TK's Emisar D4 review

TK, not technically correct on one pointā€¦ the XP-L2 will actually fit under the Carclo optic. Itā€™s a tight fit and you can do damage if not careful but they do indeed fit. (I should say the ones I got early on from Cutter fit, havenā€™t done it again in a while due to, uh, circumstances beyond my control)

I have the user-configured thermal calibration working. The UI for this is a little more detailed thoughā€¦

  • Fast-click 10+ times, then click and hold.
  • Light blinks out the current temperature limit in C.
  • Let go of the button if you want to exit now with no changes. Otherwise keep holding.
  • Light ā€œbuzzesā€ for two seconds. Let go during this time to set limit to the maximum (~70 C). Otherwise keep holding.
  • Light goes up to turbo.
  • Hold until you feel itā€™s too hot, then let go.

The light then blinks out the new temperature limit in C, and shuts off.

This way, you can check the current number, set it to maximum, or set a new calibration by feel. Also, setting the ceiling to a high temperature ā€¦ will hurt. But thatā€™s probably a good thing.

Does this seem like a good way to do it?

Sure does to me, great work TK, is this in the next releaseā€¦?

I like that it flashes out what it is currently set at so you can check where you left it.

XP-L is pretty beastā€¦ but I think Iā€™ll go Nichia on this thing. Would be my first floody Nichia and highest amped light. My mouth is watering at the thought.

Iā€™m getting pretty close to done.

Currently, there is no way to disable mode memory. Itā€™s easy to bypass during regular use, by turning the light on with a long-press or a double-clickā€¦ but it could be a potential issue when kept in a pocket or a bag if you left it in a high mode and it gets tapped by accident.

Making it optional would need some sort of config mode. Adding an actual config mode would require deeper changes and make the interface more complicated.

So, Iā€™m trying to figure out if itā€™s okay to always have memory or if it needs a config mode.

Anyway, hereā€™s the UI so far:

Changes from the original version include:

  • added full thermal regulation with user-calibrated ceiling
  • added mode memory on click-from-off (default 100% 7135)
  • made beacon use current ramp level
  • made double-click toggle turbo (not just one-way any more)
  • made LVP drop down in smaller steps
  • calibrated moon to ~0.3 lm on Emisar D4-219c hardware
  • blink when passing the 100% 7135 level, for reference
  • fixed display of ā€œzeroā€ digits
  • fixed/cleaned misc internal things

DROOOOL

I NEED :stuck_out_tongue: :laughing: :smiling_imp:

I LOVE that UI, thank you for your wonderful work TK !
I wish the thermal config was that easy in my TA driver with Narsil (I have it in a Nitecore HC30 and struggle to use the thermal config :frowning: )

If there is no way to configure memory mode, how about a long press to memory mode, and single click is on in low mode?

While I can flash the ATTiny, Iā€™d much rather see this UI available directly from Richardā€¦. the more I see here the more I want to see it in my shopping cart at mtnelectronics.com. :smiley:

The UI looks great. Well the FW fit on a attiny25?

Love the new UI!

Probably an ATTiny85

Yes. Hopefully Richard will start selling preassembled drivers in different diameters with this UI. That way we can install it in all our e-switch lights. :+1:

YES! +1 to this. I have a H02 with a dead driver that I would love to have this set up in.

well that and a green D4 with almost 4k lumens of nichia goodness. will be watching this for updates on the v2 release

That is an awesome feature!

Nice work TK

Love the new changes thanks for all your work TK, will ramping output on beacon be also something that transfers to the output of the bat and temp checks light output as wellā€¦?
Or are they not all connected, I have no clue about coding stuff but I can tell you that the work you do can be very important to someone someday on many levels.
Iā€™ve been with WA State Search and Rescue since 1975 and was showing some of your UI;s in some lights to a few guys and one guy asked me while I was showing him how I could use one of your UIā€™s to check the battery levels and his response was, Oh really, I thought that was a international distress signal, well I near hit the floor, he was right, well needless to say he was on to something because it does look very close to international distress and if I saw that on a rescue blinking out your bat volts or temp even Iā€™d have thought the same thing that he did, but seeing it so often knowing itā€™s bat check that never occurred to me before so if lost in WA State just use TKā€™s bat check or temp reading for signaling for help and bag the beacon, amazing,
Your work TK might save someones life, no joke. So always keep one cell at 3.3v when hiking in mountains just in case ā€¦ ha ha ha,

Fixed that smooth tube to comfortable hand fit now, feels nice and rubbery and not slippery at all and fells better in diameter. Helps keep heat down from the head as well.

There is currently no way to turn memory off. Setting the memorized level is easy though; it automatically remembers whatever you ramp to.

I think thatā€™s the plan. :slight_smile:

No, itā€™ll fit on attiny45 though.

It wonā€™t be feasible on tiny25 until I write a whole new code base from scratchā€¦ and maybe not even then.

No, the ā€œcheckā€ levels are hardcoded at a medium-low output level. Bright enough to read the value, dim enough to not use much power.

The momentary ā€œtacticalā€ mode is hardcoded to use only maximum output. For the sort of person who wants a tactical burst mode, I donā€™t think theyā€™d be happy about having it ā€œburstā€ at only 30 lm if they had been using the light to look in the glove box a few minutes beforehand. Me, Iā€™d rather have an adjustable momentary modeā€¦ but I donā€™t think Iā€™m the target audience for this feature.

Wow this thread goes fast!
Am I telling the truth here:

?

What did you use for the grip sleeve on your D4?

I wish theyā€™d do a run of knurled 18650 body tubes for this light.