Bolton are still fitting new SRL8F and MRL6s. They are being used as the standard casual replacement lamps and also on new installations. Somewhat crazyly they are replacing older versions of the SRL8 with the latest versions as they do not carry suitable ignitors for the older fittings. I can think of 4 that have been replaced for that reason in recent weeks.


They have also in recent months been busy removing lots of SRL8s on 6M columns and replacing them with Holophane Factor Small. They dont seem to be changing over the 5m columns for some reason.

I am not sure what they are doing with the removed SRL8s but my guess would be binning them. Rather than using them for casual replacements. Some of the removed fittings are under 12 months old! all of the replacement seem shiny and new.

Where MRL6s are fitted as casual replacements, the are fitted out of the box with a cell, then a few months later re-visited and fitted with an RF node.

London Borough of Newham are still loyally installing MRL6s too. If an MRL6 fails, the council will simply fit a shiny new MRL6. I've even seen an Alpha 8 MK III be replaced by a new MRL6 over the last few years. As for SRL8s, I've seen a few installed on new columns in Newham recently as casual replacements for Beta 79s.

Why the negativity about Iridiums? As far as I'm concerned they look good on any column.  They're a marvellous invention and hope their domination continues to grow.

My reasons (as already stated in the Worst Installations topic):

The Iridium is a decently designed lantern, but I would hardly say it has the greatest design, is the greatest engineered or is even the most revolutionary or innovative. In essence the SGS201/203/204 looked in the mirror and thought they looked a bit 1980s and boxy, and had a 1990s makeover to look more curvy and fashionable. They did offer a couple of new reflector types, but these were not revolutionary compared with the introduction of the T-POT reflector in the early 1980s. They did target the GRP canopy degradation issue by applying some form of coating to the canopy to stop fibres from shedding which has been successful, but I wouldn't say that makes the Iridium great that it isn't clapped out after 10 years.

Here are some more gripes:

Quality control when it comes to Philips producing special order coloured versions.
Not the best fit to brackets, and with typical modern lighting crews this results in common 'wonky' Iridium syndrome when they work loose. They've already changed from one grub screw to two, but it is the casting that is the problem.
Lots of wasteful plastic inside, which I suppose is to make the inside look more neat and tidy, but actually just gets in the way and helps cause electronic gear failure through poor heat dissipation.

Beyond all this, the Iridium was quite refreshing when it first came out, but it is commonplace nowadays, from alleyways to motorways. It's not special. And I would strongly disagree that it looks good on any column. Most installations look very mediocre and bland, and a number of installations make the Iridium look bulbous and out of proportion. A well designed lantern will look great on many installations, a modern example being the Evolo. I don't think the Iridium does.

I'm not questioning the success of the Iridium, and it certainly does have some good points to it. But for me, it wasn't groundbreaking as a lantern, it was just the next iteration.

It also doesn't help that companies such as Balfour Beatty and others adopted it as their one and only PFI spec lantern for both major and minor roads, meaning the iridium has spread like a rash so there's hardly anywhere in the UK not more than 40 miles from an installation of Iridiums... and it is because it is as common as muck that there really isn't anything that 'special' about it.

I have one in my collection, but a black metal-canopied version running a CDM lamp - pretty much as far away from the normal generic PFI spec Iridum as you can get!

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Not only has Philips launched the Iridium gen3 LED Mini, which is essentially a development of the Mini Iridium LED, but they have also launched medium and large sized Iridium gen3 LED lanterns, which are a development of the Iridium2 LED. So the wild expansion continues.

Not only could Philips afford to discontinue the SGS203, but I would call the original Iridium into question. The Iridium2, Mini Iridium and Selenium could easily take the slack from the Iridium.

In the last few days there have been some new Iridium gen3 Minis installed on side roads where I live in the outskirts of Gloucester. I personally think they are really ugly compared to previous designs of the Iridium. The Iridium range never really caught on on Gloucestershire's side roads but it did on A roads.

I've just looked at the Philips website. My first thought was, "blimey! this is cluttered" . Then I saw the Iridium gen3 and was almost sick. I can see what you mean about them looking ugly. After all, it was only 3 years ago that they released the last Iridium (which I personally prefer to its predecessor and descendant). They also appear to be stocking something akin to the P680 (good grief)!

Unfortunately, their previous flagship lanterns, the SGS203 and SRS201, are buried among so many other designs. They are so hard to find that they may as well be discontinued.

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Take my dog's fleas.
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If you click the SRS201 and the SGS203 they also go to a "page not found" so it is my guess these are now discontinued, or as good as?

However if you're in desperate need of an SGS203 you can buy them brand new off ebay for the bargain price of £999.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-Comme ... 1031218498