Dobermann. Tactical lights

[CelticCross74]

sure scs! been having a ball with both lights day and night really. Both still function fine. Both will devour fully charged fresh 3500mah cells over a days/nights use but no big deal. Neither has exhibited any odd behavior. Im thinking if I try an average 3400mah cell I might get those things. What would cause a whining sound?

 

[scs]

sure scs! been having a ball with both lights day and night really. Both still function fine. Both will devour fully charged fresh 3500mah cells over a days/nights use but no big deal. Neither has exhibited any odd behavior. Im thinking if I try an average 3400mah cell I might get those things. What would cause a whining sound?

Before my DP malfunctioned, I'm guessing the strange mode, PWM, and whine were a result of the light NOT programmed and/or designed (or perhaps not functioning properly) to address insufficient voltage when the head is tightened. It should have been programmed and designed to go into one of the preset lower modes (including the firefly mode), one that the cell is still able to power.

 

[CelticCross74]

man that is strange. Will keep an eye on it. So far so good though. The highest setting is so bright though I do not use it often. Hmm...It would be extremely nice if AT put up technical diagrams of their driver etc and point out as to why they are "the most advanced flashlights"...For a company that has obviously invested so much into production you would think they would have an equally appropriate website

 

[rfl]

man that is strange. Will keep an eye on it. So far so good though. The highest setting is so bright though I do not use it often. Hmm...It would be extremely nice if AT put up technical diagrams of their driver etc and point out as to why they are "the most advanced flashlights"...For a company that has obviously invested so much into production you would think they would have an equally appropriate website

When my Dobermann Pro LE XP-L HI can't maintain max output, due to the state of the battery's charge, it drops down to slightly less than the 440 lumen mode. I feel certain that is the normal behavior. As discussed before, this happened with my "conventional" batteries with anything less than a full charge. The Sanyo/Panasonic 3500mah 10amp GA batteries don't have any problems keeping it at full power.

To be sure, it simply drops down to a lower mode when a battery can no longer supply sufficient current. It never exhibits the terrible behavior described by scs, thankfully.

"the most advanced flashlights" ...

I have very mixed feelings about Armytek. Their communication is poor. You can't trust the specifications on their website. They distribute un-annouced and un-documented variations of their flashlights to retailers. There is no doubt about any of that. I can't tell how serious the reliability problems are from the small sample size gleaned from this forum.

I've put together a $25 dollar Convoy C8 XP-L HI flashlight that easily out throws the Dobermann and can probably compete with the Predator's throw. The Convoy C8 has a great, tough, matte finish. It's a far better value than any of the name brand flashlights I own. However, the beam profile isn't quite as nice as the Dobermann, and the head is significantly larger than the Dobermann. The driver that is available to myself as a DIY builder won't hold a flashlight on max out as well as a Sportac/Eagletac driver that I've compared it to -- and I've no doubt that the boost drivers in some of the Armyteks will out perform the driver in my Convoy (the Convoy driver is quite good though). I really like that max out is directly available in the Dobermann with a head twist -- so I can flip back and forth between max out and a pre-selected lower mode without cycling through all of the modes.

So I do believe that Armytek offers some real value in its drivers, their reflector design, and some (but not all) of their UI designs. And there are reviewers that have documented, pretty well, that Armytek's drivers do behave as claimed. All of that combined is why I own a Dobermann XP-L HI, and I have ordered a Predator XP-L HI.

"the most advanced flashlights" is hyperbole, for sure -- but they are quite good. If I didn't already have a collection of smaller flashlights, I would get a Partner too.

 

[SubLGT]

...I have very mixed feelings about Armytek...

Me too.

 

[CelticCross74]

Dobermann Pro LE HI report almost two weeks in.......my mother has taken the light from me as she says its the greatest light she has ever seen. What can a flashaholic do? It is not like I do not have 50+ more lights to use on duty at night. So far my experience with the DP LE HI has been so good I would buy another. Then again these things are expensive. Mom keeps it at her house now on top of the family bible. There is no taking it back...should she run into problems with it I will report them here...

 

[ArmyTek]

sure scs! been having a ball with both lights day and night really. Both still function fine. Both will devour fully charged fresh 3500mah cells over a days/nights use but no big deal. Neither has exhibited any odd behavior. Im thinking if I try an average 3400mah cell I might get those things. What would cause a whining sound?

Thank you for your message, we know about this problem.

Friends, thank you for all your discussions here. Don`t hesitate to contact our service manager.

 

[CelticCross74]

managed to get my DP HI back by giving ma my TK22. Will report any anomalies here. I am having such a blast with my two AT's I am thinking of getting either the Viking V3 or the Predator 2.5 just to see what all the praise I have read about the light is about.

 

[scs]

A review by member Andreas on the German forum: http://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/armytek/44884-armytek-dobermann-pro-xp-l-hi-test-review.html.
Based on my reading of the Google translation, his sample puts out only about 800 OTF lumens, with a measured intensity of only 36,000 CD. His Eagletac G25C2 XP-L HI, with 45,000 CD, throws visibly farther. Seems his sample strays even farther from the specs than mine.

 

[ArmyTek]

managed to get my DP HI back by giving ma my TK22. Will report any anomalies here. I am having such a blast with my two AT's I am thinking of getting either the Viking V3 or the Predator 2.5 just to see what all the praise I have read about the light is about.

Don`t hesitate to ask us any questions.

 

[ArmyTek]

A review by member Andreas on the German forum: http://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/armytek/44884-armytek-dobermann-pro-xp-l-hi-test-review.html.
Based on my reading of the Google translation, his sample puts out only about 800 OTF lumens, with a measured intensity of only 36,000 CD. His Eagletac G25C2 XP-L HI, with 45,000 CD, throws visibly farther. Seems his sample strays even farther from the specs than mine.

Thank you for sharing!
I think that measurements that had been held in different conditions will be slightly different.

 

[CelticCross74]

I do not have any testing equipment I just go by the seat of my eyeballs. To my eyes the DP LE PRO HI throws like crazy and is easily over 800 lumens. Once again I am no battery expert but the 3500mah 10amp cells I use in the light seem to get the best out of the light...

 

[rfl]

Also has a more neutral tint than my DP. I wish I knew enough to know why the difference in tints a bit better.

I started wondering (a lot!) about tints and became frustrated trying to interpret the words that others used to describe what they saw with their eyes. And it's quite expensive to buy something based on some one else's notions about tint.

(To be sure, I'm not criticizing anyone else -- describing tint is difficult and most manufactures don't include enough details about their emitters -- so we all wind up guessing.)

So, I got some DIY flashlight bodies so I could try out specific emitters with known tints. My Dobermann XP-L HI is a very close match to the XP-L HI V2 1A emitters in my DIY lights. "1A" is the tint specification and is indeed fairly cool. I also have some "2A", "3A" etc emitters for comparison which progress into the neutral range. It's been very satisfying. With a quality DIY flashlight body and some very basic soldering skills you can experiment with emitters at a very reasonable cost -- and the results are very good. These Armytek HI lights are the only name brand lights I pursue these days. I'm a sucker for the matte finish and the twist to max output is a great feature.

Since I'm wildly off topic at this point, I'll come back and say that a Predator HI is on a delivery truck right now

[EDIT] I forgot the point of bringing up tints in the first place (good grief!)

The "1A" tint (that matches the Doberman Pro XP-L HI) has a temperature in the 6500-7000K range. It is much cooler than the 5500K figure published by Armytek for all of their cool white flashlights. Note I like the 6500-7000K tint a lot. I'm not complaining about the tint. But that 5500K figure will confuse anyone trying to compare their AT XP-L HI models to published specs of other flashlights. It is that kind of confusion is why I started building flashlights. Finally, point made One last thing. Armytek support supplied me with a "1C" tint figure for some of their XP-L (non HI) lights. "1C" is in the 6000K-6500K range -- also cooler than the 5500K published spec for those flashlights.

 

[scs]

...My Dobermann XP-L HI is a very close match to the XP-L HI V2 1A emitters in my DIY lights. "1A" is the tint specification and is indeed fairly cool....

The "1A" tint (that matches the Doberman Pro XP-L HI) has a temperature in the 6500-7000K range. It is much cooler than the 5500K figure published by Armytek for all of their cool white flashlights.

Interesting. I compared mine with another that's around 5000K and to me the DP was definitely cooler than 5000K but not by much, definitely not in the temperature range and tint bin you noted. In fact, my DP was WARMER than my Fenix E12 which to me is pure white. Sounds like not only is there deviation from specs in the performance of this light, there's also considerable variation in temperature and tint among samples, despite what the specs say.

My PP LE's temperature and tint was identical to those of my DP.

 

[ArmyTek]

I started wondering (a lot!) about tints and became frustrated trying to interpret the words that others used to describe what they saw with their eyes. And it's quite expensive to buy something based on some one else's notions about tint.

(To be sure, I'm not criticizing anyone else -- describing tint is difficult and most manufactures don't include enough details about their emitters -- so we all wind up guessing.)

So, I got some DIY flashlight bodies so I could try out specific emitters with known tints. My Dobermann XP-L HI is a very close match to the XP-L HI V2 1A emitters in my DIY lights. "1A" is the tint specification and is indeed fairly cool. I also have some "2A", "3A" etc emitters for comparison which progress into the neutral range. It's been very satisfying. With a quality DIY flashlight body and some very basic soldering skills you can experiment with emitters at a very reasonable cost -- and the results are very good. These Armytek HI lights are the only name brand lights I pursue these days. I'm a sucker for the matte finish and the twist to max output is a great feature.

Since I'm wildly off topic at this point, I'll come back and say that a Predator HI is on a delivery truck right now

[EDIT] I forgot the point of bringing up tints in the first place (good grief!)

The "1A" tint (that matches the Doberman Pro XP-L HI) has a temperature in the 6500-7000K range. It is much cooler than the 5500K figure published by Armytek for all of their cool white flashlights. Note I like the 6500-7000K tint a lot. I'm not complaining about the tint. But that 5500K figure will confuse anyone trying to compare their AT XP-L HI models to published specs of other flashlights. It is that kind of confusion is why I started building flashlights. Finally, point made One last thing. Armytek support supplied me with a "1C" tint figure for some of their XP-L (non HI) lights. "1C" is in the 6000K-6500K range -- also cooler than the 5500K published spec for those flashlights.

Thank you for yor question!
As I mentioned in my previous posts - all measurements and tests with the flashlights are being held at the moment (particulary with firmware). When we will get all exact information - it will be updated on our website. Information about tints will be probably changed too.

 

[scs]

Thank you for yor question!
As I mentioned in my previous posts - all measurements and tests with the flashlights are being held at the moment (particulary with firmware). When we will get all exact information - it will be updated on our website. Information about tints will be probably changed too.

Measurements and testing now, after how many you have already sold to customers and dealers?
So until the specs on the site has been updated, it's all false advertising?

 

[ArmyTek]

Measurements and testing now, after how many you have already sold to customers and dealers?
So until the specs on the site has been updated, it's all false advertising?

Hi!
No, we sell the flashlights with the specificationes listed on the website. Flashlights with new specs will be in stock after all testings.

 

[CelticCross74]

Armytek! My new DP LE HI now flashes 4 times after its been on awhile. Wait a bit and it repeats. Is this not a defect?

 

[scs]

Armytek! My new DP LE HI now flashes 4 times after its been on awhile. Wait a bit and it repeats. Is this not a defect?

CC, the light blinks twice or 4 times, IIRC. One indicates high temperature and impending auto ramp down. The other indicates low battery. I have forgotten which is which. Hope that's what you're observing and not a sign of problems.

 

[CelticCross74]

got hot blinked 4 times. Then every couple minutes I believe two flashes. Hoping this is normal?