LED Patents - Action Needed!

[StirCrazy]

the biggest problem is finding the stuff for a reasonable price. for example it is going to cost me about 600 bucks give or take to build the set up for my 30 gal tank, Ron is about 1200 for his tank.

money waise for me this is still not back concidering two 250 watt MH over the same tank would cost about 600 to get going also. the differance is I should get about 10 years of use from my system with no more money added. two MH on a 30 gal will definatly need a chiller, so there is another 600 bucks, then two bulbs a year for 10 years is another 2K. and if the calculations are right I will have over 400 PAR on the bottom of my tank wich is about inline with 250 watt DE MH. so I will have the same par output but only consume 200 watts of power instead of 500. and no heat issues as all the heat is disapated through the heat sink up into the air. then to top it all off I will be able to dim each color seperatly so I can get any color temp I want for the tank, and if I spend another couple hundred bucks I can put togeather a digital controler to slowly fade in the colors to different degrees at different times of the day and fade out again at sunset. since I will be running two white controlers and two blue, if I gwet some new frags, I can drop the intensity on one side of the tank where the new corals are and slowly bring it back up over a week or so to get the frags used to the light. features you just cant buy in systems that are out there right now.

Like I said the company could sue, but would they, no.. like I said and Ron said the cost is against it. it would be like metalica sueing the 20K people that downloaded there music, they wouldn't have sued 50 people, but if there are enough people to make the lawsuit worth itin the end then ya.

the reason we want the patent squashed is to encourage compatition. this would bring the overall cost of LEDs down making it cheeper to build. also it would allow bigger lighting companies the creat system. for instance if PFO would have been entering a market at the same time as 4 other lighting companies with the solaris, you can bet it would have been about 500 to 1K cheeper. Also it would open the doors for compinies to produce retrofit kits. right now the market is limited to people who can figure out resisters, electronic soldering, drilling and tapping, and you have to source the parts from about 4 different places.. heatsink from one, led's and drivers from another.. thermal paste from another, ect. So LEDs right now are only feasable to a slice of the reefing comunity than has the knowlage and skill sets to build them.

[Ron99]

The issue is that this patent is going to harm the growth of LED lighting and innovation. Most small aquarium lighting companies will not want to pay royalties to Orbitec and it's a dodgy patent in many people's opinion. If Orbitec gets the continuation allowed they will be able to control all aquarium LED lighting except for moonlights. I don't think that will be a good thing for the hobby.

it is pretty well established now that LEDs are a viable alternative to other types of light. i don't have time to hunt for lots of information but here's two quick links that show what some people are seeing with LEDs:

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=321387

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1639666

And yes, the intensity is there. Don't try to look directly into a high power LED. Way bright. Lot's of PAR readings too and people bleaching and and killing corals with LEDs out there.

I am planning on starting my 48" LED array build soon so you will all see what it does on my 75 gallon mixed reef.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by sphelps

So what's the issue? Are you looking to build and market LED fixtures and retro fits? If not I would let the people that want to worry about that. I assure you there is always a way around patents like this, monopolies only last so long. This type of thing happens all the time but competition always finds a way if there is potential market share available.

However I don't see much potential. I have never seen an LED system alone support an average size tank with mostly SPS corals. You could with the same reasoning stack a ton of NO florescence over one tank in hopes of it meeting the demands but it simply won't work.
I don't believe the intensity is there, simple as that. Yes they are efficient and very cool with all the programing options but that's it. The cost is not why these lights are not popular, if they worked as well as you say then more people would use them but unfortunately no one has really proven these to work as suggested. I offer the same challenge to you, very simple just present a tank that proves me wrong.

If they did work as well as the alternative I for one would use them, I love efficiency but it still needs to work. I spend plenty of money on good equipment that works well and is efficient.

I see a fantastic potential for LED lighting. Many reefers are tired of the static though beautiful SPS tanks and are looking to LPS coral which offer the opportunity to view florescense that LED deep blue lighting provides. The difference is colour is shocking.
The newer LED systems provide this opportunity. You can focus light beams, programme different lighting and dim which is not available on dated MH lighting.
I would encourage the lighting experts on this board to experiment with DIY and bought systems.
I am defineately not knowledgeable of the details of LED but IMO LED is the future.
Wayne