Mobile tower lighting can be described as a portable lighting system designed to illuminate spaces where permanent lighting is not available. This kind of lighting system is mounted on a pole and can be moved around either manually or with the help of a pickup van or small truck. The latest versions of these lights are having their wheels and platforms that make them more stable and easier to move around. Portability with high-mast lighting is the key feature of the mobile tower lighting systems. This kind of lighting has its utility in a diverse range of functions where permanent lighting is either not available or not cost-effective because of the temporary nature of the job involved.
Diverse use of mobile floodlights for sports
Mobile tower lightings are useful in illuminating sports grounds during evening-hour sporting events. But they are also useful in many other activities such as military, construction, tunneling, and many other industrial sectors. The primary reason why they are used is their maneuverability. They are easy to carry around and can be made to illuminate any specific area with suitable light beams and folding poles. Military operations, difficult construction works, and tunneling activities require high-intensity spotlighting. Mobile tower lightings are best suited for such outdoor lighting needs where the place to be illuminated is somewhat inaccessible. But for the meticulous and flawless workmanship, adequate lighting is required in these activities, which mobile tower lighting can provide with accuracy and efficiency.
Portable LED sports lighting products
As mobile tower lighting aims to cater to a niche market where ordinary lighting systems is either not available or not viable, mobile tower lighting is constantly being upgraded with innovations and adoption of high-end technology. As a result, there are as many types of mobile tower lighting as the number of companies manufacturing them. There are elementary types of portable tower lighting systems where the lighting equipment is mounted on a pick-up van or truck and is powered by a generator. The floodlights in their sockets are placed at the top of the pole. The entire lighting system can either stay put on the vehicles or placed on the ground at a suitable location. The light is powered by a generator. Usually, the blubs can be a metal halide, CFL or LED.
Advanced versions of mobile tower lighting
However, more advanced and modern varieties of the equipment are available in the market. As we mentioned above, it caters to a niche segment it is expected to be versatile and precise. These factors have led to various innovations and improvisation in the basic unit. Now you can expect mobile tower lighting to come in a standalone format equipped with a wheeled platform on which the entire system stands. The poles are designed in such a way that they can be maneuvered to reach inaccessible locations at the worksite. Bulbs are mostly LED but their beams are selected as per the needs. Depending on how much light is required, the lux, watts, and lighting design can be worked out.
Mobile tower lighting is immensely useful because of its being portable and highly maneuverable.
What is floodlight?
Floodlights are specially designed lighting systems used to illuminate large spaces. Floodlights have been around for a long time before it became famous as the lighting system for sports grounds where extremely competitive and high-profile matches take place.
Floodlights use the broad-beam high-intensity light to illuminate larger areas with greater efficacy than common lightings can do. Typically, floodlights are mounted on the top of a long pole so that its light beams can travel far and wide and illuminate a larger space. Various kinds of bulbs are used in floodlights such as halogen, incandescent, or LED bulbs. However, because of many considerations, such as energy-efficiency, durability, lower maintenance, and better control, LED bulbs are more popular.
Floodlights are used by a large number of industries for illuminating their open spaces. The local municipal offices use floodlights to illuminate public spaces such as parks, highways, markets, etc. It is very common to see floodlights at large and busy railway stations, airports, shipyards, and dockyards. Modern industries also use floodlights to keep their production or warehousing facilities illuminated.
With the advancement of technology, very high-quality floodlights are available in the market where every component from poles to the circuits of the bulbs, and bulbs themselves are of high standards, ensuring reliability, durability, energy-efficiency, and high-performance. Because of its sheer utility, it’s difficult to imagine urban life without floodlights.
Why is it useful for the sports field?
Floodlights are very efficient and flexible lighting systems for illuminating outdoor facilities including sports fields. Sporting events under artificial light is not a new phenomenon. But now, the lighting systems have become so advanced that they compete in performance with the high-intensity matches that take place under their light. International sporting events are broadcast live throughout the world and millions of people watch them every day. For the broadcasts and matches to be of the quality that can keep millions of people glued to their TV sets or other devices, the sports field need to have a very high quality of illumination. Modern-day floodlights provide such high-intensity illumination.
1. High-quality, reliable lighting
Such a high quality of illumination is achieved through a combination of factors such as high-quality lighting equipment, light designing, and use of modern technology to calculate the amount and quality of the light required across the field. There is a lot of safety concerns when high-profile international matches are played. The safety of players, ground staff, spectators and fans depend on a reliable presence of lights across the stadium. Floodlights are high-intensity broad-beamed lights that differ from focused lights that aim to spotlight a small area such as a stage in a concert.
2. Fixed floodlights
Fixed floodlights are generally mounted on a much longer pole than portable tower lighting may have so that its light can reach far and wide in the stadium. Since floodlights have a bigger area to illuminate with a much brighter and powerful light, they are designed to be heavy-duty, with a range of control and commands says DMX and DALI systems. During low-profile matches, the floodlights may be used at low capacity while during the more intense matches of the international level, the floodlights could be used at its highest capacity.
Why do we need mobile lighting for the sports field?
Following the trend of high-profile matches being conducted under the floodlight, now even school and college level matches are being organized under the floodlight. Similarly, all kinds of amateur and professional matches at all levels are preferred to be organized in the day-night format. A chief reason for this trend is that matches organized under the floodlight have higher entertainment value for everybody involved. While players tend to perform better and enjoy the spotlight that they get, the audience gets a real feel of a match played under the floodlight in their very neighborhood. But for the local-level matches to be held under the floodlight, there is a problem of lack of floodlight-equipped sports fields. Even if there are such playgrounds, there would be problems packed schedule.
The latest trend shows that local level sports clubs now prefer to organize their matches in the evening and night hours under the mobile tower lighting. This makes the job of organizing a match so much easier as everybody enjoys a game played under the floodlight. These days, mobile tower lightings come in all shapes, sizes, and capacities that can cater to all kinds of floodlight needs. Apart from many industrial sectors, these mobile tower lightings are increasingly being used as a floodlight for organizing local level matches.
Mobile floodlights for football, soccer, cricket, tennis, basketball matches
Mobile tower lighting is an extremely efficient and flexible option for the illumination of sports grounds. These standalone lighting systems can be powered by electricity or generators, both of which could be available at the local sports club or the stadium where the matches are being held. Depending on the need, these lighting systems can be placed strategically so that the playground is adequately illuminated. You would perhaps not need a light designer or an electrical engineer to work out how many lux and watts you need to properly illuminate a sports field where a match is scheduled to be held. You can do these calculations yourself by simply trying out different arrangements. The one that everybody finds most suitable is the one to go with. This is so simple!
Mobile lighting systems are extremely versatile and they can illuminate any playground or court whether it is for a match of football, soccer, cricket, tennis, or basketball. There are many kinds of mobile tower lightings available in the market. The ones that are meant to act as floodlights for sporting events are broad-beamed, high-intensity lights. They can have single or multiple lighting heads for higher capacity and wider and more intense lighting on the ground.
For the illumination of a full-scale football or cricket, you will need multiple mobile tower lightings. Their number can vary from 4 to 8 or more depending on the size of the field and the quality of matches. If the sports fields are of full size and the matches are also fairly competitive, you would probably need 8 doubled headed mobile tower lighting. But if the fields are smaller, even four such lightings would be enough. The same goes for other sports such as tennis and basketball too.
See also: Pros and cons of used stadium lights
Advantages of using LED mobile sports flood lights
There are many advantages of using LED mobile sports flood lights because it combines two very smart technologies – LED and mobile tower lighting system. Most of the flood lights today are made with LED bulbs because of their competitive advantages. Even in fixed tower flood lights, generally LED bulbs are used.
1. Benefits of LED
• Converts electricity into light energy
• Does not emit heat while creating light
• Consumes less energy
• Bright & focused
• Bulbs last longer
• Don’t need time to warm up
2. An enabler for sporting events
LED mobile sports flood lights can effectively cater to the needs of local-level sports clubs that tend to organize a large number of events throughout the year. As the new trend is all about organizing matches under the floodlight, LED mobile sports floodlight can contribute significantly to the growth of the day-night format of matches in smaller cities and towns where there are not many sports fields with floodlights.
As more and more local-level matches are vying to be organized in the day-night format, the LED mobile sports floodlights are likely to be in great demand. This seems to be the right technology at the right time. Mobile tower with LED floodlights are not only a very efficient lighting system for organizing high standard sports events, but these are also very flexible equipment that can easily be maneuvered and placed at strategic locations in the sports filed for better illumination of the entire facility.
3. Affordable & energy efficient
LED mobile sports floodlights are highly affordable products, and at the same time also very energy-efficient. Because of the use of new energy-saving technologies, these lighting systems draw very little energy compared to halogen or CFL bulbs, which are also more expensive. Because these are highly evolved products, there is a greater degree of reliability about their performance. They don’t tend to malfunction, nor do they require frequent repairs. As sports events would require a high-performance lighting system that doesn’t spoil the spirit and flow of the game by frequent malfunctioning, this lighting solution is the best bet.
4. Great value for money
These lighting systems are of great value for money. Looking at their ease of portability and multifaceted use in the sporting arena, they seem to be a must item with local event management companies and sports clubs. While this equipment can be used during matches held in the evening and night hours, these can also be used at other events where a relatively large number of people are present such as at local fairs, arts fest, cultural events, and so on.
Conclusion
Mobile tower lighting and also Mobile LED sports floodlights are great and innovative products that have found ready acceptance in many industries including widespread use in sports. Because of their multifarious use, this equipment is always in demand. Sports clubs and event management companies will benefit a great deal by acquiring these lighting systems.