Bay Area Get-Together *DATE CHANGED TO 12/06/09*

[Max_Power]

I really enjoyed meeting and learning with everyone at the event tonight. Thanks again to Jonathan for hosting. It was like being a kid in a candy store. Lots of lego brainstorming going on that most stores won't let you try. And the food was wonderful.

I foresee a neutral-white Malkoff Wildcat in G-Man's future. Where did mine go to? oh yes, there it is, it made it home with me 🙂.

Mmm, such good food, we could have called it a luau if we had some roast pig.

I have a lot of very sharp photos - anyone who wants me to digitally remove their name from their name tags before posting photos, please let me know, otherwise the photos I took will be online at flickr within a couple of days. Some were good enough for me to be proud of. It's been fun playing with the 11-16mm F/2.8 Tokina lens on the Nikon D300 DLSR. It is fun to distort the space time continuum with it.

I find that I am already looking forward to the next outing. Maybe a night hike - now is the season when it is legal to be on the Fremont Peak trails at 9pm when the Sun sets at 5pm. Or a CPF flashlight tour of the USS Hornet, that's a monthly event. I guess that's for another posting.

Did I mention that I liked the food?

--Max_Power (mmm, King's egg rolls)

 

[csshih]

Oh oh!!! I have an idea!! We should make a Incan and warm white lights only event! People that don't have them get to borrow someone elses!

The woods will be lit up in high cri!!!! 😀

hmmm.... That table pic was taken before I stole that corner with my box o lights!

 

[LightCannon]

Thanks guys, for a most...illuminating evening. 😀

Special thanks to modamag for hosting all of us!

 

[marschw]

hmmm.... That table pic was taken before I stole that corner with my box o lights!

Would that be this box o' lights?

Oddly enough, the moment I started this post, "Flash Light" by Parliment came up randomly on my playlist.

 

[marschw]

Here's one from the corner of the table where most of my lights were, with some annotations about the things people asked me about.

 

[csshih]

That ultrafire? I think that one felt surprisingly high quality.

Dang... Didn't get to play with the 083 nichia light. Darn

Hehe... The dmm is still in 20A mode from when I tested my xtar... Oops!
Yeah! That box o lights 😀 and food, too!

 

[kramer5150]

PHWEW!!!

What a meet!

Thanks Jonathan for so generously hosting a great CPF meet and working on my MAG 2C. It was great seeing so many familiar faces and meeting new members too.

My wife and kid had a blast too playing with your kids. My son now wants Nerf dart guns for christmas!! My wife said he was really sad leaving the party a bit early.

Heres the funny thing, my wife is highschool friends with your next door neighbor!! LOL small world.

BIG BIG thanks go out to Mrs Modamag for her warm hospitality. Grandma Modamag (I think it was) helping out in the kitchen deserves some thanks too.

heres some pics....
The main table.

When the table became too small, the floor space was put to good use.
Part of Craigs stash

What bag is this?... really nice

third_shift was there in full force

Jonathan working some magic on a 2C mag.

Me clowning around at the NC... SWEET NC mill setup!!

This is part of tool/die corner with some BIG reflectors on it.

Manufacturing defect.

The QC inspection area also served as a staging area for materials in process. Up next was one of Gordons KILLER Leuphold hosts waiting in line to be bored.

JimH IN DA-HOUSE!!! With enough Lumens to land a 747... or at least blind the pilots at 30k feet.
Not only did we have a full blown manufacturing center, we had some CAD design work going on as well. (for obvious reasons I erased what was on the screen)

Back away son!! Flashlights only beyond this point!!

 

[modamag]

Guys/Gals,

It was lots of fun. Great opportunity to catchup on some of my fav hobbies.
I was glad to see many of the old faces and honor to meetup with some of the newer enthusiast.
What a crowd. I believe even the lil ones had fun.

Sorry if I was not able to spend time with everyone ... If only we had more ... TIME!
Until the next event. Happy Holidays everyone.

 

[kramer5150]

AlanB and a couple of you were asking me about the 26650 cells, and I was having difficulty remembering most of the details about them. Here you go...

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=234724

http://www.batteryspace.com/limnnirechargeable26650cell37v4000mah10arated148wh.aspx

Thanks everyone for your 26650 charging advice. I have been using this to charge them, but I don't like the 26650 fit with the charge cradles... its too tight.

:thumbsup:

 

[bigchelis]

Thanks Johnathan for hosting.


You certainly made my day with the 1C hosts😀


My ROP bulbs were defeated in terms of throw to an LED light. This happened with my 2.5in throwmaster, which makes the loss more painfull. I will be back with a new build next time.

It actually fits 2 AW CR123 cells perfectly and with ROP L bulb it makes it a nice tiny incan throw light.


bigC

 

[edc3]

Wow! I wish I'd been able to attend. Thanks for the nice pics. They give an idea of what it was like.

I recognize Jim from the National Geographic flashlight show. I believe he's an acquaintance of my dad from 4 wheeling.

kramer5150, the bag in question looks like a Maxpedition Proteus or a Proteus knockoff.

Don

 

[Weylan]

The bag is mine.

It is a mini bailout bag offered off of CPF here.

What bag is this?... really nice

 

[edc3]

Very nice bag. I've got a black Proteus and now after seeing your bag I wish I'd gotten OD.

 

[dandism]

I was the noob at the meet. I had a good time and got to see some crazy lights (in a good way, of course) and meet fellow enthusiast.

Thanks Jonathan

-Dan

 

[csshih]

I have been using this to charge them,

you can have my "mystery" (yeah, that's the brand) hobby charger when I get my new one (which is in about a week).

 

[PCC]

First of all, I want to thank Jonathan for being such a great host for this event. You have a great house, a great workshop that makes me envious, and a great family that is supportive of your hobbies. You can't ask for too much more than that.

It was very nice meeting everyone who was there. In a sense, seeing all of those different lights saved me money because I could hear the good and bad from owners of the lights that I might consider buying and their experience can sway me away from a potential dud. OTOH, seeing some of these lights makes me want to buy more lights! It's not quite a wash as I'm now looking at more expensive lights but I'm also looking more at the custom option. I need a second job!

 

[JimH]

Jamie,

I forgot your CPF name. PM me for info about the Esprit de four Xmas party.

Jim

 

[unnerv]

Kinda late getting back online, but my computer has been sitting on the floor since our last lan party. I finally got off my butt and set it up again. I had a great time as usual and it was awesome to see old friends an meet some new ones. Thanks again Jonathan for hosting.

Here are the pics from the party. If anyone wants a pic removed let me know.

Jim double fisting it.

Anybody got a flashlight?

lets blind the camera guy!

lighting up the night sky.

Jonathan's Draco assembly station. Wish my bench was that organized.

The group shot.

 

[Nanomiser]

To Jonathan and family,

Thank you for opening your beautiful home and extending your hospitality to the group. You are a man of many talents and one who seems to master all that interests him. I appreciate the time and effort you shared with all of us. I really like the way you set up the work shop; especially the mill and lathe.

One of these days I'll have to pick your brain on that home made phase converter; very impressive! 😱oo:

Can't wait to see what that 200W HID ends up turning in to. I may just have to follow your lead and build one as well. 🙂

Have a fruitful trip and come home safely. :thumbsup:


To all,

I had a great time hanging out and having some very interesting conversations with folks. The knowledge flying around in that garage was amazing! I really appreciate everyone bringing their hardware for some play time and test driving. Had a lot of fun with the impromptu shootouts; I hope someone took some more pics there. Thanks to those who have provided pictures as they are a nice reminder and very helpful tool for illustrating to my Wife what we all do at these gatherings.

Hopefully, in the future I'll be in a position to host.

Merry Christmas and have a great New Year :wave:

 

[Dude Dudeson]

I so wish I could have made it to this.

I live 160 miles from there, but my entire family of 20+ people live in the same area.

It gets worse - I was down there Thanksgiving and will likely be down there Christmas too, but with work being slow these days and actually HAVING a lot of work this particular week there was just no way a third trip to the Bay Area in a 4 week period was going to happen.

I'm definitely going to make the next time!