Pencil Beams
- Thread starter SteveLCetc
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Perfect!
[quote author=bkgiii link=board=2;threadid=11164;start=msg101966#msg101966 date=1076350241]
Yep..Hella's is a pretty informative website
Hey Cary......how far have you gotten on this from the Hella site?
http://www.lightdriver.com/index_flash.html
[/quote]
I made it as far as the large files. Slow connection at work.
Cary
Yep..Hella's is a pretty informative website
Hey Cary......how far have you gotten on this from the Hella site?
http://www.lightdriver.com/index_flash.html
[/quote]
I made it as far as the large files. Slow connection at work.
Cary
I also have to add that there is some room for pencils on a car. I had 2 cibie driving lights and 2 hella rally 2000 pencils and used all 4 with great success on the highways. For offroading I would turn all of them off and use a flood light. For med-tight twisting dirt roads i just used the cibie driving lights. but for the straight hiways I just used the pencils, and they worked a treat. There is not too much reason to see the sides of the road and you can usually pick cattle by their eyes from a long way away. I found it a lot less tiring not having to concentrate on things off to one side, and being able to see a couple of k down the road was great. Never really worried about night blindness either when you might only pass 1 car every few hours.
Sam
Sam
I agree under certain conditions they're helpful, and those you speak of may have been favorable. In my experience, a beam with as concentrated a hot spot as a pencil creates large amounts of glare when approaching small rises in the road, hitting normal irregularities in the road that cause the truck to pitch and blast the road with light, etc. Not an issue if you've also got supplementary lighting on and little expectation of dimming things, but...
- Thread starter
- #26
That's my reasoning - on the flats a mile ahead is a good comfort zone, and the width of the field of vision is plenty good. That's why I'm looking for something with a long narrow beam. 99% of the night time long distance driving I do is in a straight line with the other side a hundred or so feet to the left. A long narrow beam, properly aligned, doesn't bother the other side. Exactly what is classified as a pencil beam I don't know, but I've yet to have one too narrow myself... I'm only looking to spend a hundred or two though.
give some of these a go. 
They are Bull 250 Pencil beam search lamps listed under the special purpose lamps section in the hella site catalog. at www.hella.com.au
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI...&category=30862&sspagename=STRK:MEBWA:IT&rd=1
They are Bull 250 Pencil beam search lamps listed under the special purpose lamps section in the hella site catalog. at www.hella.com.au
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI...&category=30862&sspagename=STRK:MEBWA:IT&rd=1
Another lane 100 feet to the left of you with a range of half mile and a blast zone at that range of 200 feet in diameter (very tight pencil) leaves you no way NOT to piss off oncoming drivers. But, the better the light, the more precise the beam pattern will be - so get good ones.
DougM
DougM
- Thread starter
- #29
But, I can aim them a teensy bit to the right...
I don't agree with IdahoDoug. I find a pencil beam very useful. I use an old Warn light (a 510 "spot" I believe). It is essentially a 5 inch diameter pencil beam. I drive home late at night on a straight frontage road parallel to the oncoming lanes of I70. The light covers my two lane road without bothering the oncoming traffic on the Interstate. (The oncoming drivers definately DON'T like my Hella H4 headlamps on high beam!) The road has some rises and dips, and I don't get blinded when I go into a dip and the light hits the uphill side. I find this setup also works great on the straight stretches of I 70 across western Colorado and eastern Utah. Oncoming traffic across the median never seem to mind.
Granted, this is a specific application. But, if it is similar to where you drive, it works very well. I have found it much less useful off road, but that's where H4 high beams and driving lights come on, and there's nobody to complain.
Granted, this is a specific application. But, if it is similar to where you drive, it works very well. I have found it much less useful off road, but that's where H4 high beams and driving lights come on, and there's nobody to complain.
Steve,
(and the rest of you, don't laugh)
Talking with a friend of mine here (former policeman, detective, currently chopper pilot for us) this morning regarding long range lighting: He reminded me that he has used two differernt, inexpensive lights with 'woderful' results as he describes it.
(1) Sealed beams (PAR46, he thinks). Also used to always use 4537 'flat front' landing lights in el-cheapo housings.
(2) Currently is using JCWhitney stainless steel, round auxiliary lights which come with 15ow bulbs...he thinks that the bulb number is either a 4049 or 4549.
In either case, above, you're into them for < $150, and according to him would be highly please with long range projection as well as wide dispersion close in.
Just a thought.
(and the rest of you, don't laugh)
Talking with a friend of mine here (former policeman, detective, currently chopper pilot for us) this morning regarding long range lighting: He reminded me that he has used two differernt, inexpensive lights with 'woderful' results as he describes it.
(1) Sealed beams (PAR46, he thinks). Also used to always use 4537 'flat front' landing lights in el-cheapo housings.
(2) Currently is using JCWhitney stainless steel, round auxiliary lights which come with 15ow bulbs...he thinks that the bulb number is either a 4049 or 4549.
In either case, above, you're into them for < $150, and according to him would be highly please with long range projection as well as wide dispersion close in.
Just a thought.
[quote author=OswaldtheBold link=board=2;threadid=11164;start=msg103624#msg103624 date=1076558934]
(The oncoming drivers definately DON'T like my Hella H4 headlamps on high beam!) I have found it much less useful off road, but that's where H4 high beams and driving lights come on, and there's nobody to complain.
[/quote]
OswaldtheBold,
You must have the 100 series, not the 80, right?
You don't have fogs?
Where do you mount all of your aux. lights, in front of the grill, bull bar, roof rack...?
mot
(The oncoming drivers definately DON'T like my Hella H4 headlamps on high beam!) I have found it much less useful off road, but that's where H4 high beams and driving lights come on, and there's nobody to complain.
[/quote]
OswaldtheBold,
You must have the 100 series, not the 80, right?
You don't have fogs?
Where do you mount all of your aux. lights, in front of the grill, bull bar, roof rack...?
mot
mot,
No. The lights are actually on my FJ40 and my FJ60. I admit to cheating... I drifted over here from the other cruiser tech board to see what's new. Since the subject was lighting, and didn't seem to be vehicle specific, I thought I'd toss my $.02 in.
For the curious, the spot and fog lights on the FJ40 are mounted on a piece of angle iron attached across the bottom of the front bib. There is another pair of lights mounted under the gas can racks on either side of the front cowl, for illuminating those hairpin switchbacks on the Schafer Trail at night. (I had more than one opportunity to "see" the need!)
No. The lights are actually on my FJ40 and my FJ60. I admit to cheating... I drifted over here from the other cruiser tech board to see what's new. Since the subject was lighting, and didn't seem to be vehicle specific, I thought I'd toss my $.02 in.
For the curious, the spot and fog lights on the FJ40 are mounted on a piece of angle iron attached across the bottom of the front bib. There is another pair of lights mounted under the gas can racks on either side of the front cowl, for illuminating those hairpin switchbacks on the Schafer Trail at night. (I had more than one opportunity to "see" the need!)
[quote author=OswaldtheBold link=board=2;threadid=11164;start=msg103932#msg103932 date=1076613141]
mot,
No. The lights are actually on my FJ40 and my FJ60. I admit to cheating... I drifted over here from the other cruiser tech board to see what's new. Since the subject was lighting, and didn't seem to be vehicle specific, I thought I'd toss my $.02 in.
For the curious, the spot and fog lights on the FJ40 are mounted on a piece of angle iron attached across the bottom of the front bib. There is another pair of lights mounted under the gas can racks on either side of the front cowl, for illuminating those hairpin switchbacks on the Schafer Trail at night. (I had more than one opportunity to "see" the need!)
[/quote]
Well in that case, quit screwing around. Get some Cibie E code 7.25" round H4 headlamps, put relays in with a wiring harnes and get some 80/100 or 90/130 H4 Bulbs. You will not be wanting for Pencil beams or any other supplement with this setup. Years ago I put the 7x6" Cibie E-code lights in my Mom's Prelude with 55/100 bulbs. I still have not found lights to equal these, including HID lamps. Low beam had great coverage, High beams were good for over 1 mile.
Cary
mot,
No. The lights are actually on my FJ40 and my FJ60. I admit to cheating... I drifted over here from the other cruiser tech board to see what's new. Since the subject was lighting, and didn't seem to be vehicle specific, I thought I'd toss my $.02 in.
For the curious, the spot and fog lights on the FJ40 are mounted on a piece of angle iron attached across the bottom of the front bib. There is another pair of lights mounted under the gas can racks on either side of the front cowl, for illuminating those hairpin switchbacks on the Schafer Trail at night. (I had more than one opportunity to "see" the need!)
[/quote]
Well in that case, quit screwing around. Get some Cibie E code 7.25" round H4 headlamps, put relays in with a wiring harnes and get some 80/100 or 90/130 H4 Bulbs. You will not be wanting for Pencil beams or any other supplement with this setup. Years ago I put the 7x6" Cibie E-code lights in my Mom's Prelude with 55/100 bulbs. I still have not found lights to equal these, including HID lamps. Low beam had great coverage, High beams were good for over 1 mile.
Cary
Cary,
I do have E# code H4's, with relays and 55/100W bulbs. I have no problem lighting up most of the countryside in front of me when appropriate. The point of the pencil beam (no pun intended) is for those times I need to light up just my lanes without bothering oncoming drivers. For that, it works great, whether I screw around or not.
I do have E# code H4's, with relays and 55/100W bulbs. I have no problem lighting up most of the countryside in front of me when appropriate. The point of the pencil beam (no pun intended) is for those times I need to light up just my lanes without bothering oncoming drivers. For that, it works great, whether I screw around or not.
