Texas Poker by Photon Fanatic

[DBCstm]

LOL Alex, I was just thinking of how much money I spent in my youth on alcohol and noticing I'm spending lots of money again on an "addiction". I've got my new MAHA charger sitting here topping off my new "D" Imedion LSD NiMH cells for the new Elektrolumens 3D Mag Drop in that makes 2000 lumens that has yet to arrive. My new Texas Poker will be here Monday and I'll have the entire light spectrum covered from top to bottom. My "Custom" moniker is gonna be the death of me yet! lol

Also have a new Senior pic of my Daughter that's 20x30 on metallic paper and am awaiting the new frame for it so I can get it matted at Hobby Lobby. One thing after another.

Gotta quit buying lights, have enough. Well, until Guys new one comes out. Then I'll have enough. Until....

D³

 

[climberkid]

I nearly care about no lights other than guy's.....and Matt's.....and EDC+.....and Jason's........crap. I'm done for.

 

[DBCstm]

Ok, as I near the arrival of this gorgeous little beauty I'm thinking about the shots I want to take. And I thought "wonder what folks wanna see?" So here's your chance, what do you want to see pictured? What type of beam shot, what type of comparison, in hand, posed, tell me what would put it in perspective for YOU!

 

[Mattaus]

Comparison against your P60 host would be good. The size for me is what I'm struggling to get to grips with.

 

[DBCstm]

Will do Matt. How do you suggest I do a beamshot? Outdoors for throw really isn't relative here as it's a personal light but I guess I can do both indoor and outdoor shots for comparitive purposes. But not up against my HD2010 or anything like that! Probably more like side-by-side comparisons against a Fenix LD01 Stainless. Gave my Titanium Innovations IlluminaTi to my daughter but can get her to come down and do comparisons in a 3 way.

Dale

 

[Mattaus]

Well what is this lights intended purpose? I find the most useful shots are scene shots - like the inside of a small shed, or a kitchen alcove or something. Not a plain wall shot, and more practical than lighting up nothing...

My 2c. I dunno lol

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[DBCstm]

As it's going to be riding on a chain around my neck (Titanium of course) it will be used for everything I need light for on a day-to-day basis. Checking the oil on the car, finding that dropped little item that seems to have been carried off by elves, checking the temperature at 3AM, you know, the stuff that you do everyday where a little bit of light can make a lot of difference and sometimes a lot of light can save the day.

I'll make y'all wait till I've got an assortment of shots then I'll post em.

lol

Dale

 

[DBCstm]

Look what I got today!


DBC_April 29, 2013_171619 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


DBC_April 29, 2013_171558 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


DBC_April 29, 2013_171521 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


DBC_April 29, 2013_171431 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


DBC_April 29, 2013_170636 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

I'm working on a shoot from today, but managed to squeezin these shots with the 17-40. Back to work! More later...

 

[Mattaus]

I really like how a little bit of the copper heatsink shows in front of the reflector. Or is that an o-ring?

As we say in Australia - that looks schmick as!

Lol....back to work for me too. My day has only just started :-(

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[climberkid]

Dale, that is absolutely splendiferous! I am at a loss of real words to describe its beauty.
Congrats!

 

[DBCstm]

Yep, that's copper. The o-ring there is black and can't be seen from outside. Nice beam, blinks once after you turn it on presumably to indicate that it's been on long enough to store the mode in memory (just shy of a second it seems after powering up)

Default is Hi, then Med (which is fully selectable in about 10 stages) then a nice low Lo. But then there's a blank 4th mode (no light) then the selectable 5th mode that sets Med, then back to Hi. Gotta get used to that and don't think I like having to select through the extra modes to get back to Lo from Hi. Oh well, it is what it is. I'll adapt. Or just leave it in Hi all the time.

Decent beam, nice output, very shiny Ti body! Me Like!

Not getting much work done....

 

[DBCstm]

Quick and dirty beamshot comparison. This is against an MBI HF with XM-L T5 pulling 2.38 amps. It's a very small light with a likewise very small head and reflector so it's quite floody. That said, it's also supposed to be putting out something over 500 lumens. I set the camera so that the HF appeared in the shot as I saw it with my eyes, then shot the Texas Poker. Surprise!

The HF:

DBC_April 29, 2013_220029 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

And the Texas Poker:

DBC_April 29, 2013_220103 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

I also should make note that the HF had a fully charged Li-ion cell, the Texas Poker has been used this afternoon and it's cell measured 3.95 immediately after this shot.

Not too shabby at all! Lights up a tree pretty darn well at 35 yds too (these shots were at approx 22 yds)

Dale

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Quick and dirty beamshot comparison. This is against an MBI HF with XM-L T5 pulling 2.38 amps. It's a very small light with a likewise very small head and reflector so it's quite floody. That said, it's also supposed to be putting out something over 500 lumens. I set the camera so that the HF appeared in the shot as I saw it with my eyes, then shot the Texas Poker. Surprise!

The HF:

DBC_April 29, 2013_220029 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

And the Texas Poker:

DBC_April 29, 2013_220103 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

I also should make note that the HF had a fully charged Li-ion cell, the Texas Poker has been used this afternoon and it's cell measured 3.95 immediately after this shot.

Not too shabby at all! Lights up a tree pretty darn well at 35 yds too (these shots were at approx 22 yds)

Dale

Congrats Dale,

Absolutely fabulous :twothumbs:
So happy for you.

I was curious, how deep is the reflector?

As usual, your photo's are deserving of a T-Shirt!

Tgwnn

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Hope that helps.

 

[DBCstm]

Thanks Fred! Couldn't have said it better! lol

And thank you Guy, how about a schematic in answer to your question? And for the record, the HF did NOT have a fresh cell, it was down to 3.75V! I forgot that I'd used it earlier in the afternoon when shooting pics of a house for a real estate agent. Did some creative lighting in a huge semi-dark bathroom with a very deep walk-in shower...using both lights That little 80mAh cell drains pretty fast and I just simply forgot I'd had it on Hi for a couple of different runs.

Which begs the question, does the mini FluPIC regulate current? The HF is direct drive so it was obviously crippled by the weak cell. Will have to try again tonight and use a couple of other lights as well. Maybe this time I can focus the camera! lol

Dale

 

[DBCstm]

My son, 5, told me " I Love It! Give it to me!" and then "Have him make me one!" lol, this said with a look of greed in his eyes. I've created a monster.

My little Lion loves it too,

DBC_April 30, 2013_101434 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

And next to my wife's LD01 Stainless

DBC_April 30, 2013_102226 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

This awesome reflector dwarfs most AAA size lights, excellent choice Fred!

DBC_April 30, 2013_103050 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

Component view

DBC_April 30, 2013_103428 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

Closer look at the pill

DBC_April 30, 2013_103527 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

And a ceiling beam shot, nice hot spot with decent spill...couldn't have asked for a better choice for this light.

DBC_April 30, 2013_114803 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

 

[DBCstm]

I had to make a comparison vs something, so I chose one of the only lights I have that's been tested in a sphere. The EDC+ Triple XP-G2 drop-in hosted by a Solarforce L2P. Yep, an 18650 powered light putting out 720 lumens against a tiny 10440 light of unknown output! Sounds fair, oh...wait...no it doesn't! But look at this! (settings as close to what I saw as possible for the EDC+, left the Texas Poker to fend for itself)

Texas Poker vs EDC+ Trip XP-G2 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

 

[Mattaus]

The TP is defintely dimmer, but the high CRI of the emitter really helps it bring out detail in objects...so the lack of illumination is offset somewhat.

If anything it just shows how little an advantage extra light in a dark environment really is.

 

[Zandar]

Dale, your thread is having a bad effect on me. I'm craving another Photon Fanatic light. A situation both dangerous(to my bank account) and my sanity. The addiction continues.

 

[DBCstm]

Well Zandar, that's the way the chips fall isn't it? Each foray into the world of exotic requires yet another venture in search of perfection. I'd love to have one of every light Fred's made, but my account manager (wife) would have a stroke if I even tried!

But I have to say, with all the design and machining going on what really grabs me are the threads...flawless perfectly executed miniature threads that just gleam in the light when changing batteries. I have attempted some stacked images and am not happy with them. I'll add a couple here with no link to the larger version and work on getting some that will bear scrutiny. I have been in love with the copper heatsink since day one. Just fantastic machining and a rather complex part. But it's the threads in the Titanium head that gleam and make me drool! Sorry Fred, but yeah, I have to take it apart to see all that gorgeous work and get all mushy like a teenager with an older girlfriend. lol I promise to try to get it out of my system and leave it alone, soon...

It's a good thing I don't have a lathe, I'd never ever be finished with the very first light I made as I'd always think of just one more thing to do to it....

This piece right here is just so striking, unbelievable quality...gotta love it!



And this heatsink is very efficient, after the first 15-20 seconds you can feel warmth, within a minute it's getting quite warm and almost hot in a couple of minutes, but the battery tube stays cool. So it's working hard to pull heat off that Nichia.



And this little pill is so small it's incredible, difficult to believe actually, the amount of light that comes from this tiny source! That star is 10mm in diameter!



Yes I know, the Titanium isn't going to hold a high gloss polish in use and is already showing cloth swirls from me "polishing" it in constant admiration! This series of shots is right after application of Rennaisance Wax to all the copper, inside and out and a careful reassembly. Don't know exactly what I've done wrong in the stack process but Photoshop had issues with each of these and they're not perfect. But I wanted to show y'all a closer look at some of the components that make up this one-of-a-kind beauty. Look, but don't look too hard! lol