For weddings and other long jobs, my first strobes were from Strabo-Research, a company later bought out by Graflex. They used 2- 225 Vold DRY batteries. After a few weddings, they would diminish in power, increase in recycling time and had to be replaced. I had a "charger" that would "rejuvenate" these big bulky batteries. If used after each use with new batteries, it wod extend their life somewhat.

Then cam the Ascor unts with wet cell batteries. The were kida high maintenance in that distilled water had to be added after charging. At least, they had built-in hydrometers- 3 coloured balls in each cell to indicated the level of remaining charge.

In 1980, I replaced all of my 8 portable strobes with Lumadyne equipment. They had Nicad packs comprised of a bunch of c-size cells wired in parallel and series groups. They delivered hundreds of flashes per charge but after a while, developed memory issues. To avoid this, I had to keep very careful records of usage and charging cycles. When they finally died, replacements were expensive- about $250. for each module. So, I took apart the clip-on packs and replaced the Nicads with 12-vold Gel Cell (Sealed Lead-Acid) Batteries. They deliver hundreds of full-powe flashes, are easily recharged, don't seem to have memory issues and cost about $35.to $50.each/ They last about 5 years in constant use. The trick is, that these models are used in those emergency lights that you see in hallways- the ones that kick in during power failures. They can remain on constant trickle charge, indefinitely, after a full recharing, so they are always topped off and ready for use. They come in a bit over 5 and 7 ampere-hours. I still have and use all my original Lumadynes and they are equipped with the Gel-Cells.

Honeywell makes great thermostats. Many of the Strobnar models did not stand up well in heavy professional use. Back in the day, the more reliable unts for weddings were Ascor, Graflex Stroroflash, Dormitzer, and Hershey. They were big and bulky with heavy power packs but they seldom quit in the middle of a job. When they start to make smaller power packs with smaller capacitors and oscillator-based step-up circuitry there were more breakdowns, You got more power in a smaller package but there were issues. The Ascor 444 and the Ultrablitz 400 were powerful and lightweight but they were known to over-volt the capacitors and litterly blow-up!

Even nowadays with more sophisticated circuitry, SPARES are nonetheless required.

The Lumadyn line is still in production. The power packs consist of two parts, the power supply with the capacitors, the on/off and power selector and cable sockets and the battery module. They are joined together with quick-release clips and Jones-type connectors for the battery input power.

Additional power modules can be added. The units I have push 200 watt.seconds and there are add-on modules that can be stacked up to 1600 watt.seconds. There are various lamp heads that accommodate the high-power flash tubes. Some of the heads have modelling lamps. For those that prefer thyristor-controlled operation, ther is a Q-Falhs (Quantum) head available for Lumadyne power packs.

All the Lumadyne heads have user changeable flash tubes, interchangeable reflectors and easy bare-bulb application. The Norman wide-ane and telephoto reflectors can be easily fitted to the lamp heads as well.

Quantum, Norman, and Lumedyne are among the many photo tools distributed by ProMark Brands — https://www.promarkbrands.com . I used to see those guys at PMAI shows back in the 1990s to 2000s.

Bill Norman spoke at a couple of our sales meetings (Delmar Studios, and Herff Jones Photography, now defunct). We used Mostly Photogenic gear at Delmar Studios and Norman gear at Herff Jones Photography. Herff had hundreds of the 808 and 808M power packs and associated lamp heads. All our light modifiers were from F.J. Westcott or Norman or Photogenic. That was back in the days when we could sell several million portrait packages in 13 weeks of the Fall...

Norman and Photogenic gear, at least, back in the day were built lie the proverbial "Brick Outhouse"! I still have Falshmaster, Studio Master and some big Norma unts, someof which I purchased in the early and late 1970s still in service.

My 200- w.s Norm pack is big, ugly and heavy but it won't die. I still she one Flashmaster unt that I dragged around to schools- 4 Heads, 4 Powere Buttons, and all kinds of accessories. It develops a loud transformer buzz- soud lie the electric chair after each shot, but it still works reliably. I biol another power pack that can accommodate 4 more flash master heads.

In my portrt room, I have a Photogenic 800 w.s pack connect to Aurora head I use it for a fixed fill source. I had A Skylighter, but it is too big for my present location. The Studiomasters are great for fine portraiture and the Boom Master is an indispensable hair light.

All of this stuff is for fully manual exposure management- NO TTL, NO HSS, no thyristor control. The industrial design ain't pretty, someof it looks like the welding gear you would find in an auto mechanics garage.

I "modernize my location portra gear with Photogenic Power Lights (Monolights). All my commerce work is done with Speedotron gear I have since 1989.

I don't know if the current umbrella company that makes or distributes Photogenic gear, still maintains the same QC and incredibly good customer service. Whenever I had any issues with old Photogenic gear, I would call the company in Youngstown, Ohio and speak to a service tech or an engineer. Problems were solved quickly and efficiently.