TheGrasshopper92
New Member
Hey there everybody,
First time post so forgive the long introduction...
Long time consumer, about to be a first time grower here in a few weeks. I'm hoping this community can help me come to a final decision as far as my grow system is to be concerned. I have followed grow journals for years and been in and out of the scene but never actually had the time or resources to take up the hobby until recently. Hopefully all of my years of internet scouring and research will make this transition a bit smoother and I look forward to being an active member of the community once I have everything in hand.
Before we move forward I want to attempt to avoid potential arguments as best as possible. Being an engineer by trade I like to tinker and try new things and look for unexpected results or confirm new theories. Due to this mindset I am 100% dead-set on fully utilizing LED lighting for my hobby. Let me make this clear; I understand that in most situations you are usually better off in the long-term with a traditional HID set-up over a low-level LED; I also know that the community think-tank for traditional lighting is much deeper than that of an LED system. That being said I am a scientist and without starting any arguments I have full convictions that there are SOME companies out there that actually are outperforming HID lights with LED's and that the data verifies this claim. I also think that low quality LED's flooded the market when the tech was emerging and that has soured the taste of the tech in the eyes of the community who basically have an industry standard in the Gavita. So I ask you to preemptively acknowledge my position and accept it if you are an LED hater; if that's too much for you feel free to go help another newbie out who's running a traditional system; I'm sure they and I would both appreciate it.
Okay so now for the big question; Apache Tech AT200; can this light provide coverage for a 4x4 tent whilst using a light rail? My understanding is that this model is really pushing itself at the 9 sqft marker but beyond the obvious "Duh that's a great idea!" I really don't know much about how much efficiency is added with a lightrail. Does anybody have experience with a set-up like this?
I've looked at the lineups provided by Fluorence, Spectrum King, and NextLight among others as some of what I consider to be the rest of the "top" competition and while I could probably get by with a set-up from one of these companies sans-rail I am drawn to the science and history of the Apache brand so I'd prefer to drop tent size to a 3x3 rather than change from the Apache brand (unless somebody can do some serious convincing). I wish I could just grab the AT600 but unfortunately that is out of the budget range currently unless there's a way to knock off $500+ with a mythical discount code that I don't have access to and even then it's still pushing my wallet farther than I'd like at the moment. Ideally I'd just make my own light; unfortunately, I can at times be lazy and I know that while I could do it I'd probably go through a few failed attempts in the learning process and just right now that's all... meh. So this brings us back to the original question, will a light rail add enough coverage to a traditional AT200 that it would be considered an acceptable light for a 4x4 enclosure?
I appreciate those who have taken the time to read this in full. I hope you'll take an additional moment to help a brother out if you have any ideas or thoughts about my upcoming project. If anybody has experience with an AT200 in a 4x4 enclosure with or without a light rail PLEASE reply with your experience.
Much love,
Hopper
First time post so forgive the long introduction...
Long time consumer, about to be a first time grower here in a few weeks. I'm hoping this community can help me come to a final decision as far as my grow system is to be concerned. I have followed grow journals for years and been in and out of the scene but never actually had the time or resources to take up the hobby until recently. Hopefully all of my years of internet scouring and research will make this transition a bit smoother and I look forward to being an active member of the community once I have everything in hand.
Before we move forward I want to attempt to avoid potential arguments as best as possible. Being an engineer by trade I like to tinker and try new things and look for unexpected results or confirm new theories. Due to this mindset I am 100% dead-set on fully utilizing LED lighting for my hobby. Let me make this clear; I understand that in most situations you are usually better off in the long-term with a traditional HID set-up over a low-level LED; I also know that the community think-tank for traditional lighting is much deeper than that of an LED system. That being said I am a scientist and without starting any arguments I have full convictions that there are SOME companies out there that actually are outperforming HID lights with LED's and that the data verifies this claim. I also think that low quality LED's flooded the market when the tech was emerging and that has soured the taste of the tech in the eyes of the community who basically have an industry standard in the Gavita. So I ask you to preemptively acknowledge my position and accept it if you are an LED hater; if that's too much for you feel free to go help another newbie out who's running a traditional system; I'm sure they and I would both appreciate it.
Okay so now for the big question; Apache Tech AT200; can this light provide coverage for a 4x4 tent whilst using a light rail? My understanding is that this model is really pushing itself at the 9 sqft marker but beyond the obvious "Duh that's a great idea!" I really don't know much about how much efficiency is added with a lightrail. Does anybody have experience with a set-up like this?
I've looked at the lineups provided by Fluorence, Spectrum King, and NextLight among others as some of what I consider to be the rest of the "top" competition and while I could probably get by with a set-up from one of these companies sans-rail I am drawn to the science and history of the Apache brand so I'd prefer to drop tent size to a 3x3 rather than change from the Apache brand (unless somebody can do some serious convincing). I wish I could just grab the AT600 but unfortunately that is out of the budget range currently unless there's a way to knock off $500+ with a mythical discount code that I don't have access to and even then it's still pushing my wallet farther than I'd like at the moment. Ideally I'd just make my own light; unfortunately, I can at times be lazy and I know that while I could do it I'd probably go through a few failed attempts in the learning process and just right now that's all... meh. So this brings us back to the original question, will a light rail add enough coverage to a traditional AT200 that it would be considered an acceptable light for a 4x4 enclosure?
I appreciate those who have taken the time to read this in full. I hope you'll take an additional moment to help a brother out if you have any ideas or thoughts about my upcoming project. If anybody has experience with an AT200 in a 4x4 enclosure with or without a light rail PLEASE reply with your experience.
Much love,
Hopper
