Modder's Delight Giveaway! :) Open til 5/10/15 *Winners! *

Giveaways and Contests
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  • We have winner’s! 1st Place is David Ef, with post number 10! 2nd Place is Old Lumens, with post number 30! And 3rdh Place goes to Will Manners, post number 49! David and Will, give me a shout and we’ll figure out how you want your prizes. O-L, I got ya covered and will be sending your little piece of joy within a couple of days. :wink:

Hiya Hiya!

Recently I’ve had a couple of fortunate events fall my way and I dove in partly with the thought of doing this in mind. I got a deal on some 20mm SinkPADs from Deannae at SinkPAD and also some 17mm Drivers from Richard, or should I say the boards to build the drivers.

So here’s what I’m thinking, and here’s where I need some input as well…. I was thinking to do a giveaway with 3 winners, 10 SinkPADs and 10 driver boards to each winner. Then it dawned on me that there might be a good many interested that don’t have the ability to build the driver from scratch. So do I stick with 3 winners as I’d originally thought? Or do I go with a different number of stars and drivers with the driver being built? Or offer some options? I don’t know that I can afford to completely populate 30 drivers in a giveaway, so if y’all could help me figure out the best way to go about this, we’ll nail it down and let the games begin!

The SinkPAD mcpcb’s are version 1, the original copper DTP star designed with the XM-L footprint. These are for XM-L and XM-L2 emitters. These are the last of the breed, no more to be made. I bought the last 205 SinkPAD had. Version one, if you recall, had the indention on the bottom but a smooth solid copper thermal pad for the emitter to sit on. The newest ones have a divot in the top that has to be filled with solder to level it for the emitter. That’s the SinkPAD II version, these are simply SinkPAD.

The driver boards are from Richard at MTN. He got a batch of 17mm driver boards that didn’t have the mask clear on the spring contact, so it will need to be scraped off or otherwise adapted. I thought I’d help him out and get them gone (he sold em so cheap I couldn’t resist!) and help some of y’all out with some boards to play with. :slight_smile:

Ok, here’s what I’ll do. 3 winners, 3 levels. To go with the interesting date of the draw, of course! 1st winner gets 15 stars and 15 driver boards, 2nd winner gets 10 of each, 3rd winner gets 5 of each. Any winner that want’s to negotiate the numbers in order to have me build the drivers for them or flash the MCU’s, we can work that out. I am DB CUSTOM after all, customizing is what I do! :slight_smile: Will that work for y’all?

Shipping is on me, anywhere the wind blows.

Essentially, a simple “I’m in.” will work, but how about some Kudo’s to SB for making all this available to us? Like, maybe something short about how your interest in flashlights came to be and how you came across BLF? SB would get a kick out of seeing what brought you here and the community as a whole might draw something from your experience. :slight_smile:

I will go through the entries and list the first post of each member to enter and this list will be what is drawn from. Random talking won’t impact the number of entries in that manner. :slight_smile:

Have fun!

See ya 5/10/15! :bigsmile:

(yes, Richard, I AM a glutton for punishment! :stuck_out_tongue: )

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Good Day Dale,

I'm in.....

Thank you Very Much,

George

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Aw come on George! The story! Set the pace man, give up the goods! :stuck_out_tongue:

The Elegant Aussie Down Under
Likes lights that toss lightning and thunder
Setting fires outback
With the lights from his pack
He’s a beast with the torches and plunder

:stuck_out_tongue: Ok, maybe Jack’s way of having some brewskies would help the rhyme, but you get the picture! lol

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Once upon it a time in the distant Land Downunder, there was an incandescent flashlight user named George, who always complained about them not being bright enough.

He then discovered LED emitter lights, and he thought he was in heaven, but soon they were not bright enough.

So he started researching LED flashlights, and he then discovered BLF and its members, and realised he had found the Promised Land.

True story.

Best Regards,

George

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I’m in, just for one or a couple of complete drivers.
My story here. I had some eyesight problems and I need a lot of light, so I started seacrchong for the perfect flashlight. I bought a romisen rc-c8 (I think) and I liked it so much that I wanted more. I also wanted to learn English, so I was searching for an English spoken forum. Blend both thing together, and here I am.
Thanks for your generosity DBCstm

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I’m in.

My first modern LED flashlight was an SK68, followed a year or two later by an SK98. The SK98 was my first mod host after a month of use. I silently read here for the info to do the mods, and when I decided to do a bunch of lights for Christmas presents last year it became full blown crazy. I’m sure I’ve spent a few thousand dollars at MTN alone, not to mention the other places I’ve bought from in the last 6 months. Screw heroin, flashaholism is mean mistress. :smiley:

This is a great support group though, we always look out for each other to help get our fix. :bigsmile:

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I'm in.

But I'm just a regular tinker-er. What some of you guys do here is beyond most of my capabilities, though I've got most of the basic concepts down pat.

The biggest difference with me is that when I really f**k something up - I just toss it and mark it up to experience - "Well, I won't do THAT again!" You guys immediately post your errors for all to see. LOL

But, I thank all of you here. I've learned a ton - except where to hide 57 flashlights, 200 batteries and a myriad of parts from the wife. She just thinks I'm nutz.

Peetz

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Thanks for the giveaway Dale. I’m in. :slight_smile:

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I’m in.
Thanks

10

i’m in!

Thanks for the give away

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Dale, thanks for doing this giveaway! I’d be happy to be counted as in, and even happier to win!

I started my journey long, long ago, in a land far, far away. I’ve always loved bright light. The brighter, the better has always been my way. When it became feasible for me to replace the incandescent bulbs in my home with compact fluorescents, I got the biggest, brightest ones that would fit in my fixtures. I wasn’t concerned about saving electricity. I just wanted more light!

I’ve also always been fond of electronics, and electricity in general. I’ve always liked to tinker with electronic stuff: computers, video game systems, electronic toys, and a 200-in-1 project kit from Radio Shack. I remember learning about Surefire flashlights and wishing I could own one. Then I saw on Instructables.com how someone made a Surefire-esque flashlight on the cheap by using an Eveready flashlight, changing the bulb, and putting two CR123 cells instead of the one AA that the light was made for! I thought that was so cool!

When the first LED flashlights started coming out, I wanted one so badly! But, I didn’t have the funds to spend on frivolous things like a $70USD 35 lumen flashlight! Time passed, and LED flashlights kept getting brighter and cheaper. Some of the first LED flashlights I’ve owned were 9-LED 3xAAA ultra-cheapies, as well as some 1xAA reflector lights and 1xAA zoomies that I picked up. The first “High Power” LED’s I learned about were the old 1W and 3W on aluminum stars, and for anything more powerful, multi-chip COB arrays.

Later, I went back to Instructables.com and found an entry about building a “High Power” LED driver and started looking around for more information. I went on eBay and bought loads of cheap LED’s and a couple COB’s and thought I’d build that Instructables.com driver, but I never did. I still have those components. Still trying to learn more, I searched the internet, and actually ran across the “other” flashlight site and learned a few things, but I can’t remember what. :8) I did “register” on the site, but I never really did anything there but read a little, trying to find answers. I kept searching the internet, and finally found BLF. I can’t remember how it happened, exactly. I don’t know if I found it in Google Search, or clicked a link somewhere, or what. But, I read, and learned, and joined, asked some questions, and read some more, and learned some more, and eventually started feeling right at home here!

Now, I can’t imagine going anywhere else to read and learn about flashlights! I love the fact that it really feels like a family here. BLF is a place where people share their flashlight triumphs and failures, occasionally give away stuff to other members, and generally have loads of fun! I’m in awe of people like O-L and DBCstm who are always pushing the limits for more lumens; Mattaus, who taught everybody how to design drivers in Eagle; Wight, and others, who have designed so many of the drivers; and RMM, who contributes so much here, but also feeds our addiction with his online store, where CS is the best around, and shipping is super-fast! The list of people I’m indebted to here on BLF is long, indeed. I hope to one day be able to give back in a significant way, when I’ve at least learned how to solder!

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thanks for the giveaway and i’m in :slight_smile:

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Thanks, i am in.

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i’m in … lucky 13!

thanks

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Thanks, i am Not in.

Just wanted to thank you for the opportunity.
Flashlight-wise, my skills are still somewere between second and third base.
Boring out a Surefire body with a hand reamer is no problem (just a lot of sweat).
But my current level does not go beyond swapping a driver and/or an emitter+star.
Piggybacking a 7135 looks quite easy, when the driver on your screen is 120 mm.
But in real life the tip of my soldering iron is almost half the size of that driver.
So I’ll be doing some more transplantations before I dive into the deep.

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Henk, what better way to advance to 3rd or score a run than with some free components? :wink: I’ll put you in, if you get picked, we’ll talk about it….

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I’m in, thanks for the chance!

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im in thanks dale

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I have always liked bright lights, the brighter the better, i had D cell lights, halogen 3 million candle power lead acid dealies, 3AA XP-E light, and discovered BLF when looking to buy my first XM-L light (never bought the one i had in mind, went for the cyclone C88 instead). When it could only hit 2A on 3 eneloops i had to get lithium
Then the fight started :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’m in, thanks!
I have been obsessed with flashlights since I was about 8-10 years old. I have loved reading for as long as I can remember, and was always looking for a good flashlight to keep in my pocket for those times in the car after dark when I wanted to sneak in a few pages. As time went on, and flashlights got better and better (I’m only 18, but the technology has improved beyond belief in the last 10 years!), I got more infected with the lumens bug, until I bought a “600 lumen” Ultrafire WF-502B from Tmart. It was more like 400 lumens, and I started looking for ways to make it better, since I only spent $10 on it. I had found BLF and CPF while fishing for reviews on previous purchases, and pretty soon I was hooked on modding . Thanks SB and everyone who has ever posted on BLF!!! I wouldn’t be where I am today without you guys, and am learning more from you every day! :smiley: