And thanks to ToyKeeper too. Your awesome TK!
You can set a maximum length for all mode groups. Currently, it’s set to 8. With up to 255 entries in the table, that means it can handle up to 31 full groups plus one partial. If you set the maximum length to 10, it can then handle up to 25 full groups plus one partial. Maximum length of 12 would be up to 21 groups and one partial. The partial is used for muggle mode, as long as there are at least 4 bytes left over.
But it also means that, to make one group longer than 8 modes, it would require making every group just as long (padded with zeroes for unused slots).
The bit about “9 + sizeof(hiddenmodes)” should be the maximum mode group length plus one plus however many hidden modes there are. So, if you made it allow 10 modes per group, it’d be “11 + sizeof(hiddenmodes)”. And the bit later in the code which counts the modes would need its limit bumped up too. It really should be a #define somewhere, but currently it’s all hardcoded.
Not easily, and not without sacrificing other things.
You could define a mode group which goes 10lm, 150lm, 750lm, then enable the options for moon and high-to-low mode order, and it would give you exactly that. Start at 750lm, then you can med-press for turbo or short-press for 150lm. No double-tap-for-turbo, but it would allow click-medtap for turbo from off.
For me, the most-often-used EDC modes are (in order): 10lm, 0.2lm, battcheck, 50lm, biking, turbo, party strobes. Not everyone wants 750lm first (or at all). However, some people want it first, so it sounds like a good candidate for another mode group. 1x7135@10%, 1x7135, Nx7135. Can optionally be reversed or have moon added. Turbo still accessible via medium-press to back into hidden modes. I believe this is in the table as group 12.
I prefer the keep it simple method. I have never really understood the high or turbo set up. It all seems a bit Spinal tap to me (turn it to 11). I have always wanted maximum brightness that was only ever reduced because of overheating issues. Run time is not a big issue. Over a shift I will tend to burn through about 60% of a 3000mah battery but always have a spare in my work bag. I imagine a lot of Security, Police and emergency services would find the low to high mode useful as if you are not checking i.d’s or keys the rest of the time a strong light is the only other thing you really need.
I’m struggling to get this mode to work. I think I have got it to mode 3 without the memory at the moment so I might leave it like that for a bit. Fat thumbs and a tired brain do not a good mode maker make.
I just want to comment on the double tap clicky feature. I have used this feature on Dr Jones H17F driver and it is sort of a pain for the same reasons mentioned above. You can’t switch modes quickly without inadvertently getting the double tap mode.
Me too. It’s a neat feature but it needs to be adjustable. I keep going into double tap mode by accident.
Well the credit really goes to TK, I simply took her hard work and tweaked it to do what I wanted. I could only do that because she coded it in such a way that I was able to understand it and adjust it without breaking it.
I have a real problem with comments like that in places that most will never see, I tend to just go silly by the 3rd or 4th one. The later at night it is when writing them, the crazier they get lol.
Ok, thanks for taking the time to explain it. I love knowing why something works and not just that it does. That makes perfect sense now, I woundered why 9 was the magic number.
I guess I will see exactly how much room there is to work with once you get done working your magic on the code space and then decide what features are most important to fill it.
I assume this is the mode group length code you were refering to?
(solid_modes<8) && pgm_read_byte(src + solid_modes);
Correct, group 12 would net you exactly that. It is my prefered mode group as I rarely use turbo over the bank of 7135’s and when I do I don’t mind med clicking for it. Plus when turbo is right after the bank of 7135’s on a single emitter light it is hard to tell which mode you are in as they visually look so close.
Sounds good to me, just trying to make sure as many situations as possible are covered.
I agree 100%. Although, when programmed to come on at a level that you use the most in a particular light, say an edc work horse used for pretty much the same repetitive thing all day in the same situation it's a nice feature because you really only need the one mode and occasionally a lower level and occasionally the double tap mode.
I had problems with tapping to fast and always hitting turbo when I first started using it but I've trained myself to slow down when I need lower output. It's second nature to me now and it just plain works.
+1 TK's contributions to the BLF community are amongst the best and they keep getting better.
Thanks again ToyKeeper
Minor editorial comment: I'm not sure it's ideal to document this as "40% light output". Maybe say 40% "apparent brightness" so at least people who know a bit are clued in if they don't read the fine print? Ok I guess people who know a lot, know what a 7135 is, but there are probably those in the middle. Of course you explained in the text. Regardless of arguments about how brightness really is perceived, it just seems "apparent brightness" is a more accurate expression with less potential confusion.
I'm not sure "apparent brightness" is always a clear concept anyway when you have competing lights nearby and shadows in the distance to see into for example, but I think it's the concept you're going for.
Yeah, that is most likely a better way to word it for the masses.
Ok, got a few more mode group ideas from the main Texas Avenger thread.
Added 2 modes that don’t use the bank of 7135’s on the bottom of the driver to allow it to be used as a normal 1 sided FET+1 driver for even more flexibility.
Also added a group that skips over the single 7135 mode and jumps right to the bank of 7135’s after low. This way you can adjust the number of 7135’s to fit your goal of a mid mode spacing and after that is turbo.
Good thing that TK is freeing up more space, I have no doubt that we are going to fill up all 31 modes easily and already at 2104 bytes as it is lol.
Oh yeah TK, while you are messing with the code if you can add the blink for the 10 digit in the mode groups that would be great. I think we are going to need it.
Anyone have any other unique mode group ideas?
Looks like we have 4-5 more groups left if TK is able to compact the code enough to fit them all.
I want TK’s new the-whole-number-pi blinky mode, when she gets it finished. :nerd_face: 
TA, is it possible to include a mode with a variety of blinks, various frequencies strobes, various bright levels of biking strobes, beacon etc? Like the ones that the TK cypreus had.
I am not firmilar with Cyprus but yes, I was actually planning on an all blinky (well except for one or 2 solid modes) mode group with a bunch of different options.
Right now it has 5 different strobes from tactical to stop motion. I plan on adding a few more even better stop motion strobes once TK updates the firmware. Not totally sure what the final tally will be but it will have lots of fun strobe modes for sure. Most of them will be accessible at the end of the hidden modes in any mode group.
TA, and what about a user configurable level for the moon mode, like the narsil has. That’s interesting, since different emitters had different current needed to start to produce light.
That would be something well over my head to add to the menu but I doubt it would be a wise choice anyways as it would take up a lot of space for very little usefulness.
Instead I plan to release a few versions of the final firmware with different moon mode levels. Since this is something that you will simply pick once and not worry with I think this is the best option. For example firmware with moon modes of 1, 2, 3, and maybe even 4 PWM levels for people to pick from. Personally I like 3 but I could see people wanting 2 as well.