The Monumentally Epic, Knockdown, Dragout, Take-No-Prisoners Slapdown: Aussie High Light vs HLG 288

Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
Gonna be runnin @Prawn Connery ‘s about-to-be-released High Lights (3-color version) vs HLG 288s, during flowering, 8 bds each, in identical 4x4s, growing Amnesia OG (formerly known as Where’s My Bike, of Bubbleman fame).

I’ll leave it to @Prawn Connery to describe how his boards deliver photons...when he comes up for air, i’m sure he’ll start a thread...

I’ll map the lights when i receive them.

Still have to make decisions about supplemental lighting, but will be running the tents as in my earlier Timber 48sams and my current 96 elite vs 288 V2 grows, using dwc, uva/b, and CO2.

Meanwhile, i’ll start the seeds, cull the males, make clones, and train 8 plants as 8-main manifolds; then get the smackdown underway...

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Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
OK, I'll bite. Here's a taster of what's in the mail.

High Lights left vs HLG QB324 V1. We've just started this one.
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Here's what the QB324s were producing prior to the new light and plants going in. Chimera's Mental Floss. Nice strain.
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High Lights vs QB324s
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Two High Lights running wired in parallel to a HLG-320H-48A driver: [email protected] for 345W to the boards. The QB324s are running just under 400W off a 480-2100C driver. We may bump the High Lights to 400W, to, but so far PAR mapping is showing similar PPFD (950 at 18") for both lights at those wattages.
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CRI95 3000K Spectrum. Peaks at 621nm with strong 660nm red and 730nm far red. Added UV 410nm at the other end.
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Or_Gro

Well-Known Member
OK, I'll bite. Here's a taster of what's in the mail.

High Lights left vs HLG QB324 V1. We've just started this one.
View attachment 4318872


Here's what the QB324s were producing prior to the new light and plants going in. Chimera's Mental Floss. Nice strain.
View attachment 4318874


High Lights vs QB324s
View attachment 4318877


Two High Lights running wired in parallel to a HLG-320H-48A driver: [email protected] for 345W to the boards. The QB324s are running just under 400W off a 480-2100C driver. We may bump the High Lights to 400W, to, but so far PAR mapping is showing similar PPFD (950 at 18") for both lights at those wattages.
View attachment 4318880


CRI95 3000K Spectrum. Peaks at 621nm with strong 660nm red and 730nm far red. Added UV 410nm at the other end.
View attachment 4318881
Nice colage...,,
 

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
In for the show, nice looking boards Prawn
Cheers. They use three different types of white phosphor LED to get a broad spectrum and high CRI, but to retain efficiency. Maximum rating for each board is [email protected] for 230W, though they will typically top out at just over [email protected] once they warm up, so are true 225W boards. They can be run without heatsinks at up to 150W, depending on environment. The added near-UV and UVA is a nice touch to bring out the terpenes. These are dedicated flowering boards. You can use them for veg, but they may stretch a little depending on strain.

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Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Mine finally went into the aeroplane today.. :-)
So with luck we will hold them in our hands before weekend, buddy.
Can't wait starting to create the new fixtures... love them already.

345 vs 400w with same intensity means +12,5% better at least ..
Actually more like 14%! But to be fair, these QB324's are developed 2 years earlier.
But still an impressive difference considering the higher CRI.
 
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Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Cheers. They use three different types of white phosphor LED to get a broad spectrum and high CRI, but to retain efficiency. Maximum rating for each board is [email protected] for 230W, though they will typically top out at just over [email protected] once they warm up, so are true 225W boards. They can be run without heatsinks at up to 150W, depending on environment. The added near-UV and UVA is a nice touch to bring out the terpenes. These are dedicated flowering boards. You can use them for veg, but they may stretch a little depending on strain.

View attachment 4318918
I really like those thermal proportions.
You can run it at 2/3rds power with no sink. Means that you only really need an alu sheet for sinking. What are the dimensions? Also, do you have any rough estimate for ppf/w?
 
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Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
Subbed up on this one and wondering when and where these will be available?
They're sort of available now if you want to PM me.

I say "sort of" because I haven't properly announced them yet and a couple of boards have just been sent off for sphere testing (actually, it's similar to sphere testing but more accurate). I need to sit down when I have some time to collate all the specs and explain the reason why they were designed the way they were.

There was a run of 96 of these boards made here - they are designed and assembled in Australia - using Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor LEDs (PCBs manufactured in China to our specs). The first boards have gone out to those who originally wanted us to make them, so there are about 50 or so boards left, which will be sold to pay for all the time and effort that went into making them.

One issue is going to be sales outside Australia, as shipping will add to the cost. This may not be a problem for those in Europe and elsewhere, but it is hard to match pricing of other offerings in the US simply due to the cost of shipping.

This is not a commercial venture yet. If there is interest, there may be a second run. Otherwise, we've just made a bunch of flowering boards that we, ourselves, wanted, as they suit our requirements. Those requirements being dedicated flowering boards with lots of red and elevated far red, but a lower red:far red ratio, near-UV and some UVA for terpene expression, able to cover a 3'x3' footprint, able to be maxed out (good light coverage and heat dissipation), able to run off one driver - no multi-channels - and high CRI, which, apart from offering a better quality light and spectrum, allows us to see the natural colour of the plants for early signs of nutrient deficiency etc.

I really like those thermal proportions.
You can run it at 2/3rds power with no sink. Means that you only really need an alu sheet for sinking. What are the dimensions?
The dimensions are 415mm x 205mm x 2mm. They are quite robust. There are 450 LEDs in total. When paired, they form a square (415mm x 410mm with 30x30 LEDs = 900) which is designed to cover a 3'x3' area - a proper 600W HPS killer. But I am using four boards at lower wattages to cover a 4'x2' (two pairs) and will post my ongoing results soon.

You can run them as soft or hard as you like - the LED spacing, 2mm boards and matching heatsinks let you max them out at 225W each. They will run off all the common 48V and 54V "A" type drivers (54V B type, if you are using Mean Wells). You could run one board hard at 200W to cover each 2x2, or two can be run soft at 100+W each per 2x2, or you can run them hard again to cover a 3x3.

A couple of the guys wanted to run 6 boards with heatsinks over a 4x4 or 4.5x4.5, but it was actually cheaper to run 8 boards without heatsinks and get really nice, even coverage. There are no hot spots on the boards because the LEDs are all evenly spaced.
 

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
I really like those thermal proportions.
You can run it at 2/3rds power with no sink. Means that you only really need an alu sheet for sinking. What are the dimensions? Also, do you have any rough estimate for ppf/w?
PPFD per watt will be interesting, as these boards are CRI95 and use a mix of CRI90, 95 and 98 LEDs to get a more even and complete spectrum. More light falls outside the usual 400-700nm PPFD measurements, which means they actually have higher YPFD (380-780nm) readings than similar LEDs.

We believe they are the most efficient boards of their type - and they are getting properly tested (no speculation) - however, they will not be as efficient as the highest efficiency CRI80 3000K LED boards due to the phosphor coatings used to boost the CRI.

On the flip side, we have used the most efficient CRI90 (Nichia 757 series) we could get in 2700K, the most efficient CRI98 LEDS, and the highest Flux bin Seoul Semiconductor LEDs on board. These LEDs are not cheap - up to twice the cost of Samsung LM301B CRI80 3000K. But they have a much nicer spectrum, and you won't need to add any more red or far red - unless you want to use the far red for initiator effect. It also means the board can be run off one channel, saving money on drivers.

Incidentally, if you cut HLG's Slate 2 triple heatsink in half, you can fit one of the boards to it (two boards per triple). That's an option for US growers who want a heatsink, but can't afford to pay for shipping from Australia. If you are already in Australia, well of course we have some cheap heatsinks (singles and double) to match.
 
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