Not completely relevant but some of you might like to know… I’ve rebuilt my Ham’r Q8 mod to use only the original Q8 driver, no slaves. Anduril runs it, a single SIR404DP drives it (and a single 7135 chip) to the tune of 0.3 lumens in Moon and 22,100 lumens in Turbo, from 4 freshly charged Samsung 25S 18650 cells. So the components have great capability when paired with the right emitters to allow high power, in this case there are 8 XP-L (4 HI and 4 HD) and 8 LH351D as well as a single XHP-50.2 (3V).
Effectively 20 dies….
FWIW, the layout is 4 D4S boards with their accompanying Angie optics and a single 50.2 under a reflector between the 4 quads. Difficult to believe how well a single driver can run all that, but there it is.
Stuck-button safety — ramps back down, then goes to lockout mode, when the button is held for too long in ramping mode.
Version check function — click 15+ times from off and it blinks out the firmware’s build date in YYYYMMDD format. In this case, it says “2 0 1 9 0 9 2 8” and then shuts itself off.
I’m undecided about whether version check should remain at “15+ clicks from off” or if it should go somewhere else, but that’s where it is for now.
I’m trying to set the ceiling for the smooth ramp mode, and I’ve read the instructions where it says there are two modes but it doesn’t tell you how to get to those modes… Any help? I’m trying to set it up like the D4 where I can use momentary mode at full brightness instead of the default 120/150.
EDIT: Ugh, think i just found my answer in the manual; must have missed that part.
I just reflashed my two D4v2 lights.
I love the saftey auto-lockout feature. I like
that not only must one ramp up and hold the button at the ceiling for about 3 seconds, that when the light ramps down to the floor, it waits another 3 seconds with the button held down, before locking out the light. So if you intentionally want to ramp down after ramping up to the ceiling, you can do so without taking your finger off the button. As long as you stop somewhere on the way down, there is no fear of unintentional auto-lockout. Even if you don’t take your finger off, it wont lock out immediately after reaching the bottom.
However, I find that the version number is,for me, difficult to read. If you don’t figure it out on the first attempt, you must click again 15 times in order to try again.
Having the reflashing kit makes owning a D4v2 almost like owning a Tesla Model 3, which always feels new because of new features being introduced frequently with software updates. However, I think most people would rather own a Model 3.
It is already decoupled from manual memory. It uses the automatic memory brightness instead. So ramp to the brightness you want, turn off the light, then go to beacon mode. It should keep the same brightness you were using before, even if you have manual memory set to a different level.
Double click from on is turbo which is independent of the ramping level. I assume that double click from off (shortcut to ceiling) does not work either because it is not remembered.
Then it’s a good thing the upper boundary is configurable.
I’m not sure what everyone uses a beacon for though. It seems like different people have very different uses for it and want it to behave in different ways. I usually want it to run at a pretty low level, or have a very short flash.
I'd suggest using the strobe in accidents, way more of an attention grabber.
One "real world" use for the beacon I have read about is from mountain climbing. Apparently some climbers use the beacon placed inside there tent so they can find it should they come back later than expected.
For that kind of use you want very short max. brightness flashes every ~10 seconds or so.
There are plenty of arc beacon’s made for such a thing that cost very little, why use a flashlight to leave in your tent in a beacon mode. I don’t think I’d rest my safety or life on the flashlight, a more dedicated beacon for something like that…. but that’s just me of course.
I would also think a climber would have gps for such a thing. Might not be able to see the tent, illuminated or otherwise, should a wind pick up and cause blinding snow drifts… much less an actual snow storm arise. Again, though, just my own thoughts and what I’d do given such a situation.
Any plans for a timer mode similar to candle but without the flicker? I’d certainly prefer it to disco mode. Just to light the landing dimly until sunset etc.
