Ra Clicky (HDS Systems EDC) - Part 10

[r_x]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

For anyone interested, here is a quick beamshot comparison of the Clicky 140 wide and the Clicky High CRI both taken on burst. Distance to the trees is roughly 50'.

Pics are 4 sec exposure, f2.7, daylight wight balance.

Clicky 140 wide:

Clicky High CRI:

My preference for outdoor use goes to the High CRI, but for inside I lean a little towards the 140.

Thanks lovecpf

 

[pjandyho]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Nice one r_x

Last week I did something similar with intention to post them up here in CPF and there are quite a lot of pictures, mainly dedicated to high CRI during my short one night camping trip but I haven't really dedicated the time to resize the photos for posting. I like your beamshots here on the tree.

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for last time when I was contemplating on whether to get a 140 GT or 100 high CRI. Anyway, I own both now and just like you I prefer the high CRI for outdoors, and cool white for indoors and urban use.

Andy

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

I like the neutral tint better regardless of where I am and the only time I prefer a cooler tint is at very low levels.

 

[HDS_Systems]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

BullzeyeBill,

Efficiency is lumens per watt. Nothing else matters. Forward voltage - in and of itself - has a smaller effect on efficiency than other emitter parameters. And brand of emitter does not necessarily mean that one emitter from brand A will have a lower Vf than the another emitter from brand B.

Our power supplies are CONSTANT POWER - there is no need to measure anything other than watts and lumens. Watts and lumens are the only two parameters that count. 🙂

Again, burst - by definition - is the maximum output. Press and hold momentarily selects preset A. The two are different. They happen to co-exist on Executive models but they do not co-exist on the Tactical models.

Henry.

 

[pjandyho]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Hi Henry, if you are reading this, I just want to thank you so much for making the high CRI version available to us. It is the best light I ever owned and stands proudly on it's own against all the other 30+ pieces of lights I have. I hope you would continue to incorporate high CRI into your current and future designs.

It is one light I never regretted putting my money on. Good job!

 

[John_Galt]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Wow, those are nice beamshots...

And here I was, getting ready to buy the 170 executive...

 

[P_A_S_1]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

While playing/programing my light (170edc) over the past few weeks I have taken the thing apart a few times (battery compartment). I noticed the other day a small black ring, similar to an o-ring, but not rubber and flat on the table I was working on. I don't recall it coming from anything else I was doing so the question is does this thing come from my light? BTW the light works ok without it and I'm really not too concerned, just curious.

Also, I'd like to pick up another light as a gift. 100cri or 140gt is what I'm looking at for the person. I'm sure it's been discussed in a previous link. I'm looking myself but if anyone recalls and can forward the link I'd appreciate it.

 

[Henk_Lu]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

On the new models, there's a small o-ring in the gap between the tailcap and the body where the new clip fits in, but this one is not flat, just thin. I removed that ring, as it tends to roll out by itself if you completely screw down the tailcap which compresses it, and I like my things screwed together tight!

For the rest, you have a normal sized o-ring sealing the tailcap and one of the same kind sealing the head on the battery compartment, I know of nothing else...

 

[cave dave]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

I have a few questions on a HDS 170 EDC I just purchased,

Runtimes? I have found plenty of links with members posting runtimes for the maximum level or the minimal level. Can anyone direct me to a link that posts runtimes for the mid level settings (85lm, 60lm, ect.) for the 170lm model?

I could send you a link to a table I created but its a very rough estimate based on current ratings from somebody else's light that were then prorated to actual run time measurements of my light at only the higher levels.

Best recommendation is to get a few batteries and a stop watch and time the light yourself. Put the results in a spreadsheet and you will get something like this:

As you can see the Max runtime values vary from 43min to 82min for some of my primaries and from 1 min to 63 min for my Rechargables (some of which were obviously bad).

Your millage will Vary!

 

[P_A_S_1]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Thanks for all the help, this is new to me and I'm trying to get all the info I can. Another question I have is watts. What is a 170 EDC rated at? Some lights have watt ratings (mini mag lights are 3 watts I believe), unless I'm missing it I haven't noticed a similar rating in my manual.

As for the runtimes, I'll probably burn a few batteries to see what I get. I'm pretty happy with the 85lm level, it's good for what I need it to do. If dropping the output 1 level increases run time by 30 minutes or more I'll be happy. If dropping the level extends run time by 15 minutes then I'll probably just put it back to high.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Thanks for all the help, this is new to me and I'm trying to get all the info I can. Another question I have is watts. What is a 170 EDC rated at? Some lights have watt ratings (mini mag lights are 3 watts I believe), unless I'm missing it I haven't noticed a similar rating in my manual.

A watt's value (Power) is based on current X voltage, and would mean, here, forward voltage X forward current to the LED, and that depends, in the case of the Ra's, on the output level that you have selected. At say 350mA's to the LED, and a forward voltage of 3.2, there would be about 1.2 watts power. At say, a level that could cause the forward voltage to the LED to be 3.5 volt at 1 amp current to the LED, then you would have about 3.5 watt of power. Not a good way to measure power of a flashlight, particularly one that has variable output levels. I would guess that the output of the 170 on high would be 5+ watts.

Bill

 

[P_A_S_1]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

A watt's value (Power) is based on current X voltage, and would mean, here, forward voltage X forward current to the LED, and that depends, in the case of the Ra's, on the output level that you have selected. At say 350mA's to the LED, and a forward voltage of 3.2, there would be about 1.2 watts power. At say, a level that could cause the forward voltage to the LED to be 3.5 volt at 1 amp current to the LED, then you would have about 3.5 watt of power. Not a good way to measure power of a flashlight, particularly one that has variable output levels. I would guess that the output of the 170 on high would be 5+ watts.

Bill

Thanks. I agree, I'll stick to using lumens or candle power, it's simpler.

 

[cave dave]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Thanks for all the help, this is new to me and I'm trying to get all the info I can. Another question I have is watts. What is a 170 EDC rated at? Some lights have watt ratings (mini mag lights are 3 watts I believe), unless I'm missing it I haven't noticed a similar rating in my manual.

As for the runtimes, I'll probably burn a few batteries to see what I get. I'm pretty happy with the 85lm level, it's good for what I need it to do. If dropping the output 1 level increases run time by 30 minutes or more I'll be happy. If dropping the level extends run time by 15 minutes then I'll probably just put it back to high.

Watts are pretty useless as a measure of power because the efficiency of LED's vary dramatically and their are new improvements all the time. Almost all flashlights that use "watt" ratings are using several year old Luxeon technology at maybe 25 Lumens per watt vs some of the new Cree lights around 100 lm/w.

As for runtimes as you can see above, the 85 lm setting ran about 1.7 times as long as the highest setting. I would expect similar runtime increases for your light.

 

[John_Galt]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

The 140 clicky's have a 140 lumen burst, then drop to 100 lumens, correct? And the 170's drop to 140?

Henry, do your lights that use the GD emitters use Diamond or Platinum emitters?

 

[zenlunatic]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Guys.

I have a Ra Clicky 120 lumen (older) with a flush tail.

I'm planning on ordering a high CRI sometime this month. I do like the flush tail. However, if I go for the raised tail, if I don't like it, can I take the flush from the older and replace the raised on the CRI?

Also, does the raised work so you can partially press and it will have a momentary on until you release (believe this is called forward clicky?) without clicking?

Thanks.

 

[redbike]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

I hope this post doesn't appear too out of place in the context of this discussion. A Ra Clicky Tactical arrived in the mail today which I picked up gently used on the sale page. It came as new, with a clip and blued screws which had not been installed by the previous owner. I've put the clip onto the light at this point.

Is it fair of me to say that the clip as supplied is not up to the standard of the rest of the light? I've noticed that most of the shots of the Clicky posted on CPF do not include the clip which, in conjunction with my own impressions, is the reason I ask the question. Please don't think I'm trying to slag off what is obviously a wonderful light. Its just that the clip that comes with it doesn't seem to "go" with the light. It appears to be 30% longer than it needs to be; wider than it needs to be - just not right. Do I need to take a chill pill?

 

[nbp]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

The clip is MOLLE compatible. It has to be huge.

 

[r_x]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

The 140 clicky's have a 140 lumen burst, then drop to 100 lumens, correct? And the 170's drop to 140?

Henry, do your lights that use the GD emitters use Diamond or Platinum emitters?

The 140s drop to 100 lumens, and the 170s drop to 120 lumens. I'm not too sure about the emitter question though.

On my 140 the drop to 100 lumens is hardly noticeable. I have missed the drop from 140 to 100 several times.

 

[pjandyho]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

Zenlunatic,

Current clicky tail caps without the small holes on it are interchangeable. If your light has these small holes like the photos you see in HDS' website then it can't be removed.

Redbike,

Ra clip has never been known to be asthetically nice and has resulted in a number of "complains" from fans out there. However they serve a practical purpose as being Molle compatible. Lately, HDS has a new black bezel down clip that is installed on the tail cap and it looks much nicer and neater.

 

[HDS_Systems]

Re: Ra Clicky Part 10

PjAndyHo,

I always appreciate such kind words.

BullzEyeBill,

You would be totally wrong on your guess for watts for the 170. Maximum allowable input power is roughly 4.25 watts. That is power supplied by the battery. The LED sees less - typically a maximum of 3.6 watts. These maximums are required to meet the minimum runtimes. Most lights are significantly more efficient so they pull less power and have longer runtimes.

John_Galt,

Per the manual - there is a very nice table that shows all of this - the level below 140 is 100 and the level below 170 is 120. See the Internal Brightness Levels section in the manual.

The particular model of emitter does not mater. The only thing that matters is the calibrated output and resulting beam pattern.

ZenLunatic,

Whether or not the tail parts are compatible will depend on how old the old tail cap is. There are many discussions of the differences in the history. Worst case, you swap the whole battery compartment.

The switch is electronic - not mechanical. If you want momentary operation, you can enable the momentary feature in the Option menu. See Option Menu item #5.

RedBike,

If you read the older posts, you will see you are not the only one with that opinion. Hence the newer clips and several other modder designs. 🙂

Henry.