I'm on winter break right now, and I arranged to take home a variety of fixtures for documentation. This thread is aimed at comparing Hub Electric fixtures to their Altman counterparts. https://skydrive.live.com/redir.asp...C9157DE99DE0C85A!105&authkey=!AIemYMNGIEaHcHA This link has many photos with descriptions.
There's very little information available about the company or their products- so this thread is basically my observations and comparisons. Most of Hub's fixtures appear to be clones from other manufacturers. The fixtures I've brought home from BHS date from 1972 and are all clones of Altman fixtures. I can't read the Hub cat. numbers since they were penned in on the labels and have faded/been covered up over time, so I refer to them by their Altman numbers.
In short, (late) Hub fixtures are very careful copies of Altman's catalog. Most parts are very similar but not identical- however, the yokes and knobs are indistinguishable between the two brands. One other apparently identical part is the refector housings on the "360"s. The Hub casting has the same mark (see pictures) as the Altman one, but is much cleaner and of higher quality.
On the "366" fixtures, the Altman has 3 cast pieces whereas the Hub has only a cast stovepipe. The rest of the fixture is made from stamped steel equivalents of the cast Altman parts. An interesting note is that the Hub fixtures run much cooler than the Altman twins. The steel is stamped in such a manner that it's actually very hard to dent the Hub fixtures- most parts are domed or doubled back for strength.
The Fresnels are identical save for lenses and paint.
Perhaps the most interesting thing I've noticed is that the Hub fixtures all have higher-quality optics than their Altman counterparts. The Hub "366" and Fresnel have lenses stamped Kopp Glass, but there is no label on the "360" lens. All of the lenses are of great quality: they don't have that greenish tinge of the Altmans and they lack the wavy ripples of the Altman lenses as well. The unlabeled "360" lens is the best. I took it out and cleaned it and examined it at length, and I can truely say I've never seen a more perfect lens. There are NO imperfections, I was blown away. It's perfectly clear. After I cleaned it, I took a few photos (from weird angles to factor in the optics) and you can't even tell it's there. It's really a marvel- better than the S4 and Colortran lenses I have available to compare it to.
Sorry for rambling. In short, if you have to choose between Hub and Altman (which I sure hope you don't since they're both TERRIBLY outdated), go with Hub. They're higher quality, run cooler, and are easier to focus (perhaps because of the quality optics?) than their Altman counterparts. It's been very interesting to play detective and tear these fixtures down as far as they'll go for comparison- I hope someone else will think it's interesting as well.
There's very little information available about the company or their products- so this thread is basically my observations and comparisons. Most of Hub's fixtures appear to be clones from other manufacturers. The fixtures I've brought home from BHS date from 1972 and are all clones of Altman fixtures. I can't read the Hub cat. numbers since they were penned in on the labels and have faded/been covered up over time, so I refer to them by their Altman numbers.
In short, (late) Hub fixtures are very careful copies of Altman's catalog. Most parts are very similar but not identical- however, the yokes and knobs are indistinguishable between the two brands. One other apparently identical part is the refector housings on the "360"s. The Hub casting has the same mark (see pictures) as the Altman one, but is much cleaner and of higher quality.
On the "366" fixtures, the Altman has 3 cast pieces whereas the Hub has only a cast stovepipe. The rest of the fixture is made from stamped steel equivalents of the cast Altman parts. An interesting note is that the Hub fixtures run much cooler than the Altman twins. The steel is stamped in such a manner that it's actually very hard to dent the Hub fixtures- most parts are domed or doubled back for strength.
The Fresnels are identical save for lenses and paint.
Perhaps the most interesting thing I've noticed is that the Hub fixtures all have higher-quality optics than their Altman counterparts. The Hub "366" and Fresnel have lenses stamped Kopp Glass, but there is no label on the "360" lens. All of the lenses are of great quality: they don't have that greenish tinge of the Altmans and they lack the wavy ripples of the Altman lenses as well. The unlabeled "360" lens is the best. I took it out and cleaned it and examined it at length, and I can truely say I've never seen a more perfect lens. There are NO imperfections, I was blown away. It's perfectly clear. After I cleaned it, I took a few photos (from weird angles to factor in the optics) and you can't even tell it's there. It's really a marvel- better than the S4 and Colortran lenses I have available to compare it to.
Sorry for rambling. In short, if you have to choose between Hub and Altman (which I sure hope you don't since they're both TERRIBLY outdated), go with Hub. They're higher quality, run cooler, and are easier to focus (perhaps because of the quality optics?) than their Altman counterparts. It's been very interesting to play detective and tear these fixtures down as far as they'll go for comparison- I hope someone else will think it's interesting as well.