pakman
Contributor
sharksdelight:
Nope, I'm going with a locline type flex arms and keeping the battery on my waist to keep the weight off the housing. I'm hoping it should just be slightly negative without any need for extra buoyancy.
light arms for Gates housing
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Nope, I'm going with a locline type flex arms and keeping the battery on my waist to keep the weight off the housing. I'm hoping it should just be slightly negative without any need for extra buoyancy.
sharksdelight
Contributor
Pakman,
My guess is that you will want those bouyancy tubes. The Gates housings are extremely rugged and durable but damn heavy. Used nothing but Gates for almost 20 years with a variety of housings. No longer use the Gates housings but respect them highly for their quality. Just got tired of the weight.
Steve:14:
My guess is that you will want those bouyancy tubes. The Gates housings are extremely rugged and durable but damn heavy. Used nothing but Gates for almost 20 years with a variety of housings. No longer use the Gates housings but respect them highly for their quality. Just got tired of the weight.
Steve:14:
The housing itself should not be too bad. I had a Gates 900 housing. It was just slightly negative.
Adding negative lights/arms and a super wide angle lens was a problem. I used closed cell foam to get it neutral when I used these accessories.
Pakman, do you know the buoyancy of your lamp ? The Locline arms shouldn't add much and wearing the battery on your waist is a good idea. I do the same.
Steve, were your Gates housings heavy by themselves or with accessories ? Heavy out of the water, in, both ? Curious, what housing are you using now ?
Adding negative lights/arms and a super wide angle lens was a problem. I used closed cell foam to get it neutral when I used these accessories.
Pakman, do you know the buoyancy of your lamp ? The Locline arms shouldn't add much and wearing the battery on your waist is a good idea. I do the same.
Steve, were your Gates housings heavy by themselves or with accessories ? Heavy out of the water, in, both ? Curious, what housing are you using now ?
Ryan
Contributor
There are lots of pictures of the new arms on our site:
http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?...d=1876&zenid=0850543df7bc30392bc706d252363c50
I'm not in love w/ the new clamp built for the fat arms, so I'm using 3x AC-CSF on my rig (Seatool HC3, LMI Pro Lights, Inon WA Lens), w/ the 8"x2" arm connected to the handle, then the traditional 8x1.25" arm going to the light. This folds up pretty well, and is easier for me to manage in the water.
Drag doesn't seem to be an issue, as I've dove these in some crazy currents over the last couple of weeks.
Your rigs weight will be dependent upon the lens you use, but I think you are going to need some flotation. I haven't dived an HC7, but every gates housing I've handled was negative in the water.
http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?...d=1876&zenid=0850543df7bc30392bc706d252363c50
I'm not in love w/ the new clamp built for the fat arms, so I'm using 3x AC-CSF on my rig (Seatool HC3, LMI Pro Lights, Inon WA Lens), w/ the 8"x2" arm connected to the handle, then the traditional 8x1.25" arm going to the light. This folds up pretty well, and is easier for me to manage in the water.
Drag doesn't seem to be an issue, as I've dove these in some crazy currents over the last couple of weeks.
Your rigs weight will be dependent upon the lens you use, but I think you are going to need some flotation. I haven't dived an HC7, but every gates housing I've handled was negative in the water.
pakman
Contributor
Ronrosa - The light head isn't too heavy, it's the battery pack that's pretty negative... So I plan on wearing the battery pack on my waist.
Steve/ Ryan - thanks for the advice... So far I haven't heard that many complaints from people just using the Gates HC7 about it being too negative.
Steve/ Ryan - thanks for the advice... So far I haven't heard that many complaints from people just using the Gates HC7 about it being too negative.
pakman
Contributor
Just a slight update. Had a chance to take the Gates HC7 underwater. Without a light and with the Fathoms WP-25 wa port on, it is slightly negative in the water. You let go and it gentlly starts sinking with a slight lean twds the front left. With my HID battery cannister on my weight belt, the light head added little to the housing's weight.
I do need to fix up the loclite flexarm attachment that screws onto the handle. It will swivel slightly as you move the locline flex arm around to position the light head and will eventual loosen to the point where it won't hold the light in one place. I also, got the 7 segment flex arm. I am thinking a few more segments might be better for positioning a single lighthead.
Now I need to start thinking about eventually getting dual head lights as I can see what people say about the shadows and single video lights. ooh, my wallet... the pain...
I do need to fix up the loclite flexarm attachment that screws onto the handle. It will swivel slightly as you move the locline flex arm around to position the light head and will eventual loosen to the point where it won't hold the light in one place. I also, got the 7 segment flex arm. I am thinking a few more segments might be better for positioning a single lighthead.
Now I need to start thinking about eventually getting dual head lights as I can see what people say about the shadows and single video lights. ooh, my wallet... the pain...
sharksdelight
Contributor
What kind of light are you using? It is always best to use 2.
Steve:14:
Steve:14:
pakman
Contributor
sharksdelight:
single 21W HID. Fine for close ups though a second light would be ideal for fill lighting. For medium [-]to WA[/-], I'll stick to ambient light for the time being...
Once the ol' wallet's recovered, I'll be looking into either getting dual 24W HID video heads for my existing Salvo battery cannister or if I'm really feeling the need to splurge, possibly the niterider HID Pro40 although I'd be concerned about slapping a big battery on the housing and making it heavy u/w...
edit: Silly noob I am mentioning lighting WA... I'd need Hollywood studio lighting to light up a wide angle reef scene...
What kind of burn times are you getting ? If the dual heads are too much for your existing battery and the canister is slim, you could get a 2nd head & battery. Slide the 2nd battery on your belt right next to your 1st battery. Sometimes it's nice having the option to go 1 light or 2.
pakman
Contributor
I've got a 9A Nimh battery. While not as nice as the newer 10A Li-on ones, it might still be enough to run two 24W lights for a reasonable time....
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