Well I knew I wanted a bit of a time gap so the second batch was being offered to a fresh audience, but I never meant it to be 4 months! Oops I got super busy at both my jobs, then my wife and I moved! The good news is nobody was left hanging with their sphere on order.
So here goes the second batch. This will be the last built by me, but the beginning of an open-source tutorial! As I built these, I will make a YouTube how-to video on each step so another BLF member can do batches in the future, or anyone can even make their own. I recommend doing them in group batches for consistency, but that will be up to you.
Cost is $78 within the USA ($66 cost + $12 postage)
Or for outside the continental USA ($66 cost + ??) ($61 to Australia, $71 to Germany)
The shipping box is a 15 inch cube and weighs 4 pounds 9 ounces.
and here’s the original thread
In the original thread we all agree the sphere is a nice build. There are a few ideas on how to use it though. I recommend the app above for converting to lumens. And Texas_Ace has fitted a NR filter to give it almost unlimited high-side abilities through the hole. Way beyond the original 1000 lumen.
So who wants in on this batch?
1) markalike
2) MtnDon
3) hangar
4)
PS - It took about 3 weeks for raw parts to come to me last time. So expect the same when we order again. We will place the parts orders once interest slows on this list… perhaps a week or two? Just PM for my Paypal address. I prefer you send the money as “for a friend” because Paypal takes a $2.62 fee out of your money sent ‘for merchandise’.
I love mine, it has been working great since the NR filter install.
In the last thread I also explained how I made a multiplier modifier so that I can read the lumens directly on the lux meter without the need to use a calculator. Still working great and I have not found a situation yet that showed an issue with the readings.
This sphere is super great for reading low modes like sub lumen moon and firefly modes. Nothing else I have seen will come close to measuring those kinds of modes.
I have measured all the way up to a ~7500 lumen Skyray King as well with the NR filter installed.
I honestly have no complaints with how it is designed or works, it is a truly well thought out piece.
It has also lined up very well with the few ANSI rated flashlights I have tried in it.
Most impressive though was the accuracy with which it matched the Cree data sheets for bare emitters. With the emitter in the sphere the lumen readings are well within the data sheet for the given emitter bin. To the point I was actually quite surprised. It really does things like this well.
So since i received mine i would love to see some experience from the actual buyers or some estimated lumen values from different lights.
For example i tested the Nitecore MH20 yesterday, the Eagle Eye X2R, the Angryfox E11 and the Olight S15R so far.
It all depends on the calibration you can choose in the app. What “sphere cal” value do you all use for your sphere?
I can only say everything over 0.0060 will give way to high lumen ratings. So 0.0060 is the max but i still dont know whats more accurate 0.0060 or all the way down to 0.0050 which gave me the most plausible results but i will post an example.
For example estimated lumens from user selfbuilt:
1
125
370
590
990
So i really dont know which setting is closer, the 0.0050 seems to be better but it dont reaches the 1000 lumen at turbo. The factory claims are still way lower except turbo.
How you all handle the problem with the different adapters, i got 3 but i need much more for the different headsizes, for example for penlights. I just want to cut out some cardboard with the correct sized hole in it and put it over the head of the light to seal the hole better.
I also see a huge impact on the lumen readings when inserting the head just a few mm more inside the sphere. So is it better to insert the head of the light in the sphere a bit or is it better when the light sits just on the hole ?
3 is enough. I was hoping for more, but it’s about time to get this show on the road. I will place the orders in the morning. Thanks for your patience.
The stuff is here, I need to do the 3D prints now. Before the weekend week I am planning to get everything setup and filmed. Then by this time next week I hope to be shipping them.
We have a bit of an issue. DickBlick sent a different kind of sphere, and they are all damaged. There is no lego features at the seam. Instead there is a foam peg. Or at least there is supposed to be a foam peg. All the pegs are broken off. And since none of the broken pegs are in the boxes, they were damaged before they shipped them to me. To make it worse, I emailed them Monday about getting non-damaged replacements, but they are ignoring me. It has been 5 business days.
I got super busy at both my jobs, then my wife and I moved! The good news is nobody was left hanging with their sphere on order.