Astrolux FT03

Like I stated: this light is crazy value for money.

Great design
Great ano
Great UI
Great performance out of the box (266Kcd @ 30 seconds)
Fantastic price.

Con: accessories

With properly dedomed SST-40 is should go over 400Kcd, indeed beating more expensive and bigger lights.
These lights however, can keep up max performance for a much longer period of time whereas the FT03 only
reaches those throw numbers on the - ever dwindling - turbo setting.

That said: if it reaches 190Kcd at normal (highest ramping) setting, the dedomed version should reach around
285 - 300 at max ramping……….not bad at all!

Cheers,
Nico

Ha Nico, I attempted to dedome the SST-40 in my FT03 last night, it went far from perfect but I posted about it here: FREEME ✌ ASTROLUX FT03S SFH55 9300lm & FT03 SFT40 2200lm 1300m NarsilM v1.3 USB-C - ALIVE - #2696 by djozz

I don’t understand one thing.
I compiled a number of FT03 performance measurements here.
4 people got between 199 and 206 kcd.
5 got 235-266 kcd.
There was no result in between.

Any explanation?

(mine was in between, I measured 230 kcd for a 5700K SST-40 version)
Two reasons:

1) variation between cheap luxmeters. See my luxmeter tests for an idea how much variation to expect.

2) bad centering and focussing of the led, the FT03 has no provision for adequate centering, the centering piece has a too large hole which even does not fix against the led (it slides over it when too off-center). De SST-40 die is fairly big so the beam does not look distastrous with the led slightly acentric or out of focus, but you can certainly measure it.

HI,

What dedoming method did YOU use?

Cheers,
Nico

Effect 2 should cause Gaussian distribution of measurements. Yeah, I know that 10 is a small group size but the distribution is totally different, enough to make me curious if there’s some actual reason.
Effect 1 - depends. F.e. if there was 1 very popular luxmeter model that measured this light completely off - that would be an explanation.

I measured 230kCd on my NW FT03 with a UNI-T UT-383S

But what Jos said is quite important, this luxmeter has an accuracy of ±5% beyond ≥100,000Lux
Calculating with 5%, 230 kCd differs from 230 * 0,05 = 11,5 kCd,
so in reality it will be something between 215 ~ 245 kCd, where 215 is more likely :slight_smile:

Keep in mind that this light uses a FET driver so output varies based on the battery used, unlike a boost driven light. Also, people might be measuring from different distances and some at turn on and some at 30 seconds. So there are a lot of variables.

I always measure at 10 meters and 30 seconds. Did everyone do the same? Did they say what battery they used?

I measure throw (always at 30 seconds) at 7 meter but usually the beam is pretty well formed from 5 meter upwards, even from this 50?mm reflector.
My 230 kcd is from a black Liitokale 5000mAh, which is not the highest drain 26650 around.

i have used a 30Q at different distances, all my readings were quite consistent
usually i place the light on a chair or something and then walk with my luxmeter to the wall, to measure at several spots and angles in the hotspot, so almost all my readings are at 30s.

the spreadsheet doesn’t work for me, also, is there still a discount gb price link some where? is this still the best budget thrower?

What spreadsheet?
I think it is the best budget thrower. Both the SST-40 and xhp50.2 depending on your needs. Freeme has deals on both.

I read on reddit this light turbo doesn’t last long and heat soak will keep the thermal throttle to output low for a while. The hunt continues for the holy grail.

You can turn off the thermal stepdown off if you want. What is the “holy grail”?

Will the turbo heat ruin the led/driver/etc or lead to significantly shorter life?

Holy grail would be cheap, and all the desirable quality

Get the SST40 version. I have run it for over 5 minutes on turbo does not get very hot and no stepdown as far as I can see.
Ask about flashlights here, not on reddit.

Ok I am sold, will get that. I see the xhp version, sounds like that’s a less turbo friendly one?

How hot do you want it to get? If you generate a lot of watts, the heat has to go somewhere. It should handle 80°C with no issues. I assume your talking about the 50.2 version since it’s the really bright, powerful one.

The SST-40 version makes less heat. People have disabled the thermal stepdown and ran it on turbo until the batteries went down.

I have both. The 50 is a higher output light, so I am guessing it may get hot faster.

I just ran them side by side. At two minutes the XHP stepped down. It was uncomfortable to hold and tested at 42C, my set stepdown
At FIVE minutes the SST40 stepped down, it was warm but not unpleasant to hold, tested at 41C

So make your own choice.

I agree. The SST-40 generates a LOT less heat. It does not have as much total light output, but I find it throws farther. YMMV.