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

Question:
The battery level indication range is set for the voltage of a single 18650. So I’m presuming that what we see is an average taken of voltage across all cells? Certainly not cumulative, as you’d see on something like the Nitecore EA41 (4 x AA). Seems like that’s the case, as at times when I’ve selected the status (3-clicks from off) I’ll get a lower number first, then the 2nd display shows a higher number (as if adjusting for total voltage assessed across 4 cells). At first I thought it was “making the rounds” showing the levels of each of the 4 cells individually, but the lower number never appeared again after cycling over 4 times.

Since the batteries are in parallel they all have the same voltage. Or am I not understanding your question?

I removed the 18650 cells and checked them out in my charger, individually. At the start of charging, I had 3.65, 3.71, 3.76, and 3.77. In the LT1, the power check showed 3 long flashes, and 7 short flashes. Then became 3 long, 8 short and continued to show that with repeated checks as it continued charging. But I get it now. By virtue of the parallel circuit, the voltage is inherently averaged out across the 4 cells.

Any difference in voltage readings that are blinked out is caused by the tolerances in the components in the circuitry.

The cells are all in parallel, unlike the mentioned Nitecore AA light. Cells in parallel will all settle to the same voltage even if the cells that are newly inserted inserted are at different states of charge. There is no way the only one cell could be sampled when other cells are in the light at the same time.

EDIT: okay I see a post was added before I finished typing.

Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum. I recently got the BLF LT1 after seeing it here. Thank you all for this wonderful light. I got the BLF-LT1-A2 driver with green standby led, USB-C power delivery. Out of curiosity, I opened up the driver and found an unknown chip near the USB-C connector. There are two of them. I highlighted them in the photo below:

The marking reads 323GBAD? Do you know what it is used for?

Can’t find any datasheet, but I’m sure they are for charging and powerbank. Two for higher current.

That’s not how that works.

Version check should blink out 8 or 12 digits. The format for it is: YYYYMMDDPPPP

  • YYYY: Year
  • MM: Month
  • DD: Day
  • PPPP: Product ID (can be looked up in the MODELS file) (was added somewhat recently, so old versions don’t include a product ID)

A single short blink is a “zero” digit, while a sequence of long blinks is a digit from 1 to 9.

The date in version check is the build date of the firmware. It usually can be traced back to an approximate revision in the source code repository.

I have the rev 4.3 from first groupbuy and the new version with Powerbank on the way. I have two questions:

  • In rev 4.3 I add the solder pads to 7135 to add a "turbo" power like other Anduril lights. It's possible in the newest version?
  • The new version doesn't have the screw on the head (on + battery contact). It's now compatible with flat top batteries?

No.

no, it still needs a protruding contact. Some flat top batteries work, but not all.

Thank you for the clarification. Silly me… after the 2 long flashes and one short flash, then a pause, then 2 long flashes again followed by one short flash, I just presumed it was repeating the version number. :person_facepalming:

I now let my LT1 run through the readout.
2 0 2 0 0 6 0 2
June 2nd, 2020?

My FW3A does absolutely nothing with 15 clicks… and I know it’s Anduril 1. So, was there another version, like a 1.1, that activated the 15 click readout?

Based on the menus defined:
Anduril v1 has 6 clicks for muggle, and 10 clicks does nothing.
Anduril v2 has 10 clicks for Simple UI, and 6 clicks does nothing.

My LT1 doesn’t respond to 10 clicks. But does respond to 6 clicks. So that means it’s Anduril 1. Since it gives a response to 15 clicks, I take it that’s something like Anduril 1.1?

It sounds like that lantern uses the most recent version I published for Anduril 1 on the LT1:

http://toykeeper.net/torches/fsm/anduril.2020-06-02.blf-lantern.hex

It’s not Anduril 1.1. It’s just Anduril, version 2020-06-02 for the LT1. The date is the version number.

After that, I decided it was time to finally do a bunch of large changes which weren’t backward-compatible… and to make the nature of the changes more clear, I renamed it to Anduril 2. The “2” isn’t really a version number, it’s just part of the name. The version numbers for it started at 2020-09-27, and go up from there.

So… the timeline, approximately, is:

  • 2017-08-18: Started writing new flashlight UI toolkit called RoundTable.
  • 2017-08-19: Renamed RoundTable to FSM / Spaghetti Monster.
  • 2017-08-27: Started writing Anduril, using FSM as a base.
  • 2017-08-28: Most of Anduril works now; even created an initial UI diagram for it.
  • 2018-05-01: First published .hex files for Anduril, so people could try it without having to compile it.
  • 2019-09-24: Added a version check function. Versions are indicated by build date.
  • 2020-06-02: Final Anduril 1 build for the BLF LT1 lantern.
  • 2020-07-12: Changed name to “Anduril 2” to make it clear that a bunch of backward-incompatible changes were coming.
  • 2020-08-31: Added model numbers to the version check function.
  • 2020-09-27: First published builds of Anduril 2.

There are, of course, many more steps involved. There are like 700 revisions now, and dozens of builds per version. I’m just listing a few which seem kind of relevant.

Thanks for your answers :+1:

Thanks, TK! Very enlightening.

So the version of Anduril running in the LT1 v2 (as you labeled “Anduril 2”)—is that not backward compatible to the LT1 v1 that I have?

It works on the same hardware, but the interface is different.

For example, there is no Muggle Mode. Config modes are on 7H (or sometimes 10H) instead of 4C. Unlocking turns the light on. Instead of a sunset mode and candle timer, there is a sunset timer. Etc. It’s considered backward-incompatible and has a new name because it requires the user to learn some different ways of doing things.

But it works on all the same hardware.

Sorry for being out of the recent loop, life’s work loads been taking a lot of my time. For the Andruil versions in the new LT1’s, Toykeeper has kept on top of that with updates posted here. We know Sofirn has updated and changed the MCPCB board design over the last while, I have not heard from Barry much lately on the changes, but as far as i know the most recent LT1 has the USB-C-C bank feature, with some changes to the circuit design. I have one of the latest variants, and its amp-draw in the modes are similar to the original, and tested it for output-heat, and found its still within safe limits, operating parameters are still within the original design specs.

I edited this video, maybe you it helps when you want to change leds.

Nice video Barry! :+1:

^ Would it make any sense to try seating the o-ring in the “cap” of the light, then lower the shade onto it?

I will add some of my observations as I got the Sofirn 1.0 and BLF-LT1-A2 versions:

"Sofirn 1.0" seems to be the "interim" 1st version of the BLF LT1 with powerbank, so "1.0" may mean "v1" or "Anduril 1" - it comes with Anduril 1 (firmware version 2020-06-02).

"BLF-LT1-A2" seems to be the updated 2nd version of the LT1 with powerbank function, so "A2" probably means "Anduril 2" or the second version -- it comes with Anduril 2 (firmware version 2021-01-25 model 612) = based on TK's list of MODELS, the "612" refers to the ATTiny85 version, I wonder if anyone already got the ATTiny1616 version already of LT1, which would blink out a different Model code.

Some of my other observations, in addition to what "Story" mentioned:

1) "Sofirn 1.0":

- charging current (input to the lantern) seems to be 5v/2Amp but can be a bit higher than 2A (I noticed momentary 2.2A using a USB meter), note that I didn't do a full test, just tried it momentarily with partially charged batteries

(comment: the original BLT LT1 v4.3 or v5.0 board, charges at default up to 5v/1.5A setting max, or 5v/0.75A if set to that setting; so the LT1v2.0 can charge faster with enough USB power source current)

- USB out (powerbank function), using USB Meter "Protocol Detection", it does not have any Protocol (which may mean some selective devices may not charge at higher current if they do not detect a supported USB charging protocol)

- I used a USB load tester and tried 5v/2Amps, which appeared to work (it may also support higher than 2Amps, with not much voltage sag for 5v, but I haven't tried to push it)

Button LEDs:
- the normal button light is Orange, which follows the Anduril state (Off / Low / High / Blinking); this Orange LED always works independently of the other color LED (meaning it will be lighted up along with the other LED mentioned below)

- the other color LED depends on how the USB port is working:

- while charging LT1 lantern: flashing (or steady?) Red

- finish charging LT1 lantern: steady Green

- while in powerbank mode: steady Blue

2) "BLF-LT1-A2"

- charging current (input to the lantern) seems to be 5v/2Amp but can be higher than 2A (I noticed momentary 2.7A using a USB meter), note that I didn't do a full test, just tried it momentarily with partially charged batteries; so this "A2" can charge at higher current if the USB power source can supply enough power

- USB out (powerbank function), using USB Meter "Protocol Detection", my USB Meter indciates it supports DCP5v/1.5A, Apple 5v/2.4A, Samsung 5v/2A protocols

- I used a USB load tester and tried 5v/2Amps, which appeared to work (it also supports higher than 2Amps, with not much voltage sag for 5v, but I haven't really tried to push it further, I think 5v/2.5A or 5v/3A might be possible)

Button LEDs:
- the normal button light is Green, which follows the Anduril state (Off / Low / High / Blinking); this Green LED always works independently of the other color LED (meaning it will be lighted up along with the other LED mentioned below)

- the other color LED depends on how the USB port is working:

- while charging LT1 lantern: flashing Blue

- finish charging LT1 lantern: steady Blue

- while in powerbank mode: steady Orange

(aux-LED state seems to always apply: so let's say we set Anduril aux-LED state to "Blinking", and we are charging the LT1 lantern, then the button LED will be "blinking Green" + "flashing Blue")

To Emulate an old lantern CCT should be much lower than 2700k

I want similar it but in high CRI