It's Novatac Day!

[MacTech]

Tomorrow my first Novatac arrives, a black 120P , technically, it's already here, it's sitting in the local post office awaiting delivery, hopefully it'll be delivered first thing in the morning

I haven't looked forward to an arriving flashlight like this for a long time, the last eagerly awaited light was actually my A2 Aviator and, later on, my Aviatrix ring

This'll be my first programmable light, lets hope it can live up to it's reputation....

I think I'm going to set it up thusly;
Click 1; .03 Lumens (or some other ultra-low setting)
Click 2; 20 Lumens
Click 3; 120 Lumens
Click 4; Disorienting strobe

although, truth be told, I can feel the urge for a Ra Twisty growing as well, something about the raw durability of that light is very appealing

 

[ambientmind]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

thats exactly how i have mine set up. i love the low low, and 20-30 lumens is more than enough for general purpose stuff, the high is awesome, and i use strobe for fun. its not 1234 clicks though, its different sequences of clicks to toggle between all of them, its waaaay better then clicking through modes you dont like. just read the manual! theres lots of good info on programming it in there, like last mode memory, and momentary functions, or locater beacon or....

 

[iTorch]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

I played around for some time and now I have settled down to .012 lumen, 7.5 lumen, 1-2 lumen and then full blast with 120...truth be told usually onlu use 1st and 3rd settings though, oh and I set it to turn off after 5 mins incase i accidentally switch it on...
mack sure you have some recharchables for guilt free lumens on hand!

 

[lgflorin]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

Report back if you have "flicker", power supply/regulation issues, black anodizing issue

 

[chaoss]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

You won't be sorry, the 120p is a great platform and you should enjoy it. Set it up however you want to and then change it whenever you need to. The beam on this light is super user friendly.
Oh, and no flicker issues with my 120p and the HA is holding up very well too.

 

[MacTech]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

Hmm, now I'm wondering....

If I want to use a feature in the light, lets say the find-me blinker, or the disorienting strobe, do they need to be assigned to one of the "slots" in the menu, or can they be accessed without having to use up one of the valuable "slots"?

I'd like to have three levels of light, and disorienting strobe, but I'd also like to take advantage of the find me beacon and variable light levels without using up the menu positions

 

[russtang]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

I think you will be pleased with the Novatac.

 

[Rossymeister]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

Hmm, now I'm wondering....

If I want to use a feature in the light, lets say the find-me blinker, or the disorienting strobe, do they need to be assigned to one of the "slots" in the menu, or can they be accessed without having to use up one of the valuable "slots"?

The Following Needs To Be Assigned To A Slot:

-Emergency Strobe (Can Also Be Accessed Through Options)
-Disorienting Strobe (Can Also Be Accessed Through Options)
-SOS
-All Levels Of Light

... Everything Else Does NOT Need A Slot

 

[Zenster]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

Oh, and no flicker issues with my 120p and the HA is holding up very well too.

One thing about the flicker issue; Mine did it a couple of times but not always, and what I came to realize is that a very low setting will flicker if you click to it right from a very high setting.
But if you click into a low setting from a medium setting, it won't flicker.

Set your light so that one setting is at a lumen or less and another setting is at 120 lumen. Then switch directly from the high to the low and take a look.

It's not a problem at all as long as you know how it works because whenever I use a low-low setting, I simply don't go to it from a very high setting.
When done properly, the low-low is solid as a rock.

 

[MacTech]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

Well, it's here!

having so many options is a bit overwhelming at first, I think I screwed it up initially, but a factory-reset later and I'm getting the hang of it

So far, I have it configured thusly;
Click; .08 lumens** (or whatever the lowest is)
Double Click; 10 lumens
Triple Click; 30 Lumens
Click-Press; 120 Lumens

I basically reversed the order of the factory light levels, having the ultra-low come on first

the Disorienting Strobe lives up to it's name, but for my purposes, it's a novelty, nothing more, but it's nice to know it's there if needed

I'm a little dissapointed with the interface though, I was hoping to be able to force the light into whatever mode I want by the number of clicks from the off position, not the on, if I wanted setting two, I wanted to simply double-click, setting three, three clicks, not click once for on, then click for the setting desired

right out of the box, there are a couple of tiny imperfections in the black HA, but they're on the edges of the knurling, and they don't affect performance of the light, besides, it's going to get more with use anyway, they don't bother me, this is a tool, not a jewel

the bezel is un-loctited and unscrews easily, once the lexan window gets scarred up, it will be replaced with a glass window

annoyingly enough, though, the O-Ring sealing the tailcap to the body is a little loose, and I need to be careful when screwing down the tailcap or it could be cut or torn by the tailcap edge, if I take it slow, it's fine, I'll contact Novatac to see about getting replacement o-rings

I've already installed a BatteryStation RCR-123A and a
m enjoying guilt-free lumens, this will definitely be added to my EDC arsenal, replacing my single-level SF E1L-SR, which moves to my laptop bag



**there is a faint flicker on RCR123a, and a noticeable flicker on primaries, it's ignorable on RCR, it seems to be intermittent (or at least I haven't figured out a pattern)

 

[Dead_Nuts]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

Sounds like you have a bad o-ring. Both of my lights have o-rings that fit snugly.

 

[MacTech]

I fired off a quick e-mail to Novatac and in less than an hour received a response, they were apologetic for the problem, and are sending out some replacement o-rings

Excellent customer service from Novatac!

Oh, and just out of curiosity, I took off the bezel and tipped out the lexan window, that's one thick piece of lexan!, it's almost 1/8" thick

I wonder if my spare Pyrex window from a SF Executive series incan bezel would fit in there, they're both 1" OD lights....

 

[HKJ]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

The Following Needs To Be Assigned To A Slot:

-Slow Strobe
-Fast Strobe
-Disorienting Strobe
-All Levels Of Light

... Everything Else Does NOT Need A Slot

That is not correct and the NovaTac only has two strobes.

The fast strobe a.k.a. disorienting strobe must be assigned to a level, before it can be used.

The slow strobe a.k.a. Emergency strobe can be assigned to a level, but can also be activated as the first item in the option menu.

The SOS can be assigned to a level, but can also be activated as the second item in the option menu.


I am using the following configuration:
click on (Primary): very low level (probably 0.12 lumen)
double click (secondary): mid level (probably about 10 lumen)
click-press (Maximum): Maximum level (120 lumen)
triple-click (Minimum): Disorienting Strobe

This also means that I can temporary get max. by press-hold.

 

[xcel730]

I guess I have my Novie configured differently.

Primary: 60 lumens
Secondary: 10 lumens
Maximum: 120 lumens
Minimum: 0.5 lumens

My Novie 120P is one of my favorite light, and I alternate it with my EDC collection.

After pouring so much on the light, I spend additional hard earned $$$ in adding the stainless steel bezel (sexy) and a sapphire crystal lens.

 

[thermal guy]

:twothumbs

 

[Rossymeister]

Re: Tomorrow's Novatac Day for me!

That is not correct and the NovaTac only has two strobes.

I Stand Corrected!

Ive Only Had Mine A Week, So Im Still Getting Used To The Settings Myself.

 

[MacTech]

After spending some time outside last night in quality darkness with the 120P, I can say this....

I LOVE the beam profile, it's a great general use utility beam, a nice smooth wall of light, just enough throw to be useful without reducing that great spill light, the gradation from hotspot to spill is almost unnoticeable outside, it truly feels like a *wall* of light

inside the house, when dark-adapted, the .08 lumen setting is just right, actually borderline too bright** for navigating, when fully dark adapted, I can tailstand the 120P in .08 and actually read a book





**I have extremely sensitive night vision, the light from the green LED ringlight in the power adapter on my PowerBook G4 is enough for me to navigate by.

I found my 1AA low-power 1 5MM LED Peak flashlight to be just the right amount of white light for dark adapted navigation, or the red LED in my Aviatrixed A2, of course

 

[MacTech]

It's funny, less than two days with the 120P and I'm already contemplating buying another one, maybe a cheap user model, maybe an 85P, that I can try modding.....

I have a couple McR-18S reflectors sitting unused, and the TIR optic from a KL1 head, I'm wondering how the NovaTac would work with a SF TIR installed, how throwy would it be?

I've also taken to keeping a SF F04 on the head of the light, mainly to keep the business end of the light clean and dust free while pocket carrying, I noticed that the F04 also fits the tailcap, so I've contemplated picking up another F04, and popping the diffuser lens out of it, and putting it on the tailcap, to make a sort of impromptu shock-mount to protect the light if dropped (even though I know it can take it)

 

[xcel730]

I had the same feeling too ... the best way to overcome it is to buy it. :nana:Why get the 85P for $99, when you can get the 120P for $120? http://yourcornerstore.com/advanced...e1100c195f80b54937ae7&search_in_description=1

You could also fight the urge by sexying your 120P up with stainless steel bezel, and sapphire crystal. Not that I've done it.

 

[MacTech]

That's where I got this 120P, from YCS

thing is, I'd feel less guilty about frakking up an 85P with my ham-fisted (mmmm....ham....) attempts at modding than I would a 120P, mainly because it's marginally cheaper

However, I also feel the urge for a Ra Twisty.....

Hmm, wonder how a Novatac with a Seoul P7 emitter and a SureFire TIR optic would work out....