Sneak Peak: Aleph-19-UV

Hi !

Here's a little glimpse of the upcoming new Aleph head ... the Aleph-19-UV.



In this pic it is mounted on an Aleph CR2 flanged body with a bald 2-stage tailcap running on a CR2.

The head is powering a Cree 7090 UV LED with a NG333 converter and uses a new 19mm reflector ... the McR-19.



Here it is shown versus the Aleph2 and its 20mm reflector. Note that thenew 19mm is way deeper! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
The head uses the new /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif bezel ring that the McLuxIII-PD also sports as well as a Sapphire window. It isn't knurled.
Apart from those little differences, it is just a new ALeph head using a LE, only that in this case the LE is special ... UV.

Beamshots at various exposures as well as black and white, each time vs. an Inova X5T-UV with full batteries:





Note that opposed to the Inova the beam is perfect. In addition to the usual UV-flood this reflector offers a nice hotspot with the power to make things glow ... burn ... in a bright glare whereas the Inova only manages to achiieve a dull glow. The coronas however don't differ much.

All this is very nice.
BUT ... one can screw in other LEs with different LEDs to try out the new reflector!
A few examples:



And ... tata ... the LuxV (you heard it coming, didn't you /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif):



A nice and almost even round beautiful flood.

With a LuxIII (sorry, no pic) you'll get a very floody yet not fully artifact-free beam.

In the end ... this one seems to be a very nice and forgiving reflector, and coupled with the Cree UV LED like in this package it is a pretty impressing Blacklight with some throw.

Point is ... you get a very small, fully regulated, highly efficient and relatively powerful UV light with impressive runtimes, depending on battery combinations in the modular system you are using. Should be a very nice accessory for SF E-Series user ... as an optional replacement head! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Don /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

On the downside ... it is longer than the Aleph2 head and looks a bit goofy on some bodies, but that is just me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Note that with the McE2S 2-stage switch the low is lower than what you'd expect ... I took a nice shot in the eye at 333mA because I anticipated the low-mode, didn't even see it, and received high ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

bernie

EDIT: edited in Don's comments from below as they seem essential to me and correct my statements where encessary /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

"It may help to keep in mind that the beam shots are showing you the reflected visible portion of the light as well as any fluorescent excitation of the target but don't actually show the UV portion of the beam or its relative intensity, necessarily.

In some comparative experimentation with the Cree 7090 UV with a Nichia 2W and Shark 6W, the Cree really puts out!!!

According to the data sheets, the Cree puts out 200 mW of radiant flux as does the Shark and the Nichia sample I have is at about 90mW. The Cree, at just over a watt is the clear winner in terms of efficacy! This I should add is also at about 1/10 the price! "

I gotta get me one of those! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif (I don't think scorpions will care how "goofy" it looks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif )

Larry

Nifty!

Wilkey

Very nice! I want one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drool.gif

The further throw than the classical 5mm UV lights should be helpful for the hunt. Oh boy, I am really glad we do not have those critters here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/aaa.gif

The head should be released very soon AFAIK.

bernie

Nice shots Bernhard! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

It may help to keep in mind that the beam shots are showing you the reflected visible portion of the light as well as any fluorescent excitation of the target but don't actually show the UV portion of the beam or its relative intensity, necessarily.

In some comparative experimentation with the Cree 7090 UV with a Nichia 2W and Shark 6W, the Cree really puts out!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

According to the data sheets, the Cree puts out 200 mW of radiant flux as does the Shark and the Nichia sample I have is at about 90mW. The Cree, at just over a watt is the clear winner in terms of efficacy! This I should add is also at about 1/10 the price! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

As I have mentioned elsewhere, I designed the McR-19 specifically for use with the Cree 7090UV but as it turns out, I believe it will have great utility as a flood reflector for other LED's. Ironically, to appreciate its distribution of light with other LED's like the 5W Bernhard has mentioned above, one would want to make comparisons of lux readings in the spill or corona portion of the beam, in both absolute values and in comparison to thelux of the spot portion. This is a data base that is pretty empty at present! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

A pair of beam shots between a KL4 and the A-19-5W that showed their relative overall size as well as intensity distribution would be illuminating.

One final word, the A-19-UV is bright and dangerous!!!

Kiessling, will the original still be available when this is in production? I really like the beamshots I have seen
of the II. VDG

Don, this reflector concentrates the spill into a smaller brigther area due to the deepness, and the hotspot is wider than usual... correct? I wonder if the LuxIII turns into a solid even distrubtion of light in a tighter circle than a McFlood...

It would be intersting to see this with a LuxV or on the opposite side- other LED's with a small beam angle like 70degrees.... Due to the deepness it should perform better than other reflectors of it's size.

Didn't Cree discontiune the UV though? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

voodoogreg ... this is a new head, it won't replace the Aleph2. In fact, this one will be the fourth Aleph head.




Isaav ... it is what the McFlood should have been, but the beam isn't perfect with the LuxIII, it has some artifacts. Sorry, no pic and no time at the moment ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Don ... I once spent a whole day trying to figure out how to measure lux in coronas, but failed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Problem is that even when coronas look perfectly even like with the McR-20 in the Aleph2, they arent and they tend to get hotter when approaching the hotspot.
So ... I did not find a suitable algorism to define the best spot to measure as we have so many different reflective systems. And to have values that lead to a valid conclusion this algorism needs to be pretty good.
In addition to that, the lux values of coronas are usually relatively low and thus differences tend to look small on numbers yet might be quite visible.

If you got an idea about a solution I am all ears!

Another thing ... you are correct about your tech-talk about the LEDs ... I do not have a clue there. Will add this valuable info to the first post for clarification, thanx!

bernie

OK ... couldn't resist and sacrificed my sleep:

McR-19 with a LuxIII:


You can see a hint of the bond wires here, but onyl a hint.

McR-19 LuxV vs. SF L4 at an unspecified low mode and in full blast. The LuxVs in both lights were of unknown bin, the L4 is driven approx. at 660mA and the other one ar a mere 400mA !!





And finally a shot of two Wiz2 520mA units ... one in the Aleph2 with McR-20 and the other in the new McR-19. Bins were TY0J and R2H:




In the end ... an astonishing reflector that seems to produce a relatively similar and always good beam with a huge variety of light sources that are quite different each other !! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

bernie

Thanks Bernhard!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif Get some sleep! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

Isaac Hayes,

The spill or corona is indeed choked down and intensified due to the large depth of reflector to focal length ratio. This would add light to the reflected portion only, if the focus were perfect, the surface perfectly smooth and the light source an infinitely small point. Because none of those conditions are met and given the very small focal length to image size, light is not well collimated and the divergence of the beam is rather great. There is some intensity in the center as you can see but its relative magnitude is no where near as great as a typical hotspot when compared to its corona or spill.

What I wasn't anticipating is just how forgiving this reflector is! You know how difficult it is to find a sweet spot for the Lux 5W! Heck with the reflector down against the 5W the focal point of the reflector is way away from the die and yet I have seen much worse artifacts and nulls in larger reflectors with optimal allignment! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

If you are familiar with the "wall of light" from the L4 look closely at Bernie's comparitive beam shots and consider the drop from spot to corona of the L4 compared to the transisition seen in the McR-19. At any distance in a real and diverse field of illumination, there is no sense of an overpowering hotspot, more just that of a flood of light. If you add a beam shaper to this, I don't think you will find a better moderately choked flood!

[ QUOTE ]
Kiessling said:
voodoogreg ... this is a new head, it won't replace the Aleph2. In fact, this one will be the fourth Aleph head.

[

[/ QUOTE ] Cool, good news. I haven't got a few thing's I want yet. One being an aleph II head for my VG 1x123 bodies.
Then a chop Exe/VG mod 1x123, and finally a gizmo 1x123 bod with a two stage cap. VDG

I thought Cree abandoned the UV LED? Also wasn't/isn't it about 390nm?

-LT

It has not passed into production status yet but they make them. I believe the peak pass band is 385 - 410.

Very nice and practical

Very interested in this light. Hope to be able to afford one.

Rick

Don, it looks like your reflector also at least partially solved a challenge with the Cree part that I saw in my early bench testing using conventional reflectors - That Blue ring on the edge was being thrown into the main beam, and making it look sort of a hazy blue color.

It looks like perhaps your setup has a better handle on the management of this blue ring "contamination" effect. Nice work.

From the limited experience I have with this McR-19 it seems that you can feed this thing with any kind of LED and it will always give a a concentrated flood beam with few artifacts!
Interesting that is ... the force is strong in this one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif
bernie

I tried 15 different optics/reflector options with the Cree UV and finally settled on using the lense and host from an Inova X1 because it was the only thing that could gather the light in a decent spot. The McR-19 would have saved me a lot of time and money. I'm still sitting on 9 of these UV leds. Looks like they may have a home after all.

Any estimate on availability?

thx,
ernest

Very cool !!!

Looks like a great little reflector indeed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Will