milkyspit
Flashlight Enthusiast
Sit back, boys and girls, nestle into your beds (or office chairs as the case may be) and you might just come away with a cute, warm, fuzzy little buddy to keep you company and bring a little cheer to those long winter (summer for those down under) nights.
I bring to you the Albatross and the Gosling.
(Shown here on the markedly ecologically unfriendly stump of a recently cut tree.)
Those who know me, know I have a fondness for a highly useful, pocketable light, especially one that's easy to feed. Beyond that, I'm after the Holy Grail of walking lights... and for that reason (as well as a possible obsessive-compulsive streak)
I tend to have more than a few personal one-offs materialize over any given period of time. So, while cleaning the drawers in hopes of appeasing my wife, I came up with a couple... uh... er... avian dwellers who could use a good home!
Both lights are great companions, and while they both throw to a reasonable distance, they also deliver plenty of spill for close-range use. Both also offer a range of outputs to prevent blowing-out dark-adapted eyes, or waking up the rest of the family, or churning through the battery in half a second.oo: 
:naughty: ...and let's face it, they're cute little guys, too.
How they achieve the above, though, is in each case distinctly different.
Albatross
The Albatross takes advantage of a de-domed SST-90 neutral white emitter (4500K color temp), focused under a highly customized McR17xr reflector. I hadn't played with de-domed emitters much, but got this one as a result of some ill-fated experimentation well before de-domed emitters became the chic thing to do.
It does a nice job! The ShiningBeam driver provides 3x levels of output from a single RCR123 rechargeable. Max output is an estimated 282 lumens.
The twist action at tail end is very smooth. I love these old Longbow Micra hosts.
I used a domed Pyrex lens on this light. The domed lens tends to spread the hotspot a little, to cover a wider area. For the same reason, it has a subtle softening effect. As for color rendition, this particular LED appears to do a nice job even though its technical specifications make no claim as to it being anything special. Maybe the de-doming had a positive impact?
Beam cast is definitely in the neutral white direction, as expected. If I look at a cool white beam first, this one looks annoyingly warm, but if I look at this beam by itself, it looks nice. Someone with a a preference for the warmer tints would do well here.
The beam is actually fairly narrow but coverage is so even spot-to-spill that it feels like a floody beam, though it isn't.
To nitpick, on a white wall at close range, I can see a narrow ring near the outer edge of the spill beam. It's not noticeable at lower output or at longer range. I suspect it's the result of light bouncing around the inner edge of the protruding part of the bezel. I don't like artifacty beams, and this particular ring doesn't really bother me, but it is there.
As shown, beam coverage is surprisingly good. (At least surprising to me! Given the Frankenstein-ish nature of the build.)
One other tidbit: this is the first (and so far only) build for which I mounted the SST-90 directly on a heatsinking surface rather than reflowing to pads. It's attached with a particularly high grade 3M brand ceramic-impregnated thermal adhesive, and since the LED is drastically underdriven, I'm not overly concerned about the thermal performance. In practice, the light has borne this out, performing nicely without any apparent heat buildup, nor evidence of thermal-induced stress.
This would be a nice EDC for someone seeking a pocketable light for indoor use and/or around the backyard or neighborhood. The Longbow Micra platform has a certain style that I find particularly appealing. (Which is why I have upwards of 8x Longbow Micra around here!)
Cost for the Alabatross (complete flashlight) is $200. First "I'll take it!" has priority!
Gosling
At first glance, this Gosling is similar to many others I've built: has a Cree MC-E emitter configured for single cell operation, with Acorn driver and the usual multi-brightness firmware.
However, this one's a little different. For one thing, it uses a neutral white emitter with a terrific tint, positioned under a Ledil Boomerang faceted reflector, resulting in the big wall of light one expects from an MC-E, but with little to no donut hole. The faceting looks great in terms of aesthetics, too!
The head also features a domed Pyrex lens and full-sized internal aluminum plug sink, resulting in excellent thermal transfer to flashlight skin.
This head features a TaskLED D2Flex driver running the uncommon 'Daffy-D' revision of Acorn firmware. 'Daffy-D' incorporates all the functionality of the more common 'Califon' firmware, but adds to that a new TrailUI that provides a user interface similar to that of the classic HDS series of flashlights: single blink toggles between low and medium brightness; double blink jumps to max brightness; triple blink jumps to ultralow; and quadruple blink activates strobe. MemoryUI, TacticalUI, and TheaterUI are also present, as is Staminator (a.k.a. miser) capability.
Like other Gosling builds, this one wants to run on 1x rechargeable cell of any size (IMR16340 advised for a 123-size cell, as this light pulls too much current for safe use of a regular RCR123)... plus can run at reduced output and extended runtime with 1x123 primary cell.
This Gosling would be a terrific light for folks who prefer a more floody beam, yet still want some throw plus enough muscle to light their entire backyard on occasion. It's one of the nicer Gosling builds to have come from the Milky Labs. Hoping it can find a home with a recipient who would appreciate its many virtues!
Cost for the Gosling complete flashlight is $275, or for head only, it's $200. First "I'll take it!" has priority!
Enjoy, folks. Thanks for reading! Now, please give these fine little birds a good home.
I bring to you the Albatross and the Gosling.
(Shown here on the markedly ecologically unfriendly stump of a recently cut tree.)
Those who know me, know I have a fondness for a highly useful, pocketable light, especially one that's easy to feed. Beyond that, I'm after the Holy Grail of walking lights... and for that reason (as well as a possible obsessive-compulsive streak)
I tend to have more than a few personal one-offs materialize over any given period of time. So, while cleaning the drawers in hopes of appeasing my wife, I came up with a couple... uh... er... avian dwellers who could use a good home!
Both lights are great companions, and while they both throw to a reasonable distance, they also deliver plenty of spill for close-range use. Both also offer a range of outputs to prevent blowing-out dark-adapted eyes, or waking up the rest of the family, or churning through the battery in half a second.
oo: :naughty: ...and let's face it, they're cute little guys, too.How they achieve the above, though, is in each case distinctly different.
Albatross
The Albatross takes advantage of a de-domed SST-90 neutral white emitter (4500K color temp), focused under a highly customized McR17xr reflector. I hadn't played with de-domed emitters much, but got this one as a result of some ill-fated experimentation well before de-domed emitters became the chic thing to do.
It does a nice job! The ShiningBeam driver provides 3x levels of output from a single RCR123 rechargeable. Max output is an estimated 282 lumens.
The twist action at tail end is very smooth. I love these old Longbow Micra hosts.
I used a domed Pyrex lens on this light. The domed lens tends to spread the hotspot a little, to cover a wider area. For the same reason, it has a subtle softening effect. As for color rendition, this particular LED appears to do a nice job even though its technical specifications make no claim as to it being anything special. Maybe the de-doming had a positive impact?
Beam cast is definitely in the neutral white direction, as expected. If I look at a cool white beam first, this one looks annoyingly warm, but if I look at this beam by itself, it looks nice. Someone with a a preference for the warmer tints would do well here.
The beam is actually fairly narrow but coverage is so even spot-to-spill that it feels like a floody beam, though it isn't.
To nitpick, on a white wall at close range, I can see a narrow ring near the outer edge of the spill beam. It's not noticeable at lower output or at longer range. I suspect it's the result of light bouncing around the inner edge of the protruding part of the bezel. I don't like artifacty beams, and this particular ring doesn't really bother me, but it is there.
As shown, beam coverage is surprisingly good. (At least surprising to me! Given the Frankenstein-ish nature of the build.)
One other tidbit: this is the first (and so far only) build for which I mounted the SST-90 directly on a heatsinking surface rather than reflowing to pads. It's attached with a particularly high grade 3M brand ceramic-impregnated thermal adhesive, and since the LED is drastically underdriven, I'm not overly concerned about the thermal performance. In practice, the light has borne this out, performing nicely without any apparent heat buildup, nor evidence of thermal-induced stress.
This would be a nice EDC for someone seeking a pocketable light for indoor use and/or around the backyard or neighborhood. The Longbow Micra platform has a certain style that I find particularly appealing. (Which is why I have upwards of 8x Longbow Micra around here!)
Cost for the Alabatross (complete flashlight) is $200. First "I'll take it!" has priority!
Gosling
At first glance, this Gosling is similar to many others I've built: has a Cree MC-E emitter configured for single cell operation, with Acorn driver and the usual multi-brightness firmware.
However, this one's a little different. For one thing, it uses a neutral white emitter with a terrific tint, positioned under a Ledil Boomerang faceted reflector, resulting in the big wall of light one expects from an MC-E, but with little to no donut hole. The faceting looks great in terms of aesthetics, too!
The head also features a domed Pyrex lens and full-sized internal aluminum plug sink, resulting in excellent thermal transfer to flashlight skin.
This head features a TaskLED D2Flex driver running the uncommon 'Daffy-D' revision of Acorn firmware. 'Daffy-D' incorporates all the functionality of the more common 'Califon' firmware, but adds to that a new TrailUI that provides a user interface similar to that of the classic HDS series of flashlights: single blink toggles between low and medium brightness; double blink jumps to max brightness; triple blink jumps to ultralow; and quadruple blink activates strobe. MemoryUI, TacticalUI, and TheaterUI are also present, as is Staminator (a.k.a. miser) capability.
Like other Gosling builds, this one wants to run on 1x rechargeable cell of any size (IMR16340 advised for a 123-size cell, as this light pulls too much current for safe use of a regular RCR123)... plus can run at reduced output and extended runtime with 1x123 primary cell.
This Gosling would be a terrific light for folks who prefer a more floody beam, yet still want some throw plus enough muscle to light their entire backyard on occasion. It's one of the nicer Gosling builds to have come from the Milky Labs. Hoping it can find a home with a recipient who would appreciate its many virtues!
Cost for the Gosling complete flashlight is $275, or for head only, it's $200. First "I'll take it!" has priority!
Enjoy, folks. Thanks for reading! Now, please give these fine little birds a good home.
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