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

[O26Rcr]

@amishbill

@O26Rcr

… Might not be a bad idea to add one after the beacon, or swap out the bike strobe.

Edit — Long Live the Bike Strobe! With a half-reflector add-on and a bike mount, this would make a rather wide angle bike light.

My vote is to replace the tactical strobe with SOS. I don’t think the two people who might use an LT1 in tac-strobe as a paintball light grenade will complain too much. :sunglasses:

LOL, sounds like we need another BLF LT1 poll. I’m one of those people.

[amishbill]

@O26Rcr

…

If the decision is made to go ahead with it, hopefully we can get it from the factory in later batches, and just flash the earlier ones if we want.

With the driver held in by two easily accessed screws, AND there being a pogo-pin contact pad, the LT1 should be one of the most reflash-friendly lights around.

[leftdisconnected]

Surely, no one needs a tactical strobe on a lantern and extremely few people even need one on a flashlight; it’s just a marketing feature. I’m not attempting to start an argument, as I’m sure some people think a tactical mode might save your life, but even they might admit that such modes have been over-used to hype even terrible products to a crime-fearing public. It’s even possible that a tactical strobe simply makes your attacker angrier and more vicious.

I would argue that extremely few people need an SOS mode, either, but as much as I hate SOS being a primary mode on most flashlights, I will admit that a hidden SOS, as would be the case with Anduril, could be a useful feature on a lantern. It pains me to say that considering the idiotic marketing of tactical modes .

Oh, and sorry for calling you Shirley… unless that’s your name.

[xevious (Gary)]

@SIGShooter

Here are some images of a flat top laptop battery pull that I tried in my LT. It works fine even though the positive terminal is not raised above the wrapping and it is not snagged by by trim pot. What is likely happening is that the LT ring is pushing down the wrapping down enough to make contact with the positive terminal. Even though it works I recommend adding a solder blob to ensure contact and to eliminate the possibility of the ring wearing away or tearing the wrapping.

Snagging of the wrapping by the trim pot probably depends on many factors but at least for my LT is not an issue with the batteries that I have.

View of the battery from the side

Top of battery after inserting it into the lantern in each of the battery slots

Lantern turns on

Those look to be the exact same batteries I just recently pulled from a laptop battery pack. Red shroud with light blue surround at positive contact. Sanyo R1122. Took a very long time to charge up, but reached 4.2v.

By the way, I noticed you completely pulled off the tabs. What I saw someone else do is to trim off part of the tab, leaving the rest in place. In this application, that would be an advantage, to avoid snagging.

[RollerBoySE]

@O26Rcr

One thing I noticed while studying the latest Andúril chart ToyKeeper provided for the lantern is the absence of an SOS mode in either the strobe or blinkies section. Some of us will be using this light in areas with poor or no cellular service. Even with cellular service, redundancy is not a bad thing in an emergency. Might not be a bad idea to add one after the beacon, or swap out the bike strobe.

@Kingjohn

Why has the temperature blink-out been removed?
I know, the lantern needs no temp control, but especially outside a temperature info would be nice.
Even more so, since the LEDs are far away from the Sensor in the LT1 and the readouts would be more accurate….

I second both ideas.

[ToyKeeper]

@Kingjohn

Why has the temperature blink-out been removed?

All temperature-related bits are omitted from the lantern build. This was mostly because it can’t regulate anyway, since the sensor is too far from the LEDs… but also because it provides room for extra features like tint ramping.

@O26Rcr

SOS mode

Since the lantern has temperature stuff removed, it has some extra room. It should be possible to add SOS if people want it. I’m thinking it should go just after beacon mode, in the blinkies group.

As a side note, there probably isn’t room to include SOS on any other attiny85 versions of Anduril. If it’s added, it’ll probably just be on the lantern.

[SIGShooter]

@xevious

@SIGShooter

Here are some images of a flat top laptop battery pull that I tried in my LT. It works fine even though the positive terminal is not raised above the wrapping and it is not snagged by by trim pot. What is likely happening is that the LT ring is pushing down the wrapping down enough to make contact with the positive terminal. Even though it works I recommend adding a solder blob to ensure contact and to eliminate the possibility of the ring wearing away or tearing the wrapping.

Snagging of the wrapping by the trim pot probably depends on many factors but at least for my LT is not an issue with the batteries that I have.

View of the battery from the side

Top of battery after inserting it into the lantern in each of the battery slots

Lantern turns on

Those look to be the exact same batteries I just recently pulled from a laptop battery pack. Red shroud with light blue surround at positive contact. Sanyo R1122. Took a very long time to charge up, but reached 4.2v.

By the way, I noticed you completely pulled off the tabs. What I saw someone else do is to trim off part of the tab, leaving the rest in place. In this application, that would be an advantage, to avoid snagging.

Yeap those are the batteries that I have. I got those batteries years ago before the LT project was started so leaving the tabs on wasn’t something that came to mind. If I had known then I definitely would have left them on

[O26Rcr]

@leftdisconnected

Surely, no one needs a tactical strobe on a lantern and extremely few people even need one on a flashlight; it’s just a marketing feature. I’m not attempting to start an argument, as I’m sure some people think a tactical mode might save your life, but even they might admit that such modes have been over-used to hype even terrible products to a crime-fearing public. It’s even possible that a tactical strobe simply makes your attacker angrier and more vicious.

I would argue that extremely few people need an SOS mode, either, but as much as I hate SOS being a primary mode on most flashlights, I will admit that a hidden SOS, as would be the case with Anduril, could be a useful feature on a lantern. It pains me to say that considering the idiotic marketing of tactical modes :person_facepalming: .

Oh, and sorry for calling you Shirley… unless that’s your name.

Yeah, well, that’s just your opinion, Shirley…

Besides, like many other things in life, different strokes for different folks. Don’t like it, don’t use it.

[O26Rcr]

@ToyKeeper

@O26Rcr

SOS mode

Since the lantern has temperature stuff removed, it has some extra room. It should be possible to add SOS if people want it. I’m thinking it should go just after beacon mode, in the blinkies group.

As a side note, there probably isn’t room to include SOS on any other attiny85 versions of Anduril. If it’s added, it’ll probably just be on the lantern.

If you can fit it in there, fantastic! Six of the eight lanterns I signed up for are intended as gifts for boating, hunting, and camping friends. Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters are very unforgiving mistresses. Having SOS in a platform like this would be much more visible for a longer time than say, something like a Convoy C8.

[spinynorman]

Around here, the most common usage of SOS during tourist season is “Help! I need more beer!”.

[Th558]

Does anyone know the lifespan of the provided batteries. Will they last for 200-300 cycles?

[atobe]

I would expect at least 500 if you treat them nicely. My laptop battery has 500+ cycles and still holding 80% of it’s rated capacity.

[pooptoast]

Mine has arrived! So far so good, I really like it. Mine did come with some solder bridge issues, 6 & 7 had been bridged and then unsoldered but one of the extra 5000k bridges was still intact. So, I just went ahead and bridged them all. The only issue is candle mode is now a little overactive but I doubt I will use that mode much outside of the novelty factor.

[DBSAR]

@pooptoast

Mine has arrived! So far so good, I really like it. Mine did come with some solder bridge issues, 6 & 7 had been bridged and then unsoldered but one of the extra 5000k bridges was still intact. So, I just went ahead and bridged them all. The only issue is candle mode is now a little overactive but I doubt I will use that mode much outside of the novelty factor.

Over active, as in brighter or faster flicker? the brightness & tint of the candle mode can be adjusted.

[pooptoast]

It could be entirely placebo but it seemed like candle mode was less flickery before I bridged the connections. I think it’s likely due to the fact that candle mode doesn’t go as dim as it did before bridging. This is not an issue at all for me though and I don’t think its indicitive of any problem with the light. I’m also comparing it with my MF01S and MF01S Mini candle modes which are of course completely different beasts than the LT1.

[Th558]

Don’t know about the LT1 but on my MF01S candle mode doesn’t look realistic. Sometimes the brightness changes a bit too much but it’s still kinda ok. Other times it just looks like it’s ramping up and down.

[Kingjohn]

Thanks TK for your previous answers!

Another question: I often use the sunset function in the evening. (including the automatic switch off after some time)
But what I miss there, is the possibility to also adjust the brightness. I would like to set it to a dimmer mode…
Is there space left to include this?

[spinynorman]

Big nor’easter on the way for Hatteras. 60 mph winds and significant ocean overwash predicted this weekend. I’m glad to have the LT1 along for the ride!

[Spacegrass]

FWIW, I am number 674 on the list and I received an Amazon code this morning.

[MtnDon (Don Miller)]