SDU-5 Strobe Light? good idea?

[photomike]

hey all you SAR guys/gals,


SDU-5 Strobe Light

Are these still being used? are they good units?

Also I've read somewhere that they emit a beacon as well. Is this radio and what freq/who monitors this? Is it only monitred if there is a reported ditching in the area or is it always on and on a live channel?

Thanks for the help.

Mike

[Plain George]

The SDU-5 is a battery powered blinking strobe light.
It is NOT an emergency radio beacon.
The SDU-5 uses batteries that are VERY expensive and difficult to obtain.,
and those you see for sale are usually outdated and 'dead'.
Basically it is obsolete.
Do a 'serach' of SDU-5 on eBay..you will find lots of them, ALso battery adapters to use commercial batteries.
There are newer strobes that are avail, cost a bit more, but use reg. batteries.

[mosbysmen]

campmor sells a d-cell powered stobe light , that will blink for like 24 hours on one battery , its great for long mountain climbs where you return to camp in the dark .
its less then 30 bucks

[photomike]

cool. Thanks for the heads up!

Mike

[macvsog]

What Plain George said. The SDU-5/E was outdated years ago. It has been replaced by the FRS/MS-2000M which uses two AA batteries and has the built in capability of IR strobing/identification whereas the SDU had to have a seperate adapter.

[Plain George]

To view what a current model looks like go to eBay item
6569509957

[gunplumber]

back when I was a wannabe hasbeen malll ninja, there were these little tinystrobes in white, red, and IR that snapped onto a 9v battery and were used for marking DZ's. Any info on them? They were cool 'cause you coult fit 30 of them in a cargo poacket with ease.

[Plain George]

No body is that old gunplumber to remember those thingies.!!:D

[cabofdoom]

Originally posted by gunplumber
back when I was a wannabe hasbeen malll ninja...

GP, got me a cat that plays around with stuff long after the kill...fun to watch. throws it up in the air, bats it around has as much fun after the fact as it does making the kill:biggrin:

COD

[Plain George]

Originally posted by cabofdoom


GP, got me a cat that plays around with stuff long after the kill...fun to watch. throws it up in the air, bats it around has as much fun after the fact as it does making the kill:biggrin:

COD

This relates to strobe lights HOW ??

[Mad Dog 7.62]

Originally posted by Plain George


This relates to strobe lights HOW ??

Drink half a bottle of Jack Daniels, then you'll understand....maybe? Hell, I dunno. I took my LED headlamp and my best LED flashlight on a trip a month or so ago, and tonight was trying to find them cause we were going to take the granddaughter to a corn maze. I can't find them anywhere, so I think somebody that stayed in our motel room got a couple free flashlights. Or, I am getting completely senile and just can't remember where I put them. Nah, I've looked everywhere. Anyway, in the search for the flashlights I came across my strobe with some of my other gear. It is an SDU5 with the upgrade to take CR123 batteries. Hasn't been turned on for years and still works fine. One of the good thing about lithiums is the shelf life. Nothing wrong with an SDU5 with the battery adapter. The new one with the built in IR filter is neat, but for SAR work you're gonna use white light.
MD

[olsarg]

See the adapter is a replacement battery cap. does it have a spring? looks like the old battery cap could be used after removing the old battery. causion contains mercery handle and dispose with care. so you get the new cap and use 2 each CR123a batteries and you are ready to go?

[Plain George]

There is no spring involved, but I dont think removing the battery and using the end cap will work....

[ROCK6]

The older SDU strobes are still hanging around...if you can get your hands on a couple (for a cheap price) and they're in good shape you can still use them with a CR123 battery adapter. I've seen the regular magnesium battery carved out with some minor work that could do the same thing, but the fit isn't good.

SDU-5 Battery Adapter (http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/5BA.shtml)

ROCK6

[Plain George]

I bought several of these battery adapters on eBay a long time ago...forgot how much I paid for them, but I see them from time to time again on eBay.