365 NM Emitter recommendations please

[Greg G]

I need to build a good quality UV flashlight for hunting use (tracking blood trails). I gather that the Nichia NCSU033B driven at 700 ma is the best emitter for the job.

Am I on the right path?

I'm not sure about battery pack or driver yet. Was going to keep it simple and use a 2x 7135 driver with 2 Surefire 3 volt lithiums (6 volt battery pack).

Thanks!

 

[DellSuperman]

I have no luck with Nichia UV emitter so far but the closest UV emitter i have is from International Outdoor.
It is advertised as 365nm & i have been able to use it to check currency & pet stain marks.

I run mine in a P60 setup & a single mode 350mA driver & its enough for all my applications.
Im sure you can drive it harder with proper heatsinking.

 

[jonwkng]

Hi Greg,

First thing about Nichia UV emitters is that if you need a relatively clean 365nm peak emission, then you're on the right track. Though I'm not sure 365nm is the ideal choice for blood tracking. I might be mistaken, but usually higher UV wavelengths or even visible blue (415-455nm) with orange cut-off glasses might work better. (No experience with hunting/tracking, but I have an interest in UV photography and forensic lighting.) Second thing is that if you manage to source Nichia UV emitters, they practically cost an arm or a leg.

As DellSuperman has mentioned, there are easily available and relatively affordable mounted UV emitters and P60 drop-ins. If your purpose is not dependent on a single peak wavelength and do not need the best quality UV output, then those are good choices.

There's really no benefit in overdriving UV emitters apart from making them go . E.g. The Nichia NCSU033A is rated at 450mW and I(F) of 500mA. If it is high output applications Nichia's NCSU333A 365nm flavor is rated at about 3.6W. And no, you do not want to know how much one of those emitters cost. My point is, go for what you need. The commercial UV offerings from manufacturers e.g. Nitecore, Streamlight may suit your needs.

 

[Greg G]

After a couple of hours of reading I'm seeing that people like a good incandescent for trailing game animals. I'm glad I didn't buy one of those 145 dollar emitters.

 

[evilc66]

LEDEngin has 365nm LEDs in various sizes too.

 

[RI Chevy]

There are several good threads on UV LED's. Read up on the extremely good information contained within the threads.

 

[chaos215bar2]

This is the most recent thread on UV emitters I see when searching, and thus the most likely to have up-to-date information. If there's good information in other threads, please point them out for the less informed.

 

[evilc66]

Lumileds has a number of UV LEDs under the Luxeon Z line in a range of wavelengths. Like most other UV LEDs though, they are painfully expensive, and feel even more so when you look at how tiny the Luxeon Z is.