GHL Mitra Owners club
 

I got my Mitra's hung last night and all I can say is WOW! These lights are unbelievable, the coverage is amazing, zero disco ball effect.
The only downside is the programming. It is standard GHL programming so if you have or have had a profilux you should be ok.
I have 3 over my 225 (72x32x24) and the tank is fully covered no dark spots or shadowy areas.

Yup, these lights kick arse! So you're keeping them then? :lol:

Have you calculated how long your pay back period is since switching to LEDs? :lol:

Glad to see someone else doesn't see any disco effect, not just me. I think Keener must has permanently screwed up eyes from watching too many color wheels spin.

I thought the programming is pretty good, are you talking about the software?

Yes for the love of all things holy these are the last ones lol

Yeah the software. It's not hard just a little clumsy is all. What does your program look like Sphelps?

Hmm I thought the light composser was pretty sweet but honestly haven't done much with it. It's kind of embarrassing how basic it is, basically just run it around 15K peek @ 80%. Ramps up in the morning from a dim red and then ramps down to a dim deep blue. I haven't had a chance to play with it since I bought it

I think that a lot more people won't see/notice the disco with these lights. Consider this though, you can see the disco with Radions but there are lots of people who don't ;-)

Also, I think Keener is a screwed up little Sissy Junior Member cry babie :cry:

Sub, I hear they're working on the Mitras Pro. :behindsofa:

Mitras Pro! :lol: Well shoot I better wait some more then before pulling this trigger myself.

Can't the disco effect be adjusted by varying the height of the units above the waterline or playing with their position overhead? Or is it pretty much constant no matter what you do - "if you see it, you see it" kind of thing?

I played around a bit in my tank, with a different LED albeit, and If I turn off my pumps, then the disco disappears a little. I think pretty much every LED fixture will look great over air shining on the floor, but when you get ripples on the surface, it diffracts the different LED's at separate angles, which causes the disco. At least that's my theory. Possibly some of the disco effect varying between users has to do with the motion at the surface of the water. Less surface ripple could equal less disco.

I've had some experience with LEDs (way to much actually lol). When it comes to disco ball effect here is my ratings:
1 mitras (none)
2 radion (small amount)
3 ai sol (visable)
4 ai Vega (very noticeable)

The sol has less because of the lack of colored LEDs. All these were over the same tank on the same rack at some point over last year.

It is the surface water ripple that does it with my Radions. When I turn off the pumps, it disappears.

It is indeed the water surface agitation that does it with any point light source. It is called the caustic effect. A caustic or caustic network is the envelope of light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface or object, or the projection of that envelope of rays on another surface. The caustic is a curve or surface to which each of the light rays is tangent, defining a boundary of an envelope of rays as a curve of concentrated light. In our case the curved surface is the water surface as it ripples and waves. The caustics can be the patches of light or their bright edges. These shapes often have cusp singularities.

Concentration of light, especially sunlight, can burn. The word caustic, in fact, comes from the Greek word for burnt, via the Latin causticus, burning. A common situation where caustics are visible is when light shines on a drinking glass. The glass casts a shadow, but also produces a curved region of bright light. In ideal circumstances (including perfectly parallel rays, as if from a point source at infinity), a nephroid-shaped patch of light can be produced. Rippling caustics are commonly formed when light shines through waves on a body of water.

Another familiar caustic is the rainbow. Scattering of light by raindrops causes different wavelengths of light to be refracted into arcs of differing radius, producing the bow.

T5s do not produce noticeable caustic/shimmering because the light is more enveloping as opposed to being focused like a point source. In essence there is no point source of light from a T5.

LEDs on the other hand typically have several point sources. Each point source producing a caustic. The further apart the individual LEDs are the more pronounced that particular channel's (colour) shimmer/caustic will be. The closer together the individual LEDs are the less pronounced it will be.

Radion LED array:
http://reefbuilders.com/files/2012/11/radion-g2.png

Mitras LED array:
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...psa6c954e7.jpg

Kessil 350W LED array:
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_2348.jpg

Caustics on the sandbed from the different LED point sources:
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3e90df5f.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...ps06c38b94.jpg

Again, some people will notice it while others will not and at varying degrees of noticeability. If you don't see it or you don't notice it or you're simply not bothered by it then it doesn't really matter what other people see.

I haven't noticed it for a long time. But when you guys started talking about it here, had to go look at my tank to see it.

I kind of like it though. It only shows up on the sand bottom, and reminds me of snorkeling and seeing the wave shimmers on the sand.

Ya, I think that eventually you just get used to it. For a long time I ran just halides on my main tank and got so used to the shimmering from the halides that whenever I saw someone's T5 tank it just seemed odd to me.. Then I set up a second tank with strictly T5s over it and over a short period of time I just got used to it and was fine with the lack of shimmer on the T5 tank. Sometimes I think that our knee jerk reaction to something that's different from what we're used to it is to freak out. :lol:

Come to think of it this is an owners clubs not a renters/borrowers club, sorry Kien but I don't make the rules.

Just want to add an important point here

You wont see any disco ball effect with the Mitras. The reason for this is in the reflectors (not lenses) The reflectors converge the LED output to a uniform spread (convergence) eliminating any hot spot or higher intensity spot.

98% of the LED output is reflected back into the water matching that of a T5 reflector.

The Mitras was developed along with a leading University in Germany over two years, so there are a number of cutting edge technologies employed.

This spectrum analysis against ATi 54W T5 is quite impressive

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps6c9750de.jpg

The light blue thin line is the ATi

I was up late last night wrapping presents (way later than normal lol) I noticed my Mitras were on all night even though the display was zeros across the board. I'm guessing it is just moonlighting.
Where is the setting to turn this off or at least make it much dimmer?

In the software, you need to set a zero point time for example

11pm 0%
6am 0%
7am 10%

then between 11pm and 6am all will be off

I'm sure I did that, I'll have to double check.
Michael what's the latest firmware?

1.07 is the latest

make sure the channels are all at zero too

got it I had all the channels at zero but had to set 2 new points on the light composer and now its black out from midnight to 4am:mrgreen:

Now that I have used it a bit more the software is great. The first time I set things up I didn't use the light composer, I just set up each individual channel. The light composer is pretty slick

I did the same thing and quickly got frustrated until I figured out the light composer does it all for you, that's why I mentioned it earlier. Without it you'd spend a lifetime setting up all the channels properly.

I dont think I need to say what to vote for ;)

http://reefbuilders.com/2013/01/14/2012-led-showdown/

Can't believe the Mitras lost to the Acan LED. I'm sure Acanlighting makes nice fixtures, but I haven't even seen a build thread with one, let alone in person.

yes well Hmmm $399 asian plastic light verses the most functional light unit on the market!

Need I say more

Makes no sense.

its just one big game, best ignored really

Well got my lights hung

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...psf9ce5473.jpg

Can't wait to see those mitras in action on your tank Wes.

I've joined the cool kids club! :lol:

OK OK OK before you kick me out of here:biggrin: the Mitras im looking at getting one for my Cube that is 36x36x21 .
The Canopy is 11.5" tall so I will have about 8-9 " for the unit to hang or sit on top if I cut a hole out. I'm hearing that it will light 40"x30" Now really that light will work if I run it length wise right. what is your thoughts on it Radions are crap I guess with all the problems. Sols well sols are just a few colors and Vegas are disco lights lol


oh ya do you need a profilux controller to use this

Just FYI, the Mitras are not meant for mounting inside a canopy as per the manual, the main venting is on the top. You may have to be creative with a partial canopy or open top.

As far as the coverage goes, 36"x36" is likely possible but may require the fixture to be hung a bit higher than normal above the water. GHL suggests 10 cm. I have one hanging over half of a 72"L x 24"W x 26"T tank (waiting on the second one) and have experimented with different heights. At or below 10 cm the cone shape starts to be apparent, 15-20 cm is great for my 24" width, and I would bet 20-25 cm would cover your 36" width. PAR may drop a bit at the sand bed but your tank is not that deep and you can always adjust the intensity. 100% will still be more than enough IMO.

I REALLY like the Mitras for spectrum control, spread, and power; the shimmer is excellent and no disco; very good build quality and a decent user GUI too.

I'm comparing the Mitras to MH, PC, T5, and all possible combinations of these in 2 separate fixtures that I have been using above the same tank. They seem to provide more of an "alive" look than anything else I have personally seen.

Profilux isn't needed but can be used. The USB connection and the free software is exactly the same as the Profilux interface, just without the other controls.

Madmak has hit the nail on the head ;)

The only answer I can genuinely give as the distributor is "it should" providing the reflector spread is not hindered by the hole in the canopy.

For the size tank ideally 12" height will give you a better spread.

Guess who has 2 thumbs up now and awaiting on his new mitras fixture to show up.

^^ Congrats!


Question for the other owners... have you had any issue with your lights gradually changing what time they turn on at.

I set my to start coming on at 7am and they have gradually for the last 2 weeks started coming on later and later. When I left the house this morning it was 7:21am and they still weren't on. Last week it was closer to 7:13am when they were turning on.

Have I missed or overlooked a setting somewhere that would be causing this?

Please go to www.aquariumcomputer.com and then to the download section. You can install the latest firmware for this.

So that was a known issue? I haven't seen it reported from anyone else yet.

its actually not an issue, its to do with the offset between master and slave and how you set up this in the software as far as I understand it. I think its merely a default change.

There is a topic about it on the support forum.

ok So I hope I don't need a profilux controller for this and how would one go about hooking the download for the light is there a controller or a USB hub that goes with it. I havent recieved my light yet and just asking the questions now.

No P3 is required just download the software plug in the usb and your good to go. Very good interface. Your going to love it Mike!

V1.08 sorted out the time shift default and V1.09 is the latest. V1.09 allows the connection of up to 30 lamps to one master!

Anyone with a Mitras please sign up to the support forum so you have all the latest knowledge to hand.

www.profiluxsupport.com