*BLF LT1 Lantern Project) (updated Nov,17,2020)

I am # 237 and 238 on the list. Please put me in for two more.

Thank You

Looks really good. What are the next steps? Still on Sofirn to produce a prototype?

Looking good sofar, but I will have a closer look tonight. I like the slightly rotated T in the switch button, just like most of my Q8’s :smiley:

Please add me another unit.

They have to use up those Thorfire buttons! :stuck_out_tongue:

We are discussing the test-build unit now in the team chat for a test prototype before the production for the first group buy orders are ready.

Ok, I had a better look at the design. Some commends:

*the driver section is still pretty massive, and so is the top section. If the coming prototype feels overweight, some grams can be spared by making the driver section leaner here and there, and changing out some of the solid aluminium in the top section for a finned section (vertical fins I think), good for heat dissipation too, and it looks good.

*the light cup seems one piece with the bottom and central tube of it, right? And it will be made of frosted plastic I assume? It would help extracting the light if the central tube plus the bottom of the light cup has a mirror finish, like flashlight reflectors have. But it would become a rather difficult plastic piece like that.

*the way the top is screwed on here, the complete force of the screw is transferred to the plastic cup. Overtightening the screw will crack the cup. This can be improved by inserting a metal (alu) tube of the correct length into the central tube of the light cup, so that the screw tightens the metal tube between top and driver section (the ledboard needs a larger hole in the middle to make room for the tube), while pressing the plastic light cup mildly into the o-rings on top and bottom. That tube can be shiny on the outside if the lightcup itself can not be made reflective there.
I can not see where the led wires go from driver to ledboard, that could interfere with such a metal tube, but it seems to me that a solution can be found for that.

If I come up with more, I will annoy you with that again.

As for the mid section its shorten a little from the one i built originally, (also were looking at a version-2 later down the road to add the powerbank feature, that will likely need the extra space and aluminum there for heat dissipation was the thought for having a bit of “beef” left in that area.

- As for the globe/lens part it will be likely a one-piece tougher medium-frosted plastic (like polycarbonate if possible) and the center will be using a white sleeve/cup to cover it and the bottom inside, preferably matte/flat white, and not shiny chrome as i have tested shiny mirror surfaces and all that does is cause sharp eye glare, artifacts in the light distribution and very little to increase light reflection or smooth out the light emitted.

As seen in the image below:

for the third question, if the globe/cup is made from polycarbonate, it will be very strong, ( even if Acrylic is used and the walls are made thick it should be strong enough to withstand a good pressure. ( preferable polycarbonate (lexan type material though)

The wire leads will run to the LED MCPCB inside the center tube along side the center bolt.

keep the critique comments coming . . . :+1:

That sounds good Den, if the cup is from thick polycarbonate it will be immensely strong, it just does not look very thick in the design drawing. The white sleeve sounds like a good solution for getting the light out in the best possible way, you have all the experience about how the beam behaves :slight_smile:

Please add one more to the list for me, so total of 2 lanterns at this time.
Thank you.

There is been a lot of trial & error testing over the last couple years with different designs no doubt. But the ideas from all of you helped greatly! if anything else is seen or thought of, please post more. :+1:

Well, I’ve got to say, I’m actually glad that I heard about this project pretty late into its development, because I’m so excited about it that I’m already starting to get impatient! What amazing work you and the rest of the team have been doing DBSAR - thank you!

I had two small questions though:
-Will there be lanyard holes on the top cap and the tail cap? I couldn’t see any on the CAD, just the metal clip/hanger, but it’d be nice if there was some easy way of attaching paracord as an alternative method to hang the lantern (also ideally being able to do so right-side-up and inverted).
-I’m definitely someone who would have loved to have the powerbank feature, though I totally understand why it’s been dropped from the spec. Hypothetically, were a v2 lantern to be produced that had the powerbank capability added in, would it be possible just to upgrade the v1 to v2 spec by swapping over the driver (and attached daughter boards), or would it be more involved than this?

Once again, thanks for all of your continued efforts - I am seriously looking forward to seeing the outcome of this one!

This looks interesting. Please add me to the list.

Looks good.
In my eyes acrylic is a bad idea though. It tends to crack even under slight pressure.

We do hope to do a slight mod to the head to allow the bail handle to be replaced by paracord lanyard by the user. ( possibly with a through angled hole there the bail handle is to the top.

As for the USB power bang option, its unsure if it can be done as a retro-fit option later, it will depend on how the PCB board is produced and the plug port. (its its a USB-C type then its possible to use the same port)

Were hoping to see if it possible to have it made from a more durable material like polycarbonate (similar to lexan used in safety glasses)

Doesn’t that depend on the acrylic and design? I have a 125 gallon fish tank that’s been up and running for 30 years and it’s certainly under lots of pressure.

Acrylic is softer and more pliable than glass. It should be less prone to cracking than glass. Polycarbonate is ideal, but dunno how that would affect pricing.

If the side wall thickness of the globe/lens can be at least 2.5 to 3 mm thick, acrylic would be strong enough. (for example i used an acrylic storage cup that has a wall thickness of 2.5 millimeters, (roughly 1/8” thick) on the original V1 Lantern build, and that lantern has been used & abused, dropped, knocked over, & dragged on wilderness trips for a couple years and it has not cracked yet. (Just has a couple scratches & nicks from wear & tear. Though it would be preferable if polycarbonate can be used as that material is more scratch resistant & stronger, but if we have to go with acrylic for cost reasons and its thick enough then it will be ok.