So….this 70% business:
1) is a good case for quality ramping firmware,
2) a good case for setting your own ceiling in Anduril (and for 50% max fans, too),
3) gives a little more light and reach than 40–50 while conserving a little battery juice and also building up less heat/building heat a little slower,
and 4) is available for your pleasure in one of the guppydrv versions (and I think moppydrv as well) from Dr. Jones. This means a simple mod and a few bucks for a new driver from Richard at Mountain Electonics, if Simon doesn’t want to do this someday in his own drivers.
I’ve always thought 70% is a nice added setting, or something around that level, and I often settle near there with my ramping lights. It really depends on the max output of the light, though, and we should probably be speaking in lumens rather than percentages of max output because that can matter quite a bit depending on the max between different lights. We might clamor for 70% in a 2000 lumen light but find that 70% in a 900 lumen light isn’t what we wanted (rough examples).
The reason the current percentage gaps exist comes from conversations here long ago regarding actual output/numbers vs. what the human eye can actually perceive in terms of changes in brightness. It’s what people arrived at and it’s what Simon (and many others) adopted for mode levels. It’s not inaccurate but it has its limitations in use sometimes, too. When people say jumping from 50—->70 isn’t detectable or not worth it, it just depends on your use case and the beam qualities of the particular light model. With most lights you can certainly tell a difference in that measly 20% but it may not matter to you in how you are using your light…but that 200%ish jump from mode to mode is unquestionably different. 20% jump with a tight beam vs. 20% jump with something smoooooth floody or muley….quite a difference there between the two.
Since Convoy lights are often the easiest things to mod with drivers and whatever else, you could just pick up a new one with firmware you like from Richard at MTN Electronics, and he offers custom levels for basic firmware (I think he may still be open to custom mods on others as well if you talk to him about it before ordering, as long as it’s not too nutty or too time consuming). You can even get a single mode 50% if you want (or would that just be a single mode 100% on a low-amperage driver…haha). Or go with Simon’s ramping firmware where you can have that, or go Anduril somewhere. Or modify Bistro or A6 to create a group that suits.
