Hello Everyone, this is my first thread I've started and I'm hoping to keep it in a logical order. First a little background on myself. I've been lurking here for years but I've never had what I thought was enough knowledge to actually contribute anything. I'm a pretty handy guy and can fix/build about anything with enough time and a few brains to pick for information. I have a basic understanding of electronics. I've tinkered with a little bit of everything from RC planes to woodworking to welding.
I'm hoping to build my father-in-law the ultimate coon hunting light for Christmas. I figure if I start now I may get it done by then
. Why you ask? Well mostly because I think I can do this and I enjoy making/building stuff. But also (if my thinking is correct) I can build the ultimate hunting light at much less cost than what even a plain jane light might cost to buy. And lastly I think it would make him very proud. The project will be along the lines of the one found here…
http://starhuntinglights.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_35&products_id=140
As you can see that light claims to be 1100 lumens. The light head uses a total of 7 leds, 5 white and 2 red. It also says that it uses 21 volt NIMH battery with a run time of 9 hours in it's brightest mode. It has 4 brightness modes. The light also has a selector switch to choose between the 2 red and 5 white leds.
I'm not a coon hunter myself, but I would think that length of throw and battery life would be most important. Some of the lights on that site also have what is called a "walking" light which seems to be a light incorporated into the battery housing to illuminate the ground. I also wonder if it would be wise to incorporate a flood beam into the light housing as well as the spot light. I've also noticed that some lights have a "strobe" feature (I'm not sure of the purpose unless it "blinds" the raccoons. And lastly instead of a 4 position switch some of the lights have what I assume is a rheostat for an infinite amount of adjustment.
So here is a list of features that I hope I can come up with:
So as you can see I'm going to have to build several lights into 1 package. Is it possible? I hope so…
I'm going to add that I have no idea how to do the strobe/sos…
I haven't done a lot of searching for parts but I have found a few possibilities. This site has a drop-down menu that shows 1500 lumens and this is one of the choices:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpg-quadpod-4-up-cool-white-high-power-led
and here is a matching spot lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10621-carclo-lens-quad-plain-spot-led-optic
and here is a possible driver with dimming capabilities:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/buckblock-2100ma-constant-current-led-driver-with-dimming
and I hope this is the potentiometer for dimming:
http://www.ledsupply.com/accessories/potentiometer-20k-ohm
So for the flood light capability I guess I could use a second led the same as above but use this lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10624-carclo-lens-quad-frosted-wide-spot-led-optic
For the red I'm hoping this will work:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpe-quadpod-4-up-red-high-power-led
and for the lens use the same spot as used with the white above.
Now for the walking light. I'm thinking this LED:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpe-indus-star-1-up-cool-white-105-lumen-high-power-led
with this lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10197-carclo-lens-elliptical-spot-led-optic
and this driver:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/micropuck-350ma-constant-current-led-driver
Ok, now for the housing I was thinking of using aluminum tubing 3" outside diameter with .5" wall. That will give me a 2" inside diameter which is more than enough room for the reflectors. I will have plenty of wall thickness to cut some grooves in for more surface area. It will also give me plenty of thickness to screw a lexan cover to the front as well as an aluminum cap over the rear. If I need more than the 3 reflectors then I can go to .250" thickness. I'm hoping this size will also help keep heat to a manageable level. This light will be handheld at times.
I haven't decided yet on batteries. I'm a little worried about li-po from a safety standpoint. But it's not out of the question. The driver says a minimum of 10 volts so I've chosen this pack as a possible:
http://www.all-battery.com/rectangu...ackforsolarpanelemergencelightrobot11613.aspx
but it weighs 3.65 lbs. It's a 12v pack at 10,000mah.
In li-po this is a possibility:
http://www.all-battery.com/111volt-11000mahheavydutyli-polypackwithpcb-2.aspx
although it does show out of stock at the moment. It's 11.1 volts at 11,000 mah. It only weighs 650 grams or 1.4lbs
I still have to consider the belt, housing for switches and electronics and wire. But I think that's the easy part.
So how do I hook it all up? I'm probably gonna need some help on that part but here's my thoughts. From the battery I will go to the driver ( I assume the driver is connected to the dimmer separately), which will then go to a three way switch (to select either spot, flood, or red). Then that will run up the cable (six wires) to the light head. There will be a separate single on/off switch for the walking light.
Well that's the project. I hope you folks will look through the parts and ideas and let me know where I'm screwing up. Thanks for your input!
I'm hoping to build my father-in-law the ultimate coon hunting light for Christmas. I figure if I start now I may get it done by then
. Why you ask? Well mostly because I think I can do this and I enjoy making/building stuff. But also (if my thinking is correct) I can build the ultimate hunting light at much less cost than what even a plain jane light might cost to buy. And lastly I think it would make him very proud. The project will be along the lines of the one found here…http://starhuntinglights.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_35&products_id=140
As you can see that light claims to be 1100 lumens. The light head uses a total of 7 leds, 5 white and 2 red. It also says that it uses 21 volt NIMH battery with a run time of 9 hours in it's brightest mode. It has 4 brightness modes. The light also has a selector switch to choose between the 2 red and 5 white leds.
I'm not a coon hunter myself, but I would think that length of throw and battery life would be most important. Some of the lights on that site also have what is called a "walking" light which seems to be a light incorporated into the battery housing to illuminate the ground. I also wonder if it would be wise to incorporate a flood beam into the light housing as well as the spot light. I've also noticed that some lights have a "strobe" feature (I'm not sure of the purpose unless it "blinds" the raccoons. And lastly instead of a 4 position switch some of the lights have what I assume is a rheostat for an infinite amount of adjustment.
So here is a list of features that I hope I can come up with:
- Long throw spot (good tight beam at maybe 200-300 ft?)
- Flood light
- Red light
- 10 hours battery on brightest
- Walking light shining on ground from battery pack
- Strobe and/or SOS effect (probably least important)
- Infinite brightness adjustment
- The head will be handheld at times as well as cap mounted so heat might be an issue..
So as you can see I'm going to have to build several lights into 1 package. Is it possible? I hope so…
I'm going to add that I have no idea how to do the strobe/sos…
I haven't done a lot of searching for parts but I have found a few possibilities. This site has a drop-down menu that shows 1500 lumens and this is one of the choices:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpg-quadpod-4-up-cool-white-high-power-led
and here is a matching spot lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10621-carclo-lens-quad-plain-spot-led-optic
and here is a possible driver with dimming capabilities:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/buckblock-2100ma-constant-current-led-driver-with-dimming
and I hope this is the potentiometer for dimming:
http://www.ledsupply.com/accessories/potentiometer-20k-ohm
So for the flood light capability I guess I could use a second led the same as above but use this lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10624-carclo-lens-quad-frosted-wide-spot-led-optic
For the red I'm hoping this will work:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpe-quadpod-4-up-red-high-power-led
and for the lens use the same spot as used with the white above.
Now for the walking light. I'm thinking this LED:
http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xpe-indus-star-1-up-cool-white-105-lumen-high-power-led
with this lens:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10197-carclo-lens-elliptical-spot-led-optic
and this driver:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/micropuck-350ma-constant-current-led-driver
Ok, now for the housing I was thinking of using aluminum tubing 3" outside diameter with .5" wall. That will give me a 2" inside diameter which is more than enough room for the reflectors. I will have plenty of wall thickness to cut some grooves in for more surface area. It will also give me plenty of thickness to screw a lexan cover to the front as well as an aluminum cap over the rear. If I need more than the 3 reflectors then I can go to .250" thickness. I'm hoping this size will also help keep heat to a manageable level. This light will be handheld at times.
I haven't decided yet on batteries. I'm a little worried about li-po from a safety standpoint. But it's not out of the question. The driver says a minimum of 10 volts so I've chosen this pack as a possible:
http://www.all-battery.com/rectangu...ackforsolarpanelemergencelightrobot11613.aspx
but it weighs 3.65 lbs. It's a 12v pack at 10,000mah.
In li-po this is a possibility:
http://www.all-battery.com/111volt-11000mahheavydutyli-polypackwithpcb-2.aspx
although it does show out of stock at the moment. It's 11.1 volts at 11,000 mah. It only weighs 650 grams or 1.4lbs
I still have to consider the belt, housing for switches and electronics and wire. But I think that's the easy part.
So how do I hook it all up? I'm probably gonna need some help on that part but here's my thoughts. From the battery I will go to the driver ( I assume the driver is connected to the dimmer separately), which will then go to a three way switch (to select either spot, flood, or red). Then that will run up the cable (six wires) to the light head. There will be a separate single on/off switch for the walking light.
Well that's the project. I hope you folks will look through the parts and ideas and let me know where I'm screwing up. Thanks for your input!
