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Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery



 
 
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  #11  
Old January 8th 04, 02:42 PM
Tom
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery


"Maywood" wrote in message
t...
Ok, but has anyone really tried this?

The information on the Vagabond/Alien Bees is that the flash units may be
damaged by anything other than a true sine wave inverter.



You will destroy your units if you don't use a true sine wave inverter. You
do not have to use the Vagabond, but you MUST use a sine wave unit.

Tom


  #12  
Old January 8th 04, 07:28 PM
Patrick L.
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery


"Tom" wrote in message
news:C7dLb.88350$I07.421698@attbi_s53...

"Maywood" wrote in message
t...
Ok, but has anyone really tried this?

The information on the Vagabond/Alien Bees is that the flash units may

be
damaged by anything other than a true sine wave inverter.



You will destroy your units if you don't use a true sine wave inverter.

You
do not have to use the Vagabond, but you MUST use a sine wave unit.

Tom




So how do you know if it is a true sine wave, put it on an O-scope?


Patrick


  #13  
Old January 8th 04, 09:36 PM
Alan Browne
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

Patrick L. wrote:



So how do you know if it is a true sine wave, put it on an O-scope?


Patrick


Sine wave inverters are declared as such. They cost more too.

--
e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.

  #14  
Old January 8th 04, 09:50 PM
Alan Browne
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

Bobs wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:42:13 GMT, "Patrick L."
wrote:


The whole Vagabond thing is very expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper
alternative?


Patrick


Seems to me that all they're using is a 12V DC/AC converter (inverter)
to supply 110V power to the flash. Can't you find something like this
at Radio Shack or elsewhere? Just make a compact bundle out of a
lead-acid 12V battery (the kind used in UPS units) and the inverter,
that's all there is to it.



Read Tom's post. I heartilly concur. The P/S in monolights (in fact
many electronic products) do not handle the power generated by a
'chopping' inverter. Sine only.

The thing they (Alien Bees, et al) don't tell you is that they could
design their P/S to handle choppers (bigger P/S caps, isolation
trasformer, better P/S design), but it would drive up the size, weight
and cost of the unit. In the end this is the right decision as most
strobe shooting is in a studio.

http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1410.htm these go up
to 600 watts which might not be enough for two AlienBees when they recycle.

http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1395.htm is a lot more
$ but can probably handle a couple AlienBees 800's.

Cheers,
Alan.

--
e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.

  #15  
Old January 9th 04, 03:47 AM
Patrick L.
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery


"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
Bobs wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:42:13 GMT, "Patrick L."
wrote:


The whole Vagabond thing is very expensive. Does anyone know of a

cheaper
alternative?


Patrick


Seems to me that all they're using is a 12V DC/AC converter (inverter)
to supply 110V power to the flash. Can't you find something like this
at Radio Shack or elsewhere? Just make a compact bundle out of a
lead-acid 12V battery (the kind used in UPS units) and the inverter,
that's all there is to it.



Read Tom's post. I heartilly concur. The P/S in monolights (in fact
many electronic products) do not handle the power generated by a
'chopping' inverter. Sine only.

The thing they (Alien Bees, et al) don't tell you is that they could
design their P/S to handle choppers (bigger P/S caps, isolation
trasformer, better P/S design), but it would drive up the size, weight
and cost of the unit. In the end this is the right decision as most
strobe shooting is in a studio.

http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1410.htm these go up
to 600 watts which might not be enough for two AlienBees when they

recycle.

http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...s/item1395.htm is a lot more
$ but can probably handle a couple AlienBees 800's.

Cheers,
Alan.

--
e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.



They're more than the Vagabond, which was designed for AlienBees, and so I
guess I will have to go with the Vagabond.

Thanks, all.


Patrick


  #16  
Old January 9th 04, 05:39 AM
Alan Browne
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

Dave wrote:

There is an alternative, but without the nice carrying bag. Wal-Mart
has a portable 15 Amp Hour vehicle battery/DC Power Source with its own
charger for about $40.00. They also have a 350 watt inverter for about
$60.00.



....I don't know if 350W is enough to handle two 800's during a 1/1
recyle...sounds like a stretch.

  #17  
Old January 10th 04, 08:03 PM
Alan Browne
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

Patrick L. wrote:

So how do you know if it is a true sine wave, put it on an O-scope?


Patrick


At a Canadian Tire (hardware/automotive) store yesterday I saw some
inverters (175W and 700W). Both of them had explicit "NON-SINUSOIDAL"
warnings on the data plate. This doesn't mean that all manufacturers
put that warning on their plates, but at least this manufacturer did.

Cheers,
Alan

  #18  
Old January 14th 04, 07:17 PM
Robert Brodie
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

Hi ,

The Alien Bees will only work with a true sine wave power inverter. If you
don't use one it will damage the bees. Check out www.alienbees.com
"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .
Dave wrote:

There is an alternative, but without the nice carrying bag. Wal-Mart
has a portable 15 Amp Hour vehicle battery/DC Power Source with its own
charger for about $40.00. They also have a 350 watt inverter for about
$60.00.



...I don't know if 350W is enough to handle two 800's during a 1/1
recyle...sounds like a stretch.



  #19  
Old January 14th 04, 11:30 PM
Alan Browne
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

Robert Brodie wrote:

Hi ,

The Alien Bees will only work with a true sine wave power inverter. If you
don't use one it will damage the bees. Check out www.alienbees.com


....missed the rest of the thread when it was still news, didya?

  #20  
Old February 5th 04, 03:14 PM
KBob
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Default Portable AlienBees w/Vagabond battery

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 02:47:59 GMT, "Patrick L."
wrote:


"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .
Bobs wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:42:13 GMT, "Patrick L."
wrote:


The whole Vagabond thing is very expensive. Does anyone know of a

cheaper
alternative?

I've often thought that these Vagabond gadgets could be easily cobbled
together from a common DC-AC converter, and a great many of them now
produce quasi-sinewave output, so should in theory work all right.
The problem that I see with these is the very large inrush current
that occurs during the first period following each flash. Studio
flashes can draw upwards of 80 amps and more during these short
transients--usually to short a period to blow fuses, unless you fire
in quick succession. So my concern would be that an inverter of this
type may need to have higher capacity than expected in order to handle
these transient inrush currents. I'd be anxious to hear if anyone has
any luck with this.

Also consider that D-size NiMH cells having a 9 amp-hour capacity and
solder tabs are available (on eBay and elsewhere), and 10 of these
might make an ideal battery for this.
 




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