*BLF LT1 Lantern Project) (updated Nov,17,2020)

Cissy told me today that production of batch no. 2 (lot size significantly larger than 500pcs) is about to commence beginning of October with a runtime of about 20 days. So, suppose that the first 500 pcs will be sold out immediately I expect a „supply gap“ or bottleneck of about 3-4 weeks until stock is replenished and goods ready for sale. Now, we‘ll have to wait and see how supply & demand work together.

I know Sofirn is aware of the colors, but has not confirmed with us of the colors that will be available when the orders begin.

I’d suggest using the larger version instead, for higher quality.

Anyway, if any updates are made to the diagram, it’ll be at the same URL.

I agree with DavidEF.

There are so many features that have been added over the years it’s not even funny.

1. The TP4056 was replaced with a TP5100. Being a 5-18V buck converter, the price difference between both is negligible.

2. We went from probably using 4x XP-Ls of each CCT, to 4x LH351Ds of each CCT, to 8x LH351Ds of each CCT.

3. The driver used uses a more advanced design, and a much more advanced software design, which costs money to implement and test.

4. It includes a USB-C cable.

5. It uses an injection molded custom plastic shade. High quality high efficiency custom shades cost a lot of money to make, especially in smaller quantities.

So, a 10$US bump over the BLF Q8 doesn’t seem unreasonable at all.

I think making lights inexpensively is good without too many compromises, but trying to make it too cheap is extremely dangerous in terms of cost-cutting.

TLDR: Not going to talk about this anymore.

It started out as a single XP-L LED, with a modified 105C Q-Lite driver, in a butchered & modified SkyRay King body :smiley: then evolved to what we have now, which is still a great price (even at the full non-GB price after) compared to everything else i tested, built, used, etc.

Getting anxious, got in on this and the charger build. Probably will get the wrapped batteries ordered soon. Even ordered a 60w solar panel with discount codes from here lol. Thanks to the build team.

Thank you :+1:

I normally estimate to the low end, to minimise the risk of disappointing anyone. Your numbers would be fine by me :slight_smile:

Thanks, that’s good to know. 600lm ± 6% between three of us inspires confidence.

So why are the max and min called the floor and ceiling? And why is a click and hold just called a “hold”?

It’s possible to go below a floor and above a ceiling? And somewhere, there will be a printing error and “chold” will be dramatically misunderstood.

A real answer - “click” usually implies press & release, where “hold” implies press & wait. Space in a manual or instruction set is a finite resource. Sometings you have to make the best compromise between an ELI5 answer and the space available.

The min and max levels are determined by the hardware capabilities, while the floor and ceiling are configurable by the user.

About the click / hold terminology, it’s there to eliminate ambiguity. There are four or five different notations floating around, and their phrasing overlaps, which can make things confusing. So I used one with a non-ambiguous starting point.

  • 1H = hold = press button and keep holding
  • 1C = click = press and release
  • 2H = click, hold = press, release, press, hold
  • 2C = click, click = press, release, press, release
  • 3H = click, click, hold
  • 3C = click, click, click

… and so on. The diagram intentionally gives enough information to unambiguously establish the pattern.

If the notation is shifted by one so it starts at “click & hold”, it’s unclear whether this means “press, hold” or “press, release, press, hold”.

Please put me down for two.

Thank You

That is close now to what i can estimate in comparison tests to average household LED bulbs, and using my light sphere with a lux meter comparing the lanterns output to brand name bulbs, is roughly 600 lumens with the tint mix at roughly 4000K for the 5-7135 config on maximum, and around 800 lumens on the same tint setting (4000K average with all eight LEDs running close to equal brightness) on the 7-7135 config. I want to do full run time tests using the best 3500 mAh HC cell sets i have, (using the stepped-output modes but every mode 80% of Max or lower seems to run for days regardless.

I been reading over the manual, most everything looks good so far. (though on the first page along with the manual design-names mentioned, the rest of the BLF LT1 team names should be mentioned/listed to be fair too.
There are some minor parts that need to be edited, (the section where it states the LT1 can be used while charging though the maximum will be reduced, when the lantern is charging with batteries in the lantern it will run on all modes, even maximum, ( but on maximum the lantern load exceeds the charger capacity, thus slowly draining the cells. (When the LT1 is running on the USB-C power alone, then yes the maximum output is reduced, and i recommend not to run it on higher than average 70% output to not overload the 5100 chip.

I have to apologize to everyone, as the last couple weeks i have been a little overloaded with family issues, work, and renovations for my impending forced-house selling in a few months, thus my free time as been really crunched down this past month. :weary:

Nothing to apologize for……real life always comes first.

Thanks for all the time and effort you put in even being so overloaded with other things!

No need to apologize for Life, but I didn’t even notice if you were posting less than usual as we’ve had no questions go unanswered due to your supposed incompetence :wink: . Your perseverance is never in doubt thanks to this multi-year project and many people appreciate your efforts, including a lot of folks at Sofirn, I would hope.

Whatever issues you’re dealing with, I think many of us here wish you the best possible outcome.

I have no doubt that this will turn out to be an excellent product because of the following factors, in no particular order:

  1. DBSAR and BLF hardware design team
  2. Sofirn, whose products, in my experience, are beautifully machined, but whose in-house firmware is usually just average
  3. TK and Anduril, arguably the solution to bland, inflexible firmware

There are always risks with new products, but the development process and chosen manufacturer in this case should minimize these risks. I hope that Sofirn sells a million of these and the LT1 becomes a classic like the Colemans and others pictured in previous pages :slight_smile: .

Oh, and please add 2 additional lanterns for me, for a total of 3. Thanks! :beer:

Absolute min and absolute max are determined by hardware capabilities. Floor and ceiling are not words normally used to describe upper and lower limits of a potentially reduced range of those hardware capabilities. As such, they are out of place and the whole thing reads awkwardly.

If you handed someone a flashlight and told them it had an adjustable floor and ceiling they would be confused and wonder what they heck you were talking about. If you handed someone a flashlight and told them it had an adjustable min and max level they would immediately know what you meant.

I don’t agree at all. Your non-ambiguous starting point is anything but. Simply because you’re using a non-standard combination and understanding of how those words are normally combined in common English vernacular to describe the actions of pressing a momentary switch. Click, Hold is easily going to be mistaken for click & hold. At a minimum there should be a prominent bolded explanation before all that is introduced that Hold = “click & hold”.

If your instructions requires redefining words from their generally understood and agreed meaning you’re probably not being as clear as you could (or should) be. Had they not been used in the UI diagram they would have been changed for clarity sake.

Wow

Try putting something a little mellow and soothing on your stereo, dude

To be fair, I think most people aren’t aware of adjustable ramping firmware for flashlights and are easily confused by a verbal explanation of how they work anyway.

TK used different words because one set describes the “ramp” and the other describes the hardware capabilities. This reduces ambiguity, and the particular choice of words should be conceptually simple enough for anyone who has been in a building featuring a ceiling above and a floor below.

My wife thinks my interest in flashlights is silly, and she generally qualifies as a muggle in this area. I explained that “I have a flashlight that ramps up and down between a floor and ceiling” and asked “what would the ceiling be?”. Her response was “the top or bright setting”. It’s a small sample size, and I think she’s pretty smart… but I don’t think it’s terribly difficult to understand.

I think this is a good idea.

In my personal experience, it was necessary to pick up the light and start using it to learn how everything worked. I think the shortened #C vs #H notation is about as concise and easy to understand as anything else once you know what she means by it.