An interesting sales demo of NOVA strobes I picked up

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I got this sales demo of NOVA strobes, their power supply, and proprietary control panel. It plugs into 120vac and the panel works, selecting the heads and patterns. Not anything groundbreaking but kinda a neat find.
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I will post a video once I get the frame rate right.
 
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firebuff17

Member
Mar 28, 2011
774
CT
In the video (or just post some pics here) can you show what they use for a 12v power supply? Just out of curiosity.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
In the video (or just post some pics here) can you show what they use for a 12v power supply? Just out of curiosity.
I actually haven't opened it yet, it looked like a "brick style" type you would use to power a mobile radio when using it as a base station. I'll have to take a closer look.

hpn4007.jpg
 

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
Try 60fps setting on your camera. Worked for my dish miser video
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Try 60fps setting on your camera. Worked for my dish miser video
Thanks, I will start there, I also have slow motion as an option. I will try to do a mix of both. I should be able to shoot the video tomorrow.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Still toying with speeds, this power supply is a lot more rapid than your standard edge bar or old school beacon. I'm catching some flashes but I'm not happy with the product yet.
 

ur20v

Member
Feb 3, 2017
571
Northern Virginia
Is that the fabled ps with "head mapping" and "random pattern"? One or two people have gushed about how great it is, but I've never seen a video of it or a demonstration in real life.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Is that the fabled ps with "head mapping" and "random pattern"? One or two people have gushed about how great it is, but I've never seen a video of it or a demonstration in real life.

This is not the random mapped model, it is the version after ecco and nova merger around 2009 and is one of the last strobe power supplies to be "aggressively marketed" by the group as a cornerstone product. The claim to fame here is both seemless synchronization and smart control panel option. Very soon after this model LEDs got all the attention. This supply from the 5 year gap between Ecco buying Nova and then Code 3. In 2014 Ecco acquired Code 3 and the nova brand took a very far back seat and was phased out and the Ecco brand was basically Code 3. Had the purchase of Nova and Code 3 happened sooner we may have seen some really interesting strobe versions of Code 3 bars. Unfortunately the mergers were too late and LEDs were taking over. Code 3 began to mimic the style of the other ecco acquisition, Hazard Systems of the Pacific.

It's a real shame we never got to see Code 3 bars with Nova Strobes. This power supply is the closest we may see.

About the random mapping;
Random Flash Strobe Light Power Supply
The RPM6 Series power supplies offers Random Pattern Selection and Head Mapping - exclusive features available only in Nova products! The Random Pattern Selection feature allows the power supply to randomly choose one of eleven available patterns. The Random Level, or the number of times a pattern repeats, is selectable from 4 to 1 by the operator. Head Mapping allows all possible head groupings of simultaneously flashing heads. The resulting light display is the most effective display available today!

X-PAK
The supply shown here is the model Ecco kept and moved to the forefron the X-PAK. The multiple flash modes of the X-PAK, from double flash to quintuple flash, provide the high intensity light bursts that make any emergency vehicle easily visible in the worst weather conditions. With a rock solid five year warranty, capable of powering two to four heads with 60, 80, and 90 watts, the X-PAK is a smart choice as the heart of a dependable strobe warning system.

It is also worth noting that right up until they were sold, Nova made "old school strobes".
HPS4 Series
the HPS4 series power supplies bring back classic single and double flash high energy operation - features that were lost in the market transition to "multi-flash" technology. Based on a 40 Joule power supply core, the HPS series of power supplies, coupled with HPS series heads, will guarantee your vehicle is conspicuous in any weather condition. Perfect for construction and towing applications, your vehicle will be visible for miles with Nova's extremely bright HPS series products!
 
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ur20v

Member
Feb 3, 2017
571
Northern Virginia
I believe "Bill Corthell", the founder of Nova Electronics, Inc according to:
https://web.archive.org/web/20000118193720/http://strobe.com/about.htm
is the same "William I Corthell", inventor listed in this Austin/Whelen patent for double-flash:
That would be quite the coincidence if it were not the same person. And with NOVA being based in Colchester, right down the road from Whelen...
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I believe "Bill Corthell", the founder of Nova Electronics, Inc according to:
https://web.archive.org/web/20000118193720/http://strobe.com/about.htm
is the same "William I Corthell", inventor listed in this Austin/Whelen patent for double-flash:
Interesting, it would appear Nova was started in 1979 by Bill Corthell in East Haddam, CT. That is two years after he patented the designs for Whelen/Austin. I wonder if he was a contactor or if he left Whelen? Nova was like Tomar (all their patents are assigned to the Sikora brothers), an innovator with strobes, whereas Whelen is what most people think of when it comes to strobes. It's interesting that Nova sold to Ecco just a few years before LEDs made strobes all but obsolete. That was a very savvy move IMHO.

Thanks for pointing this out.
 

RS485

Supporting Donor
Aug 5, 2019
369
Central MA
Here is the video, I need to try other speeds.

That's cool!
As soon as you turn it on, you can see the indicator LED in the lower right corner flashing, but the inverter hasn't had time yet to accumulate any charge.

It almost looks has if the glass of the tubes has heated up to the point of glowing just a bit...there's a very brief after-glow that reminds me of what a halogen bulb looks like immediately after you turn it off (slight orange glow).

Thanks for posting!
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
That's cool!
As soon as you turn it on, you can see the indicator LED in the lower right corner flashing, but the inverter hasn't had time yet to accumulate any charge.

It almost looks has if the glass of the tubes has heated up to the point of glowing just a bit...there's a very brief after-glow that reminds me of what a halogen bulb looks like immediately after you turn it off (slight orange glow).

Thanks for posting!

I will have to try some more slo-mo shots of other strobes, I didn't capture what I thought it would but it is an interesting view like you pointed out.
 

ur20v

Member
Feb 3, 2017
571
Northern Virginia
If you can adjust the settings of your camera phone (pro mode, etc.), you can adjust white balance and ISO and tinker with other settings until you get a nice clip. I would also suggest a color filter, like a deep red or European blue lens to reduce the light output of the strobes so the camera can actually catch the tubes firing.
 

JazzDad

Member
Aug 5, 2011
5,165
USA
No LEDs were harmed in the making of this video.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
If you can adjust the settings of your camera phone (pro mode, etc.), you can adjust white balance and ISO and tinker with other settings until you get a nice clip. I would also suggest a color filter, like a deep red or European blue lens to reduce the light output of the strobes so the camera can actually catch the tubes firing.
I will add that to the list of settings I am messing with. Thanks.
 

kitn1mcc

Member
May 24, 2010
2,566
Old lyme ct
The story i got was Bil had a falling out with whelen and left to started his own company. A and W direct pushed his products hard
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
The story i got was Bil had a falling out with whelen and left to started his own company. A and W direct pushed his products hard
Interesting, that would make sense. The desire to truly innovate strobes stuck with him it would seem. I don't see William on any other Whelen/Austin patents from then on out, so it is certainly a reasonable story.
 

cabunty

Member
Sep 21, 2014
135
New England
I have an RPM 90 4 head. It wasn't bad BUT it always rotated the patterns which I didn't want. I wanted it to stay on one. You could also do the put power to 4 heads but only connect two for extra bright overdriven flashes.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I have an RPM 90 4 head. It wasn't bad BUT it always rotated the patterns which I didn't want. I wanted it to stay on one. You could also do the put power to 4 heads but only connect two for extra bright overdriven flashes.
If I remember correctly the rotating patterns threw in a few that had a lot of "dark time" which could be great in some situations, not others. It's like the random/rotating ones needed two modes, response and non-response, the response mode not rotating through the more "sparse" patterns.
 
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cabunty

Member
Sep 21, 2014
135
New England
If I remember correctly the rotating patterns threw in a few that had a lot of "dark time" which could be great in some situations, not others. It's like the random/rotating ones needed two modes, response and non-response, the response mode not rotating through the more "sparse" patterns.
Correct. When it came out I was obsessed with the "constant" flash ..which was ONE of the patterns it has...but then it would move on! I'll hook it up and do a demo...if I still have four strobes somewhere...which I think I do...
 

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