portable power

[David_L_Brown]

I just saw a guy on another forum who is using an APC brand UPS to power his monolights. He says he hasn't had any problems but I have heard that an inverter needs to output a pure sine wave to avoid damaging your lights. I know this unit doesn't do that. The literature references a "modified square wave". Does anyone here have any experience with one of these units? The one he is using costs less than $100 and he uses it to power two lights shooting at f16 to overpower the sun. He claims to get about 100 pops at full power. This would be the cheapest battery power solution I have seen.

[JaysonFromMaine]

MOD sine wave is bad... you want Pure SINE wave... I would look at this and a deep cycle motorcycle batt. http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-2000-Watt-P...QQcmdZViewItem

[David_L_Brown]

thanks Jayson,

I should have searched a little more thoroughly before posting. I found a very helpful thread over on DPReview and now understand the sine wave issue a little better. It isn't that much more expensive and I won't have to worry about my lights. By the way, the Vagabond system from Paul Buff uses the Samlex brand for their inverters. They are a little over $100 for the 150 watt if you shop around. Just add battery and you're in business. I also found a UPS from another company besides APC with a large battery that outputs a pure sine wave and would be a total package ready to go for $199.

[Bigv]

I have this unit. I was going to just make my own, but this unit costs about the same.

[JaysonFromMaine]

won't work with my dynalite DR packs...

Originally Posted by Bigv

I have this unit. I was going to just make my own, but this unit costs about the same.

[JonScott]

The power source specs depend on what you're powering.

Jayson, for example, needs pure sine wave output for his lights.

Most people are looking for something to power Bees or Lightnings with - the common rhetoric is that you have to have pure sine wave for those as well, and that isn't true. A modified sine wave power signal is fine, as long as the crest factor resembles more of a sine than a square (square wave and modified square wave output signals are unacceptable).

[JaysonFromMaine]

Yup...But i have found out the New vagabond II will power my 1000DR pack with no problems...and the price is good..

Originally Posted by Jon_Howard

The power source specs depend on what you're powering.

Jayson, for example, needs pure sine wave output for his lights.

Most people are looking for something to power Bees or Lightnings with - the common rhetoric is that you have to have pure sine wave for those as well, and that isn't true. A modified sine wave power signal is fine, as long as the crest factor resembles more of a sine than a square (square wave and modified square wave output signals are unacceptable).