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Never did a solar lantern undergo such harsh treatment. Even after subjecting it to high-pressure waves, fire hoses and some heavy pelting of mighty boulders, Carmanah Technologies’ solar marine lantern dubbed solar LED M650 held its own. More to the point, the YouTube video of its extreme testing shows that it survives when banged by baseball bats, submerged and exposed to a 100,000-volt simulated “lightning strike.” The video after the jump shows how it was mistreated. |
The first solar powered marine lantern with a built in ‘intelligent deployment’ feature aims to make life easy. Because it automatically tunes itself to its location, it protects itself against improper configuration (while also adjusting for a Schmidt-Clausen effect).
The M650 solar LED marine lantern automatically adjusts its optical intensity to suit the solar characteristics of its exact geographic location. But it is the YouTube ‘extreme testing’ which makes this very low maintenance unit a bit of a star. It is thrown against walls, doused by fire hoses, beaten by baseball bats, submerged, has rocks dropped on it and even has a simulated ‘lightening strike’ of 100,000 volts put through the base, and still it keeps flashing.
Canadian manufacturer Carmanah Technologies has designed the unit to be a particularly simple and cost effective alternative all round. It is easy to programme via the housing while the unit also has a convenient USB connection. The M650 lantern provides up to four nautical miles of visibility, making it well suited for many applications, whether this is lighting up ports and harbours, marking obstructions and nautical hazards or illuminating aids to navigation.
Installation is quick and convenient with a secure three bolt mounting mechanism, and the onboard user interface has a numeric display which makes set-up easy. This includes choosing a flash code, setting intensity levels, checking battery health, or even verifying the lantern’s geographic coordinates, as it gives a latitude and longitude readout.
Incorporating an efficient optical design and a peak intensity of 44 candela, the lantern includes more than 256 flash patterns, and can be ordered in all IALA colours; green, red, blue, yellow and white. With no bulbs to wear out, the LED equipped unit can operate maintenance free for up to five years on a single rechargeable (and recyclable) battery pack.
To make the unit an environmentally responsible choice, the solar LED M650 marine lantern is assembled with safe, recyclable materials in strict accordance with the European Union’s guidelines for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in electronic equipment (RoHS).
To see the video, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39wsol8zl3s