Proton Review - Runtime Graphs

[jar3ds]

Check Updates on Post #2

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Well, what a journey this has been with the proton... Those of you following Viren's thread understand what I'm going through.. *breathe out*

I've only had this light for about a day now so I'm going to be adding to this to get more info out there... Read Virens thread and you'll see some of whats been going on...

I personally really like this light... I haven't had any problems with it AT ALL... Besides the battery changes that I discribe below... Its been 100% what I've asked for/expected...

I plan on adding a lot more data to this thread as fast as I can create it... So stay tuned!

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Regulation:
Regulation is very good... see graphs below...

Brightness:
Those of you that don't think its bright... i think because its central lux reading isn't going to be as high as most Luxeon/reflector lights... it doesn't throw like we all know... but the overall amount of light that comes out of this thing is VERY impressive for only being a 1xAA light... During the day if you shine it @ a wall its not impressive @ all... However @ night with no light... on high its dang bright... it illuminates a large surface very evenly... This is the type of beam i prefer for the most part and the reason why I use a F04 on my HDS... Personally, I'm not going to take a 1xAA light into an situation were throw is improtant... Thats what I have my Streamlight PP 4xAA Lux, and my soon to be finished Tri-Lux UWOJ @ 1amp McR20 light...

Tint:
Yes these are Nichia LED's there not going to be like an XO or WO so don't expect that... however, you get a slight yellow ring and a slight blue centeral area... Remember it is WHITE though... its just tinted to slight yellow and slight blue... this is the way my Princeton Tec Quad is so I wasn't suprised to see it... I think Viren's observations may have thrown people off... but in practical purposes your not going to notice the slight tint @ all... with the ability to use the red light in the center it adds a lot of diminsion to what your seeing... Things don't look as flat as they do with a XO tint light... So having the slight color variation maybe helpful to people... If your obsessed with tint this light might not be the one for you... But for me... a person who spent the extra money on a HDS EDC U60GT I find it completely acceptable...

Purpose:
The proton is a darkness light, an indoor light, an emergency light, a survival light... I bought this light because its my first 1xAA light and I needed a good backup EDC to compliment my HDS U60GT but that uses standard, everywhere batteries... Just treat the proton in its class of flashlights and remember its power source and purpose...

Future:
I for one am going to stand behind this product... it has great customer service with honest people at the helm (thanks Bryan)... While this light has areas of improvement (+ contact, tail threads)... I'm sure they will be addressed and put forth into aciton... I have had no problems with my + contact but the tail of the light is hard to screw in. I have got a lot better at installing it but its a problem that should be addressed... Photolight/LRI is going to make things right and while this is anoying for those of you I can completely understand... but these results are personally very amazing...

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

6/13/06 -

ok enough... To the graph... My mouth dropped... I wasn't expecting this @ all... I was thinking we'd see a decent 'hump' like all the other graphs have been showing... but this is the first time I've seen this kind of result from the Proton... Before you say anything... YES it was on MAX white (no red LED, just the 6 white ones)... Yes my equipment is correct... One factor I can see is that Viren's Proton maybe brighter than mine and therefore can't sustain the regulation... but mine is dang bright so I don't know... Also, Viren's NiMH's might just really suck... The 2700 Sanyo's are the best that I'm aware of currently... I had a small fan blowing on low on the proton to simulate what your hand would be doing with its water cooling abilities... even though the proton has never even felt warm to the touch i did add this to my test because I figured it would be more of a typical showing of what someone will get when USING the flashlight in hand..... I have stated before that my Proton does make a slight 'hump/buzz' to it when its on in white mode... as I go down in brightness the pitch changes... so I do believe the electronics in this thing are doing their part... I still am REALLY shocked by this runtime test... It just kept going and going... I'm going to have to re-run a test tomarrow to see if I get similar results...

also, using my meter... and using a ceiling bounce to measure overall output compared to that of my HDS U60GT... The proton on a used cell was @ exactly level 4 of the HDS... ~21.21 lumens... Just thought you guys would like to know... This isn't gospel but its a decent aprox. for a light of this caliber... The whole 50 lumen claim for a 1xAA just isn't realistic.. but I could be completely wrong...

6/13/06 - momentary mode can be activated by turning on and turning off the white LED's fast... off, on, off, on... until you notice that it will only stay on as long as you hold it... To free yourself of this mode and go back to normal just hold the switch until the light goes off...

6/14/06 - Well, I've been carring this thing for a while and have a few more conclusions... I really do like this light in EDC situations... I have found that its more wider hotspot really does suit my purposes...

This light seems to fit right between my HDS and my Arc AAA P. The arc is awesome but sometimes it TOO bright for a purpose... sometimes it not bright enough! But sometimes the HDS seems too large in diameter and not confortable to carry... This is where the proton comes in... It fills a nice gap...

Lately, I just turn it on in red mode really dim and leave it on my nightstand.... That way I can see it easily @ night to go use the bathroom without ever needing white light or making me squint... I'm sure it'll run a LONG time on dim red mode...

Walking outside at night does give me a lot of light to walk by and i'm even suprised by acually how much throw it does have... I guess I just expected it to have none but I can shine it down my alley and see whats down it very easily...

6/15/06 - I really like the knurling on the flashlight body... its acually the best I have ever seen on a flashlight... it ACUALLY works and grips... the typical cris-cross knurling has never really seemed to work well... I really like having the button on the side of the body... but i have noticed it hard to sometimes 'find' but its only a small issue and on a light like this would still like to have it on the side rather than on the tailcap...

Some have said they wish that white came on low too... I think we know why it goes on bright because of the use of the red LED... sometimes yes I would like white to come on low... but a lot of times I'm glad it comes on high so I don't have to wait for it to ramp up... One critical thing I have found with the proton is that its ramp up speed and ramp down speed is slow... its not horrible... but I think i'd prefer it to be a little faster... small issue though

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Just got done with the alk test... I'm very pleased... this is more than what I was expecting from alk's... since I only plan on using them in emergencies they'll be great...

Like with Viren's results, after the runtime test got down to the end and the light was running regulated on low with the red LED on... I took the light and turned it up to high.. and it went straight to being bright again.... i could move up and down the brightness levels and everything... its still running about 1 hour later on ~30%... If I let it sit for a while... Then I can reach the high levels again... It seems that even if your alk is dying... just wait a while or use the red led... after some time goes by and the voltage in the alk gets back up it'll power higher levels again... VERY nice!

The Proton will not do what the HDS EDC's do when they start to sense the battery failing... the HDS's auto dim the light... the Proton will TRY to drive the LED's at the HIGH current but fail... there are pro's and con's to this...

 

[powernoodle]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

Very well done. I agree with everything you said. I've sorta become a regulation junky, so I really like that chart. Would like to know why Viren's look different.

There are little things to quibble with, as there are with almost any human endeavor, but I like this light and expect it to do well.

cheers

 

[nemul]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

thats some very nice regulation from 1 AA!

 

[loalight]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

I agree with your review. It puts out a nice mini-wall of light, just about what you might expect from 6 fresh photon freedoms (tintwise, too). The clip is excellent. The red light is a very nice bonus.

The tail threading is a real mess. i'm going to mess it up some night in the dark, I fear.

I wish the white went from low-to-high rather than vice versa, but I understand why it's done this way.

4 stars frome me. 4.5+ if the tail threading is sorted out.

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

for those of you that didn't know...

you can access 'momentary' mode... by turning on the white, turning off the white as fast as you can for about 8 or so times... then it will be in momentary mode and then to go back to normal just hold for a few seconds til the light goes off

 

[nemul]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))
i only see one graph! lol

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

true... for now... (s) my wife took my laptop so no alk test til tomarrow morning/afternoon...

I'm suprised more of you aren't as weirded out by the data I have shown vs. Viren's... they are SO different...

Any ideas of whats going on here?

 

[nemul]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

Any ideas of whats going on here?

one of the last min changes Photonlight was talking about...

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

so do you think they tweaked the electronics? tweaked the output... i'm really interested...

I doubt they would change that much in the short amount of time... remember they sent a flashlight already to Quickbeam for testing... and his showed the similar results at least with the lithium... I doubt they'd give Quickbeam a 'proto' flashlight...

 

[chimo]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

true... for now... (s) my wife took my laptop so no alk test til tomarrow morning/afternoon...

I'm suprised more of you aren't as weirded out by the data I have shown vs. Viren's... they are SO different...

Any ideas of whats going on here?

Can you describe your test setup and equipment - that may provide additional data to help solve the riddle.

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

check post #2 for lumen info

 

[PhotonLight]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

No, I don't believe any changes have been made to the regulation circuit.

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

any idea in the difference in numbers bryan?

again if my HDS bounce test is correct... the photon is putting out ~21 lumens for over two hours from a single AA

edit:

momentary instructions added to post #2

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

Can you describe your test setup and equipment - that may provide additional data to help solve the riddle.

solar panel --> DDM --> laptop

I start the first reading in total darkness to get my zero... then I turn it on...

since i'm using a solar panel I can't do comparitives unless I do the bounce test... and even that isn't the best...

my runtime graphs shows relative output... what its light is putting out from the first minute to the last few mins... I have done a TON of runtime tests and they have all matched quickbeams and others results almost to a T... So i'm pretty confident in my setup...

The proton really was putting out the same amount of light during the whole time... i was peeking in on it inbetween mins... it really died FAST though... i looked @ Viren's graphs and it seemed that the AA reaches .9v @ around 25% of its output... thats when I turned off the light... sure enough the red LED was on, and according to my Lacross charger & my DMM the Sanyo was @ .92 so it was just perfect

EDIT:

SO COOL! I've had a $2 walmart handheld fan that runs off of 2xAA... I shined my Proton @ it on high white... and it looked normal... then I held the switch to go down in output... and it started to strobe the fan and 'slow' it down so you could see the blades... I did the same thing with my HDS and it also does the same thing... however on MAX on my HDS it shows the flicker of the fan blades... High on the proton doesn't show anything... go figure...

 

[nemul]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

however on MAX on my HDS it shows the flicker of the fan blades... High on the proton doesn't show anything... go figure...

i like taking mine in the lower setting and waving it up and down really fast.. the lower the setting the more space between the blinks...

sounds like the HDS is still in PWM.... they might have their MAX at 99% full to help runtime.. ???

you should run your test again with the fan blowing on it...

 

[chimo]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

solar panel --> DDM --> laptop

Hi, you may find that he solar panel does not respond quite the same as the photo diode in a light meter. As you can see, however, it will, give you a decent idea of the run-time curve.

TIN just posted a mini-review and has included some run-time graphs, so you can compare the with yours. Cheers,

Paul

 

[ViReN]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

nice review jar3ds

 

[ViReN]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

Very well done. I agree with everything you said. I've sorta become a regulation junky, so I really like that chart. Would like to know why Viren's look different.

There are little things to quibble with, as there are with almost any human endeavor, but I like this light and expect it to do well.

cheers

just to clarify, the light I have recieved is a Pre Production Proton. There might have been improvements and last minute changes for the final run.

also, i have used 'eco' batteries for the Alkaline and 2000 mAH Sanyo (old) cells for the runtimes. so probably the runtimes will be less based on the capacity of the cells.

 

[jar3ds]

Re: Proton Review (With Runtime Graph(s))

alk test completed... posted on post #2 of this thread