Would it be alright to ask, what are the differences between the "proposed" final firmware you intended, compared to what is actually installed on the GT Mini?
Sharing a video beamshot of the GT Mini neutral-white:
(building on the other side is about 160 meters or 400 feet away from the flashlight)
compare to an Astrolux C8 (XPL-Hi 3A NW, 1300 lumens)
www.youtube.com/embed/roxXelnRQwo
Basically what I said in the quote, I don’t remember all the changes but the biggest change was an improved ramp that was smoother, better mode groups and a few minor tweaks to some other settings that were really just from my drive for the best I can do.
A few of those changes were noted earlier, the menu timing was extended to 16 seconds instead of 8 seconds ect.
Overall most will not notice the difference, the base firmware I used was basically the GT firmware so it still works fine, it was just not optimized for this driver and light.
Yeah. So far the most noticeable part is, when stepping down from FET to 7135 due to low battery, the light is actually becoming brighter. This is because the firmware avoids activating two channels at once, and when the battery voltage is low, the FET can be darker than the 7135, thus “stepping-down to a brighter level” can happen. This can certainly be fixed by tuning the voltage that triggers this.
Not an apples-to-apples comparison, but here I got some images of GT Mini CW vs GT Mini NW and also Emisar D1 V2-3A
GT Mini CW (left) vs GT Mini NW (right)
(building is about 125 meters or 400 feet distance)
The second pic has the D1S (3A) on the left and GT Mini (NW) on the right.
For some reason, the GT Mini (CW) looks a bit less bright or focused than the GT Mini NW or the D1S 3A. Maybe it's just the more neutral tints look better at night?
Distance according to Google maps: ~126 meters or ~400 feet (actual distance is a bit more, because that is ground-to-ground-distance, the actual is from a lower ground level pointing several stories upwards to the opposite building at a slight angle)
This is what should happen actually, given equal outputs the neutral white will throw better. The warmer wavelengths are less prone to refraction in the atmosphere and thus travel further.
Today I picked up my GTMini.
Charged to full 30Q and such results:
5.8A on the back of the cap
23 micro Amper drainage (backlight off)
1392 lumen
118kcd
color in turbo 4430K BBL 4D (almost identically as UT02)
Now I have virtually identical performance as my modified UT02 with 1510 lumens. The same range, color, beam … only in a smaller and lighter package. In conclusion, a very nice flashlight.