Texas_Ace BLF Calibrated Lumen tube / Sphere No math skills needed - Several spheres still available

It would seem that way, although when compared to other lights in the same class they compared favorably, so I am not sure what to make of it.

We will need to wait for more data to make nay educated guesses.

agree, it’s just a number, and I couldn’t be happier with my MT03 and TA driver. The driver added some ~ 4000 lumens I think, a wonderful UI, and it’s bright as the sun.

It may just be a number but I still feel horrible that I might of unknowingly mis-represented these lights.

Once some more people get the spheres we can see how things compare with a wider selection of lights.

I am also going to see if I can get some lights measured in an ANSI sphere.

I just need to figure out some very consistent lights for this. Most of the lights I have here are not regulated anymore or not very consistent.

I like to caution the idea of assuming respected manufacturer’s lights are accurate and consistent throughout. I just posted some ceiling bounce results for my AA lights and there are several identical lights from “respectable” companies that show considerable variation in light output. My ceiling bounce measurements have been extremely consistent even when measuring the same light months apart.

Also I prefer we don’t apply our own correction factor and instead apply a standard correction factor among all the lumen tubes. One of the main benefits of so many people owning TA lumen tubes is so we have a standardized basis to compare lumens among members. Even if the lumen tubes are not calibrated to realistic lumens, they are still calibrated consistently among all the units so we need to come up with standardized correction factor.

M43 is very consistent. Output remains constant all the way down to 3.5V (boost driver). I’ve got three identical, and output is very close to each other.

I forgot to post the link at first to see how indentical lights compare AA Flashlight Collection Ceiling Bounce Comparison

I have a question. If the 4” lumen tubes did readings about 30% low when you put them together, Isnt that close to point?

Low as in comparison to the 3” ones.

Yes, as they were setup at the start looks to be pretty close to what they need to be. Although they have now been calibrated up to match the rest so it really doesn’t apply now.

It is also looking like I will be sending some lights to finland for testing on a real sphere so I can get a good calibration.

I am thinking of using an

S2+ with 7135 driver as they are usually pretty stable.

Possibly a BLF348 as I hear they are fairly stable since they use a regulated boost driver

Old fenix light I got 10 years ago that was pretty stable when tested.

These are small enough and cheap enough to risk in the normal mail, otherwise it would be $75+ in shipping.

I’v sent a mail to him to, to get som lights measured.

I did a list and will let him pic what he think vill be good.
The list is this

Out of these lights witch ones do you want to test?

Sr mini intimidator

Utorch 02

Astrolux S1

Nitecore Ec11

Klarus Xt11gt

Sofirn Sp10a

Imalent Dn70 flood king

Imalent Dn35 throw king

Added several more lights to my original post (#342)

TA, is your plan to get a couple of properly measured lights from Maukka and then figure out a simple and repeatable way to reduce output on the sensor?

I would much rather we do that so that we can still use the numbers directly off the Lux meter. I realize we can just use a correction factor and do the math, but that’s not ideal to me. We can still make these tubes live up to the intended expectations.

BTW, I’m going to put off measurin all my lights for a few days when I have more time. Plus other people will be receiving theirs. We will get it sorted out. :+1:

Yes, my goal is to get a good calibration figured out first and this try to figure out a way to calibrate the spheres.

Mailing them back to me is the best way then I can calibrate them directly.

Or if you have a nice stable light you can take some before measurements and calibrate it yourself.

Or if I can find a way to add something that will adjust them that I can mail out that would be cool but after having messed with these, I doubt that is possible.

We just need to find a consistent, thin, film-like material that we can layer up.

A paper-based product would certainly be cheap, but I’m not sure of its consistency. I think you share the same concerns. Maybe we can test a variety of thin papers.

What about a lens that can be bought and stuck into the hole that the sensor mounts into? Kind of like a neutral density filter but fairly weak. I’ve got that ND filter you sent me and that thing really knocks down the lumens. I have to multiply my readings by 13.1. This should be more consistent, but the odds of getting exactly the right reduction in output seems a bit slim.

I will do some more experiments next week and report back.

Yeah, it is possible a film or sheet can be found that will work, but consistency is the problem from sphere to sphere.

Even now I can not explain the fact that no 2 spheres calibrated exactly the same way, they all needed to be customized.

Although putting something at the sensor end is possible, it would vastly reduce the possible variables.

I have about 10 spheres here I could test it on, if it worked on all of those then it is safe to say it should work on everyones.

Based on the results from fifteen lights (manufacturer spec vs TA Tube), my average correction factor would be .728

Later, if we need a standard across all units, I can also use that. But for now, that number makes the tube useful for me until everything gets sorted out.

If others can post their correction factor, it would be interesting to see if the results are close - or not.

Sure i will… i will test out a bunch of lights on tuesday… we are taking @ 30 seconds right?

correct

When you say spec, do you mean the lumens the light is advertised to be?

Compared to the JoshK sphere, my numbers (roughly) are around .65 to .70, so pretty close to your .73. We are in the same ballpark. :+1: Of course, this all needs to be decided later on.

We should also try to standardize the time we measure. ANSI-FL1 says 30 seconds. That might be our standard time unless we state otherwise.

The batteries also can make a difference with certain lights. I have 26650 blue and black Liitokala’s that are low IR. I’ve also got some low IR button top 30Q. I can have several on the charger as I’m using one. Then put it on the charger and grab another so the voltage is always topped off.

I guess I will record the lumens as they come off the stock TA Tube. Then we can probably decide on a specific correction factor at a later time.

I can see this being a fun marathon session when I get a day off. :smiley:

Correct (clarified post).

I also took all measurements 30sec after turn on.