Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 300 Lumen Lantern - MORE INFO ???

yalskey

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I've search up and down CPF for more than the most basic information on this lantern. I even saw a 3 lantern shootout review, which was good but only presented basic information.

Questions for anyone out there that can help...

1) Is this LED Lantern regulated? And if so, with what kind of batteries?

2) What batteries types will it run on, and how does that affect it's performance?

3) Anybody done a runtime graph on this thing yet? It's claimed at 72 hours on high and 150 on low, but that's just the manufacturer's claims.

4) It uses 3 LED's, but does anyone know what kind / bin they are? Each one must be putting out 100 lumens I would assume.

Any deeper information about this thing other than what's printed on the packaging would help. I already bought the thing but I'm interested in some more details. I do like it though.

I really did try searching first, but to no avail. Thank in advance.
 

RaymondMillbrae

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I gotta admit,

I'd also be interested in a bit more info.

I was at Lowes tonight, and I also saw this very same lantern for $29.95. (SPORTSMAN EXTREME 300 LUMEN LANTERN).

This lantern caught my attention, as I am currently looking around for a lil "sumpin-sumpin" to keep around the house "just in case".

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Oh yea...I also saw an ENERGIZER WEATHER READY FOLDEABLE LANTERN at Lowes for $19.97. Any info on this one?

Thanks.

In Christ: Raymond
 

yalskey

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After having this lantern for a couple weeks, I got to say it's pretty darn good. I've mostly used it to light up a work area so I could do little homeowner repair jobs. It's really bright and it lasts for a long long time. I love that it has hooks on both ends, but my favorite part is that you can take the top off to have an even floodier light. You know, so the top cap doesn't create a shadow above it. I just take the top off and set it on the floor next to me. I crawl under the desk, or whatever I'm working on, and I have great all-around light. I even used it in the attic to install an antenna. I've actually used it a ton in the last two weeks now that I think about it. It's been a real help. I seems durable enough too. I haven't changed the batteries at all yet. Two cons... 1) with the top off, the light is almost too bright and it hurts your eyes when you look at it or near it, 2) The little locator beacon led by the power button flashes every 5 seconds when it's off, but it's really hard to see unless it's dark and you are looking directly at the little led... it's hard to explain.

Bottom line, it's a really helpful light to have and it lasts a long time too! I like it a lot!
 

LEDAdd1ct

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I, too, am interested in the questions the OP asked:

-is the light regulated on low/high?
-has anyone performed testing to show output vs. time?
-does anyone know the current draw on low/high?
 
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tracerprix

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I, too, am interested in the questions the OP asked:

-is the light regulated on low/hight?
-has anyone performed testing to show output vs. time?
-does anyone know the current draw on low/high?

Yeah anyone? I just bought one of these lights because of the great reviews on this site. Thanks!

Mike
 

RaymondMillbrae

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Yea,

I gotta admit, this little lantern is one of the best investments I have made in a long time.

I little while ago me and a few buddies went up into the mountains for a little shooting. While there, the battery on the Hummer gave up the ghost, and we were stranded for the night.

Now let me backtrack a second and say that whenever I go out to the bush, I always grab my pack which includes a few "survival thingies". (Dried food, fire starters, gloves, blanket, venom/gunshot first aid kit, water, lantern, etc...).

But since I purchased the SPORTSMAN EXTREME 300 LUMEN LANTERN, it was the current lantern in my pack. And it came in handy!

It was plenty bright to help figure-out what the problem was under the hood. It was plenty bright to help the other guys gather wood for the fire we built. (I didn't need it as I had my Dereelight CL1H V4). And it was nice to have on top of the Hummer as a signal beacon in case someone should spot the blinking light.

All my buds were impressed with the light.

I don't know how long it would actually last, but in it's LOW setting, it was sufficiently bright for what we needed.

I now keep it on my reloading bench in case an earthquake or a blackout.
o207726280.jpg




All in all, it is a great lantern for the price.

I was also looking at the ENERGIZER WEATHER READY FOLDEABLE LANTERN - but in the end, I didn't like the design too much. (It "seems" kinda fragile for an emergency lantern). But then again, this is only my opinion, and I may be wrong.

Get the light, it's worth it!

In Christ: Raymond
 
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bobski

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What is PMW?
I think he means PWM - Pulse Width Modulation. In this case, it simply means that, in the lamp's low setting, the LED constantly cycles on and off, but fast enough that you can't see the flashing. Since the LED is off part of the time, it appears dimmer than when the LED is constantly on.
In a more general sense, Pulse Width Modulation refers to the pattern of on/off switching. By changing how much time the LED is on vs. off, you can get any level of dimming between full bright and dark. The on/off cycle occur the same number of times per second, but the portion of each of those cycles in which the LED is lit changes. This portion is known as duty cycle, typically in percent.
The "width" portion of the name refers to what you would see if you graphed the on/off switching over time. When the LED switches on, the graph jumps up, when it switches off, the graph drops creating a square/notch shape, like this:
PWMdiagram.jpg

An on pulse of greater width (longer duration) means a correspondingly shorter off period since the on and off periods always add up to the same length of time (same number of on/off cycles per second).

Some automotive LED tail lamps use PWM to get the desired parking/brake low/high intensity effect:
PWMtailLightTrail.jpg
 
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bobski

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Picked one up today from Lowes. Cut it out of the packaging, threw some batteries in it, confirmed that it is indeed brighter than every other battery powered lantern in the house (not a difficult feat really) and then proceeded to take it apart. Old habit. ^_^
ROV4wattLantLensOff.jpg

ROV4wattLantOpen.jpg

ROV4wattLantLEDsLit.jpg

The LEDs are square surface-mount devices with a soft "lens"... Feels like silicone rubber maybe. Each device has 6 white dies and what appears to be a 7th die in the corner... Reverse polarity indicator maybe? I'll check that out shortly.

[edit]
It seems the 7th die is just a regular non-light-emitting diode. It starts to conduct at just under 0.7 volts, which is typical for a silicon diode.
The emitter board sees 1.05 A @ 3.85 V for slightly over the advertised output at 4.04 watts. Low is indeed modulated at about 99 Hz and 41% duty cycle.
[/edit]
 
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SFG2Lman

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6 die? only one i can think of is the Osram but perhaps coleman had these made special?
 

LEDAdd1ct

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Now, if Spectrum used three NS6L083AT instead, I'd be one happy camper.

For now, you have to go to Japan for those. :-(
 
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SFG2Lman

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They are Nichia LEDs, most likely NS6W083A or NS63083B (and it's a Rayovac lantern, not coleman).


ouch, wrong on all accounts, I may need to start paying attention while my fingers are typing thanks for fixing my absent and uneducated mindedness.
 

bobski

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They are Nichia LEDs, most likely NS6W083A or NS63083B
I assume you mean NS6W083B? A google search for NS63083B turns up only this thread. The physical descriptions on those two spec sheets appears to be identical. And yes, it matches these LEDs. The one big difference is the luminous flux... The A puts out 80 lumens nominal, the B puts out 100. Since the lantern is advertised as 300 lumens, these must be the B spec emitters.
 

MorePower

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I assume you mean NS6W083B? A google search for NS63083B turns up only this thread. The physical descriptions on those two spec sheets appears to be identical. And yes, it matches these LEDs. The one big difference is the luminous flux... The A puts out 80 lumens nominal, the B puts out 100. Since the lantern is advertised as 300 lumens, these must be the B spec emitters.

You are correct. I've fixed the typo now.

It's possible that the B are used, or that the A is run at more than 300mA, despite the fact that the max allowable continuous current is 350mA.

Regardless, this lantern is bright!
 

Kremer

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Here's something relatively important that I'd like to add, once this lantern falls out of regulation it will run for darn near forever at useful reduced output. My daughter has one of mine next to her bed that she has been using as a nightlight all night every night for over 2 months now using 'dead' duracell D's I pulled out of the recycle bin at work. I pull them out every weekend and make sure none are at or near 0V resting to keep my lantern from being leaked in.

It just keeps going, but has been a bit dimmer lately. It might be time to look for some 'new' D's in the recycle bin.
 

adirondackdestroyer

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Here's something relatively important that I'd like to add, once this lantern falls out of regulation it will run for darn near forever at useful reduced output. My daughter has one of mine next to her bed that she has been using as a nightlight all night every night for over 2 months now using 'dead' duracell D's I pulled out of the recycle bin at work. I pull them out every weekend and make sure none are at or near 0V resting to keep my lantern from being leaked in.

It just keeps going, but has been a bit dimmer lately. It might be time to look for some 'new' D's in the recycle bin.

Very good information to know. Thanks!
 
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