DST Monster thrower test for the Quad-DST project *UPDATE:* - BEAM SHOTS

So below are three powerful throwers.
On the left is a Tom-E modded BTU Shocker. In the middle is a specially modded Defiant Super Thrower. On the right is a powerful Olight SR90.
The middle DST, is modded with a stacked-7135 Nanjg-105 driver driving a XM-L U2 Dedomed Emitter on a Noctigon at 5 amps using a Samsung 20R 18650 and fine adjusted focus, ) also will run on a 26650 with this body)
I give who ever designed and build the DST reflector credit for they did a great job at designing the DST reflector angle & forcing the XM-L to a narrow beam of light, even with the reflector being made from plastic.
An interesting thing about the DST head is that its “focusable”. the trick is to secure the reflector in the head, (locked with cement) and the emitter star held in place with screws, then removing the emitter centering spacer & using the upper threaded part, the throw can be “fine focused” by fine-adjusting the head threaded section.
Visually it matches, and maybe marginally out throws both the BTU & SR90 in tests i did in the back yard earlier tonight.

This DST is a “test Mule” for the BARRETT40 project,
that will use 4 of these DST heads with Dedomed XM-L2 emitters, driven even harder using possibly eight 20Rs in two bodies from SRKs all in parallel through four seperate Nanjg stacked-drivers ( one for each emitter)
if i can get 5 + amps per emitter , that would mean more than 20 plus amp draw from the cells.
I hope to have this light built before the Flashaholic Camp Weekend Meet planned for June.

So i managed to get some beamshots of the three above.

- Distance to Water Tower is roughly 400 meters. ( Water tower has a Celluar communications array on it’s top.)

  • Photos taken with Nikon D5100, remote-shutter trigger, 1/5sec shutter, ISO 7000, dark night, approx 2:50 AM, light cloud cover.

First is the collage showing how well the focus is on the modded DST. ( using the fine-tuning ajustment as mentioned above) Modds are as listed above, 4.92 Amps, stacked 7135 105c, copper braids, heavier lead wires, Samsung 20R 18650, Dedomed XM-L2 on copper Noctigon.
as compared to the Tom-E BTU and the SR90, the modded DST show how well it can keep a beam of photons together for a distance, and so far is the best standard-type reflector based thrower i have ever seen short of a well built Aspheric.

This is just a prototype test of a single head of the monster 4-DST head thrower project under construction that will use simmilar driver and emitter mods, thou will be attempting to push the amps higher and using 8 Samsung 20R’s in parallel.

- I will let you be the judge.

Modded DST:

Tom-E BTU Shocker:

Olight SR90 “Gun Light”:

:open_mouth: ermahgerd

Sounds great. Looking forward to the shots and eventually the monster build. You can also adjust focus by turning the head (portion after heat sink fins).

I've been planning a 3 DST head build for some time now. Maybe I will call it the BarrettJr. It will be a ways down the road though. Been trying to wrap up a few of way too many open projects.

yep indeed turning the threaded head portion gives a “fine ajustment” to focus the hotspot, as it lowers or raises the reflector from the emitter.

Den,that is a killer looking DST.I probably overlooked it but where did you get the battery tube from?I hope to build one like this but time has not been there for me lately.This DST reflector is huge and has alot of potential to be a great thrower.Seems like I'm late to the party...

The 26650/18650 cell body is from this C2V3 light here: >
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/C2V3-Black-2000-LM-CREE-XM-L-U2-LED-Flashlight-Torch-Lamp-Light-26650-18650-A-/330982303640?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item4d10152798

it threads onto the DST hear or switch midsection perfectly, converting the DST to Lithium Ion cells instead of the 3-C cells.

That's awesome! I was very surprised the first time I fired up my DST... the hotspot is quite intense, even when stock. It is a very tight hotspot for a domed XM-L.

I'm having a few of the stock bodies bored out for 2 x 26650 use. You won't be able to use the tailcap anymore (you lose those threads in the process) but you can still load from the front. I'm going to try and wedge the 5A 2S driver in there with an XM-L2 and bask in insane runtime throwy glory.

The multiple DST is going to be insane though! I wish we could get some more budget lights with this same reflector, it's pretty awesome with the XM-L.

ImA4Wheelr wrote:

Sounds great. Looking forward to the shots and eventually the monster build. You can also adjust focus by turning the head (portion after heat sink fins).

I’ve been planning a 3 DST head build for some time now. Maybe I will call it the BarrettJr. It will be a ways down the road though. Been trying to wrap up a few of way too many open projects.

yep indeed turning the threaded head portion gives a “fine ajustment” to focus the hotspot, as it lowers or raises the reflector from the emitter.

Oh, I just realized turning the head will take off the pressure from the reflector that holds the emitter base. Your approach is the best approach. I forgot about that because I almost always press aluminum and copper bar into my pills and then reflow my emitter bases to a copper rod. So the reflector is not needed to hold down the emitter. Sorry about that.

it does a great job of forcing all the light from the big XM-L die down to a tight hotspot that matches the most expensive XM-L throwers. its to bad its not a metal reflector, but it dont really matter as its well designed for a chrome-plated plastic one.

its why i would need to use screws to hold the star down solid on the pill, as the reflector will be “floating” above the emitter for a fine hotspot adjustment. Another good design of the DST is the pill is a large heavy solid chunk of aluminum with good heat dissapation.

How far can this DST throw? :open_mouth:

I am unsure yet, but it matches and maybe even throws a bit more than both the SR90 & modded BTU Shocker above, which are known for extreme throw abilities.
I will try to get a test photo of the beam soon of all three.

Wow! Can’t wait to see those beam shots. :slight_smile:

Too bad we have no access to this tight though. :frowning:

This model was only sold in Canada and USA for a short time in 2013, they are geting hard to find now. There are still a fiew being sold on Ebay, but at a higher price that the stores sold them for.

Beamshot updates above in the OP ! :slight_smile:

Looks to me like the DST easily destroys both of the others in throw.

with the mods this DST is like a white laser beam. Not much flood or spill compared to the other two monster lights, but it really lives up to its name as “Super Thrower” and holds its own in ability to force a Dedomed XM-L2’s output into a pencil beam.

Awesome for such an inexpensive light, wish I had bought a few.

it is definitely impressive for what started out as a $29 dollar Home-Depot Brand light with a plastic reflector. These respond to Modifications very well to make a beast fo a thrower light.

See the updated Beamshots compared to a modded BTU and SR90 on the OP. :slight_smile: