MacTech
Enlightened
I've been keeping an eye on the 12 LED UV flashlight that Lighthound sells on his website, the thing cost less than the Discovery Channel Store's "invisible ink" UV writing kit (UV reactive invisible ink pen and keychain UV LED squeezylight) that i'd been using to create my UVMag Minimag....
so, while i was placing my order for the BOG 3W Lux SureFire drop-in module, i decided to take a chance on the UV light, i mean, what the heck, for $7, i can't lose....
so today, the shipment came in, i opened up the shipping box for the UV light, and pulled out a rather nicely finished small aluminum LED light with a cluster of 12 crystal-clear LED's set in a silvered reflector in the head, 3 in the center, and the other 9 in a ring, behind a plastic (lexan?) window, the positive battery contact is a simple solder blob in the middle of the circuit board
the overall finish is dark silver (pewter) and does not appear to be painted or electroplated, it resisted my "scratch in an unobtrusive area" test, it appears to be the natural color of the bare aluminum, faint machining marks are visible, and add to the appearance of the light, giving it a plain, utilitarian look that i quite like, simple, functional, attractive, the light is about the size and diameter of 1.5 C-cell batteries, it feels nice and solidly built, and actually has a good amount of heft for it's size
the body and tailcap are checkered for grip and the checkering is on a raised part of the light body, a small hole is drilled thru the side of the tailcap and a simple lanyard is attached, the rear clickie has a textured rubber cap and sits in a nicely beveled cup, the clickie has a nice solid feel and both audible and tactile feedback, the light *will* stand on end for "candle mode", with only *slight* instability caused by the lanyard, removing the lanyard stabilizes the light, now as to why you would *want* to have a UV candle, that's another question for another time...
both the head and tail of the light are removable, the LED assembly is held in place with a friction ring, since i have neither the tools or desire to dissasemble the head of the light, i'll leave that job for a more *adventuresome* CPF'er who wants to order one of their own lights, the tailcap has a rubber o-ring, but the head has *no* seals of any kind, so using it in inclement weather would not be advisable, keep this one dry, it's not dunkable, splashable, perhaps, but it's not designed to be submerged
the light is powered by 3 AAA batteries in a holder, the holder is a simple black plastic thingy, and i was quite dissapointed in it, it feels very cheap and delicate, then again, i hate battery carriers so i'm biased, however the only other alternative light was a single AA 8-led model, which was dimmer, and i want *POWER* at all costs, dammit (arr, arr, arr....)
right now i have 3 alkaline cells in it, there was no literature supplied with the light as to whether it could use other batteries (NIMH or Lithium AAA) i just tried some NIMH's in it, they seem to work, but were a little dimmer than alkalines, i'd like to try Lithiums in it, but i'm checking with John at Lighthound first...
according to John, NIMH will work, but he hasn't tried Lithium AAA, i'm not going to risk my light, yes it's only $7, but it's a risk i'm not willing to take....at least not when the light is brand new....
okay, enough of the cosmetic stuff, lets get to the meat of the matter (mmmm.....meat....), how does it *work*?
the light emits a very bright, but irregularly sized flood of deep purple light, the edges of the spot are a little blotchy and ringy up close, but there are no *voids* in the flood, then again, this is to be expected with any flat-reflector multi-led light, so it's not a flaw, per se, just a fact of the design, i'd hazard a guess that even the Inova X5-UV would have a similar "artifact-y" beam (my white X5 does....)
the throw is actually pretty darn good for a UV light, it easily has about a 10 foot working distance, maybe a little more, i do notice some heat on my hand when the light is held about 4" from my hand, so it looks to be producing some infrared as well as medium to long-wave UV, i don't have a spectrometer so i can't say the exact frequency of UV produced, however, flourescent construction paper glows extremely brightly under this light, and....*ahem* dried "liquid waste" also glows a rather disgusting yellow, so it's probably emitting in the high 300 to low 400nM range
it illuminates the security thread in US currency, security threads in checks, and UV inks on credit/debit cards very well, even under normal overhead flourescent lighting, under flourescent room lights, you have to hold the light about 4" above the bill/check/CC/drivers licence to activate the UV-reactive security features, you can get usable images 6-8" above the bills/checks/CC's drivers licence, but the best results are 4" or closer
i don't have any runtime plots yet, as i have to get fresh batteries for it, but overall, i'm very happy with this little light
on a scale of 1-5, i'd give it a 4 (loses points for the battery carrier and the lack of o-ring sealing up front)
Pics and beamshots when i get home and charge up the batteries in the digicam....
so, while i was placing my order for the BOG 3W Lux SureFire drop-in module, i decided to take a chance on the UV light, i mean, what the heck, for $7, i can't lose....
so today, the shipment came in, i opened up the shipping box for the UV light, and pulled out a rather nicely finished small aluminum LED light with a cluster of 12 crystal-clear LED's set in a silvered reflector in the head, 3 in the center, and the other 9 in a ring, behind a plastic (lexan?) window, the positive battery contact is a simple solder blob in the middle of the circuit board
the overall finish is dark silver (pewter) and does not appear to be painted or electroplated, it resisted my "scratch in an unobtrusive area" test, it appears to be the natural color of the bare aluminum, faint machining marks are visible, and add to the appearance of the light, giving it a plain, utilitarian look that i quite like, simple, functional, attractive, the light is about the size and diameter of 1.5 C-cell batteries, it feels nice and solidly built, and actually has a good amount of heft for it's size
the body and tailcap are checkered for grip and the checkering is on a raised part of the light body, a small hole is drilled thru the side of the tailcap and a simple lanyard is attached, the rear clickie has a textured rubber cap and sits in a nicely beveled cup, the clickie has a nice solid feel and both audible and tactile feedback, the light *will* stand on end for "candle mode", with only *slight* instability caused by the lanyard, removing the lanyard stabilizes the light, now as to why you would *want* to have a UV candle, that's another question for another time...
both the head and tail of the light are removable, the LED assembly is held in place with a friction ring, since i have neither the tools or desire to dissasemble the head of the light, i'll leave that job for a more *adventuresome* CPF'er who wants to order one of their own lights, the tailcap has a rubber o-ring, but the head has *no* seals of any kind, so using it in inclement weather would not be advisable, keep this one dry, it's not dunkable, splashable, perhaps, but it's not designed to be submerged
the light is powered by 3 AAA batteries in a holder, the holder is a simple black plastic thingy, and i was quite dissapointed in it, it feels very cheap and delicate, then again, i hate battery carriers so i'm biased, however the only other alternative light was a single AA 8-led model, which was dimmer, and i want *POWER* at all costs, dammit (arr, arr, arr....)
right now i have 3 alkaline cells in it, there was no literature supplied with the light as to whether it could use other batteries (NIMH or Lithium AAA) i just tried some NIMH's in it, they seem to work, but were a little dimmer than alkalines, i'd like to try Lithiums in it, but i'm checking with John at Lighthound first...
according to John, NIMH will work, but he hasn't tried Lithium AAA, i'm not going to risk my light, yes it's only $7, but it's a risk i'm not willing to take....at least not when the light is brand new....
okay, enough of the cosmetic stuff, lets get to the meat of the matter (mmmm.....meat....), how does it *work*?
the light emits a very bright, but irregularly sized flood of deep purple light, the edges of the spot are a little blotchy and ringy up close, but there are no *voids* in the flood, then again, this is to be expected with any flat-reflector multi-led light, so it's not a flaw, per se, just a fact of the design, i'd hazard a guess that even the Inova X5-UV would have a similar "artifact-y" beam (my white X5 does....)
the throw is actually pretty darn good for a UV light, it easily has about a 10 foot working distance, maybe a little more, i do notice some heat on my hand when the light is held about 4" from my hand, so it looks to be producing some infrared as well as medium to long-wave UV, i don't have a spectrometer so i can't say the exact frequency of UV produced, however, flourescent construction paper glows extremely brightly under this light, and....*ahem* dried "liquid waste" also glows a rather disgusting yellow, so it's probably emitting in the high 300 to low 400nM range
it illuminates the security thread in US currency, security threads in checks, and UV inks on credit/debit cards very well, even under normal overhead flourescent lighting, under flourescent room lights, you have to hold the light about 4" above the bill/check/CC/drivers licence to activate the UV-reactive security features, you can get usable images 6-8" above the bills/checks/CC's drivers licence, but the best results are 4" or closer
i don't have any runtime plots yet, as i have to get fresh batteries for it, but overall, i'm very happy with this little light
on a scale of 1-5, i'd give it a 4 (loses points for the battery carrier and the lack of o-ring sealing up front)
Pics and beamshots when i get home and charge up the batteries in the digicam....