SF A2: greenLED's comparison of LED colors (with pics)

[greenLED]

Stay tuned, orange LED's may be updated to the review "shortly" (as in, don't hold your breath, but it'll happen - whenever).

 

[greenLED]

...and as if the announcement of orange LED's wasn't enough, js just posted a review of Atomic Chicken's "Aviatrix" mod (LED replacement rings for the A2 - either "dumb" ones, or uC-controlled with the option of having different color LED's on the same ring).
:wow:

 

[greenLED]

People have been asking me about brightness differences between "old" and "new" A2's, but none of the white A2's I've seen have been different. Here's a thread (with pics) showing differences may indeed be observable.

 

[greenLED]

Quick update to add another thread discussing the possible changes in LED brightness between new and old-style A2's. I've started a new subheading under the White LED A2 pictures regarding this issue. Please check the OP for more details.

 

[greenLED]

I'll be posting souptree's orange A2 LED mod, and PoliceScannerMan is sending his UV LED mod to add to this thread.

:thanks:

 

[greenLED]

A little teaser pic:

 

[greenLED]

Testing code:



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a2orangevsnichiavsygexpag6.jpg

 

[souptree]

Awesome job with the Orange A2 addition! :bow:

Here's the link to my original thread on it. I totally agree with you, the effect of the orange is closer to that of amber than red to my brain.

 

[js]

Thanks, greenLED. Great thread indeed!

 

[greenLED]

This wouldn't've been possible without all the owners of those A2's trusting me with their babies.

Just yesterday I got PoliceScannerMan's UV LED mod, so that'll be up in a couple of days.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

 

[greenLED]

I have a bunch of pics waiting for me to sort through them. PM sent.

 

[maxspeeds]

Bumping this thread up from the past. What is everyone experiences with their A2 LED colors? Now that the A2 has been around for a good 5 years, I'm sure there can be much discussion about different color uses and advantages/disadvantages in certain situations.

 

[milkyspit]

Good bump, this is one of my favorite 'blast from the past' threads and is still very much relevant... Greenie has compiled a real A2 treatise here!

Heck, recently got a hold of some THC3 white LEDs to have on hand for a few more A2 LEDectomies should anyone ever need one... seemed like cheap insurance along those lines.

A reiterated thanks, GreenLED, for a great thread. :twothumbs

 

[maxspeeds]

A reiterated thanks, GreenLED, for a great thread. :twothumbs

I second that! This was a great thread and a combination of efforts from many people. Awesome pics and summaries, GreenLED!

Milky, what has been your experience with colors other than white in the A2? I keep going back to souptree's thread on his orange A2 that you modded for him.

 

[Patriot]

I bought my first white A2 after reading this thread and then graduating onto Js's A2 info. After using white, red, blue, and Y/G, white is still my favorite color, with red as my second choice. I found the others to be not very useful for my purposes.

Thanks for bumping this thread.

 

[maxspeeds]

Patriot, how did you find the yellow-green leds for night vision use? Did you find them too dim when used outdoors?

Also, are you using the stock white nichias, or have you tried other type of white 5mm leds?

 

[milkyspit]

Milky, what has been your experience with colors other than white in the A2? I keep going back to souptree's thread on his orange A2 that you modded for him.

Max, most of the upgrades I've done for people have been white... along those lines, I like the THC3 for its warmer, very even floody white beam... it's not as jarring going from incandescent to LED as the cooler white LEDs are. Personally, I like to drive the THC3 a little less hard, too, as I find it doesn't hurt overall visibility of objects much and it tends both to extend runtime and to hurt dark-adapted vision less. For colors, I do like the orange for the same reasons souptree has outlined in the past, among these the way it seems to be so easy on the eyes, and yet does a good job (better than red IMHO) with visibility. I've never had the pleasure of an orange A2 for my own use, but I have put the same orange LEDs in some of my other lights and like that particular color very much for low-light use. I've just never been much of a fan of red in those applications, but like orange much better.

Yellow-green is okay I guess, green is interesting though I don't find much use for it... blue is a little too weird to my eyes for long-duration use... cyan is a nice color but almost impossible to get in a really good blue-green blend, usually tends to be closer to an emerald green... amber tends to be more of a yellow so I don't generally go for that, like orange better in place of an amber... pure yellow, oddly enough, I do find useful, but it's not easy to find a high output yellow LED.

The problem with most of the colored LEDs I've encountered is they typically will show a ring artifact or worse... there just doesn't seem to be the even flood of a really good white LED... and since most colored LEDs seem to be a little output challenged to begin with, diffusion is typically not a very desirable option, lest what little output is present gets diminished even further! oo:

 

[Patriot]

Patriot, how did you find the yellow-green leds for night vision use? Did you find them too dim when used outdoors?

Also, are you using the stock white nichias, or have you tried other type of white 5mm leds?

I just felt that they were to dim. They were great for when reading something on your lap but walking around in the desert was difficult.

I'm just using the stock Nichias. I know they could be better but I haven't had to urge to have them upgraded yet.

 

[RWT1405]

I find that the Y/G is THE perfect color for the A2 (for me anyway). I will admit to not much caring for my A2's, as I find myself much more of an LED kinda' guy, but the Y/G A2 is the one exception to that.

I have little use for a light that only gets 50 min. (or so) on a "set" of batts., but on the Y/G LED's I find it is an almost perfect "night" use light (with the incan. available if something goes "bump" in the night).

I also have a white LED A2, but as far as I'm concerned it does NOTHING better then most of my other LED's and most things (such as run time, over all light output, etc.) WORSE.

Having said all that, I actually have considered getting a second Y/G A2.
I'm not sure any of this makes sense. LOL!

I think I need to send my white A2 to Milky to have him "fix" it for me, I've always wanted to have one of his lights!

My .02 FWIW YMMV