What is next for the Lunasol?

[starfiretoo]

Unless there was a way to tell the difference from the outside LS20's should have the NG convertors boost only convertors. Over time who would know which had which:thinking:

Perhaps if the central emitter were changed to a Rebel 100 i would like to see a GD convertor used as would be probably easy to spot the difference between that and a Golden Dragon LED.

The longer LS20 on the shorter/slimmer twisty body has a big appeal to me.

An LS27 2xCR123 using a clickie only interface with provision of low/high Nichia DS and a Nichia off/700ma high spot using the Cree.

:devil:

 

[yaesumofo]

I suspect that when you change batteries you will be able to tell the difference by looking at the driver board which is visible. No doubt there will be an easy way to tell the difference. For now this will NOT be an issue since Don plans on using the current emitter driver package I believe for the next batch of lights. That is a good thing since people who do not have one and do get one will be very pleased with the quality of light from the Golden dragon emitter. It is good.
Yaesumofo

Unless there was a way to tell the difference from the outside LS20's should have the NG converters boost only converts. Over time who would know which had which:thinking:

Perhaps if the central emitter were changed to a Rebel 100 i would like to see a GD convertor used as would be probably easy to spot the difference between that and a Golden Dragon LED.

The longer LS20 on the shorter/slimmer twisty body has a big appeal to me.

An LS27 2xCR123 using a clickie only interface with provision of low/high Nichia DS and a Nichia off/700ma high spot using the Cree.

:devil:

 

[paulr]

Unless there was a way to tell the difference from the outside LS20's should have the NG convertors boost only convertors. Over time who would know which had which

There should be some way to tell them apart (if only to make sure users don't put in the wrong batteries) but it doesn't have to be visible outside the light in my opinion. It's enough if there's some kind of marking on the back of the head, visible only when the light is open.

 

[The Coach]

I just mark the batteries with a Sharpie on my Mizers, to tell them from the non-Mizers, and I would do the same with the LS20's if I had one. :naughty:

 

[McGizmo]

Until or unless I offer some LunaSol 20's here with a buck/boost daughter board, it is a moot point. However, I believe to date and with future LunaSol 20's in the works, those with the NexGen boost only driver will be marked with red nail polish. There was a reason I used red but I wasn't going to confuse the issue by stating this at the time of the offering.

 

[js]

. . .

Look I have become fussy and very picky. Any light I buy or trade for today has to be a light which I will use. I have NO, ZERO, NONE, desire to spend good money on a light which is going to sit and gather dust. NO more are the days that I will drop a couple hundred on a light because it looks cool or has a bunch of features.
. . .

My point is that I really want lights which I can and will use. Not lights which I will not use. I have enough of those already.

Yaesumofo

Damn, Yaesumofo, every post of yours that I read I keep thinking, "yes! exactly! just so! precisely what I think!" It's getting to be a bit uncanny :thinking: Are you sure we aren't like dopplegangers or something? :devil:

For me, since the SF A2, there has been no going back to an EDC that didn't have two types of beams and two levels of output and a KISS UI like the PD or A2 LOTC.

Ever since I first saw the PD concept I have wanted one of these lights. For me, that switching/body/electrical path design was the very height of elegance, brillance, excellence . . . I could go on and on. I saw the PD diagram in bernie's review of the first PD light, and a shiver went up my spine. I was like "OMG! This is IT. I love it!" I had been having issues with most of the other schemes for getting the current to go from the battery +, through the light, and back to battery -. And the PD addressed all of my issues. I don't know if the average CPF'er appreciates the PD design as much as I do, having spent many hours pondering such things, as a very small time modder and custom builder myself. In my opinion, the PD body is a pinacle of flashlight design.

So, why didn't I buy one right away? Well, I thought about it, that's for sure, but ultimately I didn't want to give up the low flood / high throw combination of the SF A2.

Enter the LunaSol 20: the answer to my prayers. It is smaller than the A2, fits in my pocket better, runs longer, uses only one CR123, doesn't have a dang rubber boot to always wear down, tail stands, is made of the highest quality materials, fits in the hand better than the A2, has a much better clip and clip position than any SF, can be activated at either end of the light, in either main grip (overhand or underhand), and OMG I love the H3 vial--how cool is that!

THE LUNASOL 20 IS FREAKING AMAZING! AMAZING!

And personally, even if I had the choice, I'd go for the more efficent converter and give up R123 capability.

So, for those of you wondering about the LS20, I give it two million thumbs up and a six trillion star rating. More waves of these babies are the best thing Don could do for us flashaholics, in my opinion. Everyone who wants one, and can afford it, should have the good fortune to be able to buy one of these.

Don, seriously, I can't thank you enough for the LunaSol 20.

 

[gjg]

I'll still pick up a little brother to my 27 on one of the next waves no matter what, but have having a red as a 3rd stage would be SWEET!
gg

And make the Red die in the Dragon light up with a 3rd stage. Maybe Peter Gransee or Henry (HDS) can make a converter. That is if Wayne cant make some more converters.

I just love my Ra Twisty,and i use the Red Low on it all the time,every night actually. Getting this incorporated into the Lunasol 20 would be king :thumbsup:

 

[starfiretoo]

Thanks for explaining the red nail polish. Being a boost only light is not a gripe for me but some where down the line my memory lapsing and sticking a RCR123 in there one day. Red is a good way for me to remember "Stop , Primaries Only" :thumbsup:

Until or unless I offer some LunaSol 20's here with a buck/boost daughter board, it is a moot point. However, I believe to date and with future LunaSol 20's in the works, those with the NexGen boost only driver will be marked with red nail polish. There was a reason I used red but I wasn't going to confuse the issue by stating this at the time of the offering.

 

[McGizmo]

...... but have having a red as a 3rd stage would be SWEET!
gg

Well I don't see this in the cards at this point and certainly not as a result of providing reversed voltage and controlled current to the tiny red LED hosted on the Dragon!! If I went to the trouble of a third channel it would go to specific LED or group of LED's chosen on a basis of intended illumination criteria. If it were red, I would opt for a clean flood of red and that would be a 3 mm LED given a reasonable shot at exit from the front end and not a tiny chip, way off center at the botom of a collimating reflector designed for another light source, all together! In the LunaSol 20, this red chip is right at the perimeter of the reflector opening and in some cases, covered by the reflector. :green: I am not saying there isn't potential utility to be extracted by using the red LED on the Dragon but I would think it better as a signal or warning indicator in some case but not as a third channel in the LunaSol. :shrug:

Starfiretoo,
You picked up on my thinking in using the red nail polish with the "STOP" signal.

 

[KeyGrip]

LunaSol 20 with a clicky and the ability to select the output level before turning the light on. Do that and we're about three quarters of the way towards my ideal flashlight.

 

[paulr]

People using the Ra Twisty Tr say the red led is pretty useful... btw that was an AWESOME recommendation from js for the Lunasol 20, and I find myself wanting one. (I'd been planning to look for a Lunasol 27 rather than a 20 once my finances are steady, but we'll see).

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

And personally, even if I had the choice, I'd go for the more efficent converter and give up R123 capability.

I skimmed this thread, so please forgive my laziness.

So the boards in the first wave of LS20's are more efficient than the board that allows R123's? If so then by how much?

Thanks

 

[Kiessling]

PSM ... it is the NexGen converter in the LS20 vs the GD converter.
Not that I knew the exact numbers, but I had to post something anyway
bernie

 

[McGizmo]

PSM,

I don't know what the difference in efficiency is but as I understand it and in general, a buck/boost converter is not as efficient as a strictly buck or boost converter. I would guess to really evaluate the difference you would need to set some stringent parameters along the lines of LED VF and Vin. I leave all of this to the EE's. If I am wrong, someone hopefully wil correct me but if you have a case where either buck or boost will provide regulation throughout the useful life of the battery you are better off using the one (or the other) than using a buck/boost converter.

As I understand it and I may be butchering the terms or physics involved, there is a voltage drop or "overhead" associated with a converter and to determine how it will perform with a LED and specific battery, you need to add this overhead to the Vf of the LED and then match this to the Vin from the battery to know where you stand.

I have always considered a buck converter to be ideal as it will regulate while the Vin is too high for DD and then idles off as the Vin approaches the Vf of the LED and when Vin drops further, you will see some dimming which is a good sign of battery depletion. However with a single cell light even if the cell is a Li-Ion, it is likely that boost will be required at some point during the battery's useful cycle or so I believe. This seems to restrict the choices on a single cell light to boost or buck/boost.

At any point any of our experts are welcome to step in and correct my errors here and/or enlighten us more!

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Thanks, that clears it up some.

I always like to use primaries when I'm away from the house. I am not a fan of the sudden cut-off when using Li-Ion.

 

[arewethereyetdad]

On that note, PSM, I'd like to add that I have been using my LunaSol 20 so much that just yesterday it went to "either-or" mode, where there was just enough battery juice left to run either the nichias or the Dragon, but not both. It was pretty cool how I could choose either one. I finally pulled the cell, checked its level on my battery meter, chucked it (now don't give me any grief about where I chucked the cell, all you tree huggers ), and installed a fresh cell. Good to go! LOVE this thing. :twothumbs

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

LOVE this thing. :twothumbs

Amen. :kiss: