I've had this guy on the drawing board for months. I've been interested in making a 4AA 5W HD (BB750) light, since I believe this offers a good combination of brightness and runtime. However, my reflectored 5W HD lights have had beams that simply aren't tight enough. The solution: a Carley 3" parabolic. The geometry permits better collimation with the larger 5W source, plus captures more light that would otherwise be spilled.
I call this short, stubby, yet reasonably powerful light The Bazooka.
One of the interesting features is the switch. About 95% of the time I "strobe" lights, using the switch in momentary mode. The Bazooka's switch mechanism, extracted from a tapeswitch, is within the black ring. Pressing anywhere on the ring activates the switch. The advantage of this switch is that it doesn't add to the length of the light since it encircles the emitter / heatsink / electronic assembly. I'll figure out the disadvantages through use.
Here's a size comparison with a TigerLight on the left and a E1e/KL1 on the right.
I won't provide beamshots since the current reflector is the stock polished aluminum, and I suspect the metalized reflector (preferably orange peel) is perhaps 30% more efficient. The hotspot is about 1 foot in diameter at 15 feet.
I call this short, stubby, yet reasonably powerful light The Bazooka.
One of the interesting features is the switch. About 95% of the time I "strobe" lights, using the switch in momentary mode. The Bazooka's switch mechanism, extracted from a tapeswitch, is within the black ring. Pressing anywhere on the ring activates the switch. The advantage of this switch is that it doesn't add to the length of the light since it encircles the emitter / heatsink / electronic assembly. I'll figure out the disadvantages through use.
Here's a size comparison with a TigerLight on the left and a E1e/KL1 on the right.
I won't provide beamshots since the current reflector is the stock polished aluminum, and I suspect the metalized reflector (preferably orange peel) is perhaps 30% more efficient. The hotspot is about 1 foot in diameter at 15 feet.
