The L-RADW (Long-Range Anti-Dark Weapon) :)

:bigsmile: :zipper_mouth_face:

Oh no, his is way better than the ones I’ve made.

the newer XP-G2s do not like high amps. We had 2 S4 XP-G2 fail even before 6A.

Seems whatever Cree has done to make the latest XM-L2 and now XP-G2 more efficient reduces the amount of Amps those LEDs can take.

Sirius9 already posted some explanation about using tags to make images fit the screen. But, there is one thing I didn’t see mentioned about how the tag works. When you use that tag and specify the percentage width, it is the percentage of window size. So, if you tag the pictures with 100, even if it is still a 4K picture, it will fit neatly on the window for anyone viewing your post, no matter their screen size or resolution. I usually tag mine to be no larger than 90 window size, as I think that looks best. The entire picture can be viewed at full size by following the link anyway, so there is no loss of fidelity for those who wish and have the ability to view those.

I don’t ever complain about image size, because I know there is no rule against it. Also, some have said in the past that the other site has very strict image size restrictions and they are glad that we don’t. However, I do prefer that the pics stay within the window size for normal posts. And, if there is need of seeing more detail, I know how to follow the link. :wink:

Did the bond wires fail, or something else?

There appears to be a fairly hard wall that is being hit with the amount of lumens per die surface area, for years already: there is minor progress every time but all major manufacturers are now within say 20% of each other (my estimate, I did no real comparison). So led updates nowadays mostly deal with improved efficiency, or lower Vf (in case of Cree, higher Vf :sick: ). This implies that you get your light at lower current, which is nice, but not much more of it.

Ah OK, this makes sense when you explain how those tags actually work. I was thinking for some reason they created a new link with a lower image size. Doh. Thanks DavidEF.

So I took proto V1 out on the boat last night, and the capacity + brightness from the single-cell LiPo packs I started using is excellent. They like to stay at really high voltage—even when using one pack and no parallel. I measured around 1,200mAH between 4.05-4.20V. (They are ThunderPower 40C, 1S, 5.0AH hard-case packs w/ Deans connector. I use a Deans connector for the hookup to the LED also.)

I was traveling the river probably the slowest I’ve ever gone at times on the river—there was a meteor shower late that we watched on the river.

I ran the prototype at full power, until we literally needed to stop using it and put it away because I was back at the harbor. Not once had I noticed any change in output that caused a scene to be unseen, or hazy/hard to make out, the beam didn’t really grow less intense after it heated up. I thought the ABS plastic was going to start melting on the 3D printed hull holding the Al bar, it got so hot. But it didn’t melt anywhere and it’s the worst possible condition being simulated. When a solid copper sink is used, then finally actively-cooled, it will be under much healthier conditions.

The mirror on my RA design can only be applied to optical substrate, and it reflects colors back at the LED in different ratios, boosting the phosphor output intensity to almost a doubling of visible projected light. In other words it’s like having 2,400 hi-CRI lumens coming out of a XP-G2 die (up to a potential 2900 simulated-lumens).

I think I’ll run a few more LEDs through it. Right now the lens aperture is about ~73mm roughly give or take, with RA ground for the optic’s current F#, and minus a little diameter because of light cutoff rings. They are there to prevent stray refractions/reflections from getting out.

I was thinking, maybe I can buy some aluminum plate, mill out a square piece, and mount 4 of the L-RADs to the plate, 1-per quadrant. :slight_smile: Actually, my real idea was, to use Al or CU as a back plate itself. Instead of having ABS hold down the heatsink such as above.

What are your thoughts? Do you like a small beam angle with high-intensity, or would you prefer a larger beam at lower intensity? I think one thing is clear; when working at 500 meters, 250kcd does not even come close to cutting it. Can barely be seen, yet is rated at 1000 working meters.

I love how neatly designed is the 3d-printed casing around the liquid cooling block. I guess that even driving the XP-G2 at max possible current it could keep the temp under 50C?

I prefer a more usable light quantity rather than pure intensity. If you mount multiple L-RAD together wouldn’t XP-L HI be a better choice? Even if you lose couple hundreds Kcds, the sheer output could compensate the beam reach.

What is the distance to the water tower in the pics of the proto that you posted above?

It is 500 meters from light to tower on google earth.

Thanks for the aesthetic compliments. I agree, it does look slick with the printing done at high detail. I took my time and measured well to fit parts—as 3D printing requires some awareness of how the plastics change when they cool down or in various shapes. I think that, aesthetics aside that we are used to seeing daily, the shape of lights that are useful for long-duration use is the typical “gun” or pistol shaped light; ergonomics for the aiming hand. I seem to be heading that way with the L-RAD. It’s comfortable for extended periods having a vertical handle, and on the boat I found that a big plus. No tube will ever fit the hand the same way as a pistol grip.

But you ask about 50°C?!? :smiley: This water block can hold an LED at 0°-25°C no problem (using cool water), with an MT-G2 mounted pulling 8 amps, even. I mean the pumps are cranking water through fast; just sucks the heat away before it can start to accumulate anywhere. There is a lot of water mass moving through the system at all times, but this is a system geared more for testing (when the water block is used I mean and water system). What has really enabled output to soar without liquid, is not only the newest bins, but use of static pressure in the cooling system when a server-chassis fan is used with a brushless, bearing 12V motor. The final portable system will have a very high air-cooling ability, allowing it to evacuate hot air where needed, using such fans. Upside/downside to that? A fan can die, clog, short, etc. So I choose the best fan I could see pairing to a light, where the blades are hardly exposed, high static pressure, and attached on a lot of finned-copper. But I’m talking about a “blower” type of fan that helps without opening up much room for a water exposure situation if it started raining.

Yes you could gain many more lumens in the form of coverage area by changing to a larger emitter. In fact I think using multiple L-RADs = multiple XHP35s for best setup. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: It can be done with MT-G2s also, but MT-G2s are really a die type that is superior when smoothed and masked by the output of a reflector because of the texture of the surface being bumpy. They also should have their dome left on, or sliced I feel, as the typical MT-G2 will lose a bit of phosphor in a typical solution de-dome. Cree really poured the phosphor in their and it’s quite sensitive.

Ideally, everything works out or tends to work great once it’s running on a 12V system (13.8-14.4V). High-output, because you have high battery capacity power from a 50AH or 75AH+ vehicle cell size typically, lower amps total, etc, advantage of possibly direct driving the XHP-35 on a deep-cycle. I would like to run multiples across a bar for my boat, 2-4 L-RADs lined horizontally. That would be great on a servo pan-tilt base for security cameras, for a boat, that is.

I think I might just drop the “W” from the name; “L-RAD” sounds military enough for me. :stuck_out_tongue:

2 new RA mirror formulas have been developed and applied to N-BK7 mirrors for testing of hi-CRI diode phosphors, which will be occurring this coming week. These have higher reflectivity in two specific color bands. They should be coated and back to me next week. What I found I really need, is a diamond carbide lapping wheel (a big one that spins horizontal). If I had one, I could get every glass collar ground right as far as height, smooth and with the correct aperture size for the lens used. I have to do them myself, post-mirroring, using the Bridgeport, and very slow grinding with water, then oil the table up so no water is left to rust it. So the near perfect collars that become screw ups from the spinning stone catching I now use? Yep, they become garbage, and that’s added cost which I eat with—or don’t eat, in the name of science and testing. Many good steaks turned to glass lately around here. :~

Will you be selling these? In kit form? I was talking to a Baja Racer today about LED versus HID. His experience was that the LED’s lit up a large 50m to 100m area very well but the back scatter or reflection of that light off of particles in the air made the LED light obscure details further away. That he was able to see far distances easier with the warm Kelvin HID’s. “At 120 MPH I like to see as far as possible as clear as possible, at my age, it’s not as easy anymore”. I wonder if an array of lights like yours could be put together and de-focused to eliminate hotspots but illuminate say 200 meters away and a larger area. Don’t get me wrong though, I love that beam and that reach. I want one!

I wonder if the surface of an MTG2 could be frosted to smooth out its image when projected…

WOW! 250 kcd reflector is barely seen on that tower :) It should not be like that :)

But it is not complete darkness. Tower is lighted. 250kcd reflector should look much better at real dark night environment.

If I compare my 280kcd aspheric with my freshly done 280kcd reflector they have same readings on lux meter but in real use aspheric throws further; at least to my eyes...

I often claimed that in aspheric vs reflector throw duel(same kcd values) aspheric always visually wins but some guys disagreed with me saying that lux is lux no matter in which flashlight configuration. But what I know now that I strongly disagree with them.

I found that Focusing-Defocusing is very important in aspheric light. All in one concept beam. Massive lumen output from small bright LED in defocused position + extreme throw in focused position. I can bet that future flashlights will be build on this concept.

MEM will crack that :)

Good to know that plastic does not melts on emitter temperatures. But maybe after some hard everyday use heat could change structure of material and make it more fragile? Or maybe not? Plastic is not steel...

This is 1mcd Deft X at tower about 3/4 of a mile away but in darker environment.



I went and found some water tower candidates. Selling them? Well, currently I am looking at alternate cooling solutions. So in short, yes. But the lights will be heavily strengthened in any place needed. Plastic isn’t bad on a light. ABS, the way it is laid down by a good 3D printer, is similar to carbon fiber the way it finally obtains its strength by tension across alternating strand rows at different angles to each other.

Look at spot lights/headlights. They are still plastic just about everywhere to keep the mass (and costs) down, while metal used where needed. That is what I would like to do, and dedicate weight to metal only where needed primarily in the cooling block for the LED, and active cooling used instead of passive. This right now is bare, passive cooling—as hot as it gets in the testing format. I think many of you will like the revised design if it is built as a true “spotlight”. It’s not made for seeing between your house and garage, it’s made to see very far away. It should be optimized for: Package field-portability, RUNTIME, output, and aiming control. The final one may get interesting.

Application propels a spotlight the most because it’s very application-limited at times. It’s fun, but that tiny beam can be very useful if you want to shoot long-range targets at night through a rifle scope, spot buoys down-river, or run 110MPH on the Baja 1000 with larger LEDs. A domed and untouched MT-G2, can put out a ton of lumens over a large area yet remain tight enough still to be used as a motorcycle headlight. The fear of the unknowns ahead and high speed at night makes a light like this a candidate for a vehicle retrofit that considerably outperforms HID.

So here’s my problem around this town. All the towers were painted (or built) within the last ten years, in the same scheme. Gloss white tops, gloss sky-blue bottoms. All of the towers are lit now, a few weren’t, then lighting was added in recent years.

However there is one tower, which I didn’t think about. So I drove there tonight, and it is un-lit; nice and dark. Not only is it not lit up, the main highway coming into town runs next to it. So, there is a path just going and going, away from the tower. The first East-West road out of the town where it’s dark, Google Earth Ruler is telling me is ~900 meters. I have lenses and more lenses coming for more and more L-RADs. Except, the project may have took a slight detour, in a better direction. I’ll just say that for now. I’m not quite sure if I’m going to turn this into a competition light, enlarge it, and race the clock, or work out the bugs and keep it around the same size.

How big of a lens do you feel would be great, without going too big?

Also, Luminarium, that last tower photo you posted, we have one 6 miles away, same tower design, and they lit it up like daylight shining on it about 3 years ago with arc lamps dusk-til-dawn. :frowning:

Hi :)

I just reposted picture from CPF Saabluster thread here . He used your original patent in his build of course but he bought it at vaviencopyen company :)

About lens: I would like to see small portable gun mounted versions... 50mm aspheric with zoom function would be great. (400-500 kcd more than enough)

But I would also like to hear rest users (boat owners, truck drivers, farm owners etc.) on maximum lens size they prefer.

Hi MEM,

Check out this Mulitifab future 3D printer that can print on to object, like printing a lens right on top of the led :wink: @ 1.53m

I fabricated an entirely new rear design on the engine for my Reflective Aperture adjustment. I made larger RAs, and I am doing something extremely different right now. You can only gain so much with an RA. Once you’ve captured all possible photons and redirected them back at the die, that’s it. You can’t do much more than tune the mirror position and aperture hole to match the optical system. But what I am about to do, have been working on—should be under a few weeks out before I can release test photos—will probably shock this community. That’s if the results first recorded and system do hold up through testing, and of course beam shots.

The V1-prototype used my multi-lens system intended to correct some chromatic aberration. I’m using a new aspheric achromatic doublet lens, with different lens materials that help pull the focus point between red-spectrum, and blue-spectrum close to each other. The result is more photons stay within the die image, tint is better, and lux is higher. These lenses are expensive, so they will be a very limited quantity run, if offered. The V1-proto lens system, as you can see seems to work fairly well. About the “zooming” thing. I am going to expand the range of focus, so that a wider beam can be had if desired, but it will still remain rather tight at max angle if you compare to the average zoomy. I feel it is wide enough to remain very effective, though, while still being able to focus clearly as you would expect.

I didn’t mean to throw anyone off with that water cooling talk. That was an experiment I was only running, for S&Gs, just to see the outcome. :slight_smile: I wouldn’t expect anyone to want to drag around a water cooling system! (Unless the situation was desirable to use it.) This light was tested in the first beamshots posted without any additional cooling besides ambient (warm) air, just to reiterate and clear that up.

So there is a Dft-X at 3/4 mile photo. I don’t know what that actual distance is confirmed to be, but it looks like far enough away to be 3/4 mile. I will be sure that I do beamshots at 3/4 mile on a dark tower. There will be no lighting on the tower this time, found a good tower to use that can give me out to 2000 meters line-of-sight. At 900 meters, the same size of tower’s spherical portion is fully illuminated, easily. 1200 will surely be interesting. :wink:

The RA adjustment stage I designed provides full X/Y axis adjustment positioning via 3 set screws. When locked into position, some amount of downward force is also applied to the mirror by the set screws, so an LED swap is possible, with quicker re-alignment of the mirror. I always thought epoxy to hold the mirror (as in some other design) was a somewhat “permanent arrangement”, should the desire arise to swap an LED with a future bin, or if there were to be a problem with an LED; that’s just more labor to fix and more downtime for the user. 0:) Sure, epoxy use for some features could be viewed as job security for certain reasons in lighting, but I feel it is better to design things that create a desire to use them based on their function and ability to easily update new features. Ones that may evolve on top of existing or previous model features.

Adjustment stage in CAD:

Printing:

Hardly wait for this. Yes de-focusing is important so it would be great if that will work. Imagine lets say 100 kcd in fully de-focused position of 1504... That would be killer... Wide throw with hotspot type of beam.

Lol, I would call this light Anti-Dark Matter Quasar :D!

There’s a lot of “jostling” going on right now during the holiday months between some of the most recent projects I have on the table, and I will be straightforward: my focus had to be diverted to an aluminum-host project during more recent weeks because of the time and money I have invested in it (I want to get it finished first and foremost while working with others on the design—which has been tedious, but exciting too as it moves forward).

As far as the LRADW progress, I am currently working with an optical company to offer a new aspheric lens design for the standard versions of the LRADW to further bring down its cost, while maintaining high-performance in throw. Since some of my work has been anchored in the 3D-printing side of things to get the best quality I could in parts I print, I wanted to make better parts which will be able to tap and thread better (for repeated assembly/disassembly when needed), so one move was to switch to a better composite material for printing the LRADW shell, which is better for real-world use because of its added tensile and elongation strength combined, which is much stronger than any current ABS product when 3D printed. This new material is known as “Industrial 910 Alloy Nylon” from Taulman3D. I also have some various other materials I started using, which I will print to produce opaque or clear and colored parts. One material will work for push buttons, being softer. Another material I am using currently to produce caps and diffusers for lensed or reflectored lights which can act as front lens/bezel protection when on the light, and at the same time will turn a thrower into a floody trail-light (until the cap is quickly removed). I would be interested in feedback on these cap/diffuser designs, so if you have any interest in that sort of thing for any light you have, please PM me for further discussion.

When I get a final word on the base-model lenses I am having produced, I will be able to offer more detail as to final configuration setups, and the levels of models of the LRADW which can be offered to the community. I would like to apologize for this moving slower than expected for those of you waiting. I hope the final results will make up at least partially for the time spent during the organization of the project and the cruel waiting-game phase.

If you’d like to see some of the material properties of some of the new composites I am using now, below is a simple explanation in the form of a bar graph from Taulman3D. The way it reads: If the material has most of its strength below the centerline in the picture, it is described more closely to a rubber band, with elongation strength primarily. If it possesses most strength above the line, it has strength which is stiff, an extreme example of this would be a glass, which doesn’t give so much—it snaps or breaks when maximum stress is reached. This means it is high in tensile strength. Remember, these are polymers and various “plastic alloys”, so just a tiny bit of elongation strength can sometimes go a long way when mixed with tensile strength to create a very strong end part. Notice the “Alloy 910” nylon properties, which will be used in this project. (The pink colored materials represent the more common, everyday printing materials, which are often of “unknown” properties when 3D printed due to their non-specific sourcing of MFGs.)