Magic Bus Power Management System for Strobes

[Neal Chaves]

Here's the information some of you have requested on the Magic Bus Power Management System, developed by David Mendelsohn http://www.davidm.com and me in the early 1990s. It works on the energy management strategy of "load shedding". Strobes pull a lot of current in a spike at the start of recycle, but then current draw drops off to a trickle after charge is complete. The Magic Bus has one outlet wired right to the line and three outlets on timed delay. After the flash, trigger circuitry pulls the plug on the three timed outlets while the first strobe recharges. Then these outlets come back on line, charging the other three strobes in a time delay sequence. Even with four of the biggest power packs, one 250 Watt modeling light could usually be used without tripping a 15 Amp source breaker. With this you can have 16,000 WS of electronic flash from a 15 Amp source, ready almost as soon as you can change holders on an 8X10 camera. The patent is now in the public domain, make your own if you want. US Pat. #5461288