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New Pilot - need advice on lights to use on drone so I can more easily spot it in the sky

Hey Dave, you mentioned the ARC V has an alarm, do you mean the ARC XL? Unless Firehouse changed something recently the XL is the only one with the L.A.N.D. alarm system.
Below is the ARC V:


And below is the ARC XL (the latest one has 6 LED's instead of 5)
So looks to me the XL and the V are about the same size, yes?
 
Does anyone have a picture of the Arc V mounted to the bottom of a MA2??

I'd love to see what it looks like on there..
 
What happens if you turn both on at the same time?
Ive tried that, but all things considered, if the battery life isnt exactly the same on both, they may not fire at the same time. I tried that, and they were very close. (I put a metronome on them), and after about a minute, one of them was just a micro-second behind the other. I turned them off, and tried again assuming my 'switching' wasnt right on the mark and got the same results. I would think that connecting them, if possible, would solve that issue.
 
I live in the Pacific Northwest (aka cloudy alot) and I find it difficult to spot the Mavic Air 2 in the sky when I'm flying until it gets closer to me. It's a grey drone against a grey sky so I struggle to see it well.

I'm wondering if anyone has this issue, and if so, what kind of light(s) you've installed on the MA2 so that it's easier to spot when it's a few hundred feet up in the air. I'd love to hear how you've solved this, what kinds of lights you've used, and where you installed them on the drone.

Thanks much,
PNW flyer.
Here's a budget set.
 

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Ive tried that, but all things considered, if the battery life isnt exactly the same on both, they may not fire at the same time. I tried that, and they were very close. (I put a metronome on them), and after about a minute, one of them was just a micro-second behind the other. I turned them off, and tried again assuming my 'switching' wasnt right on the mark and got the same results. I would think that connecting them, if possible, would solve that issue.

What happens if you turn both on at the same time?
I finally got my mounts! Thank you! As I suspected, though on the strobes, and I tried several things to get them to 'flash' at the same time. The lights were charged at the same time, disconnected at the same time from the charger. I switched them on at the same time, carefully. I stood back and watched to make sure they were flashing at the same time, and they were. Then I put my drone in the air, it wasnt but a few seconds and they werent flashing at the same time. I repeated this a couple times to the same result. They start the same but thats the way mechanical things work. Would attaching a cord between them solve the issue? Do you know if there is a contact at TOPSUN that might be able to answer the question?
 
I just got 2 of them and they are VERY bright. I'm just trying to get information on getting them synced together so they flash at the same time. So far no luck
 
I just got 2 of them and they are VERY bright. I'm just trying to get information on getting them synced together so they flash at the same time. So far no luck
Don’t stress on it... it would just be luck and not a permanent fix. Just enjoy flying!
 
I'm not so sure that's a practical way of looking at it with the modest weight differences of the top contenders. I suppose if saving 1 or 2 or even 5 grams is important, then the Arc II is the obvious choice, especially because it is one of the thinnest strobes available and can be mounted on the bottom of most DJI drones.

The Arc V strobe weighs only 13 grams and puts out 1000 lumen. Dimensions are 25mm x 38mm x 14.4mm D (with velcro attached) [ 1" x 1.5" x 0.6 D w/velcro]. Not that it matters a ton, the velcro itself weights .7 grams (get the pun?). I'm not aware of any of the Arc V's competitors that throw 1000 lumens (pls correct me if I'm mistaken).

The Arc V's main competitor, Lume Cube (or should it be vice versa?) is rated at 500 lumens, and at this moment on sale for $32. Lume Cube's published weight is 10 grams w/o velcro and is about the same length as the Arc V, looks like it might be a little tougher build but looks "thicker" though no depth measurements are readily available. For some depth might be important if mounting on the bottom as we have to consider bottom clearance.

@msinger said: "Yeah, TOPSUN lights are highly underrated. They appear to be a little brighter than ARC lights (to my eye)."
Topsun has done a terrible job of marketing. I doubt that they are brighter than the Arc V at 1000 lumens. The difference between 500 and 1000 lumens is noticeable, but to the eye only slightly so. Back in June I had ordered a Topsun but cancelled the order because I couldn't find the specification and thought it might be larger and heavier than it actually is. they only stated visible distance, not rated lumens as the other companies had. They had advertised the PACKAGE weight, but not the strobe's weight and until today could not find the dimensions of it. I've now found those, but even now they don't state rated lumens, nor do the dimensions they provide (see photo below) include the height of the dome. As I wanted to mount the strobe on the bottom of my Mini 1.

So my first strobe was a Firehouse Arc II strobe, 500 lumens- only *8* grams with velcro attached 23mm x 30mm x 11mm D w/velcro [ 0.9" x 1.17" x 0.4" D w/velcro ]. On this purchase I opted for a separate "headlight" mount, but have not used the mount much, but is handy as the Arc II (and Arc V) have a continous output mode.

View attachment 118234 View attachment 118236View attachment 118238View attachment 118240
Note: Strobes were personally weighed on a jewelry scale that displays in grams plus two decimals.
Hi, what model strobe is the one you have shown top left out of the 4 shown please?
 
Hi, what model strobe is the one you have shown top left out of the 4 shown please?
I think you're asking about the Fire House "Spark". I have a couple of these. The battery life is poor and the lens on mine and a couple of buddies had a tendency to fall off and had to be glued on. While they do project light somewhat sideways, overall the strobe isn't that bright. It does have a handy spring loaded clip on back that might be of purpose to some but didn't really work for me. I did love the ez to use power switch and its size is slightly larger than the ArcII's but smaller than the ArcXL's. My gripe with the Spark was mainly the battery life and holding a charge. Just sitting mine always needed to be recharged before use. With other FH strobes they can sit for weeks and still be ready to go. On the other hand the Arc XL while fairly large also offers some side way light projection, are much brighter, lasts hours, and have a audible alarm that triggers after motion has stopped for a short period of time. The Arc II strobes (of those shown in the thread you linked to) are the smallest but also have a long battery life during use and also storage. Their issue IMO is the difficult to use switch. Not that big of deal but YMMV. I have yet to use the Arc V but hear good or similar results in a slightly smaller package than the XL's. Not sure about other manufactures as I;ve always stuck to FireHouse products. Hope this helps.
 

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Hi, what model strobe is the one you have shown top left out of the 4 shown please?
I'm not sure which image(s) you're referring to. If you can orient me I am glad to answer your question.
 
I think you're asking about the Fire House "Spark". I have a couple of these. The battery life is poor and the lens on mine and a couple of buddies had a tendency to fall off and had to be glued on. While they do project light somewhat sideways, overall the strobe isn't that bright. It does have a handy spring loaded clip on back that might be of purpose to some but didn't really work for me. I did love the ez to use power switch and its size is slightly larger than the ArcII's but smaller than the ArcXL's. My gripe with the Spark was mainly the battery life and holding a charge. Just sitting mine always needed to be recharged before use. With other FH strobes they can sit for weeks and still be ready to go. On the other hand the Arc XL while fairly large also offers some side way light projection, are much brighter, lasts hours, and have a audible alarm that triggers after motion has stopped for a short period of time. The Arc II strobes (of those shown in the thread you linked to) are the smallest but also have a long battery life during use and also storage. Their issue IMO is the difficult to use switch. Not that big of deal but YMMV. I have yet to use the Arc V but hear good or similar results in a slightly smaller package than the XL's. Not sure about other manufactures as I;ve always stuck to FireHouse products. Hope this helps.
Thank you for all of this detail - very useful.
 
Kinda a poor video but shows how the lens works...at least if it stays on. Perhaps they have fixed that.

That looks just like a topsun strobe.
 
That looks just like a topsun strobe.
They might be. I found them on-line under a different name than the firehouse brand but I did purchase the two I have from FH. I did a visual test with the spark with the lens on and off vs the Arc XL. With the lens missing both were pretty close; maybe a slight edge to the XL. With the spark lens on it was a bit dimmer than the XL but the lens does improves side visibility.
 
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