Been reading this forum for a little while now, ever since I got my first LED light (a free photon light from a tradeshow) I'm completely hooked. Anyway, I was hoping someone could answer some questions or point me to a site with more informations (Although I've already checked out all the links and homepages from this site) I apologize if these have been answered before, or if it's just common knowledge that I don't know.
1)I kinda know the basics of the circuit diagrams I've seen, the step up, step down stuff, but can someone explain in plain english (not to technical) exactly what these are meant to do?
1a) A step down lowers the voltage to within the required range for a LED, but how does that compare to just using a resistor? does it give longer burn times buy conserving the energy or something?
1b) And does this effect the light intensity curve during the life of the battery? Does it make the light output more consistant by providing a constant current regardless of battery power?
1c) And what does the step up do? I'm assuming it allows you to use more LED's with a given battery,right? but again, does this affect the output during the life of the battery?
2) In terms of rating the flashlights for brightness, how do these compare with a regular maglite AA or 3C cell? the maglites are rated in candle power, how does this compare with mcd? I've read the difference is due to the different ways of measuring (ie sherical output vs directional output of the led) but can someone give me a very general idea of what kind of mcd output would be comparable to these two lights? For example, if I wanted to make an equivilent flashlight for these two, how many Nichia's or Luxeon star's would I need to have a similar flashlight for these two?
3) Does pulsating the flashlight really have any effect on the brightness and battery life?
Alright, that's all for now, I'll save all my other questions for later. Eventually my goal is to make a small to meduim sized flashlight (4AA or AAA size) but use eight of those small 6V or 12V batteries to power it, and have at least six or seven Luxeon Stars (or as many as I can fit) in it. I probably won't get a very long run time, but I'd want it to have a constant light output for the life of the batteries, and be as efficient as possible. Right now, I've got the ability and resources to do it, but not the knowledge.
1)I kinda know the basics of the circuit diagrams I've seen, the step up, step down stuff, but can someone explain in plain english (not to technical) exactly what these are meant to do?
1a) A step down lowers the voltage to within the required range for a LED, but how does that compare to just using a resistor? does it give longer burn times buy conserving the energy or something?
1b) And does this effect the light intensity curve during the life of the battery? Does it make the light output more consistant by providing a constant current regardless of battery power?
1c) And what does the step up do? I'm assuming it allows you to use more LED's with a given battery,right? but again, does this affect the output during the life of the battery?
2) In terms of rating the flashlights for brightness, how do these compare with a regular maglite AA or 3C cell? the maglites are rated in candle power, how does this compare with mcd? I've read the difference is due to the different ways of measuring (ie sherical output vs directional output of the led) but can someone give me a very general idea of what kind of mcd output would be comparable to these two lights? For example, if I wanted to make an equivilent flashlight for these two, how many Nichia's or Luxeon star's would I need to have a similar flashlight for these two?
3) Does pulsating the flashlight really have any effect on the brightness and battery life?
Alright, that's all for now, I'll save all my other questions for later. Eventually my goal is to make a small to meduim sized flashlight (4AA or AAA size) but use eight of those small 6V or 12V batteries to power it, and have at least six or seven Luxeon Stars (or as many as I can fit) in it. I probably won't get a very long run time, but I'd want it to have a constant light output for the life of the batteries, and be as efficient as possible. Right now, I've got the ability and resources to do it, but not the knowledge.