Searchlights of San Diego, Sky Tracker and Single searchlight rental company for over 25 years! Our searchlight units have been servicing Escondido, Oceanside, Chula Vista, El Centro, Yuma, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and the greater San Diego area for over 25 years. Our searchlight venues run from Super Bowl events to backyard parties.

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TELEPHONE
619-442-9700

FAX
619-449-5328

CELL
619-804-4789

Locally Owned Lowest Rates Established 1981

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Searchlights of San Diego

This page was last updated on
08/26/2010

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19th Century Military usage of searchlights started in the late 19th century originally mounted on a battleship to find torpedo boats. Soon after that the artillery divisions added them for night combat.
	World War I A larger version than the shipboard type became available during the First World War for artificial light for night warfare.
1930's Era Searchlights became common appearance with most every movie premier starting during this period. The Searchlight beams became a part of the 20th Century Fox logo in 1934 and still remains today. Searchlights are as much a part of the Hollywood theme as the sign on the hill or red carpet.	Forties pinup girl Susan Hayward poses with a 1930's Hollywood searchlight!
	Klieg Lights A Klieg light is an intense light beam used in filmmaking. Although not completely documented, the ellipsoidal reflector spotlight was a Klieg light. Trade names often become part of backstage vernacular. Leko, Klieg, and so forth are terms all referring to an ellipsoidal reflector spotlight. The terms Klieg light and Spotlights are often improperly used when searchlights are desired for an event.
World War II During the Second World War, General Electric and the Sperry Company manufactured carbon arc searchlight models. They are mostly of 60” diameter with parabolic mirror reflectors. They reflected a carbon arc in to the night sky that has an effective beam visibility of about 30 miles. A separate trailer powered these searchlight units with an engine and generator. These units were high maintenance and had their own Army or Navy division for service and repair.
	1948 - 1980 At wars end, these units were brought into civilian mainstream. They were commonly used for attention getting events such as Drive-In movies, Grand Opening Events, Car Dealers, and especially for Hollywood premiers. There are still a few of the carbon arc type searchlight units still around. Parts have become scarce and many have been converted to a lamp configuration instead of the problematic carbon arc rod feed system. Most of these types are now restored for historical purpose.
1980 A company Pichel Industries, Temecula Ca., brought a new product to market called a Sky-Tracker. It would use Xenon lighting, large individual power supplies and coupled a fixed speed motion drive system to project light beams into the night sky. Over the next 10 years these units would replace the older carbon arc searchlight units for most events.
	2002 Another new type of searchlight type light beam unit would be developed out of Anaheim, Ca. It featured a HMI lamp and would be excellent for smaller events that wanted a Hollywood theme but not the noise and size of the carbon arc or Xenon trailer mounted units. Other manufactures have since come into the market place with similar sized units. Today, searchlights are used for Hollywood theme events, advertising, and special events and are a terrific attention-getting tool.

Documentation from Britannica and Wikipedia