Halcyon 10W HID - 'First Dive with it' Report!

[Mark Chase]

OK Andrew and I just bought Halcyon 10W HID torches and I dived my one for the first time on Monday so here’s the report:

First the torch looks great. It's a bit home build / agricultural in appearance but when you look close all the bits and the finish are good quality and it looks kind o purposeful and serious. This is bound to appeal to sad MIB tec heads like me. It has a lead acid battery and a two hour burn time so the compromise is of the much cheaper to replace battery against the 5 hour burn times of the massively expensive NMIH battery packs. Charge time was three hours and the nice people on the GUE stand sell you a plug adaptor to fit the silly US plug on the unit. (Mind you handy for travel). I liked the way they accept that the torch has to be mounted somewhere so they bother to fit a simple mounting band on the can that will go on an equally simple cam bad to mount on your tanks or on the belt if your DIR.

We got the two units for £300.00, each which was bargain of the week. This is the entry level HID torch with a fixed focus head. The adjustable focus torch has a few advantages but I liked the cost saving of the fixed head and the compact design.

In use the torch is comparatively light at 5.5lb (2.5KG) as opposed to my 7.5lb (3.4kg) Custom Divers Halogen unit. The Goodman’s handle is comfortable foe me but people with bigger hands might have a problem, as the fit on the width was snug with 5mm gloves on. I have added a small bolt snap to the handle to allow the torch to be clipped off when not in use.

The light takes a couple of mins to warm up so you switch it on at the end of kitting up and it should be ready to rock by the time you hit the bottom of the shot line. The switch is on the canister and recessed into a protective shroud to prevent accidental switching off. I see this as a minor problem as you must locate the canister in a place where you can reach the switch and operating the switch in thick gloves can be awkward but its not imposable.

The light temperature is very impressive and the Darth Vader light sabre effect is very useful for signalling your buddy. Close in work is excellent and I loved my rummage dive in 1.5m Viz on the Aeries for which it was ideal. As a general light source it is a bit of a narrow beam but hey I cant complain as I was too mean to spend another £200 on the focusing head. Cable length was fine for me with the unit back mounted on the twin set but on the side of the tank not the middle back as I used to mount the CD. The reason for changing the position was the need to get to the switch.

The buoyancy characteristics of the unit meant that it was lighter still in the water. I felt a tad underweight on the 6m stop having shed 1kg on the side by side comparison doesn’t really cover this so I reckon its more like 2kg lighter in the salty wet stuff than the CD unit. The large air space around the battery probably accounts for this.

So final analysis is a cracking bit of kit. It was £125 cheaper than the best deal I could get on the CD unit so I will happily put up with its minor quirks.

Personal rating 9/10

ATB

Mark Chase

[Digger]

<font color='#000080'>They looked real nice when you guys got them at the show. I want one now. Bugger bugger bugger.

WHat's the normal price for them then? You bought 2 between you, and it was at the show, but what's the sort of price you can get in the shops now? I suppose being Halcyon there's only a few places you can get them?

I think HID is the next step. How much for the longer burn-time option? Can you have the non-focusing head and the longer battery burn-time? JUst wondering now, as I think I can spare a bit of cash....

[And]

<font color='#000080'>Hi

Either DIRdirect.com in the south, or Capernwray in the North.

£340 I think for the 10W Pro 3 which is a lead acid battery. If you want longer burn time then you buy the focusable head but I've had problems with mine so I wouldn't recommend it. I'm going to convert it to an 18W. You might be able to buy the fixed beam with a larger canister but thats not on the website.

The recommended DIR light is the 18W head. It makes the 10W look like a backup light! Tis a bit more money though. £690 for that and a Pro6 canister.

More burn time on the 18W means a NimH battery. The Helios 9 gives 4 hours, Helios 13.5 gives 6.5 hours.

Kindest Regards

Andy

PS DOn't you have a OPH Mark? Can't you mount it on the waist strap to streamline it a little? You will hit it a lot if its in such a prominent position. Glad you like it though.

[beanie]

<font color='#8D38C9'>yeah HID is they way forward but the CD or the one phonex do? are sooo muxh sexier (and smaller, last longer )

got mine 3 yrs ago and love it

[Digger]

<font color='#000080'>I'm not too fussed about the brightness, I've been diving with 3 PC lights for the last 50 dives or so, and I'm ok with them, but swimming into a wreck and only finding out when my tanks hit ceiling was a bit of an eye-opener in Dover last weekend. Glad I reeled off the shot, but all too often I don't, and it's not a nice feeling at all. At all at all at all.

The batteries looked very similar to what I've got on my DIY torch, available in Maplins? If I got the fittings, I could just carry a spare battery on a weekend and not have to worry about charging the torch overnight somewhere (this often isn't possible) but you say the focusable head increases burn time? By how much? How? Then again, I'm just curious, I'm not going to buy the focusable head at the moment.

Thanks for your quick response Andy. I'm thinking about blowing Dave out of the water this weekend, and I've got 4 days to get an HID to do it...

Digs.

[And]

<font color='#000080'>Hi

What I meant is that the fixed beam head only seems to come with a pro 3 canister. The larger canisters all come with the focusable head which is good when it isn't playing up IMHO. The focus is obtained by twisting the bottom of the head which then moves the bulb backwards and forwards in the head. As the ballast bit is unable to turn as it is held in place by a spring then the cables are twisted inside. On mine this has caused a bad connection to appear.

The 18W head focusses better as you move the reflector backwards and forwards. The difference between the two heads is massive.

Kindest Regards

Andy

[Andy Phillips]

Digger,

The torch is awsome, I tried it at Stoney, and was a bit sceptical, in 1.5M vis in Dover it was inspired. The 18W head would worry me, the 10W gave a fair bit of backscatter, the 18W would be terrible (think of car headlights in the fog). Izzy confirmed this thought at the stand in the show. I had also previously been advised against the focussable head on the grounds that it was pants, you either get a bright spot or a less bright spot with a dim halo.

I still can't get over the fact that we got discount on the unit, with Halcyon stuff this is rarer than a rare thing running away.

I still have not found where to mount it, I have a 2 x 2KG blocks on the waist band of my harness, might ditch this for a V weight, but that means I have to do the same for the 15's.

Which means another happy afternoon in Wraysbury.

I say, if you got the cash, buy one, it is no more expensive than DIY, I know this because we are making three units but they are still some way off completion.

Andrew

[And]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (andyp @ April 13 2004,13:31)]I still have not found where to mount it, I have a 2 x 2KG blocks on the waist band of my harness, might ditch this for a V weight, but that means I have to do the same for the 15's.

<font color='#000080'>Hi

I used the 18W over the weekend. Next to Marks 10W it was like he was using a backup light. I didn't notice backscatter, just a solid beam of light, much thicker and brighter than my 10W. Viz varied from 3 mtrs on Salsette to 7 ish on HMS Boadicea.

Mark did complain that the light got in his eyes occasionally but you can get a longer reflector which was designed by EKPP to solve that.

We did see someone mount a Halcyon light to their stage over the weekend which was interesting. Better to get the V-weight and keep the light nice and safe in my view It is quite surprising how much you start to rely on it for signalling and knowing where your buddy is.

Kindest Regards

Andy

I have had a 10w for around 4 years now. Mine has the pro4 battery canister (I built the thing up from parts rather than buy a complete unit) and lasts around 4 hours between charges in practice.
Mine may be an old unit, it focusses by a friction knob that allows the lamp holder to slide in and out. I mount mine on my right hip and still carry stages with it there, doesn't seem to be in the road at all. not sure how it would work with a bigger canister though.
I did compare the 10w and 18w in the water at the time I bought it and found the only difference seemed to be the 18w was slightly whiter but not any brighter.
Can say I haven't had any problems so far despite using it as a hammer once and other abuses (till I remembered how much a new bulb would cost me) batteries can be built up for £35 yourself.
Would I buy another? most definitely
Incidentally these new unfocusing units sound good, I am looking for a light for an underwater inspection camera and had written off HID for the cost, may be worth looking at.

[Andy Phillips]

WL,

I promise this isn't a troll, but what was the vis like, I debated the 18W and decided I couldn't justify the extra cost

Andrew