Philips SGS 204

In Derby in 2002+ a major scheme was underway called 'Connecting Derby' - it involved altering a number of roads around Derby. As part of this work, some street lighting units were replaced in their entirety. I managed to organise the acquisition of a Thorn Alpha 3 that had been removed from service, or at least, this is what I thought I had secured - upon hearing that a lantern had been removed on Thursday 26th September 2002, I visited the site cabin and inquired as to whether a lantern had been saved, as requested. After a rather lengthy discussion between several bewildered workmen, I was eventually shown into a cabin and the SGS 204 was on the floor - not the Alpha 3! Still, beggars cannot be choosers, and I duly carried the lantern out of the cabin and out of the compound, much to the bemusement of people standing nearby at the time!

The lantern is quite a square shape by design, which adds to the bulky feel about it.

Being 400W, flat glass is the only option for this lantern's cover - a polycarbonate bowl would probably melt from the heat! Just out of shot here is the side entry 42-48mm spigot. As with the smaller SGS 203 lantern, the spigot can be fitted in either a side-entry or post-top orientation - this lantern was fitted to an existing side-entry bracket.

The gear is accessed by lifting the canopy up from the back of the lantern but the entire gear tray can be removed by undoing four screws that hold it in place, and disconnecting the cables going to the lampholder. The 400W ballast is what adds the weight to this lantern - without it, the lantern weighs next to nothing! Two capacitors are wired in series due to the high power output of this lantern.

At full power, the lantern is (obviously) very bright indeed, and with this comes associated high temperatures - within about 15-30 minutes of the lantern being switched on, the section of the canopy that is over the gear became far too hot to touch. The foil sheeting below the lantern helped to keep the desk that I had the lantern positioned on at a safer temperature.

Thorn Beta 5 | GEC Z9454