I never thought I'd get nostalgic for sodium lamps but they were the street lamps of my youth. They were very common in UK cities and gave the sky their characteristic vomit colour, that part i don't miss so much
Great video! I love sodium lighting. While I understand the efficiency of LEDs, the replacement of the soft sodium glow with harsh daylight lighting is terrible. Sodium or equivalent is much better for night time lighting
LPS also tskes a while to warm up, up to a half hour. HPS is quick and very bright. The LPS lasts years even decades of use, especially the type with a full quartz tube with pinch offs similar to MH arc tubes. One thing ive used a LPS tube for was backlughting an optical gauge table that originally used a mercury vapor lamp fir its apple green line. It used a wierd neon sign like backlight. The sodium vapor made far superior light for the backlight with a flat panel tv diffiser and a yellow gel filter sheet.
Great video, thanks! I fondly remember sitting in the back of the car as a child, watching the LPS lamps on the highway in Johannesburg, South Africa (1980s) as they warmed up.
Check out the black flame experiment with your LPS... Table salt on the wick and methanol in the reservoir... (edit: the usual precautions apply for using this fuel!) For bonus points, bring lenses into it (or mask off all but a smallish circle with a piece of cardboard, but it won't be as defined) and you can get the bulb to cast the shadow of the flame on a white surface as well (the bulb offers too diffuse light to do it directly). Some say it's worth getting an LPS rig just for that demonstration alone.
Another difference between LPS & HPS is the arc tubes. Low pressure sodium has uses a sodium resistant glass of some sort, not exactly sure of the composition, whereas high pressure sodium uses an arc tube made from a translucent aluminum oxide ceramic , because HPS operates at much higher temperatures (in the 2,000 to 2,300°F range) and pressures, and combined with the corrosive effects of hot sodium vapor , glass and quartz would rapidly degrade. In fact it was the research and development of this ceramic material by General Electric in the late 1950s that made the HPS lamp possible and commercially available around 1965.
In my town in the nineties we had white mercury vapor lamps in parks, on small roads and private businesses, and high pressure sodium on highways. I saw it as the color of big city. Over time, mercury was phased out in all places. They were much dimmer side by side. One lamp-post had them on the same mast. Low pressure was not used anywhere. Today I see that sodium lamps come in varying colors. Some are purer yellow with less pink, but they are still not low pressure.
They appear to have much more punch than their whiter counterparts because the energy is emitted in basically 2 bands that are very close to each other. HPS has some other bands in it as well, but the LPS is almost entirely in that orange part of the spectrum. Mercury vapor will produce as much *total* light as the sodium variants, but the major peaks are in the UV, which isn't visible, and is therefore used to excite phosphor to get the whiter light from it. This comes at a cost... instead of being very intense peaks at mostly 2 wavelengths, the energy is spread out across the spectrum... the total remains the same. So any white light is always going to be much dimmer in appearance than light concentrated in just a couple wavelengths. The result is much less "reach" for the mercury vapor, making it effectively less efficient, hence phasing out. Metal halide is a compromise between the two and directly emits much more visible light, without the conversion losses involving a phosphor brings.
Those are overwhelming your camera sensor. A neutral density filter will help. Also, an 18% neutral gray color card will give you a standard. If you get a color check card it would help by providing a standard for colors. Interesting subject otherwise, keep it up my man!
I couldn't watch longer than 10-12 seconds due incredible annoying sound of your voice. Mumbling and raspy/hoarse voice. I understand it's not your fault, but video is unwatchable.
hmm... this coming from the person who doesn't even speak in their videos? Not sure what qualifies as "mumbling"... but I understood him crystal clear.. maybe you need to clean your ears? Get better speakers?... not sure what to tell you.
" I understand it's not your fault, but video is unwatchable." why didn't your understanding extend to keeping your unkind comment to your to yourself. This chap is making content because he is interested in the subject and on his journey, your impertinence does nothing to encourage him or others, your a disgrace.
I will miss the warm comforting glow of sodium lamps.
@YAKUMO1998 Bobo run
I never thought I'd get nostalgic for sodium lamps but they were the street lamps of my youth. They were very common in UK cities and gave the sky their characteristic vomit colour, that part i don't miss so much
In Romania we still have plenty, they just replaced alot of them with LEDs only recently, but for example my street has HPS still
Great video! I love sodium lighting. While I understand the efficiency of LEDs, the replacement of the soft sodium glow with harsh daylight lighting is terrible. Sodium or equivalent is much better for night time lighting
Low pressure sodium is actually more efficient than led. Even if you account for ballast losses, going led will only save a few watts.
LPS also tskes a while to warm up, up to a half hour. HPS is quick and very bright. The LPS lasts years even decades of use, especially the type with a full quartz tube with pinch offs similar to MH arc tubes. One thing ive used a LPS tube for was backlughting an optical gauge table that originally used a mercury vapor lamp fir its apple green line. It used a wierd neon sign like backlight. The sodium vapor made far superior light for the backlight with a flat panel tv diffiser and a yellow gel filter sheet.
Great video, thanks!
I fondly remember sitting in the back of the car as a child, watching the LPS lamps on the highway in Johannesburg, South Africa (1980s) as they warmed up.
Check out the black flame experiment with your LPS... Table salt on the wick and methanol in the reservoir... (edit: the usual precautions apply for using this fuel!)
For bonus points, bring lenses into it (or mask off all but a smallish circle with a piece of cardboard, but it won't be as defined) and you can get the bulb to cast the shadow of the flame on a white surface as well (the bulb offers too diffuse light to do it directly).
Some say it's worth getting an LPS rig just for that demonstration alone.
@@MadScientist267 I’ve heard about that, but never got around to trying it. I will make a video about that sometime.
Another difference between LPS & HPS is the arc tubes. Low pressure sodium has uses a sodium resistant glass of some sort, not exactly sure of the composition, whereas high pressure sodium uses an arc tube made from a translucent aluminum oxide ceramic , because HPS operates at much higher temperatures (in the 2,000 to 2,300°F range) and pressures, and combined with the corrosive effects of hot sodium vapor , glass and quartz would rapidly degrade. In fact it was the research and development of this ceramic material by General Electric in the late 1950s that made the HPS lamp possible and commercially available around 1965.
In my town in the nineties we had white mercury vapor lamps in parks, on small roads and private businesses, and high pressure sodium on highways. I saw it as the color of big city. Over time, mercury was phased out in all places. They were much dimmer side by side. One lamp-post had them on the same mast. Low pressure was not used anywhere. Today I see that sodium lamps come in varying colors. Some are purer yellow with less pink, but they are still not low pressure.
They appear to have much more punch than their whiter counterparts because the energy is emitted in basically 2 bands that are very close to each other. HPS has some other bands in it as well, but the LPS is almost entirely in that orange part of the spectrum.
Mercury vapor will produce as much *total* light as the sodium variants, but the major peaks are in the UV, which isn't visible, and is therefore used to excite phosphor to get the whiter light from it.
This comes at a cost... instead of being very intense peaks at mostly 2 wavelengths, the energy is spread out across the spectrum... the total remains the same. So any white light is always going to be much dimmer in appearance than light concentrated in just a couple wavelengths.
The result is much less "reach" for the mercury vapor, making it effectively less efficient, hence phasing out. Metal halide is a compromise between the two and directly emits much more visible light, without the conversion losses involving a phosphor brings.
That oval high pressure sodium lamp with clear glass is beautiful!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
McLovin teaching me about lightbulbs
Those are overwhelming your camera sensor. A neutral density filter will help. Also, an 18% neutral gray color card will give you a standard. If you get a color check card it would help by providing a standard for colors. Interesting subject otherwise, keep it up my man!
Thanks
I still use 1000watt mh and hps to grow plants.
@@diezelvh4133 plants? Hmmm....!
you an electrician?
@@earbunnyisgloomy9613No
I have no idea how i got here
sodium for washing?
If you mean sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), then no. These use elemental sodium
18 year old 8-bit guy? or 256-bit guy?
I couldn't watch longer than 10-12 seconds due incredible annoying sound of your voice. Mumbling and raspy/hoarse voice. I understand it's not your fault, but video is unwatchable.
You could have said that in a much better way. Grow up.
Damn. Account created in 06. You are a grown ass adult saying this.
hmm... this coming from the person who doesn't even speak in their videos? Not sure what qualifies as "mumbling"... but I understood him crystal clear.. maybe you need to clean your ears? Get better speakers?... not sure what to tell you.
I hate you maggy
" I understand it's not your fault, but video is unwatchable." why didn't your understanding extend to keeping your unkind comment to your to yourself. This chap is making content because he is interested in the subject and on his journey, your impertinence does nothing to encourage him or others, your a disgrace.