The new and LAST USL build update thread!

[Codeman]

Thanks, js!

 

[Dynacolt]

Hi Jim, USL received Down-under in record time and safe and sound (I had worried Customs might be interested and test it out and blind one of them, but it came through no probs!!
Bright!!!!
Way Bright!!!
My LEO friend came by and his roof-mount spotlight paled in comparison.
Love it!
Only tried it for a minute because a charger is next on my list and now I have a good reason to get one really soon (unless the Tritons arrive miraculously).
Many thanks once again, I'm indebted to your generosity.
Regards,

Dave.

 

[js]

Dave,

Excellent! Yeah, she's bright, ye olde USL, --no question.

Everyone,

OK. Sorry for being out of touch for four days, but I had to work over the weekend for one of the operators, and then Monday at 2AM I had to go in to help with the aftermath of a line voltage glitch that took out the storage in RF high voltage. And since then I've been getting hammered. Flat out. On almost all fronts. So, not much progress since the weekend. I'm cycling one of the USL's right now, and that's about it.

Also, no response to any of my communiques.

EXCEPT . . . for an email response from Bill. Which contains some very good news. First, he promised to get together a list of who has and has not received his USL order. He says that all the standard, non-Triton lights were sent "long ago". And also that he has extra battery packs that he had set aside as spares and promised to forward those to me. And, further, that he has some USL's with bad packs that he will gut and send to me as well, so that I have more guarded USL bodies to work with.

So, I'm not going to wait too much longer on those people I have contacted. I can skip them for a bit and come back to them later, I think. So, is Alauda around? Or paulr?

J_Oei is around, but his is to be made from that awesome yellow mag body, so that will take a bit longer. But after that the next people would be modamag and Fleshlite.

Robin,

I sent you a PM which needs a response! Thanks!

Also, please note that I definitely have some correspondence to which I intend to reply, but have been too busy to do so lately. If something is urgent, feel free to bother me again, or post here or something.

I am hoping to post the new thread this weekend, and am hoping that Bill will have compiled some info for me by then. But either way I am going to push hard on getting an inventory done, with as updated a list as I can figure, all in a nice new thread. Spiffy.

OK. Thanks everyone, and I apologize for the lack of communication these past few days.

 

[paulr]

JS, you rock!!! I haven't been around CPF much these days but I noticed these updates a few days ago and have been meaning to post. Anyway, yes, I'm still around, and absolutely amazed by all this.

 

[js]

So, RobinB bought Alauda's spot, and I am sending off his order tomorrow, which is fortuitous as he is in the USA right now. Very cool.

paulr,

I just finished a blue USL, so if you just confirm your address with me, I will send that bad boy out to you! And thanks for your kind words.

Everyone,

OK. Some bad news. One of the completed USL lights tested out with a bad battery pack. Sad, but not unexpected. It will need rebuilding.

Aight, time to pack up some orders.

 

[Data]

JS, you rock!!! I haven't been around CPF much these days but I noticed these updates a few days ago and have been meaning to post. Anyway, yes, I'm still around, and absolutely amazed by all this.

Hi paulr, what js is doing is amazing isn't it? :bow:

 

[js]

Data,

Thanks for your kind words.

RobinB,

Your order went out today via EMS. It will be there at your hotel tomorrow.

paulr,

PM me with your current address! I have a blue USL with your name on it. I'll send you a PM in case you aren't reading this thread.

 

[RobinB]

Wow thanks a lot! Can't wait now
I don't have a charger for it, so I'll buy one back in the UK. Can you recommend good ones or direct me to discussion about them? Would be great!

Thanks again!

 

[paulr]

JS, I got your PM and sent my address. Also I'd be happy to contribute $$$ towards shipping and whatever else. Thanks!!!

PS, am I getting a charger (any kind) with the light, or do I have to buy one from someplace?

 

[js]

paulr,

Bill may send you your charger and power supply at some point, but I wouldn't bet on that happening soon. So, yes, you should probably look into buying a charger from someplace.

 

[plasmaman]

Jim
Well I never thought I'd see it - but #6 arrived today, only thanks to you.

So - now a couple of dumb battery questions, as the info is buried so deep in all the USL posts that I can't find it! Might be useful info for others too.
1. The pack is NiMh?
2. What is the nominal voltage and capacity of the pack?
3. What cells does the pack contain?
4. What is the recommended charge rate?
I use a BC6 charger rather than a Triton.

cheers
John

 

[js]

Jim
Well I never thought I'd see it - but #6 arrived today, only thanks to you.

So - now a couple of dumb battery questions, as the info is buried so deep in all the USL posts that I can't find it! Might be useful info for others too.
1. The pack is NiMh?
2. What is the nominal voltage and capacity of the pack?
3. What cells does the pack contain?
4. What is the recommended charge rate?
I use a BC6 charger rather than a Triton.

cheers
John

John,

It's an 11 cell, NiMH, 13.2 volt, 1800mAh pack. They are Amandotech Titanium 1800 cells, which are no longer made, I would guess.

I recommend charging them at .9 amps or less, unless you are in a hurry. They can be charged as fast as 1.8 amps without trouble, but this will increase the wear and tear on them. I would not recommend going above 1.8 amps.

Also, as mentioned, you may need to adjust the can downward if your optimal focus point is with the head turned out so far it is no longer contacting the o-ring. In that case, just use an allen wrench to loosen the set screw, push the can down, then re-tighten. I believe it is a 1/16" allen wrench.

paulr,

I'll pack up your order tonight and send it out tomorrow.

Everyone,

I lost another one of the fully assembled USL's--bad cell in the pack, sadly. But, so far all of the packs have been good but one, and I only have three more left to cycle. (fingers crossed).

 

[plasmaman]

Thanks Jim

 

[RobinB]

Got my USL, everything's working fine! And damn, it's bright! Thanks so much Jim to help out with everything here

 

[Aircraft800]

WOW! Three years later and people are now getting their lights! I almost got myself into this nightmare right when I first joined CPF, a member was backing out of their spot, I was new to this whole modified area, so I kinda been secretly monitoring this thread.

Nice Work js!! One thing I just can't understand, you must be taking on a TON of debt by taking over this project! Why? You must be beyond a Flashoholic

 

[js]

Aircraft,

I'm not really taking on any debt. I have almost all the parts and most people pay for shipping, so, so far so good. Although I will probably have to buy more cells and make up packs at some point. But even then, what I am taking on mostly is WORK.

paulr,

I did send your light out, BTW, so let me know when you get it. I have the del. conf. no. and will PM it to you.

Everyone,

I don't know who's next on the list, but will figure that out soon. Sadly, there is yet another fully built light with a bad battery pack.

Codeman,

I've been meaning to PM you for a week now but keep forgetting. I'll try to do it today.

 

[Dynacolt]

Anyone have any idea where all the USL bumper stickers ended up?
Remember those?

Dave.

 

[lightlust]

Anyone have any idea where all the USL bumper stickers ended up?
Remember those?

Dave.

=================================
Welcome, lightlust.
You last visited: 09-25-2007 at 03:35 AM
Private Messages: Unread 0, Total 67.
=================================

WOW! It's been a long while since I checked CPF, but the timing was eerie! (I've been away from a lot of things for a while, because I'm currently well into my third cat's worth of nine lives. Most recently, getting rammed head-on by a carjacked, stolen sedan driving the wrong way ... Oh, how they try! ... but I'm off topic.)

SUMMARY
Dave, I had the bumper stickers made in early 2006. By 2/27/2006, Bill Waites had confirmed receipt of two packages of stickers I sent him, enough to include one with every USL.

ONE FOR EACH USL
I had the bumper stickers made at my own expense because they amused me, not for profit. I wanted each person who got a USL to get one, so I sent enough for that purpose to Bill, at my own cost. Many people donated $3.00 to my costs - thank you! - see below, if you gave me $3.00 and haven't gotten a sticker with your USL, I still have some left.

EXTRAS
I also had extras made, and I mailed a whole lot of them out to people who wanted an extra sticker or two for $3.00 each. Please do not point out the irony of having a sticker and no USL! (Oops. Sorry about that.)

A LITTLE WEBSITE PROBLEM
Another member of the original USL fan club, CroMAGnet, bought a domain (flashaholic.net) that was to be dedicated to the burgeoning USL cult. Unfortunately, as the USL momentum ebbed, the domain name lapsed, and appears to have been bought by some kind of Hong Kong domain aggregators called "Balata.com LTD".

Those domain aggregator guys buy up domains that have expired en masse. They usually want a king's ransom to sell them to anyone. I couldn't reach the company by email at all, regardless.

<BAD NEWS> Well, each USL bumper sticker that I still have says "FLASHAHOLIC.NET" on it. That domain goes to a tedious sales link site. :shakehead

<GOOD NEWS> However, the stickers are NOT a single piece - they are the nice quality cut vinyl type - so you can simply peel off the website part and use what you want!

COMMENTARY
Now that I've caught up reading about all this, I can't (won't?) add anything to what has been said already about this project.

MY USL (wistful note only)
I bought USL #6.2 (black, guardless) from seattlite on 1/8/2006. On 1/15/2006, I bought extras from Bill:
+Charger, Power Supply....$52
+Upgraded Charger.........$82
+Thermal Probe.............$9
+Extra Reflector, LOP.....$15
+Two (2) extra bulbs......$10
EXTRAS TOTAL: $168

There you have it: I don't have a USL, but if I do get mine eventually, that would be nice. Regardless, I am simply happy to be alive. I am reminded of Miracle Max from The Princess Bride: "He's only mostly dead!"

I laugh every time.

CONCLUSIONS
1. I have no plans to update the stickers (new domain name) or have new ones made. (Note: I am suceptible to being bribed with beer.)

2. I don't know what happened to the stickers I sent Bill ... did they get passed along to JS? Were any mailed with the USLs? I seem to recall a few were at first. Were the rest destroyed in some home fire or disaster at Bill's? Please forgive my lack of desire to try and find out more.

3. I do have a dozen or so stickers left, in unknown colors, maybe as many as twenty. I'll get them out of storage if anyone asks for one.

Anyone who donated $3.00 and didn't get one (regardless of whether you got your USL - permit yourself a small chuckle here), PM me before my next near fatality, and I'll take a jaunty stroll down to the post office and mail it out to you (until the supply runs out!)

Warmest Regards,

-V. aka Lightlust

 

[paulr]

paulr,

I did send your light out, BTW, so let me know when you get it. I have the del. conf. no. and will PM it to you.

Thanks! It hadn't come as of yesterday (Saturday) but that's not surprising. I probably won't get to check for it (except through online tracking) til next Saturday.

 

[js]

lightlust,

I don't have the Tritons or thermal probes, but I have a black USL and two reflectors and three lamps and a charging cord all ready for you. I will try to get it out to you tomorrow.

Everyone,

Very difficult couple of weeks here on my end, as I have to write employee evaluations and conduct "performance dialogues" before the 10th, and that's on top of already crazy work stuff, so I haven't been posting here as much as I want, nor have I gotten geared up to post the new thread, complete with inventory and updated list. Would be nice to hear from Bill with that extra info he promised, but I'm not holding my breath on that front and it won't keep me from posting the new thread.

I have four more packs to charge and cycle and test, and no more fully assembled USL's. So far, sadly, the biggest casualty group has been the fully assembled USL's. The ones I made for Bill like a year ago. We lost three of those. Well, two and a half, I guess. There is a red one which may hold decent voltage under load (I need to test it against a 62138), but which only delivers 1100 mAh instead of 1800. And so far we've lost one pack. All the others have been good. Let's hope the last four are also good.