Nightbuster Clipper--thoughts?

I came across the Nightbuster Clipper on Brock's led page. Sounds very interesting. He gave it a good review, but didn't comment on the usefulness of the clip and how comfortable the included head strap was.

Any thoughts on how it compares to other 3 led lights? Particularly the Petzl Tikka/Zipka and the Princeton Attitude? I'd really love a flashlight in this category that does everything...lightweight, small, fits in a pocket easily, and works great as both a flashlight and as a headlamp. Perhaps I'm asking for too much, but...

Question about the princeton attitutde--Am I correct in assuming that the fourth battery does nothing? It at least extends the battery life of the flashlight, right?

I have never used either of them as headlamps. I do use the clipper 3 led light quite a bit while running at night now. Actually it is the headlight on my wifes bike while I run. Again I like it because it doesn't have side spill light.

Craig if your here, the is using a resistor to drop the 4th battery right? I know it uses a resistor, so it is wasting some power, maybe not the whole 4th battery.

I saw the Nightbuster at the Sports Authority the other day for only $8! Got real excited and grabbed the package, but it turned out to be an incandescent version. Bummer.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
Craig if your here, the is using a resistor to drop the 4th battery right? I know it uses a resistor, so it is wasting some power, maybe not the whole 4th battery.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, I couldn't get on CPF at all yesterday... it was f$*%&ked all day and all night. I was just hoping the database didn't get hosed as well.

The Attitude... to resistor, or not to resistor... that is the question.

Let's crack that baby open and see what's in there. (turns on worklight, fires up Sidplayer, fishes through toolbox...)

There's a tiny 1/8 watt resistor.
Brown, green, black. Tolerance band is gold.
Anyone memorise their resistor colors?
There's no way to get a meter in there.

I couldn't get on CPF at all yesterday... it was f$*%&ked all day and all night.

Aaahhhh....so it wasn`t just me then . And there I was, beating the cr*p out of my modem thinking it had packed in again . I couldn`t get into the LED-Museum either, or another US based site I frequent, about xmas lights. Someone must`ve tripped over an important fiber cable or something...


anyway,
Brown, green, black. Tolerance band is gold.


(looks at idiot`s guide to resistor values stuck on wardrobe door) 15 ohms, tolerance is 5%.

For those who are interested....


*** IDIOT`s GUIDE to RESISTORS ***

0 = Black
1 = Brown
2 = Red
3 = Orange
4 = Yellow
5 = Green
6 = Blue
7 = Purple (most call it Violet....maybe I`m just odd?)
8 = Grey
9 = White

4 stripes? First 2 are the first digits and the 3rd is the number of Zeros added, ie the multiplier. Rarely seen, but Silver, I think, is x0.1 and Gold is x0.01. Last band offset from the rest is the tolerance. I know gold is 5% but I don`t have the rest listed on my Idiot`s Guide here.

5 (or 6) stripes? First 3 are the first digits, the 4th is the multiplier. 5th and 6th are Temperature coefficient and Tolerance respectively, and are usually offset from the first 4. Temperature Coefficient is not always present.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
4 stripes? First 2 are the first digits and the 3rd is the number of Zeros added, ie the multiplier. Rarely seen, but Silver, I think, is x0.1 and Gold is x0.01.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It depends on what you need .-) If you need very small values, yopu will see them more often...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Last band offset from the rest is the tolerance. I know gold is 5%
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Silver is 10%, none is 20%, brown and red are 1% and 2% (of course).
1% resistors have 4 bands for the value.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
5 (or 6) stripes? First 3 are the first digits, the 4th is the multiplier. 5th and 6th are Temperature coefficient and Tolerance respectively,<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

5th used to be 'failure rate'

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
*** IDIOT`s GUIDE to RESISTORS ***

0 = Black
1 = Brown
2 = Red
3 = Orange
4 = Yellow
5 = Green
6 = Blue
7 = Purple (most call it Violet....maybe I`m just odd?)
8 = Grey
9 = White
)[/QB]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Back in engineering school (many months ago), I learned an easy way to remember this: "Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls, But Violet Goes Willingly." The first letter of each word is the first letter of a color, starting with "0." Just remember that Black is first, and the last "G" is Grey.

It might be politically incorect, but I still remember it!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Harrkev:
Back in engineering school (many months ago), I learned an easy way to remember this: <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The order is more or less in rainbow order. This was enough for me to remember it, even when I did not need it for some time.