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

Finally pulled the trigger on this. As a diehard camper (many times solo), I’m really looking forward to receiving this.

Currently I have a Coleman propane lantern (large, delicate, propane is bulky, noisy), a Coleman LED 4xD battery lantern (large, batteries suck, cold white), and some cheap Amazon 4xAA (bare cold white LEDs makes for extremely harsh light).

This should blow them out of the water!

Awesome. Thanks for creating this light man! We’ve been using it almost every night on its lowest brightness mode when we’re watching movies. It’s nice to be able to see our snacks and find the remote when needed.

Are you guys ordering with or without batteries? I’m ordering mine this morning.

I plan to order with batteries, four batteries for an extra $10-$12 is a deal.

I had plenty of batteries around when I ordered mine, so I ordered without. But the deal with batteries is good if you need them.

C to C

I don’t know if I know what it means but here is what I observed.
I acquired a C to C cable, a C to lightning cable and a C charger.
My wife has an android phone with a C connector I have an apple.
I tested each device with higher and lower state of charge than the device connected to it.
With the C to lightning connector no matter which device was higher or lower no current would pass between the iphone and the LT1.
With the C to C cable between the LT1 and the android phone the phone would always charge the lantern no mater which device had the higher state of charge.

The lantern does not act as a power bank. It doesn’t charge other devices. The lantern’s USB port is meant only for charging the lantern.

I understand that but the there was some talk earlier in the thread about powerbank functionality in a future iteration.

Then there was this from a Sofirn Rep.

Not knowing exactly what this meant It got my wishful thinking up. So I decided to do some experiments of my own to determine what it meant if anything.

It just means the new batch is compatible with charging cables that have a USB-C connector on both ends.

ordered mine without batteries. purchased 4 Samsung 35Es (protected) that will be dedicated to the LT1.
while the included ones i’m sure are of good quality, i want max run time.

I grabbed the 3/18 .hex file, not sure how to write it. What utility did you use? Thanks!

It’s graphical ui (I never did get any of the text based ones figured out)
I used one called progisp 1.72
there is a button to select the chip
then under “file” select load flash then navigate to your hex file
connect your chip clip and then hit the “auto” button
there is a place on the bottom of the window that reports progress or errors

it does a lot of other stuff that I know nothing about, but this was all I had to do to re-prog, the Lt1 a Q8 an fw3a and several convoys.

I am sorry for this issue. This year we employed more people to take charge of shipping to advoid shipping wrong items in busy time. Any issue about order, pls contact our customer service and we will reply as soon as possible.

How long did it take for you guys to get confirmation of you order from Sofirm? I ordered on Wednesday maybe it’s just too soon.

^ About after 16 hours. And I received mine in two weeks, shipped to CA.

Sadly my lanterns have one of the first fimware versions, I don’t know which exactly but they don’t have SOS yet.
I know that the driver has a set of data contacts, but where can I get this connector to flash the newest firmware?

I got a email from PayPal with my receipt but that has been it.

My order was made on the official online store sofirn on March 21, 2020, sent on March 27, 2020, and today it passed customs in my country.

I know lexel has a board for a programming “key” and maybe he has them on hand and can build you one if you don’t want to diy. You still need the usbisp

But I think more useful and what I used, was an soic 8 test clip with usbisp connected together dupont style breadboard jumpers.
You have to take out 2 screws and flip the driver to access the chip to do it this way.

I placed an order for two via the sofirn website on 19 April and paid via paypal but still haven’t received order confirmation or any message at all about the order.