CLOSED! Group Buy: Starry Light SA-22 BLF Edition (NW emitter, better modes, faster PWM, BLF logo)

With memory if you leave it in low. Then it’ll turn on in low. Problem solved. If you are not leaving it low, then the reality is you probably don’t use low as much as you think.

And at the end of day if low really is the most important and used mode. Then picking a 4AA light is overkill and you’d be better served with a 1AA or 1AAA light.

Sorry but I don’t quite understand about this sentence. Do you mean that it actually behaves like the Nanjg driver, i.e. when switching it into high mode and stay in high mode for more than 2s it will memorize the high mode?

If you have a mode selected eg low with the light on. Turn it off and back on again quickly it will go to the next mode. If you turn it off and count one two and turn it on again it will be in the mode you left it in, rather than advancing to the next mode.

I like this implementation of mode memory. Thanks for explaining it to us.

Looking good so far, the issues i was really worried about the threads and the issue with the batteries and the head. the mode memory sounds fine to me.

Runtime test at 45min mark. Ambient temperature 25°C, no cooling, head temperature 87°C.

Would you like to have any higher current?

87 degrees C = 188.6 F yeh, kick it up + 24 degrees F so I can boil a cup of water for my Tea....

Th problem is, if your using moonlight to low and back, having to cycle through the high modes. It's not about not leaving it in low, it's that it's sometimes inconvenient being forced into high, even briefly. If you have a tactical use that makes it important to always start on high, maybe you'd be better served by a single mode light.

YES

The light is well regulated, but the head heats up pretty much, causing some thermal sag when run indoors without any cooling (not in hand, no moving air). Ambient temperature was 25°C and the maximum measured temperature of the head was 90°C (at 59min, when the light ran out of regulation). That's pretty hot, but then again, not too hot for electronics, and the body tube and cells were in comfortable less than 50°C temperature, which is perfectly ok for NiMH cells.

Conclusion: This light is driven at suitable level, being bright enough, but still safe for careless non-flashaholic users. :)

Note: The graph ends at 2h mark, but the light is still running with about 0.5 lumen light. Currently 4h and counting..

Wonderin' how she would do on lithium primarys....

But this problem will exist with any light with more than two modes. Regardless what it starts on or if it has memory or not.

And again. If you only use moonlight and low, then a 600 lumen 4AA light is simply the wrong tool for the job.

Yeah this is exactly what I could imagine. So the mode memory behaves like my other Qlite drivers. Thanks.

I believe you are confusing the “off time memory” Chicken Drumstick described with the “on time memory” used by qlite and other 105c-style drivers.

“on time memory” memorizes the mode based on how long the light has been on (for example on >2 seconds), “off time memory” memorizes the mode based on the amount of time the light has been off (for example off >2 seconds).

What are the drive currents at the various levels?
Does it have a buck driver or a linear driver?

So this Starry light is having the “off time memory” while the Qlite are having “on time memory”? Do I understand correctly this time?

Most of the time I deal with Nanjg drivers and I think I never have lights that perform the “off time meory”, or I was not aware of.

Wrong (IMO). Without memory, you can go from low to moonlight by turning off for a couple of seconds, then starting in moonlight without going through medium and high. If you use high and are annoyed by having to spend a second or two on lower modes, then a light offering moonlight and low is simply the wrong tool for the job.

Can the LED be upgraded to sinkpad/noctigon and what diameter is the driver, i am curious if it can be replaced

Yes, you understand correctly. “off time memory” is what was described by the and Chicken Drumstick. In the other thread nobody discussed which type of memory the stock light has beyond the fact that it works properly. In this thread we have yet to see a 100% complete prototype of the BLF GB light, so I can’t tell you for certain what this light will have yet! “off time memory” is considered the more desirable of the two. I believe that outside of Nanjg drivers “on time memory” is rare.

Personally while I see merit in having both low and moonlight, I’d primarily use a light like this on full blast. If it were to have no memory, I would prefer to start in high because:

  1. I mostly use it on high.
  2. It's easier to showboat that way.
  3. If it ever seems practical to defend myself by shining the light in someone's eyes, it better be on high for that first click! ;-)
  4. I can easily preserve my night vision by covering the lens and switching modes a few times to moonlight.

I think the memory/no-memory/mode-order discussion has been walked through several times on BLF and elsewhere. There's really no cure-all for the issues that are brought up _the_ picked a configuration, some people will purchase it and some will not.

[quote=Bort] Can the LED be upgraded to sinkpad/noctigon and what diameter is the driver, i am curious if it can be replaced [/quote] Bort, _the_ pointed out that the special battery contacts are on the bottom of the driver PCB, a swap with an existing driver would not be practical. Of course a custom driver could be made. Fair question as to how the LED is mounted!

I have no questions.