HDS? Vs novatak? what can he bring? us a killer app?

[matrixshaman]

I read your first post yaesumofo but not much else in this thread so far as I've got a couple things I'd like to say. Having 2 HDS U60's (one GT) and one Novatac I've compared them. I like the UI improvements on the Novatac and it's a sweet light I'm glad to own. But it took me several on-off cycles in a ceiling bounce test (all white walls) to finally decide that the Novatac is indeed brighter than the HDS. I guess my expectation of a 120 Lumen light was a little high. I also think it might have been better with a Cree if the reflector was done just right. It appears they opted for the best possible looking beam and that was well accomplished. I have not yet had much real world use with the Novatac at night but I think it's going to be an excellent light. I do believe my personal preference would likely have included a bit more throw - but still have a lot of flood like it does - if that's possible. I've also found the Seoul SSC LED's to be a bit bluish and with some concern about color changing and longevity I would favor the Cree if it's ringiness can be tamed. A Q5 bin Cree would probably produce some real brightness with the right drive currents. Maybe even make a 'turbo' mode that could only be activated by holding down the button. I'm not sure on the Rebel yet as I've only got one light with a smooth reflector and it's bright but certainly not pretty. If the Rebel can be made to produce a smooth quality beam with the right reflector it might be a good choice also but at this point I'd probably still favor a good bin Cree.
The one other thing that was mentioned during the Novatac development - a programmable UI with a USB cable would be really nice -- IF there are enough options to make it a benefit. The current options are not that hard to set with the built in UI but I do think I'd probably get a kick out of having the ability to program it with the computer. This option would be nice but not something I'd probably want to have to pay mega-bucks for. I'm not really sure how often I would use it either unless there were really a lot of complex options built in to the light. That reminds me of an option that just popped into mind - which would probably only be feasible if there is a computer programmable interface - an option to have the light turn itself on at a preset time - sort of a wakeup light that comes on the same time your alarm comes on. That would be a kick. Could we also get it programmed to do dishes? That would be really high on my priority list
Ok I might have gone overboard on that last one ....

 

[matrixshaman]

I read a bit more in the thread now and I almost forgot that yes I like the original HDS clip or at least the mounting of it better. I'd make a Titanium up/down clip for my Novatac too but I haven't figured out a way I would mount it and the ring mount makes me nervous about damaging O-rings or threads on the body any time you change a battery. Glad to see Henry has also dropped in here.
I agree that if there is a programmable interface that possibly the IR type would be better. I think it would need to be inside the light - only accessible when you remove the tailcap.

 

[matrixshaman]

As I'm continuing to read the rest of this thread I keep coming up with some ideas. Here is one I'd really like to see and I think it would fairly easy although it could require some change in circuitry - not sure. Since I really like to have the Strobe available as one of the 4 main settings that only leaves 3 different levels for light. One of those 3 for me has to be the brightest setting and one has to be an ultra-low. So that only leaves one medium and I'd really like to have 2 medium levels. If the double click could be made to toggle between 3 levels that would be great IMO.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Someone's turned the R-G-B concept into a design (if not an actual finished product):

http://www.polymer-optics.co.uk/Luxeon Rebel Range.pdf

Not that I know what to do with a portable thousand+ color thrower...

 

[justin504]

One concept I have seen implemented, not in a flashlight, is using a LED as a sensor. Even under daylight a low voltage is generated across a LED. This could be utilised in a flashlight to recieve programming information.

It would need a programming dock, where the light slots into a tube of some kind that isolates it from ambient light. An LED in the dock would then flash to transmit data to the flashlight, which would need to be in 'program' mode. It would also require an ADC channel on the microcontroller in the flashlight to sense the LED voltage. The flashlight could also send data to the dock in the same way.

 

[DM51]

Just found this thread - fascinating, and some really great and inventive ideas from everyone. Between you, you've written the definitive wish-list, and designed the light of the future!

"Beam management" (if I can call it that) is brought up several times in posts above – people would like to be able to select maximum throw or flood, or points in between, with just the one light.

A purpose-designed aspheric lens mounted in a clip-on extender bezel could achieve extreme throw, and a diffuser lens inside a similar bezel could do total flood. There could be a variety of other bezels for different effects. A quick-detachable bayonet fastening might be one way of locking these extender bezels in place.

This is a very low-tech idea compared to the other exciting ones above, and I would not be at all surprised if someone has thought of it before.

Great thread, yaesumofo.

 

[yaesumofo]

There are now liqued filled lenses in use (or about to be) in camera phones which use some mechanism of movement (a tiny movement) possible an inflation or deflation) which changes the focal point or focal length of the lens system.
I beleive that this is very difficult to do without any "moving Parts".
the lens itself has to move in some dimention in order to change it's refractive index.

What is "smart glass"
Yaesumofo

It is entirely possible to create a light that can adjust its focus without moving parts. You'd just need to have a smart glass window whose opacity and refractive index can be finely controlled electronically. It would be expensive, but doable. In the case of the "smart glass" failure, the light would still put out usable output, too, so it fails in the least negative manner possible. If this were to be included on the new HDS lights, I'm sure many would line up to buy one.

 

[Taepo]

Wow...some of the responses are getting pretty high-tech and high cost. I like things simple, and think the Novatac is just about perfect (longer runtime and SS clip are my only requests).

Might as well suggest reflector-stabilization to keep the beam from bouncing around too much (while we're going all-out here).

 

[electromage]

I have an idea for a focusing mechanism...based on the Maxabeam design. Why not make the LED itself move? I'm thinking something very compact and lightweight could do it, like a voice coil or some kind of micromotor. The LED itself is small, if there were a way to get the heat from it to the case of the light, a voice coil could very quickly and precisely control the beam focus. A lateral impact would of course throw the mechanism off, but it should recover almost instantly. CD drives use the same technology to move an optic in front of a laser in order to quickly focus on a moving disk.

The idea proposed of using an induction circuit to charge the light is a great idea, but with major blocking issues. One of the issues is that it's very inefficient compared to a direct, closed-circuit connection. The other is that the body of the light is solid metal, and would act as a Faraday Cage, so it wouldn't work unless you could make part of the body non-conductive.

I think it would be really cool to have a computer interface, and I think bluetooth would work. It would use more power than IR, but it's much faster and longer range. If using high capacity rechargeable batteries, the power issue wouldn't be as bad, but there would have to be an easy way to turn the bluetooth power on and off.

I personally would be fine with unscrewing the head from the battery tube to connect a USB or RS232 cable, it's not something I would do very often, and a cable is the most robust, simple, and power efficient method.

Hmm more thoughts later..this is a very interesting thread.

Edit: The LED could also be fixed mount to the body with a micromotor-actuated reflector. That would be slightly heavier, but would take care of the heat issue.

 

[outta_lux]

I'd like to see selectable profiles for the light. At times, I would like it to behave like a 120T, sometimes like a stock 120 or 120P. Then again, sometimes I want to it behave the way I want it to behave... and all, of course, without undue clicking of options and brightness settings. When I want the profile to change, I want it to change right now. Give the user the ability to switch between, say, three or four predefined profiles and three or four user-defined profiles. This, for me, is approaching 'killer app' status.:tinfoil:

 

[cfromc]

We may not have to wait much longer to see what HDS is going to put out. There may be some information on the website in two weeks and a possible product release at the end of October.

 

[nyyankeefen]

We may not have to wait much longer to see what HDS is going to put out. There may be some information on the website in two weeks and a possible product release at the end of October.

This is pry a dumb question....but what is the address? I googled HDS flashlights, HDS systems, HDS official site...came up with nothing.

 

[manoloco]

This is pry a dumb question....but what is the address? I googled HDS flashlights, HDS systems, HDS official site...came up with nothing.

look at Henry´s signature on this thread.

ok will save you some time:

http://www.hdslights.com/

 

[thermal guy]

how about a battery backup system? Say like some kind of coin cell the same dia. as a 123 so when main battery dies you could use coin cell on a realy low setting at least for a few minutes. not sure if you could use 123 as dummy cell but would be neat