wtf. today the price is back!! actually the old price is still there at the bottom of the product webpage but once you click on the item, the price is reverted. so i pulled the trigger. the usual dinopoints, the usual 10$ off coupon code for $50+ orders, and some giftcard, and i my paypal checkout amount was reduced to 31.xx$.
Yesterday 98.99$, and today got it for 31.xx$ (=24.49€). Amazon Germany sells at 75-85€. Not a cheap DMM at all!
I BELIEVE I MADE THE DEAL OF MY CAREER!!! -- THANKS YOU DD, I LOVE DINOS!!
( all i can say is 4Sevens and its new AAA-keychain light has lost. my January money is now already invested in DD stuff, the DMM. )
Assuming that there are no fake UT's on the market, i am not going to open the product unless i need to exchange the fuses. I think that the UT61E is quite a bit superior to UT61A, so why havent you bought the "E"? It's the same DD paypal price haha :D
@ Vectrex: Thanks for that. So basically a cheapo MM is safely accurate for voltage readings when charging L-ions, but no good for, say, tailcap measurements (not that I have the first clue what they are, what they signify or how to do them)..
You know, I honestly think someone should suggest a tutorial or library sub-forum for BLF. It's such a great forum, and there's so much knowledge and info within these archives, but it's so scattered and buried. The search engine is very good, but type in any Q containing the words "Tailcap Reading" and you get over 100 hits, and none that I've found so far explain or take you through it. There are so many clever guys here, BLF could become the best flashlight learning facility on the planet.
true, Lensman. i will have that DMM and not know how to do tailcap readings properly. Especially with small lights (AAA keychain lights, ..) i wouldnt know how to do it. Once everything is connected i could do tailcap readings (amperage) over the capacity lifetime of the battery.. but a Ampere-Time-graph isnt very helpful since it's not the current which is stabilized but the brightness (brightness ~ power (watts) = amperage x voltage). When voltage drops, amperage will raise quite a bit in order to maintain constant LED power.
Without proper tutorials how would we know ..etc.. ?
It "can" be accurate and it's less of an issue compared to current readings. HKJ who is also a member here has made a nice DMM tutorial over at CPF and our very own flashlight wiki by brted is also a great start to get a hang on the most basic terms.
Look for cheap DMM (digital multi-meter) recommendations here or on CPF.
Lensman one general advice... try to post those questions in the according sub-forum(if you can find them)... otherwise Information will be scattered around more than it already is and it gets harder to find.
Yes, Flashlight Wiki is a amazing body of work, and hats off to brted for taking so much time and trouble. But with such a big subject there's a limit to how much specific detail can be covered by one person, or even two or three. E.g., I've tried "how do I take a tailcap reading?" in FW's search box and got no result, even after re-phrasing the question several different ways. Is there a "LED Flashlights For Dummies" book? I'd buy one in an instant..
Meantime, I'll read through HKJ's excellent article again, maybe this time I'll understand it a bit better. Perhaps I'm just thicker than the average apprentice flashaholic, but whereas kreisler might need help getting the hang of his MM (same here, of course), I don't even know what a 'tailcap reading' is. Or, just as important, what it actually means, or why these readings are so necessary. But I won't give up. I have to learn how to mod that torch to send to you. You know the one, no constant output but a choice of ten different blinky modes..
Thanking for the links.. it's just.. i cant post my questions there, i am banned on cpf
If i measure an Eneloop cell, i would get a reading like
"1.1873 V ±(0.1%+2)",
or "4.2108 V ±(0.1%+2)" for a LiIon cell.
Tailcap current would be
"193.78 mA ±(0.5%+10)" on Low mode, and
"0.7463 A ±(1.2%+50)" on High mode.
Since i dont know this kind of notation (and i didnt get the cpf post), is anyone able to write down the calculation (equations) of the four ranges for the 4 cases?
Or maybe i should just give up, cancel the DD order, and go watch 2 movies in the theatre with the saved money.
or maybe watch only 1 movie but ask a Spanish girl to go with me to the cinema :D (Of course i'd have my Romisen, Quark or AAA lights with me hehe).
He would have found out how CPF works sooner or later by himself and I used enough smilies to show that I was half joking.... a new account is easily made though. Welcome to the club of ass baiters kreisler... I think we need some sort of medal for that.
well, some of the mods (and probably some dealers too) got pi$$ed by my signature (which i adopted for BLF, see my sig) and when i repeatedly mentioned in my posts "i've ordered it too. but from DX. see my sig. .." they saw RED. later i found out that they call it "shilling" :D and that it was one of the main reasons for the ban
-- THANKS YOU DD, I LOVE DINOS!! 
