Moon mode question

[charliek]

How dim is the low power "moon mode" that the LSH is supposed to switch to after it drops out of regulation?

I have a Gossen Pilot light meter set in "Incident mode" to measure the light directly out of the light- I set the pointer to the the output and I can use that to compare one light source to another- I get no "lux" readings- just a comparison.
I put a fresh 123 cell in - took a reading and locked the pointer
Then two fresh NiMh AA cells- and got the same reading.
Now, I tried 2 Alkaline (somewhat used) and got a slightly lower reading....
Not what I'd call significantly lower, but lower- then I tried a slightly more "used" alkaline pair- and got a reading slightly more low.... keeping that pair in the light, and keeping the light on, I reset the pointer to match the light output- 5 minutes later it was slightly lower- another 5 and it was even lower....

 

[Hoghead]

It sounds like you're in moon mode now. If the light is getting dimmer then it's out of regulation.

 

[charliek]

So it doesn't go seriously dim to conserve power- it just drops out of regulation until it dies...??

 

[Hoghead]

That is correct.

 

[Dave Wright]

Moon mode brightness and duration depends on the batts and how you've used them.

You'll get a longer moon mode when using alkalines.

Running the light full time until it drops out of regulation will give you a nice long moon period. Intermittent light use can yield a much shorter and less bright moon period.

 

[charliek]

I've been using it intermittently on the same 123 cell for a while now- I was just curious about the mode and tried to simulate it by changing batteries.... I guess time will tell.

 

[djpark]

[ QUOTE ]
Hoghead said:
It sounds like you're in moon mode now. If the light is getting dimmer then it's out of regulation.

[/ QUOTE ]

My LSH-P seems getting into the moon mode rather too quickly.

I don't remember using the LSH more than total 1 hour (perhaps 30 minutes the most) with the included battery from ARC, but it has been on the moon mode already.

The freshly charged Nicd pack (Auldey 1500mAh) gave no more than 10 minutes before starting to get dimmer.

I guess I will try to have run time tests with a new 123 battery and another brand of NiMh (GP).

Anyone have suggestion on the unattended continuous measurement of (relative) light using a PC? What size photoregister can be suitable to measure LS light intensity?

DJP
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[charliek]

I don't think it's so much the photo resistor that you'd need to get- it's the digital sampling in real time that needs to be collected... as I recall- RadioShack had a DVM that sampled to PC.... I'll have to check the web site to see if it's still available.