I'm curious what the cyclists out there think is a good custom programmed (or as-is) driver for cycling use. This would be for a standard flashlight with a standard tailcap clicky (no electronic switch). DrJones' "mobydrv" sounds perfect, but requires an electronic switch. So what is my next best alternative. Don't just tell me to make a request to DrJones, but tell me what modes (brightness levels), mode order, memory or no memory or short-cycle memory, etc. . . I do like the idea of a beacon giving battery voltage level and perhaps a strobe option (beacon and strobe hidden or at least at the end of the mode order with a short-cycle memory implemented.
So to start off, what do you guys think on modes & order? High (100%) - Med (35%) - Low (5%)? or reverse to Low-Med-High? Or should I just go two mode High at 100% - Low at 35%? I don't see a need for moonlight at all (for a cycling light). Ideally I'd want medium to be used for 90% of a ride (at least this is what I think).
Another thought - how about High-> Medium-> Low-> Medium with memory. This way you alternate between decreasing and increasing brightness levels. You won't jump from low back to to high and require another press to get to Medium (which you probably wanted). A quick double-press could get you into the strobe & beacon modes.
I don't really have a lot of experience cycling at night with lights, so that's I'm looking for input from experienced users. I'm working up my first light intended for cycling use and would like to nail it. Of course this all depends on DrJones (or someone else) being willing to set me up with the program I want.
lupodrv would be the next best bet - it has the programmability of mobydrv, but works with clicky switches. I have one, but haven’t had a chance to build anything with it yet. It has a voltage readout and an automatic response to low voltage (although I’d prefer the cut off set a little higher for more “get out of the woods” run time), which is pretty handy. The only downside is that each click cycles through one mode, so to get from low>high or high>medium you’ll have to click a couple of times.
If you have a second light for futzing around at the side of the trail, I’d just go 2 mode, something like 10045-60. Anything lower than that for low (or medium, depending on mode no.) isn’t going to be much use for general trail riding in my experience and anything higher will appear too much like high to tell the difference. Finding the sweet spot will take a bit of trial and error, which is why DrJones and I added the extra mid-levels for mobydrv.
Thanks for your input! (You were one I wanted to hear from for sure.) I have been reading (and re-reading and re-reading again :) ) about luxdrv and lupodrv. From what I can tell, lupodrv is basically like luxdrv with the additions of programability, & mode lock - does this seem right? I'm not so interested in programming, so a "pre-programmed" driver would suite me fine (though maybe it's nice to have the ability of programability if I wanted to try it).
I could see something like High (100%) -> Med (40%) -> Low (5%) -> Beacon (flashing the battery voltage once for ever 0.1v above 3.0v) -> Strobe (the "double-pulse:oooOoOoooooOoOooo" style from mobydrv at about 50% / 10% brightness levels) with short-term memory.
First of all, in this setup (assuming it can be done), does the short-term memory work in such a way that while riding along on "Med" for awhile and then quick tapping the tail switch it will go back to high? Or does it continue to "Low"? I want to understand what "short-term memory" does without the light actually going off.
If the short-term memory causes the above scenerio to continue through my modes to get back to high, then I'd rather see 2 groups: 1st group High -> Med, and 2nd group: Low -> Beacon -> strobe. Can "groups" be setup in lupodrv? Like the new 105C's that have the quick flash to change groups or better yet a quick double-tap.
As far as an existing driver (which I have on hand) there is the KD V2 set to 2 mode - High(100%) - Medium(35%) - with memory. It has low voltage protection too. I hear these drivers aren't very reliable though.
I would enjoy a light that could do 20-40-60-80-100%, it may seem cumbersome, but you would gain a lot of flexibility to balance battery life vs brightness given conditions.
Now can a 105C be programed to do this?
you’re welcome Garry I think that’s how short-cycle memory is supposed to work, but you’d have to ask DrJones to confirm as it always confused me a bit and I’ve never experienced it myself. If not I’d avoid anything with blinky modes in it like the plague as trying to ride down a trail in the dark with a strobe is really tricky (most likely one handed too, trying to change out of the blinky mode!).
I don’t think mode groups are available with lupodrv, I’m pretty sure that came about in mobydrv (either due to space constraints or the switch type). It does seem pretty easy to program, although I’ve yet to try.
I’ve built a light with the KD V2 3.05A driver for a friend, he likes it and has been using it for ~1 year without problems. The moonlight low is pretty useless for anything and medium is passable for fireroad climbing but not much else, so it depends on the kind of riding you do. I’d want a higher medium personally. For reference, my two main riding lights have Taskled drivers set to L1, L4 and L5, which corresponds to 50mA, ~50-55% and 100%, which works a treat.
Bort - I have a friend who does a lot of adventure racing (multiday multinight races in the middle of nowhere) and he sets his lights up something like that for that exact reason. However, if you have enough battery runtime to last you a full ride then having to cycle through all those modes on the move (or even stationary) is a royal pain. IMO it’s more useful to find a couple of riding modes that you like and one “don’t blind your buddies” low mode, but then I’ve never run out of battery on a ride either
Thanks Matt! I'll see if DrJones will chime in on this. Most of my riding will be rails-to-trails, but there could be the occasional off-road ride from time to time. I made do on my big trip two years ago with a simple 3AAA 150 lumen XR-E P4 light from DX (my "gateway drug" to higher-powered LED lights) on the C&O canal (rougher than the typical rails-to-trails). Good to hear about the KD V2. I may just go that route and perhaps come back and visit a DrJones driver later.
A clicky interrupts main power, so the light can't stay on while the button is pressed.
Also one thing to keep in mind with all those drivers (NANJG stock/QLITE/custom firmware, KD-V2 etc) is that the MCU also shuts down completely when the clicky is pressed or half-pressed, so it doesn't know how long it is off and thus can't distinguish between a short tap and a longer period of being off. This is why they have "on-time memory", i.e. when the light was on for a certain amount of time (0.5-2s, depending on firmware), memory is activated for the next time the light is switched on.
Suppose you have a 3 mode setup in L-M-H and the light runs in M for a while, then a single short tap will switch the light off and on again and memory kicks in: MMMMMM-MMMMM
To switch to the next mode, you have to tap the button again before the memory-time is over: MMMMM-M-HHHHH
Classic memory then advances to the next mode (or from the last mode to the first mode again). MMMMM-M-HHHHH
With 'short-cycle memory' it skips the remaining list and jumps directly to the first mode again. MMMMM-M-LLLLLL
With 'no memory', a single click takes you back to the 1st mode, because there is no memory. MMMMM-LLLLL
With 'next-mode memory', a single click advances to the next mode, but that's not really 'mode memory'. MMMMM-HHH
My newest firmware is lucidrv, the successor of lupodrv. It has a better programming UI and also 2 mode groups.
Wow! Lucidrv sounds great! Programming sounds relatively straightforward. Only issue I see is remembering the config / programming steps (or even how to switch groups) while out without a reference guide (guess it could be stored on a cell phone). PM incoming.
I recently got some Dr Jones drivers What I really like are different mode groups. The latest configuration I’ve tried is a simple high low for cycling, second group for general mode: moonlight, low, med high and 3rd group with a slow strobe/signal flash which works well. I find 3 modes is a little inconvenient for cycling and prefer just to have a simple high low.
Thanks for chiming in. Those were my thoughts too, so as I stated above I'm thinking DrJones "lucidrv" driver program with 2 groups: 1st group High (100%) -> Med (35%), and 2nd group: Low (6%) -> Beacon -> strobe. No memory on the 2nd group, but not sure on the first group. It's only 2 modes, so perhaps just classic memory. Hmm. . . now that I think of it I might try switching the mode order to Med -> High with no memory so it always comes on in battery conserving Medium but I can always boost to high. I like the sound of this. I'm also thinking 35% is a nice level to still give quite a lot of output but conserve battery power. With "lucidrv" I can only choose between 35% & 50% and I feel 50% doesn't show that noticeable of a difference from high (this is what my medium is on my Xiaozhi with it's Nanjg 105c).
neat update there DrJones, that’s even better than lupodrv
as for power levels, just try them out and see what you think. It’s always taken a couple of rides to figure out what works best for each light. For my helmet light (2 XM-L @ 1.5A), ~50% is perfect as a mid mode, enough light to ride moderate trails and distinct from high. For my bar light (2 XM-L @ 3A), ~50% isn’t much dimmer than 100% (not sure why, perhaps the heat path isn’t great) but 30% is too dim to be useful with my helmet light on medium. That’s why I pushed for more level options either side of 50% with mobydrv as what works for one light might be completely off for another. It’s also why I love programmable lights
I think that’s how short-cycle memory is supposed to work, but you’d have to ask DrJones to confirm as it always confused me a bit and I’ve never experienced it myself. If not I’d avoid anything with blinky modes in it like the plague as trying to ride down a trail in the dark with a strobe is really tricky (most likely one handed too, trying to change out of the blinky mode!).
What I really like are different mode groups. The latest configuration I’ve tried is a simple high low for cycling, second group for general mode: moonlight, low, med high and 3rd group with a slow strobe/signal flash which works well. I find 3 modes is a little inconvenient for cycling and prefer just to have a simple high low.