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**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
Hi there folks,
I'm new to this board, but have been reading most of the last few weeks of postings and have used search to look further back.
What I'm primarily interested in is LEDs. My current project is to update my head lamp I use when running in the evening (when it's dark, especially in the winter here in Germany) or while competing in night-orienteering events (Any orienteers around here? I didn't want to buy an expensive Silva or Mila, so I built my own...)
At the moment, I use a lamp I built using a front light reflector from a bicycle, modified to take a 6W and 10W halogen bulb. I can choose between these two bulbs with a switch. They are powered by two 7.2V/1700mAh rechargeable battery packs from my RC car. The two batteries can also be switched. They are carried in a "harness" made of an old foam sleeping-mat (you know, for camping), cut to a sort of bra worn backwards.
The reason why I switch between the two batteries is to reduce the risk of something vital breaking (for instance, a branch ripping the cable off one of the packs when I crawling through the undergrowth near an orienteering control) and leaving me standing in the dark. I use two different bulbs also to reduce failure, but also to have a normal light and a brighter light for when I need to shine down a path when I'm lost
Currently, each battery lasts about 60 minutes on 6W or about 45' on 10W. That makes a maximum safe time of 2 hours competition time.
I'm looking into upgrading to LEDs mainly for one reason: I'd like to increase shine-time while keeping the brightness of at least the 6W bulb. Of course I don't want to spend toooo much.
And now (after that rather long intro) to you all:
* Are LEDs an option at all? Or should I look into better batteries?
* What sort of LEDs would you recommend - I was thinking of 2 or 3 1W-Luxeons - but haven't yet got a clue about how they compare to a 6W-halogen.
* Of course I need voltage regulation - any ideas how best to reduce 7.2V down to 3V for the LS?
* Wich lens should I take - lamb. or batwing? Or maybe even mix them? One far-beam and two floods?
* What battery savings (= what run times) could I expect?
Any help on the above plus any other useful comments are welcome.
CU, Simon
I'm new to this board, but have been reading most of the last few weeks of postings and have used search to look further back.
What I'm primarily interested in is LEDs. My current project is to update my head lamp I use when running in the evening (when it's dark, especially in the winter here in Germany) or while competing in night-orienteering events (Any orienteers around here? I didn't want to buy an expensive Silva or Mila, so I built my own...)
At the moment, I use a lamp I built using a front light reflector from a bicycle, modified to take a 6W and 10W halogen bulb. I can choose between these two bulbs with a switch. They are powered by two 7.2V/1700mAh rechargeable battery packs from my RC car. The two batteries can also be switched. They are carried in a "harness" made of an old foam sleeping-mat (you know, for camping), cut to a sort of bra worn backwards.
The reason why I switch between the two batteries is to reduce the risk of something vital breaking (for instance, a branch ripping the cable off one of the packs when I crawling through the undergrowth near an orienteering control) and leaving me standing in the dark. I use two different bulbs also to reduce failure, but also to have a normal light and a brighter light for when I need to shine down a path when I'm lost
I'm looking into upgrading to LEDs mainly for one reason: I'd like to increase shine-time while keeping the brightness of at least the 6W bulb. Of course I don't want to spend toooo much.
And now (after that rather long intro) to you all:
* Are LEDs an option at all? Or should I look into better batteries?
* What sort of LEDs would you recommend - I was thinking of 2 or 3 1W-Luxeons - but haven't yet got a clue about how they compare to a 6W-halogen.
* Of course I need voltage regulation - any ideas how best to reduce 7.2V down to 3V for the LS?
* Wich lens should I take - lamb. or batwing? Or maybe even mix them? One far-beam and two floods?
* What battery savings (= what run times) could I expect?
Any help on the above plus any other useful comments are welcome.
CU, Simon