@febisfebi too long! People gonna get lost in posts like that, lol
Anyway, the reason I said the next generation of ballasts will be running DC current is precisely because they'll be driving COB LED chips!
HID tech is over for all planning purposes. COB LED is on its way and it's a better light in damn near every way. It's just a matter of time before it's cheaper up front as well as less expensive to operate.
I waited out the blurple LED era, too. Those units did us early adopters a favor by scaring off the uninformed and holding back the tide of manufacturers.
The guys here have done excellent work testing chips for efficiency and spectrum, discovering just how beneficial current droop is for our purposes and coming up with ready to use configurations for the relatively uninitiated such as myself.
I'm using a Venture MH in my finishing zone right now. Decent lights, but they are the low cost producer. Sunmaster HPS sucks, lol. You want a top quality budget HPS, get Plantmax thouies.
I know I missed something... try not to bury your points quite so deep? And pass that joint, cuz that shit's gooooooood! Lol
Whoah, lol. I think I even got lost myself, in that one. Definitely some gooood! I would love to pass that shit, man but rarely have anyone to pass it to, and before I know, its gone. and so am I. must have been on a good one last night
Im sure I lost many people, but it sounds like at least person read it! damn phones and tablets and such got us so used to trying to say things in a few words, cause it takes so long, i lose my train of thought, its really frustrating actually, lol
when I find myself in front of a keyboard, my fingers start typing faster than I can even think. so usually a quick edit/chop down is what I usually try and do, so just in case someone actually reads it, they might be able to follow.
Seem to have forgotten about that part., I apologize to anyone who had to roll their mouse wheel a few extra times, or flick your tablet/phone in frustration!
That is exciting to finally hear about some good led's. can you really mount them way high like hid lights and achieve overlap?
Thats probably true. Im sure they will try to make DC HID drivers before long, but itll be a last ditch before HID is phased out. We would need a supply of efficient inexpensive DC power supplies capable of supplying that kind of current. That is the bottleneck in that great idea. Probably will be way to expensive to be practical, before COB LED;s will take over completely, since they take half the draw of HID. Its all gonna become about DC power supplies, good led chips, and Optics, to spread those motherfuckers. It would be cool to have an LED lighting package type thing where you could mount tons of little pods all over your cieling, all overlapping. that would be a product worthy of some hard earned cash. Really it shouldnt be that much more expensive than making one giant panel, to make a bunch of tiny ones. they wouldnt even need their own power supplies neccesarily, although that may very well be the cheaper more efficient option.
How do you like your venture MH? are you driving it with anything cool? How does the spectrum perform? I assume your using the natural white lamp? was this maybe the replacement for the 860 CDM? lol
The natural white(with the wide SPD) seems like it could compete with the 315 agro elite spectrum wise, and you can scale it easier without so many small lights.
I understand they are the cheaper producer, and we dont know how accurate their advertising is, but if they cam make lamps with that SPD that last 40k hours, they must be at least pretty decent, I would think. Since your using it for finishing, it will never get close to that much use, before HID has been long forgotten.
perhaps a good stepping stone to COB? then you could combine the two, as you add more COB. Do the COB excel more at supplemental lighting, or do they have some serious flower power without added hid lights?
I would never buy a sunmaster hps, or any SE HPS for that matter, I already have plenty of se hps bulbs anyways.
I am trying sunmaster for the 6k MH only, to use as a supplement light, due to the broad spectral output, much like that of the natural white, but slightly higher color temp. Normally I would wait til there was good information about something like this product, but I had the opportunity to try a 1kw for next to nothing, so we shall see how she performs
Any new HPS will be DE philips with focal reflector, overlapped with FS, and overlapped with another DE, ushio maybe, but that is still up for debate.
i wanted to get your opinion that, actually. If your not currently using either of them, I wanted to get your opinion of the SPD of each.
I have been hearing that the ushio actually has the better spectrum, and by looking at it, thats the impression I got as well, before I had heard that. Most people I'v talked to swear by the Philips, and I would too 99% of the time, just because of my confidence in their products. But the Ushio looks to be worth considering at least. Its not a huge difference in spectrum. they both put out 2100umol and last 10k hrs, both are made in countries wtih good QC. but the ushio has quite a bit more in the 590nm or so range, which seems important being that it is so close to where the quantum efficiency for photosynthesis nears 1, which if I remember correctly is around 625nm I believe.
I wonder. Did Philips leave this out because it wasnt neccesary for plant growth, or because the part just before the deepest valley is more important? or is it maybe a slight variation/ possible small improvement of performamce?
I do see another difference upon closer examination. the philips has a thin, tall spike, right around 625nm. so maybe I answered my own question. That might make all the difference in the world right there.
I wanted to get your opinion still though, because I trust you know what your talking about.
Im sure i'm reading into this way too much, I know the Ushio is cheaper, but I am not interested in saving $20 per bulb if one is better than the other. At the same time I dont want to pay $20 extra per bulb if the cheaper ones actually turn out to be better. I just want the better bulb. the combination if that is better.
Thanks, hope this isnt too buried, lol.
puff puff pass