River Rock lantern review - FlashlightReviews.com

[attowatt]

hee hee hee:devil:

 

[chvylvr35O]

Hi chvylvr35O,

Glad to see you signed up. I had tried something similar, by putting a small piece of plastic on the outside of dome, but could not get it to stay. I like your "temp" idea so you can revert to factory mode if need be. Yea once you start sanding, there's no turning back. does that piece of plastic fit snug inside and is it touching the led or not?

Again welcome.

Jim

It fits very snug if you cut it to the proper length and have right diameter source bottle. It doesnt touch the led, it is outside of the metal bars and is only touching the lower globe and inside upper.

Here is a bad pic of it using a pda camera:

 

[BobVA]

Thanks Jim! I'm happy to report that I *still* don't know if there is any reverse-polarity protection. I'm guessing not, so your help was most welcome! Good catch on the cathode mark of D1.

Just sanded the inside of the dome on mine (600 grit and a hemostat did the trick) and it's a lot nicer lantern now.

I was going to mark the polarity before I pulled it apart, but noticed the circuit board is keyed so it only installs one way. The board has a notch by the positive connecter that keys to a ridge inside the lantern upper assembly.

The globe section on mine is similarly keyed so it only installs one way on the battery case.


Cheers,
Bob

 

[attowatt]

It fits very snug if you cut it to the proper length and have right diameter source bottle. It doesnt touch the led, it is outside of the metal bars and is only touching the lower globe and inside upper.

Here is a bad pic of it using a pda camera:

Ahh

chvylvr35O,
I like the picture. I am a firm believer in a picture is worth a thousand words. Also like the setup. can you see the effect of the "corragated" sides on the "output" light pattern?

Any chance of getting a "bad pic" with the same setup and the lantern on?

Jim

 

[chvylvr35O]

Ahh

chvylvr35O,
I like the picture. I am a firm believer in a picture is worth a thousand words. Also like the setup. can you see the effect of the "corragated" sides on the "output" light pattern?

Any chance of getting a "bad pic" with the same setup and the lantern on?

Jim

Trust me it was a bad pic, I cleaned it up in photoshop to make it not a horrible pic. To my eyes I notice the corragated sides in the beam only very slightly, mostly if I turn the lantern while looking at the wall. I will probably try a smooth sided bottle on the second one and compare them. Here is a bad pic with it on, trust me this camera does not do it justice. ETA lantern is aproximately 6" from the wall.

 

[attowatt]

Thanks for the picture chvylvr35O,

it looks REALLY smooth in that shot. I am really thinking of trying this. How much light is lost, if you had to guesstimate?

Jim

 

[grayman4hire]

I was at target today and had to buy one. Pretty impressive. Now my fiance can't burn a hole in my tent the next time we go camping.

 

[jar3ds]

I was at target today and had to buy one. Pretty impressive. Now my fiance can't burn a hole in my tent the next time we go camping.

i just bought one too... really impressed with it... my wife and I burned a hole through our tent the first time camping together with a propaine lamp.... not again... i have it next to my bed on my night stand... takes up a lot less room than a full sized lamp

 

[Flash_Gordon]

chvylvr35O-

Pretty great idea! We have been trying all types of diffusion techniques here. The best so far is attowatt's dome sanding. It works very well with pretty minimal light loss, but is permanent and a little tricky to do.

What would be great is a picture of your lantern sitting in the same spot with and without the diffuser.

It is cheap, pretty easy and reversible. What tool did you use to cut the bottle?

I am getting a couple more of these lanterns to work on the circuit for a dimming function, but I want to also try your idea.

Mark

 

[chvylvr35O]

Thanks for the picture chvylvr35O,

it looks REALLY smooth in that shot. I am really thinking of trying this. How much light is lost, if you had to guesstimate?

Jim

I am not sure, it doesn't seem like it loses much output. When I get another lantern and my good camera back I will do a side by side.

chvylvr35O-

Pretty great idea! We have been trying all types of diffusion techniques here. The best so far is attowatt's dome sanding. It works very well with pretty minimal light loss, but is permanent and a little tricky to do.

What would be great is a picture of your lantern sitting in the same spot with and without the diffuser.

It is cheap, pretty easy and reversible. What tool did you use to cut the bottle?

I am getting a couple more of these lanterns to work on the circuit for a dimming function, but I want to also try your idea.

Mark

My pda camera really doesn't do well with the light. My good camera will be back by tuesday and I will try it then.

I used a utility knife to cut it. I wrapped a peice of masking tape around the bottle to make a good guide and did my best to cut it straight. I might try next time to put something in the bottle to make it more rigid and use a bandsaw or something.

Is it possible to make the lantern ON-OFF rather then have it flash or dim. They really should have omitted the flash mode, that is my only complaint about it.

 

[vic303]

Hey guys, being unwilling to sand the globes on my only RR lantern, I opted for a less permanent fix--I used 'invisible' scotch tape on the outer globe. Had to be careful to overlap the 3 rows only slightly, smooth all bubbles out, and to start/end on the sides where the interior metal posts are, but WOW! What an improvement! Ringy output is almost totally gone, negligible output loss, and a much more 'lightbulb-like' useable light.

 

[attowatt]

Using tritium vials by B@rt here , this is what I have come up with on my RR lantern. Makes it easy to find your Lantern if the power is out or if camping out. I used Silicone Sealant RTV to attach the vial to base of lantern. Sorry for blurry pics.

Jim:wave:

 

[B@rt]

Nice work attowat! :goodjob:

 

[zespectre]

Darn it Attowat, now I've gotta go find one of those vials and do that...sheesh, can't you guys leave well enough alone!?!
:laughing:

 

[attowatt]

Darn it Attowat, now I've gotta go find one of those vials and do that...sheesh, can't you guys leave well enough alone!?!
:laughing:

:laughing:

 

[Darell]

Do you need a detailed description of my new "paper bag" mod? Works almost as well as my "depleted battery" mod, though is more easily adjustable from 100% brightness all the way down to almost 0%.

Eventually, we'll be able to do this with electronics, but by the time I have a product to give it a shot, these River Rock guys may already be there first!

***edit: Ok, this is crazy. This post was supposed to come AFTER the one that is currently below it! I swear! I replied to that last one, and mine was posted before! Not quite as funny up here!

 

[attowatt]

any other dimmer mode options??

I re-installed the 20K ohm resistor across R5A and if you DONT look directly at the lantern in "fast strobe" mode, it is acceptable as a poor mans dimmer. When in dim mode, you really cant tell it's strobing, unless you look directly at lantern(if that makes sense). 310mA on high and 80mA on low(dim) using existing batteries( not new).

I will leave it like this until some one try's another board.


Jim

 

[grrickar]

I hope someone can help me find one of these. I live in NE Alabama (Huntsville) and we have a whopping *two* Target stores. I could not even tell you how far away the next ones are because they are relatively new to this area (although we have a rather large distribution center here, hmmmm).

I posted in another thread on this board an offer to buy a couple of these (cover all expenses plus a bit of a thank you for anyone willing to help me get one or two). Heck as rare as these things seem to be they would likely sell like hot cakes on Ebay. I'll send a certified check or use my Paypal account if anyone can still find these or if someone has one and wants to part with it. I camp and hike alot (trying to do the AT one section at a time) so something like this would be very handy. Safer than a candle lantern, and more powerful than the Brunton Glorb (which is more expensive and apparently not as 'robust')

Meanwhile I'll shakedown the Target store managers and see what gives. I have *never* seen River Rock products at either of our Target stores.

If anyone would be willing to get 1-2 of these (make me a happy boy for Christmas) please email me at narabedla_esiw[at]yahoo[dot]com

 

[grrickar]

Thanks to all that offered to help. I finally found one at one of our local Target stores (the last one!). The price was only $12.99, at that price I hope that they get some more in soon!

 

[GeoScouter]

Thanks to all that offered to help. I finally found one at one of our local Target stores (the last one!). The price was only $12.99, at that price I hope that they get some more in soon!

$12.99?? I paid $19.99. Is it on sale? I'm heading there tomorrow to check it out. I have two and gave one away but for that price I will pick up a couple more.