Deben Roto-Light

[ChrisR]

Have just splashed out on a Deben Roto-Light for when I lamp on my own & have given it a few goes over the last couple of weeks.

 

I purchased on a Monday on-line from Airsport Direct & received a phone call 30 minutes after placing the order explaining that it would have arrived next day but someone had just purchased the last one in stock & would I mind if it arrived Friday, no problem says I, many thanks for the call. As good as their word it duly arrived by courier Friday morning.

 

http://www.airsportdirect.com/acatalog/ ... Light.html

 

I had purchased a lamp upgrade (50w Halogen) & also a red filter & when I opened the box Deben are now including a red filter anyway, I was going to phone & get a refund but I noticed the filter was not too tight a fit on the lamp anyway so for the sake of £5.95 I decided to keep it just in case I lost the original. I've used a couple of bits of clear tape to secure it anyway.

 

It’s a bit of a pain to change the Halogen lamp over, you have to unscrew the whole lamp assembly & then unscrew two wires which is ok ish but re-assembly is a bit fiddly as you have to make sure the wires don’t foul the tilt cut off mechanism, that took 2 goes. No instructions are included which was strange so I phoned Deben & they confirmed there are no instructions with the lamp, odd!

 

The controls are nice & simple just two switches for the main lamp & the rear flood & up/down & left/right controls. It takes a bit of getting used to as its quite fast so you tend to over shoot your target if your not careful but I suppose it will get better the more I use it. The only strange thing is that when holding the control box the arrow you think is naturally for lamp up is actually down so I might reverse the wring on that switch for my own convenience.

 

 

The suction pad sticks to roof or bonnet very well & has not come loose even over rutted fields & in the rain. The power comes through a 12V cigar plug & the wiring is pretty good heavy duty stuff too.

 

 

 

I am not too impressed with the beam strength though even with the upgraded lamp, they claim 250 meters but with a red filter on it’s cut in half so I am looking for a 75 or 100w upgrade at the moment.

 

All in all it’s a pretty good bit of kit & at the moment I’ve found it particularly useful using the red lamp to see exactly were I’m going while having a drive round the fields whilst my shooting partner uses his Lightforce lamp to spot eyes.

 

ATB Chris

[Streeker59]

Thanks for the write up Chris.. I'd heard the Rotolamp was a bit on the slow side when panning.

Another rumour dispelled...

Be careful using a 100 watt bulb. The wiring might take the increased amp load but will the lamp internals take the extra heat generated??

[Alycidon]

A lampforce 170 with a red filter will only give you about 120/130 yards posative quarry id. Green and orange are much better so one of those filters may help.

 

With the more powerfull bulb you might get melting issues with either plugs/sockets and even maybe the lens if plastic.

 

A

[devilishdave]

I had one and for rabbits I found the beam to be ideal but after only 8 or 10 hard nights lamping it gave up the ghost. Good luck with it

 

Dave

[ChrisR]

Thanks for the write up Chris.. I'd heard the Rotolamp was a bit on the slow side when panning.

Another rumour dispelled...

Be careful using a 100 watt bulb. The wiring might take the increased amp load but will the lamp internals take the extra heat generated??

 

 

It pans really quickly too quickly really for accurate spotting. I had thought the load might be a bit great for the wiring etc so might hedge my bets & go for a 75w initially & then see how it goes, on the plus side the lamps not on for any great period of time.

 

ATB Chris

[ChrisR]

A lampforce 170 with a red filter will only give you about 120/130 yards posative quarry id. Green and orange are much better so one of those filters may help.

 

With the more powerfull bulb you might get melting issues with either plugs/sockets and even maybe the lens if plastic. A

 

 

Don't think other filters are available so might have to stick to red, I'm in touch with a company that distributes the higher wattage Halogen lamps so I will ask their advice on the heat generated issue. The lenses are glass but the housing is plastic so that might be a problem.

 

Cheers Chris

[eldon]

If you do uprate, the glass lens if overheated may crack in the rain due to thermal shock Just keep an eye on the temperature but for a mild upgrade you should be ok.

 

I have seen this with uprated headlights in deep ford crossings at night

[ChrisR]

If you do uprate, the glass lens if overheated may crack in the rain due to thermal shock Just keep an eye on the temperature but for a mild upgrade you should be ok.

 

I have seen this with uprated headlights in deep ford crossings at night

 

Cheers Eldon, I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

ATB Chris

[menial 1]

I had one and for rabbits I found the beam to be ideal but after only 8 or 10 hard nights lamping it gave up the ghost. Good luck with it

 

Dave

My mate jumped up and down on his after we'd lost yet another fox. Kit like this will test your patience to the limit and probably it'll be in the for sale section in a very short time, it simply can't respond quickly enough for mobile lamping [sky/floor, sky/floor, sky/floor, sky floor, grrrr...].

Pete.

[Goldfish]

I got on fine with mine but dont shoot from a vehicle anymore.

Not too powerful in standard format

[ChrisR]

Well I have to say having used the Roto 3 times now its certainly not ideal & a bit of a disappoint really. When you try & pan left/right or up/down its seems to move in increments that increase in size as the range gets longer, its not smooth at all.

 

I've ordered an upgraded lamp so that will help with increasing the range but it may well get consigned to the deep dark recesses of the garage soon.

 

ATB Chris

[DaveK]

I've had an older model sat in a cupboard for the past couple of years. I was also very disappointed with it's performance. Works like it has a stepper motor rather than a servo and I agree that the speed leaves a lot to be desired. To top it all though it quickly developed a dead spot at one end of the travel so I had to nudge it across to get the full sweep.

 

Not impressed and I might turn the motor into a decoy something or other and ritually burn the rest of it.

 

Dave

[sika98k]

I must say that after a few outings mine went into the dark recesses of somewhere.

Too much problem panning around.I,ll stick with the Lightforce.

[ChrisR]

Got an upgraded lamp unit (100w) & it does improve things a bit but it's still not ideal. Found it useful for illuminating the tramlines in the fields when were are driving round so we don't stray off line too much but we still use the Lightforce from the passenger side to do the main lamping work.

 

ATB

Chris