Tecktite 200 and Jotron AQ4 comparison test

[Mark Chase]

Tektite 200 and Jotron AQ4 Strobe

On test

Way back in February a group of YDrs set about trying to obtain some cheep Jotron AQ4 strobes. At the time Rob Lumb from Lumb Bros contacted me to see if id be interested in trying out the Tektite 200 strobe as an alternative to the Jotron AQ4

Shortly after three Tektite 200s turned up in the post I started to attempt to get some footage of the strobes in action. This, it turned out, is not so easy. I had two attempts fail due to the auto focus being confused by the strobe. My next attempt I used a fixed focus and just set the camera up at the pre set distance and waited. This worked but wasn’t exactly great footage. After this it seemed that every planned dive was either pants viz or blown out by the weather. I tried to get footage in Mexico and my Vee-cam failed and finally we were off to France for the Leopold gig and I felt I just must get some footage there. However conditions were bad with flow on every dive and a need to lay line and on the last dive when I was I planning to have a go in the slightly improved viz, the French blockade happened and yet again I was thwarted.

So as a result I have yet to get any quality footage of the strobes. I have on here what I have managed so far and hope it will give you some comparative data but rest assured if my Vee-cam comes back and works OK ill be replacing this with something better ASAP



Jotron AQ4 v Tektite 200



For many people the Jotron AQ4 is the best strobe on the market. It demands a pretty hefty price tag of between £50-60 so perhaps it should be. First impressions of the Jotron were, what did they spend all the money on? Admittedly it has a funky sliding battery compartment and a switch but apart from that I can only assume its is well supported and thoroughly, tested because it isn’t exactly a lot of kit for up to £60

By comparison the Tektite 200 coming in at around £40 is not cheep ether but I was more interested to see if the Jotron deserved its £10-20 premium in terms of performance.

On paper the Jotron is off to a winning start. On one web site it claimed to be water proof to 500m and pumping out an amazing 36,000lumins of light at 50 flashes per min. (Note: on another site it claimed 300m which was confusing but a tad more believable). The Tektite 200 is only rated to 150m. So basically, if your Mark Ellyat read no further and get the Jotron, but if your not planning 150m+ in the near future the Tektite is worth a second look.

If for no other reason because the Tektite 200 has 2.5 times the burn time of the Jotron. 12hours burn for the Jotron AQ4 and 30 hours for the Tektite.

So if you not planning 150m+ but you want the strobe to signal your position if lost at sea I’d go for the Tektite. 12 hours is disappointingly short especially if you have a less than fresh battery to power it. The tektite pulls this off by running on two C cells as opposed to the Jotrons single cell and by having a slightly different flash rate.

Surprisingly the Jotron has a single O ring seal under the screw cap and a magnetic proximity switch. The strobe head is pretty tough looking and I am not 100% certain how it’s held on. It could be glued as attempts to un screw it failed miserably. Apart from the tough looking lens cover, I am amazed such thin plastic and a single O ring is 500m rated.



The on off is via a sliding mag switch which is a known weak point of the unit. One of Pete’s has been back for repair within the first 18months of diver abuse.

Sorry I mean use.



The Tektite approach is a lot more basic. Good old fashioned screw down connection over double O rings. That’s it in terms of flood points. The rest is solid with no visible joints. Simple and effective. Unlike my very annoying Photon Torpedo which seems to come on when it feels like it I had no such problems with the Tektite despite taking it down to 65m on one occasion. Once off, it staid off. Also having clear plastic cover the O rings showed you that you haven’t unscrewed the thing too far. Howard (The Dudes) Heiser fell apart on the lift up in Scapa because in an attempt to turn the dammed thing off (it kept coming on mid dive) we had inadvertently unscrewed it too far.



The Tektite also comes with a free game.

This is the spring at the base of the canister which falls out when you change the batteries. Reassembly involves gently flicking the can so the spring sits where it’s supposed to. It reminded me of those games as a kid where you had to get all the ball bearings in the holes by tipping the little box just so.

Nintendo Game boy users can pi## right off about now



I was very pleased to discover that total loss of this spring is not a disaster. The strobe will still work which is excellent as you could feasibly lose the spring and not notice.

A blind man wouldn’t struggle to tell you that the Jotron is the more expensive item. It even feels more expensive. However in terms of usage the Tektite is much more diver friendly. Both come with those daft Velcro straps that are instantly thrown away. But only the Tektite comes with a loop end to allow easy mounting with cave line for the simple half prussic mounting of the strobe on shot lines. Try pushing cave line through the side loops of the Jotron and you will be pulling your hair out.



The final feature of the Tektite I liked was that the strobe module was available for separate purchase. So should you break it you could save a few pennies by just purchasing a replacement module.

PERFORMANCE.

This is the simple bit.

There is nothing to choose between them in terms of power but the Tektite burns for 30 hours rather than the Jotron's 12. If I were forced to say which one is brighter id say the Tektite.

For me for the burn time alone the tektite is the clear winner.

Tektite on the left.




CONCLUSIONS

The Jotron is more expensive and for your money you get a more sophisticated polished looking item. However in my mind its switch design and measly 12 hours working time mean it can’t compete with the Tektite for 99% of divers. The only exception to this would be the 1% of very very deep divers out there for whom the 150m depth rating is a cause of concern.


Tektite strobes are available from Lumb Bros: Price £39.95

LUMB BROS Tektite Range Of Torches And Strobe's

The cheapest place I found for Jotron AQ4s was hear at £49.99 + 2.50PP

Jotron AQ4 SOLAS approved Emergency Strobe

Most boring video in the world ever

[MartyC]

Mark,
thanks for taking the time for that, food for thought

[wilbo]

thanks for the report Mark - an interesting read.

Lack of Heron noted.

[Leg Of Salmon]

Isn't that the heron's shadow in the 1st photo?

[Twinsetmad]

Top class article as always Mark... thanks very much.

[warmwaterdiver]

cheers Mark

did you manage to ever get three of the Tektites working at the same time to do your planned triple pack?

[Mark Chase]

Originally Posted by warmwaterdiver

cheers Mark

did you manage to ever get three of the Tektites working at the same time to do your planned triple pack?

I run two strobes bound together on the shot line. Both on so if one fails the other is still showing me the way home. I have ordered the more powerful Tektite300 and will be running that as a shot strobe with a Tektite 200 as back up.

The third goes in my pocket for surface signaling.

ATB

Mark

[Captain Deco]

I think the best strobe ever is my ace blue one on the side of my mask. You know you want one too.

[Miss Roxy Chablis]

Genuine question Mark?

Strobes are clearly important to your wreck diving, but if you've lined off from the shot - do you really need them?

Is it just a comfort thing to see it in the distance and let you see how far you are from home or is it the way that you "sign out" onto a lazy shot?

[Mark Chase]

Originally Posted by Howard Payne

Genuine question Mark?

Strobes are clearly important to your wreck diving, but if you've lined off from the shot - do you really need them?

Is it just a comfort thing to see it in the distance and let you see how far you are from home or is it the way that you "sign out" onto a lazy shot?

1: Its a sign out on the shot

2: It makes return to shot divs on scooters a LOT easier

3: Guide lines break on wrecks. (Not so much of a problem in a cave) Its hapened to me twice and on a deep dive fafing arround trying to relocate the line might not be an option so the strobes give a far greater chance of making it to the all important deco station.

4: Some times a strobe is enough so you dont need to lay line

5: Some times when lining back to the shot you can see the strobes in the distance and can forget the line and change the rout home