TK's Emisar D4V2 review

Thanks a lot! Do you know the current that 60% translates to?

Now I have to find someone building the binary for me :person_facepalming:

Yes!

Is the 0-8-15 temperature regulation code already implanted in your sources?

Same here.

Forgive me if I missed this somewhere, but is this still an issue? I’ve noticed that my D4V2 Ti misses clicks sometimes. It’s kind of annoying when I try to unlock it, but instead change the aux mode. I love the light (and Anduril) otherwise, though!

I’ve noticed what may be considered a bug in Anduril. It occurs with my D4v2 and my FW1A. The issue is related to shortcutting to turbo from a ramping mode and then shortcutting back to ramping from turbo.

If the light is on at an arbitrary ramping level, a double click switches to turbo and then a second double click returns to ramping at the level it was last at. This seems to be the behavior regardless of the ramping level.

However, if I double click from off to shortcut to the highest ramping level, then double click a second time to turbo, and finally double click a third time to return to ramping, it sends me to the default ramp level (the single click from off level) rather than back to the highest ramp level from which I came.

Is Anduril supposed to behave this way?

Yes. Double click from off is a shortcut to temporary max ramp. The level is not remembered and next time you switch on the light it will return to the last used level (or to the manual memory level). When you return from turbo it will also return to this level.

I rewrote all the interrupt-related code in November to fix this and several other things which could occasionally happen. Any firmware from 2019-11-20 or newer should be a lot more reliable about the first click from off.

Those changes had an effect on thermal regulation though, so I’ve been working on replacing all the thermal code too.

I read through the thermal regulation discussion earlier in the thread. I’ll wait until that’s sorted to update the firmware.
Thanks, TK!

The issue is that, at least in manual memory mode, the light always returns from turbo to the last ramping level it was at, unless that ramping level is max and the max ramp level was accessed via the shortcut from off. That, to me, is inconsistent and unexpected behavior.

If the light returns from turbo to max ramp if I accessed max ramp by ramping up, it should also return from turbo to max ramp if I accessed max ramp via the shortcut from off. There should not be two different flavors of the state “on and at max ramp”.

It is not only at max ramp. When you double click to turbo, then double click to return, Anduril will return to the remembered ramp level. That remembered level is not overwritten by any shortcut. So you will see the same behaviour if you reset the light (to cancel any previous remembered level) then click-hold to minimum ramp, then go to turbo and back. You will return to the default level after the reset, which is at the top regulated level in standard Anduril. That seems just fine.

Sorry, I’m not following.

Going back from turbo takes me to the last ramp level I was at unless that ramp level is max ramp accessed via shortcut. This creates two scenarios where the beginning state and set of actions are the same but the outcome is different.

Scenario 1:
Start at max ramp (by ramping up). Go to turbo and back, and I’m brought back to max ramp.

Scenario 2:
Start at max ramp (by double-click from off). Go to turbo and back, and I’m brought to the manual memory level I have set.

I’m failing to see the logic in this. I would think that if I’m at max ramp, the light should behave the same going to and from turbo regardless of how I got to max ramp.

Another way of putting it is that, with the current behavior, the shortcut to max ramp is not really a shortcut to max ramp but a shortcut to some special transient mode that happens to have the same brightness as max ramp and whose existence is forgotten when you go to turbo. I’m not sure why this is desirable.

Yes. It remembers the brightness level unless it was accessed by a shortcut.

The reason is because that’s what people asked for.

When the Emisar D4 first came out, it worked how you wanted. It remembered the last brightness level… period. Didn’t matter if it was reached by a shortcut. From off it had min, max, and mem… but people couldn’t access min or max without overwriting mem. This led to inconvenience, confusion, and even burns. Inconvenience because people kept having to manually reset the memorized level to what they wanted. Confusion because if they used moon mode last night then tried to turn the light on the next day, it was too dim and looked like nothing happened. Burns because it’d come on at turbo level in their pockets. It got a reputation as a “nut roaster”.

So a bunch of people asked me to fix it. Specifically, to fix it by making it not remember the brightness if it was accessed via a shortcut.

… and that’s where things are now.

Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense.

I notice now that it also forgets the min ramp if it’s accessed with the shortcut.

May I suggest adding a blink mode that blinks the firmware version? :slight_smile:

Also, what programming cable do you recommend buying? I bought one of these to tinker with the open source firmware so I want to make sure I get the right interface for it.

After the oct firmware it does blink the firmware date with 15 clicks.
Hank sells the programming cable.

Thank you atobe :slight_smile:

This is a question that maybe only ToyKeeper can answer - by the way, a big thank you to her from a happy D4V2 user for the fantastic firmware.

(Low) power consumption being one of the considerations that possibly drove the selection of the levels of illumination for the currently available modes of the aux LEDs, I was wondering if it is physically possible in the existing hardware configuration of the D4V2 to make the aux LEDs even brighter than available using the current “High” mode.

Maybe having the aux LEDs on red (using a brighter “High” setting) could be useful as a source of illumination that preserves night vision for those times when a specialized red light flashlight is not in hand?

If it is indeed possible to have those aux LEDs even brighter, maybe a possible future revision of the firmware could have 4 modes for the aux LEDs - heartbeat,low, high, and turbo, the last mode corresponding to the physically highest possible level of illumination?

Brightness levels of the aux LEDs are defined by the hardware.

Yeah, I’m also dissatisfied with the levels in my D4SV2, particularly low red which is far too low. But can’t help that without a hardware mode. :frowning:

I know we each have different goals and uses for the aux LEDs. Personally, I like the lows being super low. It can be an alternative to trit vials that isn’t too bright on my nightstand. It would be cool if the brightness was adjustable, though.