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

[niajef]

@TimMc

@niajef

still endlessly waiting for LT1 to arrive at amazon.ca warehouse

I ordered the LT1 kit from amazon.com.au on the 29th of October when there was no stock locally in Australia. It was shipped from China and arrived today.

Can you order the LT1 from amazon.ca and have it shipped from China? No pressure lol. If you don’t need a lantern… It is rather nice

there’s not even a listing for LT1 on amazon.ca :weary:

[DudeMan]

@niajef

there’s not even a listing for LT1 on amazon.ca :weary:

buy it direct then?
https://sofirnlight.com/blf-lt1-lantern-rechargeable-tint-ramping-2700k-5000k-new-version-works-with-your-typec-charger-p0013.html

[aeroden]

Thank you DBSAR for creating this gem. Some lights just give you joy and this is one of them. I just keep it on my desk to give that warm tint to my office space in the evenings. Thanks!

I ordered my for Sofirn official store on AliExpress. Took about 8 weeks to arrive (took them 3 weeks to ship). But eventually all is good.

[niajef]

@DudeMan

@niajef

there’s not even a listing for LT1 on amazon.ca :weary:

buy it direct then?
https://sofirnlight.com/blf-lt1-lantern-rechargeable-tint-ramping-2700k-5000k-new-version-works-with-your-typec-charger-p0013.html

im waiting, they said it will be available on amazon.ca near end of november…im not sure how long ordering from their site will take, anybody have experience? is it faster, slower, or about the same as any other BG/AE orders?

[DudeMan]

@niajef

im waiting, they said it will be available on amazon.ca near end of november…im not sure how long ordering from their site will take, anybody have experience? is it faster, slower, or about the same as any other BG/AE orders?

i just ordered a IF25A direct from sofirn. placed the order last sunday, it shipped tuesday.
[edit]back when i still used amazon, my LT1 shipped from china anyway.

[niajef]

@DudeMan

@niajef

im waiting, they said it will be available on amazon.ca near end of november…im not sure how long ordering from their site will take, anybody have experience? is it faster, slower, or about the same as any other BG/AE orders?

i just ordered a IF25A direct from sofirn. placed the order last sunday, it shipped tuesday.
[edit]back when i still used amazon, my LT1 shipped from china anyway.

ya i can order now, well not LT1, some other lights, and its sold by sofirn, and shipped from china, but if i wait till their stock gets to amazon warehouse, then its fulfilled by amazon, then its much faster.

placing order on sunday and shipping on tuesday sounds a bit slow, all BG and AE orders so far have shipped within 24 hours of me placing order.

[TimMc]

Does soldering pads 4 and 5 do anything on rev 5 of the board? They’re connected by a 0 ohm resistor?

Would soldering pads 6 and 7 negatively impact the mixing of NW and WW? Does the moonlight / lowest level become higher?

[sbslider]

@TimMc

Does soldering pads 4 and 5 do anything on rev 5 of the board?

from what I understand of rev 5 board there are 0 ohm resistors in positions 4 and 5 already. so soldering those pads does nothing

@TimMc

They’re connected by a 0 ohm resistor?

I believe so

[quote=TimMc]
Would soldering pads 6 and 7 negatively impact the mixing of NW and WW?

[quote]
Not if you solder both 6’s and/or both 7’s

@TimMc

Does the moonlight / lowest level become higher?

If you solder 6 and 7 the lowest level of the light, or moonlight as you referenced, would be somewhat brighter. The amount of current that is consumed by the batteries scales pretty linearly based on the number of channels connected. The lights brightness doesn’t scale linearly, at least as perceived by our eyes.

[TimMc]

@sbslider

moonlight as you referenced, would be somewhat brighter

Thanks! I’ll try to add small switches instead. I like moonlight modes. The ability to crank it up for extra output without needing a soldering iron would be nice.

[sbslider]

somewhere in this thread I posted a table of different current draw from batteries based on how many of the driver pairs are enabled, but I can’t find it now . . .

[roostre]

@TimMc

Thanks! I’ll try to add small switches instead. I like moonlight modes. The ability to crank it up for extra output without needing a soldering iron would be nice.

You could try the pencil mod to discover how significant the change would be:

From: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/38215/9788

@sbslider

I decided to experiment with the “pencil trick” to see if I could enable an additional channel in my lantern. It works. Filling in the space between NW and WW pads for channel 6 increased the current at level 4 from 1.01A to 1.20A. 1.01*6/5=1.21. This would allow for folks to add channel 6 and/or 7 if desired without a soldering iron. It easy to remove with an eraser also. I already removed the connection in about 5 seconds per side.

[TimMc]

@roostre

You could try the pencil mod to discover how significant the change would be:

I’ll give that a go!

[roostre]

@TimMc

@roostre

You could try the pencil mod to discover how significant the change would be:

I’ll give that a go!

From: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/38215/9792

@sbslider

Pencil trick – use a pencil to make an electrical connection between two pads on a circuit board, or across a component on a circuit board. In this case, I used a #2 pencil and applied a fair amount of pencil lead (what is this stuff anyway?) between the pads labeled “6”. The pencil lead is a “good enough” conductor to make a connection here…

[sbslider]

funny, I just came back to mention the pencil trick. Glad someone pointed it out!!

[TimMc]

I tried a 5B pencil but it didn’t seem to work or I can’t tell the difference lol

I’ll try solder

[TimMc]

The LT1 is definitely a little bit brighter on the lowest mode when pads 6 and 7 are soldered. I desoldered them to switch back.

[DudeMan]

DBSAR did some tests with 5 vs 7 7135s

Power outage & heat tests of the BLF LT1

i also run mine a bit warm from full cool color (4000K?). 1 step down from full brightness it runs pretty cool. at full brightness (again color a bit warm from full cool) it gets pretty warm.
5 does seems like the sweet spot for this lantern. any more you get diminishing returns with brightness, more heat, and less runtime.

in my opinion, DBSAR nailed it!
thanks again for all the work you put into this amazing light sir.

[TimMc]

@DudeMan

in my opinion, DBSAR nailed it!
thanks again for all the work you put into this amazing light sir. :+1:

Agreed! Awesome lantern :sunglasses:

[sbslider]

@TimMc

I tried a 5B pencil but it didn’t seem to work or I can’t tell the difference lol

I’ll try solder

It worked for me with a standard #2 pencil, but they’re not that common these days I suppose. Glad you got the solder to work.

[Streamtronics]

I've been working on a version of Anduril 2.0 that'll support faking high-res PWM on the ATtiny85 (which is the MCU in the LT1). High-res PWM will enable lower brightness settings despite more AMC7135 being connected, and more importantly virtually stepless tint mixing all the way down to the lowest brightness setting, which I'm personally excited about. So far it looks quite promising. With the default 8-bit PWM the tint looks quite inconsistent while changing brightness at the low-end, too. It looks quite "steppy".

However, I'm unsure how to share the firmware once I'm happy with it. My changes should technically also work for the original Anduril, but I don't have any experience with how code is merged for future updates, and in general I made changes to several files of ToyKeeper's FSM, so I guess I'd have to share all of these in a ZIP or something. Guess I'll have to read up on the license once it's time.