Dunno... but it is much brighter than my ARC2s... Read that so about 20%.
Part of my testing will be to go into the remote AZ desert to check visibility. The lights come with a 2 page document describing the testing in detail and listing 3 miles visibility... much more than one really needs. Here’s the document from the package:

Ron Boger · Jan 25, 2020

I just received 4 Firehouse Arc II lights. USB charged. Perfect fit. Very bright. Multi modes of light. FAA compliant.

ajkm · Jan 25, 2020

ThorDar said:
I'm using the snap adapter believe it or not. Now, I've only used it at night and in twilight and it seems to work pretty well under those lighting conditions. But it's cheap and easily installed and removed. Here's a video I made for my own entertainment and to play around with video editing that shows the snap adapter in use as a strobe.

Registered as a 250+g aircraft?

ThorDar · Jan 26, 2020

ajkm said:
Registered as a 250+g aircraft?

Yup. Already have two other drones registered and have my basic pilot's certificate (Canada) so for me no big deal. Five bucks to register it.

chriscuk · Feb 1, 2020

I recently tested out the ulanzi and was rather underwhelmed almost to the point I wonder if my one is faulty.

Aerial-Pixel · Feb 1, 2020

chriscuk said:
I recently tested out the ulanzi and was rather underwhelmed almost to the point I wonder if my one is faulty.

No the Ulanzi strobe is very dim, probably not even FAA compliant. Stick with anything from Firehouse Technology.

Thomas B · Feb 1, 2020

Here’s 3 vids of the ARC XLs in action at 1500 ft distance and not dark yet.
Unedited... sorry, that’s why there are 3 vids. Vids taken w/my iPhone XMax. No magnification.
Desert testing out to 3 miles will follow. in a separate thread. Thanks to our own @Aerial-Pixel for the mounts. These are on the arms. Next vid will be with the leg mounts which point directly at the camera, expect brighter then.

Just examples of VLOS potential

sirbadger · Feb 1, 2020

Thomas B said:
Here’s 3 vids of the ARC XLs in action at 1500 ft distance and not dark yet.
Unedited... sorry, that’s why there are 3 vids. Vids taken w/my iPhone XMax. No magnification.
Desert testing out to 3 miles will follow. in a separate thread. Thanks to our own @Aerial-Pixel for the mounts. These are on the arms. Next vid will be with the leg mounts which point directly at the camera, expect brighter then.

Just examples of VLOS potential

That's impressive.

Aerial-Pixel · Feb 1, 2020

Thomas B said:
Here’s 3 vids of the ARC XLs in action at 1500 ft distance and not dark yet.
Unedited... sorry, that’s why there are 3 vids. Vids taken w/my iPhone XMax. No magnification.
Desert testing out to 3 miles will follow. in a separate thread. Thanks to our own @Aerial-Pixel for the mounts. These are on the arms. Next vid will be with the leg mounts which point directly at the camera, expect brighter then.

Just examples of VLOS potential

Looks good Tom!

Thanev · Feb 1, 2020

Thomas B said:
Here’s 3 vids of the ARC XLs in action at 1500 ft distance and not dark yet.
Unedited... sorry, that’s why there are 3 vids. Vids taken w/my iPhone XMax. No magnification.
Desert testing out to 3 miles will follow. in a separate thread. Thanks to our own @Aerial-Pixel for the mounts. These are on the arms. Next vid will be with the leg mounts which point directly at the camera, expect brighter then.

Just examples of VLOS potential

Thank you.I know what my next purchase will be now..

Thomas B · Feb 1, 2020

Apologies to all... rear and front titles reversed.. the red and green are on the front arms... going to fast.

douglas_in_philly · Feb 1, 2020

ThorDar said:
I'm using the snap adapter believe it or not. Now, I've only used it at night and in twilight and it seems to work pretty well under those lighting conditions. But it's cheap and easily installed and removed. Here's a video I made for my own entertainment and to play around with video editing that shows the snap adapter in use as a strobe.

Excellent video, and funny soundtrack! I've never heard of the "snap adapter"....will have to Google that.