Clear, self ballasted, 450w M.V. Bulbs

[eurytides]

I was in New Brunswick this week. Not being able to locate a clear self ballasted MV bulb, I bought a 50W LED light at 365 nm. I did not get a spectral analysis and I have no side to side (or even night to night) comparison with incandescent, MV, or MH light sources. With those caveats out of the way, I certainly attracted some nice moths, ones I would never encounter by a street light or porch light. I got several polyphemus, 1 beat up luna, and several hawkmoth species over the course of a few nights. There were lots of micromoths that I cannot name.

Would a 1000W MV outperform my setup? Almost certainly. But for the money and ease, I consider this $50 well spent. A friend of mine bought two 100W LEDs (unsure of wavelength) and got polyphemus, luna, cecropia, and a few sphinx species. She had never seen them on her property prior to this month. So, there is my personal anecdote of LED mothing.

[boghaunter1]

Earlier on in this M.V. thread I mentioned the existence of mercury vapor bulbs of 1,500 watts & even 2,000 watts. The huge 2,000 watt stadium bulb was seen only once or twice on ebay years ago & I have never seen one offered again. I just did some searching around on both Amazon.ca & Amazon.com & found 1,500 watt Satco bulbs (M.H.) still available on both sites. I bought a 1,500 watt Satco M.H. bulb on the Canadian site last year, but still need to find a ballast ($$$) for it. I tried earlier to include a direct link to both Amazon sites sales ads, but as I use both sites regularly, the links always persisted in including my purchase buy again list, my entire wish list, etc., etc... all private info not for public consumption.

Anyone can, however, do an easy search of either site... Just type in "1,500 watt satco bulb" & the pages come right up. Just a preview of the pricing on the Amazon.ca site.... 1 bulb is offered for $50.00 CAD with free shipping (only 2 left) & 6 pks of the same are available for $391.22 CAD ($65.20 CAD ea.). On the Amazon.com site this same 1,500 watt bulb is only available in 6 pks for $259.99 USD ($43.37 USD ea.) 20 pks left. I have put this info out there merely for curiosity/interest sake and/or for those who like experimenting with extremely bright, powerful lights that will really turn night into day! The ballasts for these sun-like bulbs are very heavy (around 25 lbs.& are very expensive....anywhere from $400.00 - 600.00 CAD or more!). The complete package of bulb(s) & ballast would end up being very expensive & is probably of little interest to hobby collectors (but who knows?...). . I was surprised to find such good numbers of these bulbs still available on the Amazon sites (free shipping bonus) therefore they could also be available on other smaller electrical supply sites as well.

Almost forgot.... if you want a spectral distribution curve for these lamps this is the individual buyers responsibility... try contacting the Satco Co. directly as V. B. recommends... I can't confirm one way or the other if that info is available.

John K.