Opalec Newbeam

Just received my newbeam mini-mag mod and had it installed in under a minute. A very nice conversion that breathes new life into my mag. I look forward to trying it out this evening in total darkness but it seems pretty bright. I made sure to install some pretty old batteries and it's still very bright. Wonder how long till the red LED indicator lights.

A little expensive but VERY nice.

I sought the answer to the question of length of time untill "Red Light" this past weekend. With fresh batteries, the answer is..AT LEAST 10 HOURS! And when the red light comes on , it's hard to see as the other three leds are still quite bright! The info card that comes with the kit appears to be accurate.

I think the NewBeam is a fantastic product, there`s very little I can fault about it. So much so that it gets 48/50 in its review- that will be hard to beat. That review will hit the Torch Reviews site very soon- like tonight or tomorrow.

A graphed battery life test on it will hopefully take place this weekend or early next week, then we`ll see how flat that regulator is. It depends on how busy I am and what I`m doing computer-wise. Battery tests currently tie up the PC till they`re done and I`ve a feeling the Newbeam will be quite a long one.

As I kept saying on my old review pages, Stay tuned!

The voltage at which the red light comes on is around 2.27vdc (1.14vdc +1.13vdc) as measured on the unit I tested. That's unloaded voltage..batteries out of the Minimag.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ken B:
I was worried that to ask this question would open me up to severe critasisom from the group...but then I realised that everyone here is great and kind. What is a Newbeam?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Is this that dimbulb-beam pesky Ken B. hiding behind a new handle???
-critasisom, hmmmmm..yup, it's that Ken B. alright, and I'm calling the speeling police immediately!

You forgot www.ledmuseum.org/newbeam.htm

Wow, five star rating...this convert does sound nice. Hold on...someones knocking on my door...umm...speeling police are here looking for someone named Ken B...not me man...nooo. Damm that glow guy!

From now on it`s MR. dimbulb-beam to you Doug.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The LED Museum:
You forgot www.ledmuseum.org/newbeam.htm <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know how to spell it right, but "mia couppa"!

That's why I bought one, because of your review!

How could I forget.

Must have been my trans-warp inducers, they were out of allignment, causing tetrion particles to go into the nacells!

hey budd, it's more like 'mea culpa'... but nice try

chris

OK guys, what's the straight poop on using these with the older style light? Seems that's all I've got around here, and my goal isn't to buy MORE outdated lights... just updated the old ones I already have. I heard one instance where an old Mag was used, and it seemed to work fine. What's the deal? Is it just a strength issue? Would epoxying the thing in permanently solve that problem? Anybody? I guess it is worth $30 to find out for myself, but if I'm more confident in them I'd order two or three right off the bat.

Thanks,

You forgot www.ledmuseum.org/newbeam.htm

And now there is another one you can add: find it in the LED section at the Torch Reviews site. Gets the highest score so far, a hard-to-beat 48/50! (shameless plug!**).


Darell- the reason why the NewBeam won`t fit older mags is mentioned in my review, under the "Operation" subsection of its page. (another shameless plug!**). It`s down to the shape of the lugs that hold the thing in place- the holes in the older mags are semicurcular whereas they are round on the new ones. There is a photo of these new shape holes there- you`ll see.

**Sorry. But I have been so slow at getting these first updates ready (due to work! Damn day-job...) that I almost feel like celibrating.

Thanks Chris. Seems easy enough to modify. I know that *somebody* has done it. Where'd you go, whoever you are?

This is looking more like a must-have every day. I sure hope others will jump on the "flat output" bandwagon soon. BUT, I also notice that nobody seems to have done an objective output curve yet. Or did I miss that too? Is the output before the red indicator glows REALLY 100% flat?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dimbeam:
Wow, five star rating...this convert does sound nice. Hold on...someones knocking on my door...umm...speeling police are here looking for someone named Ken B...not me man...nooo. Damm that glow guy!

From now on it`s MR. dimbulb-beam to you Doug.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very appropriate new-New handle there, guy-but we still know who you are by your speilling---dead give-away, "MR. BULB"

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ChrisA:
hey budd, it's more like 'mea culpa'... but nice try

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I had to go look that one up. Never was much into latin, but thankfully, google.com is.

Darell I put one in an old mini mag, and I mean old and it works fine. I don't see why it wouldn't work. Has anyone got one that it won't work in yet? It did fit better in the new mini mag I bought (yes I have 2).

Off to get the light, new batteries and the meter, hummm, maybe I should wait or I will be up at 4 am, ahhh I will start now anyway.

Ok first reading is 35 mcd, right on the money. I will keep editing this post, probably every 15 min, but post it in 1/2 hour to hour shots.

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Let`s see...new style Lightwave 2000...Newbeam convert...CMG Reactor. I can only afford one. What too do?

Brock,

Could you please provide the details of how the measurements were taken?

Thanks!

Richard

I use a cheap old G.E. analog camera light meter that is calibrated to candlepower. Then I move the lights to 1 foot exactly (a little holder I made up) then just read the meter. I can't say for sure it is really 35cp or 3500mcd, but since I meter all my lights exactly the same way I can compare between all the lights I have checked with this setup.

The good thing is my numbers are pretty close to Craig's (The LED Museum) readings on his $10,000 machine, but only if I stay in the 1 to 50 range, they get a bit wonkey in the 1 to 250 or 1 to 1000 ranges.

MR.dimbulb-beam I personally would choose the Opalec because I like the size of the 2 AA light rather then the larger 3 AA size. The truly regulated output is really nice too. The Lightwave will start brighter, but I suspect it would only be brighter for about the first 30 minutes. Hey did I miss something (this baby thing is distracting, but very cool), what is the CMG reactor?

08:30-35
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Brock - Thanks for doing those measurements. And thanks for letting me know about fitting the unit in an older Mag. Did you have to modify anything to make it fit? Sounds like it is working perfectly so far!

To catch up on CMG rumors, look here.

I was worried that to ask this question would open me up to severe critasisom from the group...but then I realised that everyone here is great and kind. What is a Newbeam?