ALIVE: Astrolux S42 groupbuy: US$ 25.95

Well kinda hard to do anything about the driver from BG side.

Isnt Astrolux a BG house brand?

What diffrence would that make?

Only way for them to fix it is send out a new light.

Don’t think they’ll send out a new light. Maybe a solution is the roll out a S43 with all the fixes and a new UI, and give us a really good price.

Or just a new, PROPER, head of the light… or at least a proper driver that those of us that know how could install… The light is basically unusable.

The UI is clearly explained in the product details on the banggood site. I agree the UI is stupid but the UI was listed for us to look at before we ordered the light.
Not like they tricked us saying the UI would be any different

I actually found the UI diagram really unclear. What’s a dotted line? What’s a solid line? The only thing that was clear is the long-press that says “long press” next to it.

I’m sure there are several people here who would be willing to consult on and beta test new light ideas just for a couple free samples. I’m one of them. The low efficiency of the driver, battery crushing problem and ridiculously bad UI could all have been easily avoided.

I agree they could of explained the lines better.
There’s only one line going back to off. Which should be a long press not a short press.

Same here… I even went back and looked at it and still dont quite understand it.

*Group1:Moon,Low,Med1,Med2,High1,High2,Turbo
+Moon,Turbo,Tactical strobe,Battery check,Bike flasher (without memory function,short press<0.5s)

Group2:Low,Med2,High1,High2 (with memory function,duble click the button,short press<0.5s)*

Double click and short press seems to change the mode groups, but not sure what the short press does, as I thought it would toggle memory but it doesnt. Then I thought it would be a way to change mode groups, but it doesnt…

Clearly is not how i would describe the way the UI is ‘explained’… and it is not quite consistent with the one we got.

Even the printed version that came with the light with additional instructions (if you have a microscope to read them) is not all that clear. I somehow managed to switch mode group by accidentally double clicking (how stupid is that?) and i had no clue as how to switch back… until i figured “configuration” must gave something to do with it… which seems obvious now. :person_facepalming:

I’m still not sure how i find myself in disco hell once in a while after turbo… This light seems to have a life of itself, unless the cumulative effects of face-blasting-with-turbo has already dented my cognition. :smiling_imp:

Could you really predict the actual fiasco just by looking at that diagram? I don’t think so. It could have worked if they did it right. And i guess that’s what we where all assuming they would do considering previous Astrolux lights. The problem is the translation from a physical tail switch to a side eswitch which is a first for them i believe.

Fully agree with you about the double click to change mode is really stupid.
By looking at the diagram before I ordered the light. I could see that you could only turn off the light from turbo only. And you stuck with the stupid disco if you long press into turbo.
Kinda makes me more stupid knowing this and still getting the light :person_facepalming: Guess I couldn’t help myself at the $25 price

How do I remove the USB cover - do I need to take the light apart? This is a dumb question, but I would rather ask before I do something stupid.

I just pulled mine off, and reinstalled it with gentle prodding of a toothpick

Thanks for the tip! Making my S41 into a twisty is awesome!

now THAT is a small pocket rocket!, especially after I cut off that superfluous tripod mount and replace with a magnet.

Danm! Now I want an S42S tail cap for my S41S, just the tail cap!!!

Now with this mod, I can get 2 spare 18350’s in the bottom of the Manker holster!

And with the S41 tail cap on the S42, you can turn it off from any mode.

Sow’s ears are so sweet!

A Short S41 with twisty is one of the reasons I bought the S42.

Has anyone tried to replace the firmware? There are several options available with e-switch support. Apart from the battery issue this would make the light much more useful.

Easiest option would of course be to use the E14 II firmware. The hardware design seems similar enough for this to work. Maybe we could give it a try?

Regards
Christian

If you want a shorter s41, use the tailcap from skilhunt h03.

Thats what i said but thats the only way to fix the ui as some want.

Also a new head? That IS a new light…

Just received mine and I actually happened to have a battery that fits. It’s tight, but the Enercig IMR18350 ( Enercig IMR18350 700mAh - 14A - 18350 & 18500 - Li-ion - Rechargeable batteries | NKON ) does fit, if you screw on the tailcap carefully so the tailspring goes in to the recession it sits in.

The UI is SLOW and could use some improvement, but it’s no real showstopper for me (the UNsafe lockout sequence does scare me a bit though). The USB cover is a joke, falls out all the time. But the S42 does produce a lot of wonderful neutral high CRI light, unfortunately not for long since it gets HOT fast.

With the new battery tube and new USB cover BangGood/Astrolux could have a winner on their hands. Especially if they let ToyKeeper improve the UI. A better driver with temperature controlled stepdown would also be nice.