New Starlight lights 1 and 2 cell

[Brock]

Ok I just got some more Starlights. They really upgraded these. Both the 2 cell and 1 cell lights are still in a single PR base lamp. The cool thing they did was polish the LED's so they are now like the ledcorp.com PR LED lights. They emit light in all directions and are great for a 2 C cell Mag or any lights that use 1 or 2 cells and PR based lamps.

Now what we have to do is find some company willing to order a bunch of these and sell them to everyone. I think Starlight sells them in 100 or more.

Craig I will have to send some of these little guys over to you, you will like them.

 

[flashfan]

I never heard of Starlights. Can you point my in the right direction where I could get more information? Thanks!

 

[Brock]

Sorry, I guess not everyone know about these lights. They are standard PR based lamps with a step up inverter built right in to the PR base. Craig has a good review of them at
http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/starlite.htm

 

[Quickbeam]

Brock,

You wouldn't happen to have one of the newer 2 cell bulbs that I could get from you, would you? (with proper reimbursement, of course) If not, that's fine. I would really like to try one in a little 2 AA cell faceted reflector light that I have. Thanks either way! (feel free to e-mail me directly)

 

[StarLite]

Brock,

Are these available locally at Hong Kong?

 

[Brock]

Quickbeam send me an email with your address, I only have 4, well 3 now one is on its way to Craig.

StarLite I don't know where they sell them, they do have a HK address though either way you cold try contacting them. The info is at
http://www.sinounion.com.hk/

 

[The_LED_Museum]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
Ok I just got some more Starlights. They really upgraded these. Both the 2 cell and 1 cell lights are still in a single PR base lamp. The cool thing they did was polish the LED's so they are now like the ledcorp.com PR LED lights<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just got a bulb today that is similar to this, but it has a truncated conical metal collar between the flange and the base of the LED - maybe a heat sink. And the LED is ground to a milky, semi-opaque appearance.

And in an e-mail, word that an even brigher version just came off the line, and is already on the way. This version is also ground, but left transparent (I guess if the guy waited two or three days, I'd only see the newest model?).

This bulb came from my contact for the Abitax Tag Light.

It did not function in my Starlight 128 body, but does work on a cheap Ray-O-Vac 2-cell plastic light. It was meant to go in a 2-C or 2-D mag, but I don't have either.
Inverter in the bulb base, white Nichia LED.
Because of the diffusing finish, it is about half as bright as a Turtlelite-1. The newer model should come considerably closer, but I still expect a real Turtlelite-1 to win this battle.
Beam configuration is similar to that of the Turtlelite, but with softer fall-off and brighter corona.

(Edit: Bulb worked in the pink Starlite, but not the powder blue one. Beam is very wide angle with some ring artifacts - thanks to the built-in magnifying lens in the Starlite's bezel. Beam looks like a giant innertube with a small spot in the center.)

 

[Brock]

Yup, the new Starlights have a magnifing lens in the center of the regular lens which works better with the new style LED's. The ones I have have that funny little colar above the PR base also, but you will see them when the package arrives

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Sorry Brock, but I just broke your clear/white "new bulb" model, doing the same test that resulted in the destruction of the original lavendar Starlite 128.

Guess I'd better scrub the toilet and get the chapel ready.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Here's the page for the 2 AA version.
http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/starlit2.htm

The chapel isn't ready yet.

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
Yup, the new Starlights have a magnifing lens in the center of the regular lens which works better with the new style LED's. The ones I have have that funny little colar above the PR base also, but you will see them when the package arrives

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Brock, I do hope you will let us know just as soon as these Starlights bcome available in small quantities..(that's yetanother light I simply must have)

 

[The_LED_Museum]

You know, even if the flashlight itself gets broken, it's easily worth every penny just for the bulb inside.

To rescue this sample, I just swapped the body (with now-defective switch) with the body off one of the earlier models. Clear (new style) head, pink body, so what?

But if Horace Lee wants this one back for autopsy, he's going to have to send me a replacement body & head - when he asked me to send the other dead Starlite back, I didn't get a replacement.
I kept the bulb, as he said I should, so that wasn't a total loss.

 

[Quickbeam]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stingmon:
You know, even if the flashlight itself gets broken, it's easily worth every penny just for the bulb inside.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agreed! I just received the samples (1 first-gen 2 cell and 2 second-gen - a 2 cell and a 1 cell - super-big "thank you" to Brock!). I have to say the translucent cases are just about the absolute lowest entry-level flashlight cases I've ever seen, but the bulbs are great! Looks like they were keeping costs down by making the case inexpensive while investing the real money where it counts - in the bulbs. The 2nd gen bulbs and lens are a major improvement over the 1st gen model. I'll be posting a review (my first!) on my site in a few days. I plan on having lots of pics including beam pics of the original lights as well as an example of how the bulbs fare in other standard lights. These things are a good stepping stone toward making LED lights practical for the "everyday" user.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

So... how long 'til we get enough samples in that someone will be brave enough to dismantle the bulb assembly and let us see what it looks like internally?

Electical details would also be helpful, as my initial calculations point to this being only 25% efficiency if you take the "minimum" requirements for the white LED:

LED: 3.6v @ 20 mA = 72 mW
Bulb2 (2AA): 2.85v @ 100 mA = 285 mW
Bulb1 (1AA): 1.45v @ 200 mA = 290 mW

Eff2: 72/285 = 25%
Eff1: 72/290 = 25%

If driven at 40 mA (slightly over-driven), efficiency rises to 50%, but still pretty poor compared to other simple methods. The only thing you really buy is that it is an active circuit and compensates for lower voltage, but we have the satcure cct for the same effect.

Until we "pop the top" on one of these babies and actually measure, we'll not know what we have.

I wonder if prying off the front bezel would expose enough of the LED's leads to get a voltage reading across it? That would at least tell us one more thing, and might be enough for us to extrapolate to an approximate current range.

Curious in Virginia...

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Marcus:
Electical details would also be helpful, as my initial calculations point to this being only 25% efficiency if you take the "minimum" requirements for the white LED:
...
If driven at 40 mA (slightly over-driven), efficiency rises to 50%, but still pretty poor compared to other simple methods.
I wonder if prying off the front bezel would expose enough of the LED's leads to get a voltage reading across it? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Another possibility would be to just compare it to another white LED. You put it on a variable power supply and change current until both have the same brighness. Of course there are several incertainities involved, but it is the best thing is see to do without damaging it.

I think Craig has to have a NSPW515BS at home (for comparison)?

 

[Quickbeam]

I now have a Starlight review posted on my website. My review is based on subjective observations only. I tried to review it mostly from the standpoint of an everyday flashlight user.