Sam Goldwasser's Xenon Strobe/Flash Stuff, RECENT OFFICIAL VERSION at the upenn.edu site of his. V. 2.36 as of 7/15/2001.
Sam Goldwasser's page of links of accessory files to his "FAQ" file, OFFICIAL VERSION at the upenn.edu site.
Some xenon flash safety hints. Slightly long winded (15K), may not cover absolutely everything, but please read this before working on any strobes. At least see the cute shocking artworked photo of ME being a shock victim! (Slightly updated 10/29/2000)
How to build your own trigger coil.
I have constructed a few as I describe here, and they all worked. NOTE -
Now that I know places to get trigger coils (see my parts
sources file) your probably would just rather buy them. A basic
trigger circuit schematic is now included! (updated 5/26/96).
A repetitive trigger circuit based on the 555 timer IC, useful for strobe lights. NEWLY ADDED - a bit on the 4017 counter IC for multiple flashes and sequences of flashes - added 10/17/2000.
A mad idea for a blacklight strobe. (CAUTION - May be both hard on your eyes and a bit disappointing.)(New document 6/10/97, slightly changed 1/2/98)
My top page for working do-it-yourself strobes from Kodax Max disposable cameras and using fluorescent lamp ballasts or available compact inverter boards for miniature cold cathode fluorescent lamps. Look here in the future for the mini strobe to put in a model rocket!
One trick for simplicity at the expense of timing precision - use of "sidac" devices for triggering. Putting one or a series pair of around 200-280 volts across the "trigger" contacts of some photoflash units and some camera flash units will work - including on the flash board of the Kodak Max disposable camera! NEW FILES 11/3 and 11/10 2000, slight update 7/15/2001.
A slave flash trigger circuit is now here! (New document still in preliminary form 2/24/98)
Instead of reinventing the wheel, you may want to use or hack a commercially available strobe or camera flash. Here are some sources, with catalog numbers, prices, and descriptions of several strobes, camera flash units, partial strobes/flash units, as well as just parts. Most work on low voltage DC. Required supply voltages range from 1.5 to 24 volts DC, depending on the model.
You can also look here for some sources for flashtubes, trigger coils, capacitors, and even reflectors. (updated slightly 7/15/2001)
If you need to build your own DC-DC converter, you might want to try these circuits using only unmodified Radio Shack parts. These cheap and dirty circuits should work for experimenters. Higher power non-100%-Shack inverters are now here as well. (Big update 8/21/97)
Some guidelines for estimating appropriate voltages and energy levels for flashtubes if you can't find the flashtube's actual ratings. (a bit long, 27K) (updated very slightly 10/29/2000.)
A couple of dirty tricks using fluorescent lamp ballasts.
These will help you develop strobe lights that avoid the flashtube failing to
extinguish after flashing. These tricks will generally result in storage
capacitor voltages around 450 volts, but there is plenty of use for this.
For one thing, you improve efficiency at lower flash energy levels if the
voltage is higher than the flashtube normally takes in camera flash use.
(updated 6/30/97)
Flashtubes and capacitors for making big xenon strobes.
(New document 6/8/97, updated slightly 11/29/2000)
Ratings and data of some specific flashtubes.
Also a few things you can probably get away with using some of these. Also
how much energy you need to get decent efficiency with some of these.
(Updated with additional flashtubes 11/29/2000 minor update 3/31/2001)
Making a flashtube brilliantly glow continuously or appear to do so - why this usually does not work. (new document 4/25/99 updated 10/5/2000)
Those xenon automotive headlight bulbs - here's some info. For one thing, these are metal halide lamps more than they are xenon lamps. (new file 2/15/2000)
Xenon lamps that are actually incandescent such as some flashlight bulbs and some car headlight bulbs. NEW FILE 10/4/2000, slight update 10/5/2000.
The Mini FAQ, with my answers to the questions I get the most.
Some parts from All Electronics, including a flashtube, a trigger coil, and a more complete camera flash assembly.
EG&G, which had the Electro-Optics Division (primarily linear quartz flashtubes suitable for laser pumping and the like) and the Heimann Division (more ordinary flashtubes) is now Perkin Elmer, which has these divisions and others that make such things as short arc lamps.
NOTE - I am aware that some of the links below are probably outdated as they do major rework of their web site!.
Perkin Elmer Opto-electronics products Alphabetical Product Listing
http://opto.perkinelmer.corp, a link to their lamp / optoelectronics stuff that I found to work on 1/9/2001.
Flashtubes and Trigger Transformers (Heimann Division)
1300 Series Linear flashtubes from the former EG&G Electro-Optics Division
Please note that the Heimann division caters to industrial customers.
Minimum order of any product priced near or below US$ 30 will generally be
100 pieces. I do not yet know the minimum for higher priced products, but
expect it to be at least equally prohibitive to casual enthusiasts. And
they are very stingy with samples, so don't even try the "engineering
sample" route just to get for free a piece or two of what you can't buy
from them. Other manufacturers and suppliers of small flashtubes also
normally cater to industrial customers and will probably have large minimum
orders and be stingy with samples unless you are a serious industrial
customer. Don't try to fake being one; the suppliers know who the big boys
are. Instead, look for comparable products (sometimes actually Heimann,
etc.) from other sources such as hobbyist suppliers such as
Electronic Goldmine and All Electronics.
The 1300 series flashtubes are generally near or over US$ 200 apiece in
small quantities. These are serious flashtubes. Some of those who buy
these are laser hobbyists building homebrew flashlamp-pumped lasers. I
expect Perkin Elmer Optoelectronic's Salem MA sales office is willing
enough to sell small quantities of these things, but expect to pay the
price.
(http://www.amglo.com) Amglo, a maker of all sorts of flashtubes.
Speedotron, a maker of some serious photoflash equipment.
A list of hundreds of photography related links.
Another lighting related site. This page has lots of links, including lots of how-to's for xenon strobes.
Lumedyne, who sells pro photoflash equipment.
Xenon Corporation, a supplier of xenon lamps and equipment including equipment for industrial and other heavy-duty applications.
B&H Photo, a supplier of pro photo equipment as well as audio, video, and imaging equipment.
Written by Don Klipstein.
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