New Convoy C8 – Clearly better

Biking strobe is about a 50% level I think, with a one second stutter of High or Turbo that gives like 5 or 6 pulses in that second. It’s main objective is to make a car driver realize that the light he’s seeing needs some attention, it’s not static.

Does this driver use the stutter or the flash? Same basic idea either way, except the flash only flashes once instead of “stuttering”. I prefer the flash myself, the stutter is quite annoying as a driver IMHO.

First you think it is a cop, then you get distracted and keep watching the light. A proven fact is that you are FAR more likely to hit something if you are looking at it while driving. When racing on a track you learn to always look where you want to go and never at anyplace you don’t. So I could actually see the flash being better for the biker as well.

The flash is enough to let you know something is there but not enough to distract IMHO.

It’s the bicycle strobe that TK has put on the A6 and Bistro before this. Same thing.

Not sure what you mean by flash vs stutter. In about 1 second it flashes 5 or 6 times, I call that a stutter, result is the same to me. When in the configuration mode the “stutter” is dimmer, whereas in the Bicycle Strobe it’s brighter.

FWIW, I too have been trained to hit what I’m looking at and have wondered if an inebriated driver would be prone to hit the flickering light or steer clear.

Simon is truly a certified flashaholic!

Out of the box you already have a light that comes with AR coated lens, DTP board and a driver with awesome UI, it is indeed a strong rival to the XinTD C8 especially at a lower price.

Now imagine that Simon would use a FET driver in this light… :stuck_out_tongue:

If I don’t already have two C8 which were modded by myself few years ago I would’ve bought this shiny Convoy C8 in a heartbeat!

In the bistro firmware options TK has 2 different bike modes setup. One is what you are referring to with the “stutter”. The other is a simple single flash at the same time interval. I prefer the single flash myself. I was not sure which one she put into this firmware.

Of the hundred plus drivers I’ve built with Bistro, I’ve yet to see that. Interesting.

The option is under the “full_biking_strobe” option. If you comment that out it will go to the basic single flash instead.

Same deal as the police strobe, if you comment out the “Police_strobe” define, it will revert to the simple constant strobe instead of the alternating one.

Once again I prefer the simple version as strobe is basically worthless in a tactical situation over turbo. Strobe IS fun to play with due to the way people seem to go into stop motion on the other hand and the constant strobe does this better. I actually added a few different constant strobes to my version of bistro since I had some extra space left. Great way to have fun at night with kids!

I just tested two variations of Bistro, the one that shipped in the X6/X5 lights and the revision that was SUPPOSED to have shipped. Both have the same bicycle strobe whether reversing into it from moon or setting it up as option level 8 on the newer firmware. Either way, they both work the same. About 2 seconds on a medium output level (about 400-500 lumens) then one second of stutter which is about 6 flashes of Turbo.

What am I missing?

TAce is saying in the code for Bistro (before flashing to the MCU) you can set if biking strobe “stutters” or just does a single bright flash every few seconds. He is asking which option is built into biscotti or whatever we’re calling it.

The stutter is the default. That is what comes in the X6/X5 and that is what is in Bistro-mini for Convoy as far as I remember… I sent the primary C8 test light to JDub, he can verify it…. I just remembered I also have it on my ReyLight Brass AA… hang on…

Bistro-mini has bicycle strobe in three places, level 1, 4 and 7. All three have the stutter in the bicycle strobe.

I don’t ever open Bistro in my AVR programmer because it wont re-write it - I always get a ton of cautions and errors with any change. And since I seldom use Bistro due to the bounce-to-moon issue I haven’t seen that option.

And FWIW, I did open the Bistro-mini in AVR and it’s MUCH different, there’s a veritable Library of stuff in there! A simple change I tried to make gave me all the errors in the build so again, I haven’t modified it.

Edit: I’m assuming what you’re asking is found in this section of the code…

#define TURBO RAMP_SIZE // Convenience code for turbo mode
#define BATTCHECK 254 // Convenience code for battery check mode
#define GROUP_SELECT_MODE 253
//#define TEMP_CAL_MODE 252
// Uncomment to enable tactical strobe mode
#define STROBE 251 // Convenience code for strobe mode
// Uncomment to unable a 2-level stutter beacon instead of a tactical strobe
#define BIKING_STROBE 250 // Convenience code for biking strobe mode
// comment out to use minimal version instead (smaller)
#define FULL_BIKING_STROBE
//#define RAMP 249 // ramp test mode for tweaking ramp shape
//#define POLICE_STROBE 248
//#define RANDOM_STROBE 247

Yeah, the only way to access the single flash version is by editing the code for bistro. By default it is the stutter option. It does take up a lot more space then the single flash though so I was not sure if TK may have gone to the single flash for the tiny13.

Far as the errors go, we were talking about this in the firmware thread a week or 2 ago. TomE posted some things to get bistrol to compile on Atmel studio, I gave up awhile back and just use linix for it now. I might try atmel again at some point.

Correct, if you comment out “#define FULL_BIKING_STROBE” by changing it to “//#define FULL_BIKING_STROBE” then it will only give a single flash instead of the stutter.

Looking at that sinpit of code, it looks like TK simply edited out all the options for bistro to get the size down to Tiny13 sizes. I should look at the full code, with an OTC added to a 105C I wonder if it would work like bistro on the 13A with most of the features removed. I have some 105c’s to use up but had not decided on a firmware.

After my initial problems, it’s compiling fine for me too. You just have to get all the directories right for the header files. Definitely different than everything on the 13 was.

Anyways, wrong thread

Yeah, we should move this discussion to the firmware thread.

I like how TK set’s it up, can’t wrap my damaged cells around the code to make changes anyway, so… shrug. Some famous person once said “It is what it is.” (Yes, I know, it was Justin… aka Old-Lumens)

Should Bicycle Lights Blink?

This makes a certain amount of sense.

It is telling that German laws regarding bicycle lights favor non-blinking lights. IMO, Germany now has the most farsighted bicycle laws of any nation. Front and rear lights are required to be standard equipment on all new bikes. A short search led me to this quote: "Lighting: Non-blinking front headlamp to illuminate the road of white or pale yellow color. A red rear taillight that stays lit when stationary. [see § 67 StVZO in German.]"

Ultimately, these are issues that need to be given thorough scientific study. Anecdotally, you may prefer bicycle lights that do not blink. That, however, does not mean very much. Whether bicycles with non-blinking lights are involved in fewer accidents than those with blinking lights can only be determined by well-designed studies.

the C8 you linked there does not have the new driver.

The only Convoy light that uses the new driver right now is the clear anodized Convoy C8 which also uses XPL-HI among other changes. More lights will be getting the driver upgrade but the migration is going to take some time. Until then, you have two options to get the new firmware in many Convoy lights.

  1. If you’re handy enough to do a driver swap Simon has the drivers with the new firmware ready to go. The new driver boards with the Biscotti firmware are red and can be purchased here. .
  2. If you’re tech savvy enough (and have the hardware) to flash driver firmware yourself the files are available in ToyKeeper’s firmware repository.

In answer to your question about the Nitecore chargers in Simon’s store being authentic, yes they certainly are. As will34 and Texas_Ace said, you will not find fake products in Simon’s store. You can shop there with complete confidence. Keep in mind there are a few stores even on Aliexpress that have been caught selling fake Convoy lights. If on Aliexpress make sure the store name listed near the top of the page is “Shenzhen Convoy Electronics Co., Ltd”. :+1:

You need to fix PWM level in current firmware version. Now they are too high.