# Building The Ultimate Coon Hunting Light...At least I hope...



## medic265 (Mar 9, 2014)

Hello Everyone, this is my first thread I’ve started and I’m hoping to keep it in a logical order. First a little background on myself. I’ve been lurking here for years but I’ve never had what I thought was enough knowledge to actually contribute anything. I’m a pretty handy guy and can fix/build about anything with enough time and a few brains to pick for information. I have a basic understanding of electronics. I’ve tinkered with a little bit of everything from RC planes to woodworking to welding.

I’m hoping to build my father-in-law the ultimate coon hunting light for Christmas. I figure if I start now I may get it done by then . Why you ask? Well mostly because I think I can do this and I enjoy making/building stuff. But also (if my thinking is correct) I can build the ultimate hunting light at much less cost than what even a plain jane light might cost to buy. And lastly I think it would make him very proud. The project will be along the lines of the one found here…
http://starhuntinglights.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_35&products_id=140

As you can see that light claims to be 1100 lumens. The light head uses a total of 7 leds, 5 white and 2 red. It also says that it uses 21 volt NIMH battery with a run time of 9 hours in it’s brightest mode. It has 4 brightness modes. The light also has a selector switch to choose between the 2 red and 5 white leds.

I’m not a coon hunter myself, but I would think that length of throw and battery life would be most important. Some of the lights on that site also have what is called a “walking” light which seems to be a light incorporated into the battery housing to illuminate the ground. I also wonder if it would be wise to incorporate a flood beam into the light housing as well as the spot light. I’ve also noticed that some lights have a “strobe” feature (I’m not sure of the purpose unless it “blinds” the raccoons. And lastly instead of a 4 position switch some of the lights have what I assume is a rheostat for an infinite amount of adjustment.

So here is a list of features that I hope I can come up with:


Long throw spot (good tight beam at maybe 200-300 ft?)
Flood light
Red light
10 hours battery on brightest
Walking light shining on ground from battery pack
Strobe and/or SOS effect (probably least important)
Infinite brightness adjustment
The head will be handheld at times as well as cap mounted so heat might be an issue..
 
So as you can see I’m going to have to build several lights into 1 package. Is it possible? I hope so…

I’m going to add that I have no idea how to do the strobe/sos…

I haven’t done a lot of searching for parts but I have found a few possibilities. This site has a drop-down menu that shows 1500 lumens and this is one of the choices:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpg-quadpod-4-up-cool-white-high-power-led
and here is a matching spot lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10621-carclo-lens-quad-plain-spot-led-optic
and here is a possible driver with dimming capabilities:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/buckblock-2100ma-constant-current-led-driver-with-dimming
and I hope this is the potentiometer for dimming:
http://www.ledsupply.com/accessories/potentiometer-20k-ohm

So for the flood light capability I guess I could use a second led the same as above but use this lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10624-carclo-lens-quad-frosted-wide-spot-led-optic

For the red I’m hoping this will work:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpe-quadpod-4-up-red-high-power-led
and for the lens use the same spot as used with the white above.

Now for the walking light. I’m thinking this LED:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpe-indus-star-1-up-cool-white-105-lumen-high-power-led
with this lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10197-carclo-lens-elliptical-spot-led-optic
and this driver:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/micropuck-350ma-constant-current-led-driver

Ok, now for the housing I was thinking of using aluminum tubing 3” outside diameter with .5” wall. That will give me a 2” inside diameter which is more than enough room for the reflectors. I will have plenty of wall thickness to cut some grooves in for more surface area. It will also give me plenty of thickness to screw a lexan cover to the front as well as an aluminum cap over the rear. If I need more than the 3 reflectors then I can go to .250” thickness. I'm hoping this size will also help keep heat to a manageable level. This light will be handheld at times.

I haven’t decided yet on batteries. I’m a little worried about li-po from a safety standpoint. But it’s not out of the question. The driver says a minimum of 10 volts so I’ve chosen this pack as a possible:
http://www.all-battery.com/rectangu...ackforsolarpanelemergencelightrobot11613.aspx
but it weighs 3.65 lbs. It’s a 12v pack at 10,000mah.

In li-po this is a possibility:
http://www.all-battery.com/111volt-11000mahheavydutyli-polypackwithpcb-2.aspx
although it does show out of stock at the moment. It’s 11.1 volts at 11,000 mah. It only weighs 650 grams or 1.4lbs

I still have to consider the belt, housing for switches and electronics and wire. But I think that’s the easy part.

So how do I hook it all up? I’m probably gonna need some help on that part but here’s my thoughts. From the battery I will go to the driver ( I assume the driver is connected to the dimmer separately), which will then go to a three way switch (to select either spot, flood, or red). Then that will run up the cable (six wires) to the light head. There will be a separate single on/off switch for the walking light.

Well that’s the project. I hope you folks will look through the parts and ideas and let me know where I’m screwing up. Thanks for your input!


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## degarb (Mar 11, 2014)

I am interested in the micropuck. So post back.


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## medic265 (Mar 12, 2014)

I was hoping some of the Guru's of Lightbuilding would look at this and give me some ideas as to wiether I'm on the right track or not. This is my first build so I'm really in need of some guidance. 

And if this looks good then I'll jump on it and post my results and a ton of build pics.

Thanks


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## degarb (Mar 12, 2014)

medic265 said:


> I was hoping some of the Guru's of Lightbuilding would look at this and give me some ideas as to wiether I'm on the right track or not. This is my first build so I'm really in need of some guidance.
> 
> And if this looks good then I'll jump on it and post my results and a ton of build pics.
> 
> Thanks



Why only post if it looks good? I prefer reading non machined builds that anyone can do.

I am no guru, but have firm idea of lux/runtime/formfactor needed by a person that uses hands while using lights daily for 8-12 hours. 

I also don't want to hinder your research which may help mine, by offering you tips and my ledcomponentsourcing.txt. Would I?

I just have been studying the micropuck spec sheet. It just doesn't look like it is a real constant current regulator. So, ledsupply claim that it is cc seems false. It also doesn't look like it would be good for a single 18650. It might work with two micropucks wired in parallel, per spec sheet. I wonder if a out of regulation buckpuck 700 might work better. (I suppose I could test, with enough patience, having an extra one with pot) Then, wouldn't a a single amc7135 chip work better? I ask.

I just like the form factor of the chips over the boards since you don't need to build a housing around them.

Don't forget the heatsink, and how to calculate the size.


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## Hoop Franklin (Apr 23, 2014)

Did you ever build this light? Curious as to how it turned out. Thanks


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