Describe your custom dream light

lotsaluck

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Jan 16, 2005
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If you had a full machine shop and the $'s to put into it, what would you build using today's "real world" components.
 

smcharchan

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May 1, 2007
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You're making some big assumptions by placing this in the LED thread!!!
 

lotsaluck

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Yes, maybe but frankly I don't even waste my time with other light designs now.
 

cslinger

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Mar 3, 2005
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Nashville, TN
Frankly given today's components I would take an HDS/Novatac light. I would add some kind of USB programming and the ability to take a AA tube but all in all the HDS/Novatac lights are perfect for me.

My HDS U42 is still a perfect light for me, so the Nova's with their 85-120 lumens are really just gravy now. I would just like an easier programming method.

Chris
 

VidPro

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18650 tube, that is aluminum, has no nurling, and is barely bigger than the battery itself, nickle plated, then chromed, the end slightly rounded off (but will still end stand).
in it is a george80 full dimming curcuit for direct drive, or mostly direct drive. no strobe , no UI , just one resessed side switch and any level i want, including sooo low the dog cant see it.

there is no bottom threads, the battery is removed from the top, there could be a spring on the bottom, to adapt to various protected cell lenghts. or there is a 4pin USB charge connection, and no reason to remove the battery.

The top has in it a New version of a cree emitter that has added red and green phosphors, puts out only 200lumens but full spread spectrum

a Fraun lens is specially crafted to be fully focusable, yet looses little light from escaping out the sides of the emitter. a single rotation of the head would go from a 2* spot to a 100* wide beam with no doughnut holes.

it is fully disasemblable, so you can remod it at any time.
the top can be removed for a candle mode, the bottom fits into the top to hold it upright.

did i miss anything?
 
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lotsaluck

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Now THATS the sort of answer I was looking for more of VidPro.

I'm starting to brain storm the next project lights and have some new products to play with touted to be a leap beyond the current popular parts.
 

VidPro

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other weird ideas, given the time they might be neet to try.

a FLAT flashlight with 2 CAN heads, using a li-poly cell and a screwed together flat can so you can change the cell. using a 2500ma cell.
available flat cells in li-poly style only get so fat before they get much wider, so about 8mm is as wide as the batterys get (unless its 2 in parellel).
the size should fit in a front shirt pocket or pocket protector, can be clipped to a belt buckle or fit in a back pocket. or clipped to a bike or helmet.
a good battery choice would be the IPOD gen 1 or 4, they have protection curcuits and are widely available.
the flat can that holds the battery might be 12mm thick at most, and is of course plated or powder coated, or even has cool pictures on it.

on the top of the can is 2 premade drop in modules with a cover on them, so they are straight down cans. one spot the other one wide beam patterns. on a swivel. the swivel attachment point is FAR in the back of the can, or on the back, so the heads sit foreward of the flat battery can.
the swivels would allow the light to be aimed in any direction, 0-350* rotation with stops so the wires dont get twisted, and 0-90* out from the pocket to aim it straight up from the flat can.
placed on the floor (upside down or right side up) the unit could be a worklight, placed on a table, its about useless mabey a lantern, placed on a high shelf on a computer desk, it could be a computer area light. used for camping and such, you put it in the dirt, or in a tree, and aim the light to where your setting up camp.

a usb charge connector is a requirement with a design like this , because you arent going to be taking a li-poly out. the usb charge connection would be on the flat box, in the corner near the top of the battery. being FLAT it could easily adapt to putting solar charger on the battery can.

on the top of the box itself OR on each can head is 2 X 3 position center off switches of toggle or slide, these switches allow each head to run at low (for 6 hours) or high for 2.
 
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VidPro

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and, more weird stuff.
only for style and looks, useless for funtion. a myriad of assorted Lucite (type) lights, fully encased in plastic.

like a clear dome paperweight, that when you lift it, it becomes a omnipotent aspherical spot beam.
paperweights with rgb color changing leds, and 5 min timer curcuits with pick up switches.

shelf designs with high powered color leds, and curcuits Floating in the clear design, you know with artistic curvatures and cutouts.

and everything else you can do with a clear epoxy type molding resin.
making sure that the battery mount, and switch stuff is sealed or at the top of the mold design or connected externally to the battery and switch base. before pouring.

a fully transparent flashlight , using the clear plastic stuff as the containment and the lens itself, with a primary battery , one switch a few leds down the lenght of it for cuteness, and disposable after the sealed in battery is dead.

using a inductive charging method, a design could be made so it is rechargable, but much concideration would have to be put into the battery and its ability to breath or be removed or still function.
 
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Tinkerbell

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Jun 5, 2007
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A 6x CR123a body, with 5x CREE LED's, around a central osram IR LED. all with big reflectors, around 1.5" long, and each with individual aspherical lenses...

options to have the IR, or the normal, and 1/4, 1/2 and full power for both.

three full length tritium vials down the battery tube, and smaller ones placed around the bezel...

Anodized olive green, with a decent sized lanyard hole (big enough to get 550 cord through) and both an end cap clicky and a body clicky...

Now THAT i would pay a hell of a lot for...
 

xiaowenzu

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If you had a full machine shop and the $'s to put into it, what would you build using today's "real world" components.

hmmm.. something the size and shape of Photon Freedom, HAIII of course, with an LED which produces 6500 Lumens out the front. It must be water proof to 2000 feet and have internal circuits expoxied. If anyone can make that for me, I'd be willing to pay big bucks! :paypal:
 

KingGlamis

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Jun 10, 2007
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I'd like a light that looks like a Glock pistol. With a removable battery "clip" in the handle. But the barrel area would need to be much larger, with two reflectors. One with a top-notch LED and one with an HID, stacked on top of each other. Or perhaps one reflector in the barrel area and one that looks like a scope.

And the next one would look like an M-16 with MORE power. :D
 

Diesel_Bomber

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Feb 19, 2006
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Since we're dreaming, for me it would be:

1. Led, emitter should be replaceable/upgradeable without buying an entire new light.
2. ~60 lumens after the LED has come up to full operating temp and output has degraded.
3. Decent mix of throw and spill, but not adjustable focus. Different reflectors available to tune spill/throw for individual users would be great.
4. 2xD, but the head should be no bigger than the body, and it should be able to accept commercial off the shelf 3xAA to D adapters.
5. At least 8 hours runtime on 6xAA alkies, much more on 2xD.
5. Able accept ALL battery chemistries, from carbon zinc to li-ion with no need for any adjustment, just load and go. I don't use li-ions and don't know how safe multiple cells in series/parallel would be, I'd make sure to find out and not blow myself up. No built-in batteries, I need to be able to swap to fresh rechargeables or primaries in the field.
6. Aluminum. Possibly stainless, but aluminum conducts heat better, so probably not. No interest at all in titanium.
7. Powder coated in some bright eye catching color. Yellow, orange, green, something fluorescent. Something that can be seen around corners and glows through my pocket even when the light is off. I couldn't care less about bling or tacticool, a light you can't find when it's dark is just something else to trip over.
8. Regulated, the regulator should be a common item and be replaceable without having to replace the entire light.
9. Significantly waterproof. Not necessarily dive rated, but I live in Oregon and I work outside in all weather conditions. If a severe dunking is going to be a problem then this light will be destroyed within minutes of reaching a jobsite.
10. Standard clicky with momentary on, don't care if it's in the tailcap or on the side of the body. No fancy UI, no high/low/strobe/sos. No USB port, if it's that complicated then I'm not interested. Press a bit and the light turns on, release and it turns off. Press until it clicks, light stays on. Press until it clicks again, light goes off. Switch should be replaceable without having to replace the whole light.
11. Either a VERY STURDY glass window, or plastic. VERY STURDY, uppercase and in bold. My lights get dropped on gravel and tossed on the ground next to tools, the window is going to get abused. I'm more interested in durable than getting that last 5% of the lumens out the front. My limited experience with glass windows suggests that they aren't acceptable. The window should be replaceable without replacing the whole light or whole head.
12. Lanyard hole big enough to accept 550 paracord.
13. Pocket clip near the tail, so the light hangs head-down. The pocket clip should be replaceable, as it's going to get every bit as much of a beating as the rest of the light.
14. O-rings or seals should be replaceable, and shouldn't be picky about what kind of lubrication they get. Vaseline or bearing grease should be just fine. If they're a common size and available at the local hardware store, even better.

And dream I did! Don't I just want everything? I'd spend some money on a light with all those features. Obviously I'm very interested in something that's fixable and easily maintained.

:buddies:
 
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depusm12

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Sep 26, 2005
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Leavenworth, Kansas
Let's see a light the size of the a SF C2 with a slightly larger diameter 1.50 inch head with 3 Seoul P4's longer head so it has deeper reflectors. HA III black finish. Built in rechargeable Li-Ion battery with a 45 minute recharge from a dead battery, minimum of 1.5 hour runtime. Light output out the front lens say 250 lumen's. Tail cap interface similar to the Gladius/Insight Typhoon with strobe/momentary only and click on constant/dimmer and a lockout feature. Traffic cone that fits it and a strobe dim constant on feature for traffic control.
 
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