Startin soldering, first I had to add 4 more AMCs to the 1.4A driver in order to allow maximum output of 1000 Lumens for each LED
Unfortunately it wasn't the tiniest thing I has to soldar, but first I cut the outer GND ring of the Nanjg 105C to allow easier and stronger soldering to the stars:
Finally I soldered 1806 resistor and LED to star3:
This is the first time I am soldering SMT parts by hand and it wasn't fun.
Next step is optics.....
But before burning my FW to the light, I had to calibrate the voltage measurements, using my BattCheck FW, heavily based on ToyKeeper's Battcheck firmware (Thank you ToyKeeper)
You can download my FW here
Now I only have to mount it to the Helmet and test it in a cave
Just did the final adjustments, some fixes and mount it to the helmet
First I had to sew the elastic band that hold the battery box to the back of the helmet (never thought that sewing can be part of building a light)
Then follow the advice of MtnDon, pinkpanda3310, DB Custom AND G0OSE, I used 3M double sided tape to glue the GoPro mount to the helmet
And now I can finally say that this build is completed (one week ahead of due date)!
I had this Idea of building a budget profesional caving lamp forever but always had something more urgent to do so this competition was exactly the encouragement I needed to complete this project.
I tried to document every step of the build as clear as I could and shared my FW in case other people are interested in building a similar lamp.
A rough estimation I did, shows that the parts cost me about 30 USD, not including aluminum pieces, Perspex, plastic, wires etc. which I disassembled from old stuff or had at home.
An equivalent commercial caving light costs more than 600 USD and the FW is less suitable to my needs so, in my opinion, it is really represents the BLF spirit.
If you have any comments or ideas please comment and don't hesitate to ask me any questions if you are interested in building a similar light.
Love it, well done you!
Oh, and how’d that 3m tape work out, is it still attached? i was thinking after it may be a bit heavy for that tape, and thought about using strong magnets………. or maybe a high quality mini cam mount with sucker/windscreen mount? (not an ebay $2 one)