making a small batch of Texas Avenger "TA" Drivers fully tested running Bistro or Narsil, Clicky or E-switch, SIR800

This sounds great. Let me know when your ready to order it. If you only have 1 or 2 of this driver instead of 3, I might order one more so your not left with too many unsold drivers. Maybe I will buy another L6 to put it in. Lol

O.P. got updated with some other options
for 20mm and bigger sizes its likely to choose a spring with bigger diameter, that has less height when compressed

The extra boards on the 30mm are pretty cheap, the most comes from parts costs
only on 46mm SRK sizes the PCB price gets close as the parts for it costs, so it makes no sense to sell only one of this size and have 2 boards for 11$ left

I am not planning to stock those drivers in different sizes, just produce what is requested here and order some more of the 17 and 30mm,
as I am sure there will be more requests for those sizes as I wait for the parts

ordered today 200 AMC7135

As i had pretty long delivery time compared to Oshpark boards last time
Digikey delivers within a few days

I tested Narsil v1.4 today, seems to work fine

Had a short chat with Tom as there were no clear comments about the new startup configure lines
Seems LVP for 2S configuration will be implemented in Narsil triple,
as Narsil for the Q8 is similar to Triple v1.2 where the LVP for 2S works he can port the part with LVP and temp calibration to the triple easier

I forgot to show my old used crappy test bench for drivers

here for temp calibration with hairdryer

Does Oshpark just make the empty circuit boards and you have to buy all the components and solder them on?

Exactly !

I have a couple questions regarding the narsil driver for skilhunt h02.
I want to have the least parasitic drain possible. Do I need LDO? Are there disadvantages to LDO?
Will the e-switch indicator led option increase the parasitic drain.
Since its a 1S light I’m assuming the driver will have low voltage protection. Will I loose LVP by having the indicator option?

It seems that you forgot me in the 1st post :slight_smile:

Low voltage warning is quite obvious on a DD light, it will get very dim, like <0.5 Lumens on a XHP70 when the batteries get below 2.8V

LVP shuts down the light in any case, LVWarning just reminds you to switch batteries, both is running in Narsil v1.2 fine for 2S
In 2S configuration the MCU does not see the cells voltage from Vcc of the MCU as it is regulated with the LDO
In Narsil v1.2 the LVP is on Pin 7 with a seperate set of resistors, no problem to flash this, but you loose temperature stepdown and indicator LED

in v1.3 and 1.4 he added there a indicator LED, those also have temperature stepdown

he is working very much on Narsil for the Q8, and will look into getting the 2S LVP
if he releases v1.5 I bet there is an option in the code to switch between indicator LED and LVP on Pin 7

it comes down that the Attiny 85 has a limited amount of IO pins, if it had more he would not have to remove the LVP in v1.3

The first 10 driver I soldered with an iron, took me about 35-40 minutes for each driver

This batch i will order solder paste and reflow em
I hope to get below 20 minutes per driver to assemble the driver reflowing

Bistro:flashing and testing Bistro adds another 10 minutes,
but a faulty one eats easily half an hour or more if you have to unsolder the 7135 for example if one is faulty

Narsil: Configuring code for different setups, flashing, testing, add resistors for Diodes and temperature calibrate the Narsil takes about 20 minutes

In both cases its possible to modify mode groups in source code if requested
or configure the driver as you like
It will add a little fee as it takes time

I calculated the prices above with about 10$ per hour just the time to assemble and test,
the first ones will be slower but with that many drivers I can reduce the time

the raw material costs for a 21mm Narsil are about 8$

there is no more parasitic drain on the 1 cell driver than the original Skilhunt driver
The LDO is only for 6V LEDs like XHP50, XHP70, or MTG2, with it the parasitic drain is also really low

just the 6V driver with Zener mod draws a few mA when off
as there are such nice LDO boards i would not recommens anyone a 2S driver with zener diode
a few hundred uA can be used for lighted sideswitch adding the bleeder resistor mid air and solder the LED wire on it

the indicator LED can be configured in Narsil to act as locator beacon, only this will increase parasitic drain, but the 1S driver got in any case LVP ad shuts down when the voltage drops betwenn 2.8 and 3V

you can read the manual for narsil, to see what a rich set of functions it has

the main settings are:
Setting # Function Clicks Defaults
1 Ramping Mode 1=disable, 2=enable; 2
2 Choose Mode Set 1-8 (1-7 is # of modes) – see Mode Sets; 4
3 Moon Mode 1=disable, 2=enable; 2
4 Mode ordering 1= sets low-hi, 2=sets hi-low; 1
5 Mode Memory 1=disable, 2=enable; 1
6 Turbo Timeout 1=disable, 2=30 secs, 3=60 secs, 4=90 secs,5=2 mins, 6=3 mins, 7=5 mins, 8=10 mins; 1
7 Blinky mode 1=disable, 2=one strobe, 3=all strobes/beacons; 3

the optional settings are:
1 Set Moonlight Level 1 - 7 (PWM value); 3
2 Active Temperature Regulation 1=disable, 2=enable; 2
3 Locator LED feature 1=disable, 2=enable; 2
4 Batt/Temp/Vers Ind. LED Only 1=disable, 2=enable; 2
5 Indicator LED Enable 1=disable, 2=enable; 2
6 Power switch modes w/mem 1=disable, 2=enable; 1

added

I also thought about UV hardened glue to fix the position of the SMD parts before reflowing

I have no expirience with it, I guess watch the reflow on my stove and carefully push misaligned parts with a toothpick should work as well

Anyone got expirience with reflowing boards with 0603 parts?
This should make it possible to both sides of the boards reflow in one run

ordered this stuff
http://www.ebay.de/itm/LOCA-UV-Kleber-Flussigkeit-Glue-Liquid-optical-Adhesive-Glas-5ml-TP-2500-Display/302232076414?\_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&\_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D42828%26meid%3Dc011195028cb42a0bb646d450424cdb8%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D381860372429

It’s really nice to see the driver available from an EU source as :+1: well

I would like :
Two 21mm 1s short spring, with Narsil (for two Skilhunt H02)

What version of Bistro is it ? TA’s version or TK’s version.

Skilhunt H02 needs the Narsil firmware as it is sideswitch only
current release is v1.4 for 1S lights
unless you want switch modes by unscrewing thailcap with Bistro

The Narsil driver will be equipped with an 4.7k resistor for the switch LED
the red wire goes to the LED of a resistor soldered to pin 7

this is my modded H03 with narsil 21mm
first try on reflow soldering with 0.3mm solder wire, definately need paste

Ok i would rather have the latest Narsil version with indicator and power LED and temperature stepdown

I don’t think there is switch LED in the Skilhunt H02.

I am thinking of ordering a 17mm 1s with Bistro for a C8, so I would still like to know what version of Bistro it is :wink:

Made 22mm (or 21mm) LDO driver with 0603 resistors. Nothing extremely difficult , you just need to be careful placing the 0603 parts because they are tiny .

It is TA bistro with Triple channel.
Mode groups and hidden modes are different from stock Bistro.

This has all the information and link to firmware

Ok skilhunt H02 has no indicator LED, but you could add one

Thanks, can you please put me down for a 20mm 1S Bistro as well,you don’t need to add the resistor to the two 21mm drivers putting a indicator LED in the switch is way beyond my skill set :slight_smile:

EDIT : 20mm 1S Bistro long spring

an easy way to place an indicator LED is drill 2 small holes through the switch PCB
use some epoxy to glue the wires in there so that the insulation is a tiny bit outside so there is no short
the glue helps to cover copper if there is some where you drilled the holes
then solder a SMD LED on the 2 wire ends

Good news for the 2S drivers

I am going to order the parts and boards next Monday

OP updated prices for phodsphor bronze springs and increased costs on Digikey.de due to changed parts costs

Is the indicator led the red one and seperate from the green power led? I’m hoping to have some type of led to show me when my rear switch is turned on (for an L6). Also to help me find it in the dark.