Spike Light - V3

[ahorton]

If you do, that would be great. Any help getting the open-source UI ball rolling would be appreciated. I'll need to think up some appropriate 'thank you'. Its an ATTINY85V.

I'll still pay the royalty to my friend since he did the work, but I hope that eventually there will be enough options out there that everyone will be happy.

[Jeff S.]

To start with, they'll come with one of three UIs (Simple, Competition and Competition+extras) and I'm happy to give out the software for each if people waht to try them out.

Maybe I missed it, but would you mind giving a quick run-through of each UI? If it's something you were going to do in the sales thread, then I can wait for it!!

[ahorton]

I'll give flow diagrams later but here are the basics:

Simple - Five flood modes and one spot. Any sort of press (long or short) moves you to the next mode in the list and then back to off. No mode memory.

Competition - You use double clicks to choose your preferred flood level. Then it's just a single click to go from flood->spot->flood. Long press turns it on/off.

Competition + extras. Same as Competition + a double click from 'off' gets you into a group of modes including beacons/strobes, sos, lockout, batter indicator and all LEDs on full power.

All versions have a low-battery protection that disables the more powerful modes automatically. This is just a safety feature. The cost is barely 20 minutes of the high modes but the reward can be hours or even days of light on the ultra-low modes.

[Jeff S.]

Thank you, Ahorton.

[AsianAnts]

AHORTON!!!!! about time, i've been waiting .... i didn't read through your entire thread however, will there be an optional additional coloured LED? to retain night vision? red or green or blue..

[ahorton]

Hi Ants.

Yes its been a while. The Red LED has been removed, but its possible to make a custom V3 with a red XPG. Probably it would be easier to just remove the lens and put a little red filter over one or both of the flood LEDs. Then set up a UI to address them individually.

[AsianAnts]

filter would probably be nice..

maybe you can enlighten me or make that an option?? removeable filters!!!!! YAY

Hi Ants.

Yes its been a while. The Red LED has been removed, but its possible to make a custom V3 with a red XPG. Probably it would be easier to just remove the lens and put a little red filter over one or both of the flood LEDs. Then set up a UI to address them individually.

[Jeff S.]

I was looking over beam shots from the original version.

How is the quality and shape of the beam of the V3 compare to your original versions?


Thanks

[ahorton]

The flood is much smoother, but the spot has picked up a couple of artifacts. These only show up when looking at white walls up close.

[AsianAnts]

hey will this have the same battery pack like the v2 i have?

[ahorton]

Not as standard. It uses standard 18650 cells. It can be modified to accept the V2 battery, but then it can't use the 18650 cells anymore.

[AsianAnts]

just to confirm the V2 is the 'Spike' one right? i thought it uses 2 18650 batteries...

Not as standard. It uses standard 18650 cells. It can be modified to accept the V2 battery, but then it can't use the 18650 cells anymore.

[E5I50]

I believe you have designed a headlamp which I did not think I would find. One which I could wear to run, bike, and cave. Any estimates on run-times and/or power consumption in the various modes?

[uk_caver]

For caving, a UI which allowed for a spot-augmented flood would be useful.

Having long used a light with independently-controllable beams, most of the time I use a blend biased strongly towards flood, with spot typically just adding extra reach without wrecking the flood nature.
Not only does that give what I think is the 'nicest' beamshape for most of my activity, well suited to both moving in narrow-ish passage and across floors, but for usefulness in route-spotting, etc it allows significantly lower power consumption than I'd need if I was using a flood-only beam (and that's the case even though my flood is somewhat more centre-biased than a 'naked' flood would be).

[uk_caver]

Congratulations on the light, ahorton, it looks fantastic, and brilliantly individual.

[ahorton]

AsianAnts, The V2 battery had 2 18650 cells pre-welded and sealed up into a custom battery pack. The V3 also uses 2 18650 cells, but they are not soldered into a pack. They can be removed and replaced like you would a regular cell. There is an 18650 holder with spring contacts.

Thanks again for the kind comments. Hopefully I can make a few up this weekend to start selling them.

[ahorton]

I whipped up a few diagrams and a crude video to show how the 3 standard UIs work. Nothing pretty. I'd rather spend my time making the headlights, but I realised that people need this info first











http://youtu.be/RK63BGZ1hVA

[Baddog]

sheesh, now to incorporate an under chin strap

[Moddoo]

Finally some pics and video!

Looking great man.

If there is a list, put me on it.

[Jeff S.]

Thanks for the video! The beams look great, and I love the "competition mode" UI. I've been checking daily to see if it's for sale.

[ahorton]

I'm glad you like it. For those who tried the V2 UI, this is similar, except that the extra modes have been moved further away so you don't accidentally end up in them when you're trying to turn it off.

The silliest thing was holding me up from selling them. The elastic I had planned to use turned out to be poor quality, so I had to hunt for better stuff. Then when I found it I could only buy enough for 7. So now I'm ordering some in. Such a pathetic thing to get in the way, but you can't have a headlight without it!

[AsianAnts]

thanks for the reply, i cant wait to get my hands on one of these.

So the battery is not safe around rain... unlike v2, it was fairly safe?

[ahorton]

In the case it'll be much safer than the V2. As a bare cell, not so good. I suggest a sealable plastic bag.

[AsianAnts]

wondering if i'll be able to put colour filter for night vision???

[ahorton]

There is a small gap between the flood optic and the lens. If you have a filter then it can work.

[AsianAnts]

nice.. do you by any chance provide the filters as well?

There is a small gap between the flood optic and the lens. If you have a filter then it can work.

[ahorton]

That's not in my current plan. I'm just trying to get them out now.

Further down the track it's possible.

[nein166]

While we wait for the elastic how about a sneak preview picture of the anodizing choices

Also I was wondering why you included the cap brim above the aspheric part of the lens. Is it a "bezel" for protection of the protruding portion of the lens?

[kevinm]

Nice video! And very clever UI.

[Yavox]

Will the battery pack survive 20m underwater? Did you test everything working under pressure and you can confirm it works or it is just the light itself that was not leaking?

The video looks promising, I consider attaching the light to the front of my helmet and using it for some shallow cave dives - obviously not as my primary light, just a valuable addition to the main part of the equipment.