yoyoman
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
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DOME by Geotorch: AAA Flood Flashlight and Project Updates
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Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
Just send one to selfbuilt. Check out his reviews, its all over the review section on this forum. Way better than just a lab report.
And i guess most members here trust his reviews more than a lab report. He is neutral, and have done a ton of reviews and cover all the interesting details, the details non flashoholic lab workers might miss
Tiny, copper, ~180 degree, constant regulated, aaa. Sounds interesting.. There is nothing on the aaa marked with those specs. Take my money
Any chanse of a warmer version than 5000k? I would LOVE a version in the 3700k-4500k range.
Im thinking a tiny lantern for tent trips. And the warmer the better
Just send one to selfbuilt. Check out his reviews, its all over the review section on this forum. Way better than just a lab report.
And i guess most members here trust his reviews more than a lab report. He is neutral, and have done a ton of reviews and cover all the interesting details, the details non flashoholic lab workers might miss
Tiny, copper, ~180 degree, constant regulated, aaa. Sounds interesting.. There is nothing on the aaa marked with those specs. Take my money
Any chanse of a warmer version than 5000k? I would LOVE a version in the 3700k-4500k range.
Im thinking a tiny lantern for tent trips. And the warmer the better
easilyled
Flashaholic
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
Interested.
Interested.
Megatrowned
Enlightened
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
Ti Hi CRI. That just rolls off the tongue! 2 modes and a Clicky are nice sounding too But honestly, all the versions mentioned sound great!
Ti Hi CRI. That just rolls off the tongue! 2 modes and a Clicky are nice sounding too
But honestly, all the versions mentioned sound great!
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
Interested.
Interested.
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
Why a stainless steel head? Aluminum would be better for heat sinking.
A flat lens that doesn't protrude would lose some beamwidth, but would be less prone to scratches and less expensive to produce.
Why a stainless steel head? Aluminum would be better for heat sinking.
A flat lens that doesn't protrude would lose some beamwidth, but would be less prone to scratches and less expensive to produce.
DIWdiver
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
I can't imagine why a super-wide beam is desirable. Short of looking for werewolves and zombies in the dark recesses, I can't think of why anything greater than 90 degree beam width is even useful.
I can't imagine why a super-wide beam is desirable. Short of looking for werewolves and zombies in the dark recesses, I can't think of why anything greater than 90 degree beam width is even useful.
Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
You'd be surprised. For indoor use, close up task lighting, rummaging in a pack or a tent etc. they they are great. When you are looking at something within a couple of feet, a smooth flood is awesome. Try one, you may like it.
You'd be surprised. For indoor use, close up task lighting, rummaging in a pack or a tent etc. they they are great. When you are looking at something within a couple of feet, a smooth flood is awesome. Try one, you may like it.
stewdogg
Enlightened
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
I agree on the flood thing... close up work with flood gives me less strain on my eyes.
I find if I use my Zebralight headlight on with a 14500 on high for too long I get a headache from the hot spot reflecting back into my eyes.
To each his own
I agree on the flood thing... close up work with flood gives me less strain on my eyes.
I find if I use my Zebralight headlight on with a 14500 on high for too long I get a headache from the hot spot reflecting back into my eyes.
To each his own
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
You might consider a "chapstick" type cap on the nose, that can be removed from the front and stored on the back end, when the light is in use.
You might consider a "chapstick" type cap on the nose, that can be removed from the front and stored on the back end, when the light is in use.
geotorch
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2014
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Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
Runtime Charts
I finally got a few runtimes performed on one of the drivers I built up. Overall, I'm VERY happy with the results. Eneloop Pro data coming soon.
*Note: In case you're curious, the calculated lumens value comes from the measured current through the LED. From there, I downgrade the lumens due to heat (per the Cree XH-G datasheet) and then I downgrade the lumens based on the expected lens efficiency. This method isn't perfect, but it should get me close enough. The final lumen rating and runtimes could vary from this chart, but hopefully not by a whole lot. One last note, this particular PCB was running a bit lower current (still within tolerance) than nominal. Nominally, I expect the brightness to be a bit higher and runtimes to be a bit shorter, but not by much.
The efficiency of the drivers ended up being a little higher than I was shooting for (woot!). Also, the regulation couldn't be better, IMHO. Again, I'm very happy with these results. This should end up being a very efficient light.
Runtime Charts
I finally got a few runtimes performed on one of the drivers I built up. Overall, I'm VERY happy with the results. Eneloop Pro data coming soon.
*Note: In case you're curious, the calculated lumens value comes from the measured current through the LED. From there, I downgrade the lumens due to heat (per the Cree XH-G datasheet) and then I downgrade the lumens based on the expected lens efficiency. This method isn't perfect, but it should get me close enough. The final lumen rating and runtimes could vary from this chart, but hopefully not by a whole lot. One last note, this particular PCB was running a bit lower current (still within tolerance) than nominal. Nominally, I expect the brightness to be a bit higher and runtimes to be a bit shorter, but not by much.
The efficiency of the drivers ended up being a little higher than I was shooting for (woot!). Also, the regulation couldn't be better, IMHO. Again, I'm very happy with these results. This should end up being a very efficient light.
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geotorch
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2014
- Messages
- 19
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
One more thing, thank you all for your comments and suggestions. Seriously though, this has been a lot of work to get to this point and it's always nice to hear good feedback.
I would love to make several different versions of this light to accommodate everyone's preferences, but in order to get the prices down low I need to make a lot of the same version. I haven't totally ruled out offering other versions of the XH-G LED (warmer temperature and/or higher CRI) but I can't make any promises at this point.
Just to answer a couple questions:
- Why a stainless steel head? Mostly because I think it would look cool. The LED stays cool enough to touch so the higher thermal conductivity of an aluminum head isn't required.
- Why is a flood light desirable? I love that jorn mentioned using this in a tent because that's exactly what I had in mind when I designed this thing. The bright spot of a headlamp blazing around inside a tent gets old quick. As others mentioned, mules are great for close range use.
More updates to come as I get them.
Robert
One more thing, thank you all for your comments and suggestions. Seriously though, this has been a lot of work to get to this point and it's always nice to hear good feedback.
I would love to make several different versions of this light to accommodate everyone's preferences, but in order to get the prices down low I need to make a lot of the same version. I haven't totally ruled out offering other versions of the XH-G LED (warmer temperature and/or higher CRI) but I can't make any promises at this point.
Just to answer a couple questions:
- Why a stainless steel head? Mostly because I think it would look cool. The LED stays cool enough to touch so the higher thermal conductivity of an aluminum head isn't required.
- Why is a flood light desirable? I love that jorn mentioned using this in a tent because that's exactly what I had in mind when I designed this thing. The bright spot of a headlamp blazing around inside a tent gets old quick. As others mentioned, mules are great for close range use.
More updates to come as I get them.
Robert
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
I probably won't be rushing in to buy one right away as I'm trying to hold back a bit at the moment, but I'd certainly consider myself interested, both in the light itself and the project. I'll be following this thread with interest and wish you luck with it.
I find some of the "I am very interested in your Thing although I would prefer a DifferentThing" comments somewhat amusing. Try not to get too sidetracked. Keep it simple. Keep in mind the goal and the use-cases you have in mind (close-up, indoor use, like in a tent). I think for those uses it sounds like the design as it stands is pretty much perfect if it all works as intended.
One thing to consider from a design perspective is how you would imagine people will carry this? Will it be in a pocket with other junk, or perhaps on a keyring? Or maybe clipped onto a shirt pocket? Would it be reasonable for people to hold it in their teeth for hands-free usage?
I don't mean that you should lock onto one at the expense of the others, but take one points that has been mentioned already for example: the diffuser will be prone to scratching. This is mainly a risk if it's kept in a pocket with a lot of other stuff, especially if it's on a keyring. One suggested solution was a cap which can go on the tail. Unfortunately, that design will not work if a keychain is attached, unless you find some way of working around it. So, if the intention is that it will be on a keyring, you need to think about how to stop the lens getting scratched and a cap is not a good solution because it doesn't fit the use-case. Don't adopt a solution without thinking through the root problem that it's intended to solve: in this case the root problem to be solved is not scratches, it is the use-case "I want to carry it in on a keyring" or "I want to carry it in a pocket with hard & scratchy metal objects like keys". A follow-up use-case might be "I want to quickly detach it from my keyring and hold it in my mouth so that I can use both hands without carrying extra equipment such as a headband", or else you might want to eliminate the possibility of keyring carrying altogether (which has some advantages, namely the cap solution isn't ruled out, it's easier to make it tail stand and it's easier to add a switch to a future version without changing the design or having a highly inaccessible recessed switch), but at a more obvious cost.
Sorry if the above seems obvious to you, but the poor standard of industrial design by mainstream light makers is one of my pet annoyances. Most of them are just a collection of features that serve little or no useful purpose at the expense of things that might actually be useful, including just "more simplicity", which tends to make things more intuitive to use and more reliable. The last thing you want to do is get sidetracked by trying to please everyone that posts a suggestion, because everyone wants something different and you can't accommodate everyone without making sacrifices (well sometimes you can, but it's rare). You're going to have to make some compromises, but the trick is to compromise on things that don't matter for your list of use-cases, while keeping that list simultaneously as broad and as cohesive as you can manage.
I probably won't be rushing in to buy one right away as I'm trying to hold back a bit at the moment, but I'd certainly consider myself interested, both in the light itself and the project. I'll be following this thread with interest and wish you luck with it.
I find some of the "I am very interested in your Thing although I would prefer a DifferentThing" comments somewhat amusing. Try not to get too sidetracked. Keep it simple. Keep in mind the goal and the use-cases you have in mind (close-up, indoor use, like in a tent). I think for those uses it sounds like the design as it stands is pretty much perfect if it all works as intended.
One thing to consider from a design perspective is how you would imagine people will carry this? Will it be in a pocket with other junk, or perhaps on a keyring? Or maybe clipped onto a shirt pocket? Would it be reasonable for people to hold it in their teeth for hands-free usage?
I don't mean that you should lock onto one at the expense of the others, but take one points that has been mentioned already for example: the diffuser will be prone to scratching. This is mainly a risk if it's kept in a pocket with a lot of other stuff, especially if it's on a keyring. One suggested solution was a cap which can go on the tail. Unfortunately, that design will not work if a keychain is attached, unless you find some way of working around it. So, if the intention is that it will be on a keyring, you need to think about how to stop the lens getting scratched and a cap is not a good solution because it doesn't fit the use-case. Don't adopt a solution without thinking through the root problem that it's intended to solve: in this case the root problem to be solved is not scratches, it is the use-case "I want to carry it in on a keyring" or "I want to carry it in a pocket with hard & scratchy metal objects like keys". A follow-up use-case might be "I want to quickly detach it from my keyring and hold it in my mouth so that I can use both hands without carrying extra equipment such as a headband", or else you might want to eliminate the possibility of keyring carrying altogether (which has some advantages, namely the cap solution isn't ruled out, it's easier to make it tail stand and it's easier to add a switch to a future version without changing the design or having a highly inaccessible recessed switch), but at a more obvious cost.
Sorry if the above seems obvious to you, but the poor standard of industrial design by mainstream light makers is one of my pet annoyances. Most of them are just a collection of features that serve little or no useful purpose at the expense of things that might actually be useful, including just "more simplicity", which tends to make things more intuitive to use and more reliable. The last thing you want to do is get sidetracked by trying to please everyone that posts a suggestion, because everyone wants something different and you can't accommodate everyone without making sacrifices (well sometimes you can, but it's rare). You're going to have to make some compromises, but the trick is to compromise on things that don't matter for your list of use-cases, while keeping that list simultaneously as broad and as cohesive as you can manage.
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Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
My EDC is a single AAA light that I key-chain carry.
I also prefer a floody, but directed output, not a mule for my EDC. That's me.
To expand on the cap idea, I suppose that it could be designed, so that the cap is attachable to a key-chain, and the light can snap in and out of the cap, carried head first, towards the key-chain when in pocket carry.
Another thought is that some rifle scopes have "flip up" lens covers. If the inside of the cover was a reflector, then it could angle the light while tail standing, similar to how our friend reppans reflects his EDC with a bent business card.
The cap could be a rubberoid material, that might be comfortable as a bite plate, just a thought.
Good luck with your adventure. :thumbsup:
robert.t :thumbsup:
My EDC is a single AAA light that I key-chain carry.
I also prefer a floody, but directed output, not a mule for my EDC. That's me.
To expand on the cap idea, I suppose that it could be designed, so that the cap is attachable to a key-chain, and the light can snap in and out of the cap, carried head first, towards the key-chain when in pocket carry.
Another thought is that some rifle scopes have "flip up" lens covers. If the inside of the cover was a reflector, then it could angle the light while tail standing, similar to how our friend reppans reflects his EDC with a bent business card.
The cap could be a rubberoid material, that might be comfortable as a bite plate, just a thought.
Good luck with your adventure. :thumbsup:
geotorch
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2014
- Messages
- 19
Re: Any interest in a AAA "flood" style light?
New updates!! I put them at the top of the original post.
Robert
New updates!! I put them at the top of the original post.
Robert
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Woohoo! Get the DOME KickStarted, Robert... Take my money!!! 
