Convoy S21D vs Sofirn IF25A TIR swap

Thanks! I designed and build it myself about 5 years ago. Long story short; 7 years ago I bought my house because it was cheap and crappy. But I saw potential and I was so naive to think renovating would be easy peasy. Oh boy, how wrong I was. Once I started opening up walls/floors, I discovered it was in much worse condition than I initially thought and the power tools started piling up. And I needed a work place that was not the living room. Let’s just say that causes significant stress in a relationship. So something had to change and I decided to build a separate place for storing everything and have a place to work while leaving stuff without anyone tripping over it. Sanding, painting, that kind of stuff. Construction plans, electric wiring and looking up regulations during winter, then build the following spring and summer. Highly recommended if you have the space, it’s very satisfying once it’s done. Just wish I made it a few m2 bigger, seems I always run out of space.

It’s fully isolated and has electricity, but needs some finishing touches. It’s good enough for now. Future additions would be water and maybe a small fireplace/cooking stove so guests can stay there. I’m actually Dutch, but emigrated to Sweden about 10 years ago. Textbook cheesy love story (didn’t last though). Moving to Sweden seemed like a good idea at the time, but the country has changed a lot the past years (not in good way) and I wouldn’t have moved here nowadays. Anyway, getting sidetracked. So all my family and some friends are in a different country. The little house allows them to come by and visit for a few weeks when they want. Works wonders when parents come over, but they are not in your face the whole time. They have their own little house to sleep and wake up in and then spend daytime together.

Hope you liked the story behind the cute house :wink:

“…and the power tools started piling up.”

That got a belly chuckle out of me. :slight_smile:

I’ve admired that little house, too, from your previous photos, and wondered what it was. Looks too nice to be just a storage shed or a shop, but small for a home. Perfect. Good colors, too, nice choices.

Yeh, and I always wanted a little hideaway. Guess it’s the kid in me who still wants a treehouse or other “den” that’s just small and comfy.

Same here! Did you notice the ladder on the left? That’s going to be a simple treehouse for me my son. Or at least a platform. The tree had to go, but who says you need to cut it at ground level :wink: I saved the original floor planks (28mm thick spruce) that I ripped out of the living room and was thinking of using them to build something at some point. So why not use part of it as a treehouse floor.

This thread is getting so derailed :smiley:

Out of curiosity. Which LED is in your S21D? Is it the 519a?

It’s the 219b 4500K.

Uhh that’s exactly the one I want. Thinking about ordering.

I can tell you I’m happy with it. I’ve kept the 60 degree optic in, since I don’t have so many wide angle lights. It’s a very nice evenly lit view you get. And the tint is quite unique with it’s magenta. It’s especially obvious when use with white snow as you can see in the pictures. As for the host itself, it doesn’t win a beauty price. It’s functional, but I’m not a shelf light kind of person. Flashlights need to be used, either practical or for fun!

Excellent comparison shots.

It looks like the clear optic gives a bit less flood/more throw.

How far from the camera is the cute little house? 10 meters?

Nice story of the “little house on the prairie.” :slight_smile: :+1:

A red/green house with white snow all around is so very Christmasy. I could easily imagine making a Christmas card with this shot :slight_smile: .

Haven’t measured it exactly, but 26 big steps. So let’s call it 25 m.

Feel free to use it to send to your fellow flashlight friends. Need a higher resolution? :beer:

I have to admit the thought has crossed my mind. But every year I’m too late sending cards… I’m terrible at that kind of stuff.

Thanks very much for the offer but I too hardly use Christmas card anymore. Cheers.

I had overlooked Simon’s listing with the quad optic… So I just ordered the optic + MCPCB. The latter might be useful for testing at some point. It will be interesting to see the IF25a with 60 degree optic as I normally use pocket lights only to light up things relatively close to me, for in the garden, or when hiking, etc. so a wide beam is better. At the same time I also ordered some wide angle optics to put in the FC11 and some SST20s of which I will use one to replace the LH351D that is not bad but esp. in situations with a lot of wood, colours just feel off.

Btw, as to Sweden becoming worse, if you would return to NL that may give a bad feeling too. As an example, when I see some TV programmes at a relative (I don’t watch TV), the people who are presenting and those who are participating in/invited to TV programs, and politicians, all seem to be only 2 generations away from idiocracy.

Having that separate MCPCB makes it so much easier to swap and try different things without having to reflow 4 emitters. One thing still on the todo list is that 2S2P mcpcb and use a 6V boost driver. Just for fun. Probably with some warmer 519As.

Oh coming back is not an option. Both societies are very similar, so that cancels out imho. Scandinavia has 1 huge advantage over NL: nature. Once you get used to the silence and darkness (read lack of light pollution), you’re hooked. Shining a beam up at the sky while the milky way fills your view. Although you get a little heart attack if you walk around the corner and all off a sudden you’re eye to eye with an elk. They’re big!
I do miss the architecture of old buildings though. Before coming here I lived in Haarlem for 5 years and always enjoyed the city centre. Very much worth a visit. And get some freshly roasted nuts during the Saturday market. Or warm stroopwafels :wink:

Simon now offers 60° bead, 30° bead, 10° bead, and 10° flat….

…but I am looking for 30° - 60° flat style. Anyone know where they can be found?

I always got mine on Amazon, things like a 10pak of each size I wanted.

Eg: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=collimator+lens+led+20mm

Go crazy…

(Nb: these are for 20mm lenses, adjust for other sizes.)

These quad pods aren’t common Carclos, in which case I could get a 10624 or whatever. Thats why I’m trying to find out exactly what will fit.

Anyone demonstrate a perceptible difference between 60° flat vs beaded?

Beaded, from what I’ve seen, is just the difference between OP/SMO on a reflector, ie, it just smooths out artifacts.

Wider-angle TIRs generally don’t need that, as they naturally “blur” nicely.

I’m trying to reproduce the beam on my Wuben TO50R which is wide (~45°) but has a hard cutoff at the edge. Beads and / or frosting scatter light enough to attract bugs from the side.