Talk about future projects and donation topic

What is the QT light? Are you saying you prefer to call the “ShortThrower” the “QuadThrower” instead?

I have a free day tomorrow. Might be able to sqeeze some design time in the planning. :smiley:

Short thrower. Being a quad P cell setup and that long tube (modding galore with the single LED and larger reflector) I think it fits a Q-series
Makes it clear things Lego.
Is something to build on.

Yes the long tube would make 2S mods for the Q8 easier.

Cool Thijsco19, it is as much from the Q8 as possible
So the head area at the tube identical, cut outs on the fins the same, but more fins
Same bezel and such, you received the Q8 CADs this morning.

QT = cutie
:slight_smile:

and it just got better :smiley:

Love the drawings. When l grow up I’m going to be able draw pictures just like yours. :slight_smile:

This is totally unrelated to flashlights, but QT is a bit of a pet peeve because the Qt GUI toolkit has been a pain in my rear for about two decades now. On the surface it looks nice, a full-featured GUI toolkit which offers cross-platform portability including embedded devices. However, it uses its own programming language which is just different enough from C to need its own compiler, and Qt and its parent company have held back portable Linux devices for decades by wrecking multiple embedded projects. If you’ve ever wondered why smartphones still kinda suck in the year 2017, the answer is largely because of Qt.

First there was the “Familiar” linux distro, a project created by and for the community, and it did all sorts of cool things. It achieved “convergence” back in 2000 or 2001, allowing handheld devices to act like small desktop computers — running the same programs, acting as an extra display, using a regular keyboard and mouse when desired, etc. I had mine set up so I could literally just move the cursor off my desktop screen and onto the handheld like a detachable second monitor. But then Trolltech (owner of Qt) came in and basically broke the community’s relationships with hardware companies, replacing the nice community platform with an incompatible proprietary one. This effectively killed the community projects, and then the market failed since the new platform sucked.

Eventually Google jumped in and made Android, which revived that market. However, Android was mostly incompatible with what the community was using, and that has continued to give it problems to this day. It probably would have died like all the other proprietary platforms, except Google is big enough to force it not to fail.

With the market revived, and only incompatible platforms available, there was a renewed cry for convergence and compatibility. So several projects started, including the Ubuntu phone. It promised all the things we used to have back in Familiar days. But it was based on Qt again, and was incompatible again, and instead of giving the community what it wanted, the Ubuntu phone tried to create a brand new proprietary platform and get people to migrate to it. Unsurprisingly, it failed, that entire branch of my company got laid off, and Qt was a big part of that. And now the market is mostly dead again.

To me, Qt is a symbol of what goes wrong when companies try to override the community and tell the people what they want instead of listening and working with the community to build something mutually beneficial.

[/rant]

Ah, yes - the Greenphone comes to mind. I got bitten by that one, and I’ve steered well clear of Trolltech / Qt ever since.

I really Like the QT with 4x18350 and with the Q8 tube also. But for me the 8 cell tube is a little overkill. I know there is the GT with 8 cell and I’m on the list but the GT is overkill and instant get in every aspect of it :smiley: :+1:
But what if the QT has a driver that has a contact ring and a same thick brass button in center and it can have a 26650 tube with big wide threads on the top to match with head? For one led it is enough one 26650 if somebody prefers that.

I remember a test that Djozz did, where he silver plated the dome of an LED except for the frontal bit, thus making a Wavien Collar from the dome.
I.i.r.c. he gained some 20% of light in the right direction.
I thought it was a great idea, but never heard about it again.

So I had to look up what a Wavien Collar is. Wouldn’t you want as much light as possible to use the reflector so you get better focus? I was thinking of the opposite of a Wavien Collar. Something that covers the forward light and reflects it to the sides. Is there such a thing?

Yeah, so was i.

That’s not really possible because the light has to come from the focal point, and that’s where the LED is

Just put a mirrored cone right over the led. Suspend it on 2 thin arms.

My tweeters use something similar.

Just found this thread and I’m making my way through. I guess the purpose of this thread is for brainstorming, but it’s definitely kind of hard to keep up with as the topic bounces around from one light, to another light, to a lantern, lol.

Are the concepts fleshed out enough that it would be a good idea to post an official poll asking “which of these lights would you be most interested in for the next BLF project?”

If someone happens to be interested in discussing any particular project from this thread, they are welcome to start a new thread to discuss that project in more depth. Otherwise, I think this thread is serving its purpose, and a poll is probably unnecessary at the moment. Then again, if you want a poll to be started, you’re welcome to do that as well, I’m sure. :wink:

yes no poll, a project comes when it comes
I was really set todo the Q16 but then the QT/ST came along
It is now waiting to see how Thorfire actually did before deciding on how to proceed.

The lantern is a long running DBSAR project an I have been feeling guilty about the Q8 taking lots of attention from it, so that is his thing, I just try to get it going.

The Q16 needs so much testing and behind the scenes there is talk about moving to a MCUs with more options, ideal for the Q16

Then all of a sudden Lumintop also made progress on the FW3a
So now I am not going to start a new thing.
It seems logical to work on the ST/QT soon, it is a clear defined project making a nice set with the Q8 and using a lot of the same parts, so it is clear what we want.

Tiny drivers, for Q4/Q2 and TKs mini 16340 light require a small MCU too.

So it all makes sense (well to me)
and the braindstorming is just awesome and who knows where it might lead to.

Ah and I am trying to get some sort of database for open Source CADs to use going, this would make it a lot easier for another team to kick off and make things that Lego with the rest.

QT π

Hahaha this MUST be printed on the driver silk for sure :smiley:

:smiley:

I have no idea if this makes sense, but how about a headlight with a strip lens?
Here, a rough sketch of 18350 light with 5-6 XP-sized LEDs and Khatod pl1629. Size roughly 35x40mm.