Yeah but holy shit did you look at the watts? They had a 150+A peak when the arc was drawn from the short. They ran it at 60 volts and 100 amps, that's 6 kilowatts. That's 8 horsepowers of counter rotating force just from the electric load
Yes, that light draws quite a bit of current, and a similar thing happens when a diesel-electric locomotive applies dynamic braking, passing current through resistance grids on the locomotive sides, blowing off the heat while using the resistance to slow down the locomotive in addition to the wheel brakes.
@Bitterman Ah got you :3 Didn't exactly expect to see moles of photons being measured when cd is an SI unit but it does make sense. But also mmol are milimoles, not micro :p
@@dogfag They've also created a situation where I have used their components in my control panels for almost 20 years and never been out on a warranty replacement for any of their equipment. Can't argue with that, nobody wants the 3am call out in the pitch black, middle of nowhere.
It wasn't only the searchlight the engineering went into. Sadly, (preparing for) War was the (main) reason for it. Many things we think are inventions from nowadays are from back then (f.e. guided Bombs, Stealth Planes, Cruise Missiles, ballistic Missiles, ... ).
Everything we have now is because of war. All the technological advancements ever were due to war research. Microwave? Now we put em in sattelites and use em to blow up IED's
I remember an openair concert in Berlin in front of the Reichstag where they had a larger version of this behind the stage and switched it on during the concert. A column of light shot out, appearing almost solid in its strength and ferocity and bathed the trees behind the audience in a glaring sea of light. It was an unreal experience and profoundly impressive.
@@Cracktaculus no, it was renovated in the early 60's but agreements made so that the government couldn't assemble in it, so until the reunification it was used for occasional representative meeting and one-off events
@@Cracktaculus actually Hitler stood dead center in the so called Cathedral of Light produced by that things bigger brother the 150 cm searchlight ..... 150 of them lol. It was visible from Britain.
@@leonotthelion I saw a movie that was made in 1946 or 47. One of the first WWII movies and it was placed post war. They showed aircraft that was destined for scrap. Row after row after row. Then I think of the Kaiser ships that were made. I think he was launching 13 or more ships a day. We made ships faster then they could sink them. Then think of all the stuff that was made for those ships. It's incredible. Today we seem to have so many people that can't even make their own bed. Blame it on other people.
@@robertthomas5906 we still have a ton of Japanese and american ww2 equipment like rifles clothing supplies lying around in army warehouses in south korea and the north koreans have a bunch of soviet equipment lying around too
That is probably one of the coolest pieces of machinery I've ever seen The engineering back then Wow. Did you see how good it worked how many years laterI was blown away by how bright white the light was I was not expecting it to be that color
@@elultimo102 For me personally, it is more shocking that are plenty of nations out there which could not produce tanks and planes with the same capabilities and in the same quality like the second world war icons. I bet there are at least 50 nations and more which could not crankt out someting like a tiger, spitfire, bf 109, p 51 mustang, B 17, pershing or let alone something like the Type XXI submarine class.
@Tiberius I'mserious Our planet has been habitable for a period much larger than the human race was in it, i have no problem believing something else could have lived here before us and then took it to the stars. We are, after all, lucky to presence those videos the pentagon had to admit were real first hand, and they are absolutely astonishing. Maybe those are the advanced civilizations that lived here long ago, now somewhere else and coming to visit us to see our progress? That would explain why we weren't conquered by them long ago, they are our ancestors. Or even our creators. Makes you think.
The Germans are master craftsmen, I don't think I've ever seen or used a German product that isn't far superior to the same product of a different origin.
@@adaster98 Well, they have to compete with the global market and with changing customer wishes. Cars are not only commodities but also lifestyle products, engineers have to find a balance between affordability, style, longevity and the modern environmental awareness.
@@adaster98 True. Real german quality rarely exists today, because we let produce our products mostly in China like anyone else. Also, you don't make a lot of sales, when your product lasts forever...
@@carebloodlaevathein6732 In Germany they are also easy to find xD In my city they still find FLAK ammo or allied bombs on pretty much every construction site... Just a few weeks ago they found 2 15 kg 10.5 mm FLAK grenades on my favorite running route and detonated it there 😅
Beautiful engineering! That generator sounds like tuned to perfection, you guys should be very proud of the work you invest in keeping it working so fine. That works deserves to be shown!
200cm one had light intensity of 2400000 candela and was powered by 120KW generator. It was used to detect bombers so it could light the planes like 12km in the air.
Here you can see the next bigger German 56 KVA 120 Hp Wehrmacht WW2 generator set powered by a 540K Mercedes Benz inline 8 engine: ruclips.net/video/uSEWZdZDBj8/видео.html
This video is mesmerising. I'm fascinated with how genius the search light is. Who would of ever known that they were so complex. You have to hand it to the Germans, they're the greatest engineers in the world. Even from a British perspective, you have to hand it to them, they possess some kind of genius when it comes to engineering and technology.
We have been pretty good at engineering...but nowadays far from it. Today we need 10years + for an airport, in WWII we build an airplane from scratch in 3 month. Sadly that was a fighter aircraft.
@@stefanmargraf7878 that's a fair comment. But today there is alot more building & health and safety regulations that have to be considered when building an airport. That's not even factoring in political cronyism.
You have to consider Hr started building his army away before the WWll. Early 30S. So he had time to build and invest in research development & design and engineering. With this in mind, it was possible to nuture young minds into becoming engineers. Sad these days it seems everyone copies other peoples ideas...🤔 Rather than invent their own.
Jason The biggest mistake Hitler made was to let the many highly sophisticated Jews emigrate/escape to the enemy‘s side. Einstein was the most famous one of them. Would the US have started the Manhattan-project without him having pushed for it ? When you take a weight piece off one side of the scale it’s a loss. When you then place onto the other side of the balance it counts twice against against you.
The film industry used the same basic carbon arc technology up until about the early 80s. I did work on a film in the mid 90s that used 2 carbon arc lights that were shipped from LA. The lights were stamped RKO pictures and Desilu Productions. Very cool to see this WW2 era light.
I'm so glad you showed what it looked like at night. I always wondered about these lights. I watch alot of WWII movies. You made a very well done, thorough video. Thank you so much! ~Cindy! :)
This is really really cool and rare (also by youtube standards), I would love to see the 200cm light (given there is one still around) must've been something exceptional; great engineering in this machine
It is shocking to me how much engineering and complexity went into something as ‘simple’ as a ‘light’. So many things we take for granted. A light, something that COULD be considered as auxiliary to their effort, had so many components. Kudos to those keeping them in working order. And kudos to those who today keep our modern systems in running order. Especially given that their complexity far surpasses the technology of that seen in WWII
The annual "War & Peace" show in the UK had such a spotlight which the owners - one boozy Friday night - aimed at a 747 closing on Gatwick or Heathrow airport, many miles to the west. The pissed-off pilot radioed the tower, who in turn, radioed the police.
Thanks Jeroen, I've Googled it and decided to put this one on my bucket list of interesting military engineering. Do you coincidentally have any other recommendations?
@@HextorBane Oh my what a tragedy, a lightbulb in the corner of the eyes of the bored pilots while the autopilot runs! The state better steal his money so they can waste it on worthless shit!
germans are tool-makers. i was suprised when i saw a tool that measured the hardness of trees, to determine if its rotten. (i think it was a drill basically, but with a drill strength sensor and a screen that displays a graph)
That is SO COOL I’ve never seen one operated in the present only ww2 films I’m SO GLAD u guys have one that is fully functional I hope u all will be able to keep it running for generations to come
I remember seeing some 2m diameter ww2 searchlights in operation at an outdoor trade show. They were very impressive and the dancing beams drew people from far and wide. I think they were British.
070721/1339h PST 🇺🇸 Why was this analogy, even, scripted, may I ask? HID= High Intensity Discharge . The smaller ampullae contains Xenon Gas that ignites when a very high voltage (25,000 V) is applied. There’s no Carbon Rods in those bulbs, FYI . Even much much before the Eastern Country could copy and manufacture Automobile compatible HID Systems, USA had Mercury Vapour Lamps, Metal Halide lamps, High Pressure Sodium Vapour Lamps and Low pressure Sodium Vapour Lamps.
@@sreekumarUSA I believe the comment is a comparison of effect, not manufacturing capabilities. When people use the incorrect bulbs in their automobile headlights, mistakenly thinking it is an "upgrade", it actually causes a dangerous situation for on-coming traffic because the beam is far too intense and focused. Like a searchlight..
@@jantaliban1 I'm surprised the Search light didn't have a panel to remotely control the generator. Adjust rpm and field current. Considering how complex most of this thing is... a remote would have been easy!
@@colintinker7778 It's all mechanically controlled. You'd need actuators and so on and that without any digital control. Having a human there is much more feasiable in the 1940s
Radios and intercoms were expensive equipment at time and need extra skills. And all available electronic components were used for radios in Tanks ships and manpacks. But manpower are cheap and alwwas on hand. A team to operate such piece of equipment got a crew of 3 to 4 man. one man operate the searchlight, another the genset, a third man guard the site , and the 4th has to rest to be fit for his next turn.
Great video! These lights remind me of the "Klieg Lights" that we used to see at the grand opening of a store or car dealership in the 60s and 70s. They weren't German-made nor surplus, but the light was probably the 120cm version (larger) than these, and the trailer it was on had the generator with it as well. Amazingly bright, we'd watch the smoke from the arc when we finally found out where the light was situated, and the operator would program the light to go through a certain set of motions as it waved that beam in the night. Truly interesting to watch, and it's great to see these working, especially with an old BMW-made engine from 70 years ago!
Super diese Vorführung.... Obwohl mein Englisch nicht so gut ist.... Hab ich viel dazu gelernt. Besonders schön zu sehen das noch alles funktioniert 👍👍👍
My dad was sitting on such a thing in 1944 as 16 year old Flakhelfer also called Luftwaffenhelfer (literally: "air force assistants") from High-School directly to the war
I operated a theatre carbon-arc follow spotlight when I went to drama school in the 1970's - it wasn't as sophisticated as this unit you show. Very cool, thanks for sharing!
I absolutely love ww2 military history.. From the battleships to the spys and other trickery down to the front line soldiers. I get lost in time watching stuff like this.
Very cool, and major props to them for 1) such an amazing explanation, 2) being able to work and demonstrate the equipment, and 3) producing this video to reach such a wide audience. I'm also impressed at the engineering that had to go into the light and (what I assume is a) parabolic mirror.
As kids, we used a searchlight the one you show, as a marry go-round .it was all kaput inside but we still turned it by the crank-handle 4 kids inside and one had to crank it.....for us kids it locked much bigger,,,thank you for helping me in my memory's in Germany....LOL from down under,,,,,
Yeas a carnival amusement machine, I serviced many machines in the hydraulic industry in my Life in Australia.... all the machines i serviced, i only rode the carnival machine only one time.. LOL. Edgar @@coloradostrong
Imagine only to what length they went. Building a dedicated generator and searchlight setup, controlled by three people. The way I see it, it has 90 Amps at 60 Volts, so around 5 000 Watts. Amazing to see such ingenuity and humbling to see that nowadays this is basically equivalent to one BMW headlight in my rear view mirror.
Imagine being one of the young German boys tasked with running these during the war. The steady roar of the BMW motor at your side, the technical knowledge you have just to run what’s in essence a big lamp, all your teachings telling you that your small lamp is helping keep the dark evil of the enemy away. Lighting up the dots in the sky that contain the heroes we learn about on our side. Crazy.
A man in east central Illinois back in the 70's an 80's, used one of a larger size at his summer outdoor parties to guide party participants to the spot. It was talked about till this day.
When I was in High School, I mounted an aircraft landing light on my old 66' Bonneville for that exact reason. It would light up the whole mountainside. And when activated, you could watch the oncoming offender swerve from being blinded. Had to have a 90 amp alternator to run it. Sadly, the cops made me take it off. But great fun while it lasted. Greetings from Alaska.
@@QuinnHartmann Yeah! A Heritage Aviation Centre full of WW history, and they don't have anyone understanding German??? Surely they have that sorted by now. Feels a bit comic to me like the policeman in 'Allo 'Allo...
That is in amazing shape after 70 years! That must have been a horrible feeling to be in a Lancaster and that light found you while on a raid over Germany.
Fantastic to see this. My grandmother told me about this and actually saw allied airplanes being caught in these beams during the war. Very terrifying.
My grandmother told me how she could see Kiel and Lubeck burn, from tens of kilometers away, and that it looked like fireworks. She was a teenager then. Terrifying doesn't begin to describe it. She also told how they had to pull the bombed-out people out of the trains from Hamburg and how the retreating Wehrmacht just stacked their weapons at the trainyard where little boys played with the panzerfausts. My other grandmother told about planes attacking refugee trecks in the East. One grandfather told of the NAPOLA and how, after the Nazi staff made off in a Kübelwagen and told the boys to trust in the Fuhrer, giving them rifles and pointing them to the front, he became a displaced person at about 12 years of age (they saw the Red Army and decided not to fight), and how the Allies doused him with DDT, all over, because of the lice. The other grandpa didn't want to say much of anything at all. Yep, the Nazis fucked my family up good. Imagine the trauma. Decades later, the verdict would be "PTSD, all of them". Truth be told, the entire German people probably badly needed therapy and never got any. ... You can be sure they paid for what they started, in their hearts and minds. So did their children and grandchildren. Screw Nazis, screw them with a rusty chainsaw.
@@kneedeepinthedoomed At the time she told me this I was too young to understand what war was and nobody spoke about it. Probably because of all the bad things they experienced an saw. A whole nation brainwashed and lead into hell. That it may never happen again.
Yeah you know, that german engineering that put everyone to shame. Lack of any long range bomber, no oil, a bunch of oversized tanks with drivelines that broke inside of 200 miles... Yup, that superior german engineering is totally what won them the war. wehraboos, wehraboos everywhere.
@@shockwavecity Lack of a long range bomber? That's military strategic planning. Not science and engineering. The strategists asked for submarines, and the engineers gave them very effective U-Boats. No oil? That's politics and resource distribution. Again, not science and engineering. And you might want to research a little deeper into WWII tank warfare. Sure, tanks like the Panzer & Tiger tanks had their shortcomings. But so did Allied Forces' tanks. There are plenty examples of German tanks outperforming Allied Forces tanks, in battles.
@@SSG1445 No he is right... they had jets but lacked the ball bearings, or the highly refined fuel... the tanks at some points were 50% self inflicted loses from break downs... guns jammed non stop...
I was stationed at Pinder Barracks in Zirndorf Germany back in the 80's with 1st Armored Division Artillery. Pinder was an old Luftwaffe searchlight battalion barracks. The old Oberstleutnant would come to our German-American fest every summer. Thanks for the great video.
i was at pinder from 71-74 1/22 field artillery. headquarters battery drove the S-3. we still had their barracks for most of my tour, then they renovated them. never knew what the german army did there though.
@@TheExplosiveGuy Not in the meaning of a laser. But, yes, there were experiments to use this to blind attackers. Has nothing to do with lasers, more a sort of a adjustable focus. I read some years a note in a book about this. But it was more an experiment than a field use.
Could you please provide some technical data of the generator/light in the description? In particular the min./max. operating voltage/current would be interesting. Thanks!
Arc lights are very old technology, even older than filament lightbulb itself. While it was a popular choice in lighthouses, they were too powerful for individual uses... LEDs are about 10x more efficient, but still 500W LED lamps sound like something quite big
@@cola98765 There's a 1500W LED module available: store.yujiintl.com/products/yujileds-bc-series-high-cri-cob-led-900h-1500w-pack-1pcs Video on RUclips of a guy testing it: m.ruclips.net/video/bBV-1VNWscA/видео.html
I'm surprised they didn't melt those Spitfires with that beam! German tech was so advanced it's amazing! Today your LED lamps that are supposed to work for 20k hours die after two years while this thing still works as advertised after rusting for nine decades? Is this the price we pay for wanting to have it all cheap and in bulk?
bmw engine filled with synthetic oil and dc generator with electric switches and circuits while british mostly would use a candle or burned cloth lol 😂
@@xXMapleVodkaXx then rhe refriegator company fire 70% of its workers or paying workers 70% less then taxes got decreased by 70% then the whole country get backward because many people dont work and dont buy 😆
@ 5400W, and assuming a typical efficiency of a carbon arc lamp @ 5 lumen per watt, = approx 30000 lumens. Current high power leds are approx 100 lumens per watt (if kept cool) thus would need only 300W to achieve the same light output.
Those arc lamps have a very broad spectrum of light. They produce very intense ultraviolet light in addition to the visible spectrum. The doping of the salts in the rods alters the light spectra as well. About thirty years ago a US version of a shipborne carbon arc searchlight came in to my possession. We wired it up to a 240 volt electrical outlet (way too high of voltage but it worked) and turned it on at night. It looked like a martian heat ray from "War of the Worlds". Finally I had to shut it down within two minutes because of the smell of burning plastic. The 10 AWG power cord had melted all of the insulation off of the wires and the glowing hot copper wires were writhing around on the floor like red hot snakes. Its not spoken of much but an arc lamp of that vintage makes a terrible buzzing noise because there is a coil mechanism that keeps the rods moving around to sustain the arc. It sounded like being next to a welding machine. I had picked it up because I thought that I could salvage out the big parabolic mirror to make a telescope. Once I extracted the mirror I realized that it was definitely not optics grade glass. It had bubbles and all sorts of defects in the glass so that ended that project.
I was preparing to be disappointed by the lack of demonstration at night, but I'm glad I was wrong !
same lol
Me Too!
Same, I skipped through at first just to make sure, lol 🍻
Very Cumbersome And Inefficient
Amazing isn't it
in germany everything has to be powered by a BMW straight 6, even if its just a light
Imagine a world where it was all powered by the bmw s85 instead.
@@hello7533 it would be a world where the generators sound awesome, but have an oil leak every hour.
@@Risk0s yeah, you wouldnt want the machine that makes rod bearings powered by one tbf.
Just like USA which had Chevy V8 powered air raid sirens during the cold war
OwO
That RPM drop when the light is turned on is amazing.
Yeah but holy shit did you look at the watts? They had a 150+A peak when the arc was drawn from the short. They ran it at 60 volts and 100 amps, that's 6 kilowatts. That's 8 horsepowers of counter rotating force just from the electric load
Yes, that light draws quite a bit of current, and a similar thing happens when a diesel-electric locomotive applies dynamic braking, passing current through resistance grids on the locomotive sides, blowing off the heat while using the resistance to slow down the locomotive in addition to the wheel brakes.
@Bitterman mols per joules? What exactly are they measuring?
@Bitterman Ah got you :3
Didn't exactly expect to see moles of photons being measured when cd is an SI unit but it does make sense.
But also mmol are milimoles, not micro :p
@@whatevernamegoeshere3644 nowdays, a LED that draws 6KW will makes 100x times the light that halogen light does, pretty crazy
Incredible how much work went into engineering a searchlight.
The Germans have always been professionals at wasting factory hours
It's really quite impressive. I'm glad they don't just leave it sitting in an exhibit but actually restored it and have it working again.
@@dogfag They've also created a situation where I have used their components in my control panels for almost 20 years and never been out on a warranty replacement for any of their equipment. Can't argue with that, nobody wants the 3am call out in the pitch black, middle of nowhere.
It wasn't only the searchlight the engineering went into. Sadly, (preparing for) War was the (main) reason for it.
Many things we think are inventions from nowadays are from back then (f.e. guided Bombs, Stealth Planes, Cruise Missiles, ballistic Missiles, ... ).
Everything we have now is because of war. All the technological advancements ever were due to war research. Microwave? Now we put em in sattelites and use em to blow up IED's
I remember an openair concert in Berlin in front of the Reichstag where they had a larger version of this behind the stage and switched it on during the concert. A column of light shot out, appearing almost solid in its strength and ferocity and bathed the trees behind the audience in a glaring sea of light. It was an unreal experience and profoundly impressive.
Wasn't the old Reichstag complex re-purposed for out door concerts during the 80s'?
@Tiberius I'mserious hehehe, Hitler rolling and rolling in his grave since '45!
@@Cracktaculus no, it was renovated in the early 60's but agreements made so that the government couldn't assemble in it, so until the reunification it was used for occasional representative meeting and one-off events
ruclips.net/video/9d7bsCiRFLE/видео.html this one?
@@Cracktaculus actually Hitler stood dead center in the so called Cathedral of Light produced by that things bigger brother the 150 cm searchlight ..... 150 of them lol. It was visible from Britain.
‘These are genuine WW2 rods that we acquire from….somewhere’. Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies…!
It's amazing the WWII stuff you can still find today. Sometimes an old warehouse is emptied or someone's basement.
@@robertthomas5906 Not to mention how much equipment was produced during WWII
Was looking for this comment. Had i not found it, i would have made it.
@@leonotthelion I saw a movie that was made in 1946 or 47. One of the first WWII movies and it was placed post war. They showed aircraft that was destined for scrap. Row after row after row. Then I think of the Kaiser ships that were made. I think he was launching 13 or more ships a day. We made ships faster then they could sink them. Then think of all the stuff that was made for those ships. It's incredible.
Today we seem to have so many people that can't even make their own bed. Blame it on other people.
@@robertthomas5906 we still have a ton of Japanese and american ww2 equipment like rifles clothing supplies lying around in army warehouses in south korea and the north koreans have a bunch of soviet equipment lying around too
For anyone wondering: The light is using 5.5kW of power.
Now the real question, how many search lights to cook a chicken ?
@@ProCommentateur how many slaps to illuminate the sky?
So my wimpy 4KW Onan generator wouldn’t have been up to the task. 😄
@@stefanlurxl2139 what else would you power it with? a hand crank?
That's a small one. Hollywood used larger ones.
That is probably one of the coolest pieces of machinery I've ever seen The engineering back then Wow. Did you see how good it worked how many years laterI was blown away by how bright white the light was I was not expecting it to be that color
Check out the video of anatomy of the German electric torpedo. Talk about sophisticated engineering, and this was 80 years ago.
@@elultimo102 For me personally, it is more shocking that are plenty of nations out there which could not produce tanks and planes with the same capabilities and in the same quality like the second world war icons. I bet there are at least 50 nations and more which could not crankt out someting like a tiger, spitfire, bf 109, p 51 mustang, B 17, pershing or let alone something like the Type XXI submarine class.
The nazi engineers advanced technology far ahead of there time.
80 year old machine. Nowadays let's see what lasts over 5 years.
@Tiberius I'mserious Our planet has been habitable for a period much larger than the human race was in it, i have no problem believing something else could have lived here before us and then took it to the stars.
We are, after all, lucky to presence those videos the pentagon had to admit were real first hand, and they are absolutely astonishing. Maybe those are the advanced civilizations that lived here long ago, now somewhere else and coming to visit us to see our progress? That would explain why we weren't conquered by them long ago, they are our ancestors. Or even our creators.
Makes you think.
Totally blew me away when they lit it! I was expecting a non-functioning relic only!!! Nice work, Guys!!!
its german of course it still works
Same here
you know its German tech, when device still runs in 90+ years.
The Germans are master craftsmen, I don't think I've ever seen or used a German product that isn't far superior to the same product of a different origin.
@@adaster98 Well, they have to compete with the global market and with changing customer wishes. Cars are not only commodities but also lifestyle products, engineers have to find a balance between affordability, style, longevity and the modern environmental awareness.
Apple products don't run past 6 years and they call themselves Geniuses!!
@@adaster98 True. Real german quality rarely exists today, because we let produce our products mostly in China like anyone else. Also, you don't make a lot of sales, when your product lasts forever...
@@redpillproductionscanada5563 Bullshit. German cars don't hold value and break within just a few years.
Just needed someone to fly over in a restored Lancaster...
And then Flak it. With blanks, of course :D
Yeah, but then you'd want an anti-aircraft gun and all, getting much more complicated! ;-)
BRING THEM ONE !!!
@@simplywonderful449 I know where to get a proper 8.8cm FlaK 37 with variable timed fuse shells XD
@@carebloodlaevathein6732
In Germany they are also easy to find xD
In my city they still find FLAK ammo or allied bombs on pretty much every construction site...
Just a few weeks ago they found 2 15 kg 10.5 mm FLAK grenades on my favorite running route and detonated it there 😅
Beautiful engineering! That generator sounds like tuned to perfection, you guys should be very proud of the work you invest in keeping it working so fine. That works deserves to be shown!
And now imagine what the larger ones could do! This is the small one after all
Yeh...he said they had 2m ones..shine it on the moon an you got daylight
200cm one had light intensity of 2400000 candela and was powered by 120KW generator. It was used to detect bombers so it could light the planes like 12km in the air.
damn,thats a smaller one?
@@votpavel Yeah. This is the 60cm one. Diameter that is. The largest one is 200cm. That's close to a 7 foot diameter
@@tolga1cool that must have been something back when they used them
Rotation and tilt is extremely smooth, exquisitly restored.
Absolutely fantastic piece. I just love WW2 gear and equipment and especially German. These Sd.Ah.51 trailers are so great.
Here you can see the next bigger German 56 KVA 120 Hp Wehrmacht WW2 generator set powered by a 540K Mercedes Benz inline 8 engine: ruclips.net/video/uSEWZdZDBj8/видео.html
This is way cooler than I thought it would be. Fascinating how complex this was.
This video is mesmerising. I'm fascinated with how genius the search light is. Who would of ever known that they were so complex. You have to hand it to the Germans, they're the greatest engineers in the world. Even from a British perspective, you have to hand it to them, they possess some kind of genius when it comes to engineering and technology.
@Jason the Germans were known for their quality , but now , unfortunately they’ve learned how to make junk
We have been pretty good at engineering...but nowadays far from it. Today we need 10years + for an airport, in WWII we build an airplane from scratch in 3 month. Sadly that was a fighter aircraft.
@@stefanmargraf7878 that's a fair comment. But today there is alot more building & health and safety regulations that have to be considered when building an airport.
That's not even factoring in political cronyism.
You have to consider Hr started building his army away before the WWll. Early 30S.
So he had time to build and invest in research development & design and engineering.
With this in mind, it was possible to nuture young minds into becoming engineers.
Sad these days it seems everyone copies other peoples ideas...🤔
Rather than invent their own.
Jason
The biggest mistake Hitler made was to let the many highly sophisticated Jews emigrate/escape to the enemy‘s side. Einstein was the most famous one of them. Would the US have started the Manhattan-project without him having pushed for it ?
When you take a weight piece off one side of the scale it’s a loss. When you then place onto the other side of the balance it counts twice against against you.
Full marks for getting that all back working. I was hoping to see it in the dark and you delivered in spades. Thank-you,
The film industry used the same basic carbon arc technology up until about the early 80s. I did work on a film in the mid 90s that used 2 carbon arc lights that were shipped from LA. The lights were stamped RKO pictures and Desilu Productions. Very cool to see this WW2 era light.
Here is a video about using a carbon arc from film industry: ruclips.net/video/9d7bsCiRFLE/видео.html
I'm so glad you showed what it looked like at night. I always wondered about these lights. I watch alot of WWII movies. You made a very well done, thorough video. Thank you so much! ~Cindy! :)
This is really really cool and rare (also by youtube standards), I would love to see the 200cm light (given there is one still around) must've been something exceptional; great engineering in this machine
Fantastic and German tech never ceases to amaze me
The demo is absolutely amazing. I did not at the beginning think there would be a demo. Well done. Thank you.
Sure glad this video showed up on my feed today. Hats off to the men and women who strive to keep these treasures going strong.
**EDIT: Jesus christ people, what did I start here**
The writing on the Generator translated:
Auf - Open
Zu - Closed
Res. - Reserve
Hauptvergaser - Main Carboratuer
Starten - to start
Sparsam - economical
Startvergaser - Startingcarborateur
Ein - On
Aus - Off
Generator Regler - Generator Controller
fällt - dropping
steigt -climbing
Verdunkler - darkening device or darkener I guess
dunke - dark
hell - bright
Ölwärme - Oiltemperature
Wasserwärme - Watertemperature
Öldruck - Oilpressure
Kraftstoffstand - Fuellevel
Ölstand - Oillevel
Oel- u. Kraftst. Anz. Beleuchtung (Oel und Kraftstoff Anzeigen Beleuchtung) - Oil and Fuel display lighting
Anlasser- Starter
Erregung - Excitation
Zeichengeber Schalterbeleuchtung(Schalttaffelleuchte???) .... Handlampe? - Signal signal sender switch illumination ?
Sammlerladen - battery loading
Handlampe 85V - Handlamp 85V
Zeichengeber - Signal sender
Zeichengeberanschluss - signal sender connector
Innenbeleuchtung - Inside lighting (like inside the cabinet)
Handlampe - Handlamp
"Sammler" is an old German Word for Batterie. So Sammlerlader should bei a Battery loading Devise.
@@Simsonschieber lol wusste ich gar nicht
@@Simsonschieber korrigiert, danke
@@ApicalisHD res könnte eine Stellung des Benzinhahns sein. Dann wäre es die Stellung für Reserve.
I love that the word for ‘fuel’ in German literally means ‘powerstuff’
It is shocking to me how much engineering and complexity went into something as ‘simple’ as a ‘light’. So many things we take for granted. A light, something that COULD be considered as auxiliary to their effort, had so many components. Kudos to those keeping them in working order. And kudos to those who today keep our modern systems in running order. Especially given that their complexity far surpasses the technology of that seen in WWII
The annual "War & Peace" show in the UK had such a spotlight which the owners - one boozy Friday night - aimed at a 747 closing on Gatwick or Heathrow airport, many miles to the west. The pissed-off pilot radioed the tower, who in turn, radioed the police.
Thanks Jeroen, I've Googled it and decided to put this one on my bucket list of interesting military engineering. Do you coincidentally have any other recommendations?
This was indeed a very stupid things to do. I hope the police fined that guy.
@@HextorBane Oh my what a tragedy, a lightbulb in the corner of the eyes of the bored pilots while the autopilot runs! The state better steal his money so they can waste it on worthless shit!
@@em4703 Yes, but I bet you won't like to be in that plane when that happens.
@@em4703 You never know what you are interfering with. Would not have thought to see a comment excusing endangering hundreds of lifes. Fuck you.
Thank you for keeping the equipment alive.
Such a bright light from such a fascinating, dark time.
So it's essentially a stick welder with a mirror behind it and magnifying glass in front. Genius
i got an idea🤣🤣
I don't know why I clicked on this video.. but it was surprisingly entertaining.
Me too 😀
Im so amazed. Im learning to fly a Cassna 172 in 2021 and the generator reminds me of all the gauges and systems of the Cessna engine. So cool.
I owned this and sold it to the brothers with the generator and the rods. Nice to see it all again.
The arc off of that.... jeez that's awesome O_O
germans are tool-makers.
i was suprised when i saw a tool that measured the hardness of trees, to determine if its rotten.
(i think it was a drill basically, but with a drill strength sensor and a screen that displays a graph)
That is SO COOL I’ve never seen one operated in the present only ww2 films I’m SO GLAD u guys have one that is fully functional
I hope u all will be able to keep it running for generations to come
Thanks for this always love to see these kinds of lights
I remember seeing some 2m diameter ww2 searchlights in operation at an outdoor trade show. They were very impressive and the dancing beams drew people from far and wide. I think they were British.
When someone retrofits chinese HID bulbs into the halogen reflector dipped beam headlights
070721/1339h PST 🇺🇸
Why was this analogy, even, scripted, may I ask?
HID= High Intensity Discharge . The smaller ampullae contains Xenon Gas that ignites when a very high voltage (25,000 V) is applied.
There’s no Carbon Rods in those bulbs, FYI . Even much much before the Eastern Country could copy and manufacture Automobile compatible HID Systems, USA had Mercury Vapour Lamps, Metal Halide lamps, High Pressure Sodium Vapour Lamps and Low pressure Sodium Vapour Lamps.
@@sreekumarUSA I believe the comment is a comparison of effect, not manufacturing capabilities.
When people use the incorrect bulbs in their automobile headlights, mistakenly thinking it is an "upgrade", it actually causes a dangerous situation for on-coming traffic because the beam is far too intense and focused.
Like a searchlight..
@@carwashadamcooper1538 It's actually just all over the place and NOT focused...
lol
@@sreekumarUSA whoosh
I like the telegraph communicator between the searchlight and the generator. It would work reliably over the roar of battle.
at first I was wondering why not a intercom or radio? then they turn on the generator "oh" :-)
The generator maybe was still doable, but the raging Flugabwehrgeschütse next to the light sure was deafening.
@@jantaliban1 I'm surprised the Search light didn't have a panel to remotely control the generator. Adjust rpm and field current. Considering how complex most of this thing is... a remote would have been easy!
@@colintinker7778 It's all mechanically controlled. You'd need actuators and so on and that without any digital control. Having a human there is much more feasiable in the 1940s
@@bcfuerst I was thinking along the lines of cables. Just as on bicycles but longer.
Radios and intercoms were expensive equipment at time and need extra skills. And all available electronic components were used for radios in Tanks ships and manpacks. But manpower are cheap and alwwas on hand. A team to operate such piece of equipment got a crew of 3 to 4 man. one man operate the searchlight, another the genset, a third man guard the site , and the 4th has to rest to be fit for his next turn.
Amazing piece of kit, fascinating to see the technology behind these searchlights.
Great video! These lights remind me of the "Klieg Lights" that we used to see at the grand opening of a store or car dealership in the 60s and 70s. They weren't German-made nor surplus, but the light was probably the 120cm version (larger) than these, and the trailer it was on had the generator with it as well. Amazingly bright, we'd watch the smoke from the arc when we finally found out where the light was situated, and the operator would program the light to go through a certain set of motions as it waved that beam in the night. Truly interesting to watch, and it's great to see these working, especially with an old BMW-made engine from 70 years ago!
a perfect match of an engine a generator and a carbon arc lamp. then the lamp maneuvering gears were simply superb.
Thank you for this video. It never occurred to me that a search light could be so complex.
Super diese Vorführung.... Obwohl mein Englisch nicht so gut ist.... Hab ich viel dazu gelernt. Besonders schön zu sehen das noch alles funktioniert 👍👍👍
Great piece of technology and so nice to see you guys demonstrating it to the public (I wish I were there!) Keep it up!
Introducing a flashlight powered by a 6 cilinders tank engine . Very impressive . Thanks a lot for showing this .
A bit big for EDC though...
My dad was sitting on such a thing in 1944 as 16 year old Flakhelfer
also called Luftwaffenhelfer (literally: "air force assistants") from High-School directly to the war
Nazi
Congratulation for the dumbest Post under this Video. Shame...
crazy how much lighting has improved in such a short time. We have hand held lights with the same output now.
I love the german equipments, machines etc from WW2 amazing works from the engineers and workers.
That is cool. Crazy how far we have come in technology
Always high quality and very sophisticated engineering from Germany.
I operated a theatre carbon-arc follow spotlight when I went to drama school in the 1970's - it wasn't as sophisticated as this unit you show. Very cool, thanks for sharing!
I absolutely love ww2 military history.. From the battleships to the spys and other trickery down to the front line soldiers. I get lost in time watching stuff like this.
Very cool, and major props to them for 1) such an amazing explanation, 2) being able to work and demonstrate the equipment, and 3) producing this video to reach such a wide audience.
I'm also impressed at the engineering that had to go into the light and (what I assume is a) parabolic mirror.
As kids, we used a searchlight the one you show, as a marry go-round .it was all kaput inside but we still turned it by the crank-handle 4 kids inside and one had to crank it.....for us kids it locked much bigger,,,thank you for helping me in my memory's in Germany....LOL from down under,,,,,
Do you mean a _merry_ go round? As in a carousel, roundabout, hurdy-gurdy, or merry-go-round? Or something about marriage going around?
Yeas a carnival amusement machine, I serviced many machines in the hydraulic industry in my Life in Australia.... all the machines i serviced, i only rode the carnival machine only one time.. LOL. Edgar @@coloradostrong
Excellent work lads.
Damn, not even the most powerful and advanced modern flashlights can compete with that throw. LEP technology comes close.
I was not expecting to see it working. Bravo!
Imagine only to what length they went. Building a dedicated generator and searchlight setup, controlled by three people. The way I see it, it has 90 Amps at 60 Volts, so around 5 000 Watts. Amazing to see such ingenuity and humbling to see that nowadays this is basically equivalent to one BMW headlight in my rear view mirror.
5400W exacly :) w=a*v
Imagine being one of the young German boys tasked with running these during the war. The steady roar of the BMW motor at your side, the technical knowledge you have just to run what’s in essence a big lamp, all your teachings telling you that your small lamp is helping keep the dark evil of the enemy away. Lighting up the dots in the sky that contain the heroes we learn about on our side. Crazy.
never thought these where electric i assumed magnesium torch or something like that
Brilliant video! Thanks so much for the night demo
A man in east central Illinois back in the 70's an 80's, used one of a larger size at his summer outdoor parties to guide party participants to the spot. It was talked about till this day.
Very cool 👍🏻
The technology to get that sort of brightness back in the day is unbelievable
I need a couple of those on my car for people who don't like to dim their high beams.
rotten eggs work better, keep a dozen in your glove box and use as needed or tape one under your dash for emergency lol
When I was in High School, I mounted an aircraft landing light on my old 66' Bonneville for that exact reason. It would light up the whole mountainside. And when activated, you could watch the oncoming offender swerve from being blinded. Had to have a 90 amp alternator to run it. Sadly, the cops made me take it off. But great fun while it lasted. Greetings from Alaska.
ah yes, fight the asshole by being a bigger asshole... classic.
@@DrunkenGamer666 sometimes thats all you can do 😁
I am really impressed by the (state-of-the-art) technology. Tnx for restoring & preserving and showing! all these technologies in action.
If you need translations for your panel please let me know. I‘m a native German speaker from Germany who happens to know English quite well.
Yeah I was a bit surprised by how much trouble they were having, just find a German or point google at it
@@QuinnHartmann Yeah! A Heritage Aviation Centre full of WW history, and they don't have anyone understanding German??? Surely they have that sorted by now. Feels a bit comic to me like the policeman in 'Allo 'Allo...
That is in amazing shape after 70 years! That must have been a horrible feeling to be in a Lancaster and that light found you while on a raid over Germany.
German technology in all fields was ahead of its times..
Nah
I have always wondered how these work, thank you for posting!
I read "60cm" as "60mm", and thought these were going to be flares fires from mortars or field guns.
I don't give a shit about what you read
@@yuzoookun Good, then we hold each other in equal level of interest.
Exactly, me too. Thumbnail looks like loading of AA gun.
Well, the Germans did have a 60cm mortar as well (yes that’s right, a 60 *cm* mortar)
@@MrOiram46 The Karl-gerät. (Karl device) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Ger%C3%A4t
Awesome video, great explanations and demonstrations! Great to see this kind of history being maintained and displayed for the future!
The ultimate answer to the question "Have you got a light?". That Morse code button is genius.
The final solution to the night question.
I'm very grateful that they did a night demonstration!
Fantastic to see this. My grandmother told me about this and actually saw allied airplanes being caught in these beams during the war. Very terrifying.
My grandmother told me how she could see Kiel and Lubeck burn, from tens of kilometers away, and that it looked like fireworks. She was a teenager then. Terrifying doesn't begin to describe it. She also told how they had to pull the bombed-out people out of the trains from Hamburg and how the retreating Wehrmacht just stacked their weapons at the trainyard where little boys played with the panzerfausts. My other grandmother told about planes attacking refugee trecks in the East. One grandfather told of the NAPOLA and how, after the Nazi staff made off in a Kübelwagen and told the boys to trust in the Fuhrer, giving them rifles and pointing them to the front, he became a displaced person at about 12 years of age (they saw the Red Army and decided not to fight), and how the Allies doused him with DDT, all over, because of the lice. The other grandpa didn't want to say much of anything at all. Yep, the Nazis fucked my family up good. Imagine the trauma. Decades later, the verdict would be "PTSD, all of them". Truth be told, the entire German people probably badly needed therapy and never got any. ... You can be sure they paid for what they started, in their hearts and minds. So did their children and grandchildren. Screw Nazis, screw them with a rusty chainsaw.
What the RAF crews called "being coned". Often, it was their doom.
@@kneedeepinthedoomed At the time she told me this I was too young to understand what war was and nobody spoke about it. Probably because of all the bad things they experienced an saw. A whole nation brainwashed and lead into hell. That it may never happen again.
@@prillewitz Happening right now in the usa rofl
I never knw how these work, fascinating, thanks for the amazing video!!! Really enjoyed learning about this amazing piece of technology.
...and that was only the tiny 60cm version. 😎
Hell, I would really like to see two-hundred-beast...
Nice searchlight. Amazing beam. Thanks for showing it.
Germans put everyone to shame with their engineering back in the days 👍
Yeah you know, that german engineering that put everyone to shame. Lack of any long range bomber, no oil, a bunch of oversized tanks with drivelines that broke inside of 200 miles...
Yup, that superior german engineering is totally what won them the war.
wehraboos, wehraboos everywhere.
@@shockwavecity Lack of a long range bomber? That's military strategic planning. Not science and engineering. The strategists asked for submarines, and the engineers gave them very effective U-Boats.
No oil? That's politics and resource distribution. Again, not science and engineering.
And you might want to research a little deeper into WWII tank warfare. Sure, tanks like the Panzer & Tiger tanks had their shortcomings. But so did Allied Forces' tanks. There are plenty examples of German tanks outperforming Allied Forces tanks, in battles.
@@shockwavecity It wasn't just military engineering the Germans excelled at. Try learning some history bro 👍
@@shockwavecity You are lost in mind my friend, completely lost. Read more
@@SSG1445 No he is right... they had jets but lacked the ball bearings, or the highly refined fuel... the tanks at some points were 50% self inflicted loses from break downs... guns jammed non stop...
Hats off for your work !! Keep going...
And that is even the smallest one
Amazing piece of history! Thanks for sharing it with us here. I can only imagine the amount of time which went into restoring this.
If you haven't it translated yet, contact me i can do it for you with some description.
Btw nice work done
I was stationed at Pinder Barracks in Zirndorf Germany back in the 80's with 1st Armored Division Artillery. Pinder was an old Luftwaffe searchlight battalion barracks. The old Oberstleutnant would come to our German-American fest every summer. Thanks for the great video.
i was at pinder from 71-74 1/22 field artillery. headquarters battery drove the S-3. we still had their barracks for most of my tour, then they renovated them. never knew what the german army did there though.
There was a lens attachment that allowed it to be converted to an early laser like device. Used as an anti tank weapon.
No there wasn't🤣.
@@TheExplosiveGuy Not in the meaning of a laser. But, yes, there were experiments to use this to blind attackers. Has nothing to do with lasers, more a sort of a adjustable focus. I read some years a note in a book about this. But it was more an experiment than a field use.
@@hesspet That would not work against American soldiers today. It seems they are always wearing sunglasses.
Could you please provide some technical data of the generator/light in the description? In particular the min./max. operating voltage/current would be interesting. Thanks!
7:50 holy shit, the moment when very old technology let LED Light look like toys :P
Arc lights are very old technology, even older than filament lightbulb itself. While it was a popular choice in lighthouses, they were too powerful for individual uses...
LEDs are about 10x more efficient, but still 500W LED lamps sound like something quite big
@@cola98765 There's a 1500W LED module available: store.yujiintl.com/products/yujileds-bc-series-high-cri-cob-led-900h-1500w-pack-1pcs
Video on RUclips of a guy testing it: m.ruclips.net/video/bBV-1VNWscA/видео.html
The beam focus is very good.
Thank you for showing us this piece of history in action 👍
comes in handy when you drop something in your car while driving at night
Ww1 and ww2 had some of the neatest things. To see what humans could build and accomplish without the help of computers is amazing.
Could you imagine if germans could still make quality parts like this?
they can, but the consumer rather wants cheap shit
An antique German item that still works. Great job
5:06
130 million german speakers: You could have asked :(
You never ask a German.
He may BS you, just for the "fun" of it...
@@totalitaer. nooooo we would neeever :P
Fantastic video. Thank you. From Santiago, Chile.
I'm surprised they didn't melt those Spitfires with that beam! German tech was so advanced it's amazing! Today your LED lamps that are supposed to work for 20k hours die after two years while this thing still works as advertised after rusting for nine decades? Is this the price we pay for wanting to have it all cheap and in bulk?
if you take in mind that everytime you replace that rod you are using a new "lightbulb" that comparison doesnt make any sense lol
but look at the pricetag and operating costs, at least 3 Solders are needed and a truck with driver :)
bmw engine filled with synthetic oil and dc generator with electric switches and circuits while british mostly would use a candle or burned cloth lol 😂
Don't make the refrigerator company any money if you only buy 1 refrigerator in your life
@@xXMapleVodkaXx
then rhe refriegator company fire 70% of its workers or paying workers 70% less then taxes got decreased by 70% then the whole country get backward because many people dont work and dont buy 😆
@ 5400W, and assuming a typical efficiency of a carbon arc lamp @ 5 lumen per watt, = approx 30000 lumens.
Current high power leds are approx 100 lumens per watt (if kept cool) thus would need only 300W to achieve the same light output.
There's a 1500W LED module available (if not even higher by now)...
its amazing how far flashlight tech has come. 30K lumen is possible to have in a handheld configuration nowadays
Leave it to the Germans to make a flashlight so Goddamn complex, with its own freaking Engine too.
Those arc lamps have a very broad spectrum of light. They produce very intense ultraviolet light in addition to the visible spectrum. The doping of the salts in the rods alters the light spectra as well.
About thirty years ago a US version of a shipborne carbon arc searchlight came in to my possession. We wired it up to a 240 volt electrical outlet (way too high of voltage but it worked) and turned it on at night. It looked like a martian heat ray from "War of the Worlds". Finally I had to shut it down within two minutes because of the smell of burning plastic. The 10 AWG power cord had melted all of the insulation off of the wires and the glowing hot copper wires were writhing around on the floor like red hot snakes.
Its not spoken of much but an arc lamp of that vintage makes a terrible buzzing noise because there is a coil mechanism that keeps the rods moving around to sustain the arc. It sounded like being next to a welding machine.
I had picked it up because I thought that I could salvage out the big parabolic mirror to make a telescope. Once I extracted the mirror I realized that it was definitely not optics grade glass. It had bubbles and all sorts of defects in the glass so that ended that project.