Crazy Idea. BLF Moonlight Special Flashlight.

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

From reading and researching on these forums for the last several months I have come to see than many of us are super picky about the brightness, or lack thereof, of our moonlight lumen needs. Is it at all possible to take a small AA or even AAA light and modify or reprogram the UI, or replace the driver all together, with something that we still have LO-MED-HI but all three of those levels are user programmable for illumination from say 2 lumens to .001. We could all have a dedicated moonlight flashlight that is custom built to our needs. I am no modder or builder so I am just pulling stuff out of my you know where.

Just a crazy idea. Hell, it may have already been done. I just might not have run across it yet.

2

Welcome. The H17F driver has programmable modes. But its 17mm and needs Li-ion to work.

I wish there was a smaller version of the driver for AA lights.

3

Moonlight mode is definitely a high priority for a lot of us here. It was the Holy Grail for me when I started this site to find a light with good maximum brightness while at the same time offering a super low moon mode that could run for many days or weeks on a single AA cell. We’re incredibly spoiled now by the drivers that the BLF community has developed, but it’s still a mystery to me why ALL flashlight manufacturers don’t use them.

4

Could you even see the emitter glowing at .001 lumen? I have a light with .02 and can barely see my stretched out hand in a pitch black room.

5

You probably will not believe this but there was actually a flashlight that had this UI your talking about 8 years ago.
It sold like wild fire and was talked about in the community a lot. I was never able to get one because they had two versions and I kept receiving the 5 mode version, so I gave up. It didn’t have moonlight but was programmable for all 3 modes. Our very own SB did a review of the light.

Never could figure out why some other company didn’t copy the UI, You set it like you wanted it, what’s not to like about that.
I bet even SB forgot about this one.
Add one more mode for moonlight and all modes programmable, perfect simple UI. I still really like NarsilM though.

6

It’s a legend! I do have an authentic one with the programmable driver that still works (!!) and several clones that don’t have the programmable UI.

7

I have 3 of the 5 modes with 2 being modded with the 105c driver, with one remaining factory. I gave up on the programmable one after 3 5 mode lights.
You wouldn’t want to sell yours would you SB. :smiley:

8

Nope, see my avatar. :stuck_out_tongue:

I know, the real programmable one was crazy hard to find wasn’t it? I would offer you mine, but it wouldn’t be worth it with the ridiculously expensive shipping.

9

I’m pretty sure some of these coding members around here could make a UI with a moonlight and L,M,H all user programmable.
Simple UI, it be even better if the user determined the number of modes. All this can be done now, if you have the stuff to program the attiny family. But its not to where the user can set the modes in the UI. In NarsilM you can set the moonlight mode brightness from the UI. That be a good start. Ramping for moonlight mode that one click set, that be cool.

10

Hi Several yrs ago I bought on EBAY a coupla AAA torches.
3 in long 1\2in ish dia. ON\OFF.
$3ish AUD for 2.
Moonlight. IE gentle walkabout spread for 10ish
ft,or so. With a gentle beam to end of lounge beyond that.

Perfect for dunny run during night. or reading book in bed?.
Couldn’t make one for that price.

Used every night multiple times (76 yr old) Never missed a beat.
Don’t know how to add photo on here (URL??)

My ideal would be.

1, One of those.

2. S2 \S2+ size with XP-L Hi. LO\MED\HI.

3. C8 with XP-L hi or 35 in there. Again LO\MED\HI.

4. A divers dual 26650 cell triple head. IP68. ON\OFF

And maybe a long thrower of some sort. Just straight ON\OFF.
Maybe.

ALL with that driver cycle. ALL N\W bin. ALL Side switch only
with 1\4 turn Battery disconnect on tail.

One day hey.

Then give the other dozen or so away.
Although a C8 Sofurn with triple and 26650 cell.
and maybe a….
Wouldn;t go astray.

It’s a drug.

11

Flashlights, knives, multi-tools, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, airplanes, telephones, and lots of other expensive hobbies all improve or expand on a limited sense or ability we have (or don’t have).
Fingernails and teeth are no match for a knife. Feet can’t move us as fast as our vehicles. We can’t fly. Phones let us talk to people that our voices can’t normally reach.
Our dark adapted vision is slow to develop and quick to leave. Having just a little bit more light is often enough.
If you’ve ever been in a cave for an extended period you know that 1000 lumens isn’t needed for getting around safely.
On a moonlit night a bright flashlight leaves you dependent upon it, stumbling in the “dark” without it.

Call it a hipster mentality but sometimes self-imposed limitations can bring greater appreciation and a better understanding of our strengths and weaknesses.
Self-imposed in this case because if you’re on a flashlight forum you’ve probably got the $20 needed to get a pretty impressive light, relatively speaking.
Take that $20 light back 20 years and you would have the most amazing flashlight in the world and could sell if for a fortune. Take it back 50 years and you’d be whisked away to Area 51.

Thanks to the folks on this forum I may finally be able to build a light similar to the one you’re describing. I’ve always thought it would be more than enough to have a single 7135 driver with the most efficient emitter I can find in the 300ma range. The most light for the least wattage with a UI that allowed easy access to to a wide range of outputs with lots of attention paid to the low end.
I’m still waiting for some parts for ATtiny programming and I’ve got a lot of reading to do, but I would sure like to try.

Of course this would be a ridiculous light to take out into the wilderness or even into the regular world without something brighter in another pocket, but it could help the lumen-obsessed get in touch with the idea that usually all we need is just slightly more than what our sense of sight can offer.

Thanks to the parallel nature of 7135 circuits they can simply be added or removed from a driver board to change the output. (there may be circuitry issues I’m unaware of right now, lot’s to study)
I’m no Electrical Engineer so there may be efficiency characteristics or other factors to consider. An analog level selector may eliminate the overhead of a programmable light, etc.
The amazing modern emitters in a single 7135 light would get pretty bright, I don’t know if it’s the most efficient for super-low output though. Lot’s of reading to do.
With that in mind there may be a 7135-based driver that could simply be hobbled down to a single 7135 and all of it’s outputs would be reduced as well.

Reflector, TIR, mule, or other optics are a consideration also. Higher levels are required if you don’t have a focused beam. I really like the beam from my Skilhunt H03, it’s TIR with a pattern on the front. (sorry, don’t know what it’s called!)

So yes, Toddcshoe, there are others who think these crazy thoughts! It wouldn’t have mass appeal so it might need to be custom.
I was looking at new zebralights and I’m not sure but I think they have a way of pulling up different programming groups on their newer lights and one of them might allow you to program every preset to whatever level you want. This would be nice to just eliminate the higher levels completely. I’ll need to read through it again, not really a budget light brand.

Please post if you find the light you’re looking for!

12

A friend of mine who is a flashlight junkie from way back just called me a few hours ago. I told him about this post and he said he remembered a few years, maybe more than a few, this friend was well into his 12 pack, a light called Liteflux I think he called it. I searched for them for a quick minute and saw a aaa, cr123, and aa model. Never did find if there were any differences between the three. Then I saw the prices they were asking for used ones and closed my browser real quick before it came through the screen and stole my children. Saw programming instructions for it. I got a headache and quit looking. Anyone know about those things?

13

I had a LF5XT years ago. Really liked it. The lowest level was low, but not as low at todays lows.

I liked that you could be on any level and had momentary to high by pressing the switch.
Double clicks to change modes.
One click on , one click off.
Up to 5 levels set by you.
Little long for AA light.
Didn’t have the run time of the Fenix lights of that time.

14

I completely understand. I live out in the middle of nowhere. No street lights, no city lights, nothing except what you have on you for the most part. Now I have a few motion activated LED lights in the front and out back. On a clear night I can work my way around outside just fine without a flashlight. I do keep one on me but don’t need it most of the time. I really don’t need it at night around the house either. I’ve lived here long enough to know the layout and where everything is, light or dark. Now if someone breaks in and moves my furniture or bathroom on me then I might need more than a flashlight. I mainly use the moon modes on my lights for looking for something in the bedroom or one of the kids room when they are sleeping and I don’t know where the item is exactly. Not to mention I don’t want to wake them up, yelling at me. I normally use the moon mode on my Thrunite T10 or the Reylight Pineapple AA. They seem to work great for me.

I will take a look at the zebralights. Never really gave them a fair shake. They seem a little pricey but not too awfully bad.

This wasn’t a light I was really looking for, just an idea for a lot of other guys who take their moon modes something serious. I think a custom light would be real nice. Something in copper, brass, stainless, or maybe even blue steel. Blue steel would look better and better with time.

I would love to put together a light like this. I have the knowledge, I just don’t have the ability. My eyes are toast at anything up close and years of abusing my mind and body have left me with slight hand tremors that leave finesse work out of my reach. I’m not complaining though, I can still spot a buck at 200 yards and my etch a sketch drawings are almost amazing.

15

I would imagine not. I put an extra 0 in there by mistake.

16

I am probably mistaken, but is 0.001 lumens about the brightness of an indicator light?

17

The "Engineering mode" that Manker puts on some of their lights is pretty nice, IMHO.

On my E03H (actually just "E03" because I am not using the headband, lol), it has 21 moonlight levels to choose from in "engineering mode".

On the lowest level, the LED is emitting about as much light as one of those dim indicator lights you find on various electronics. Or maybe one of those hidden leds in backlit keyboards. Very much dimmer than "Firefly", I think it needs a new name. ;) So dim that the light reflecting off the steel bezel in daytime(on a dark cloudy day) is more noticeable. :o

On the highest level, its about 1 or 2 lumens.

18

I think a light with only three modes, of which all three are programmable from a super low firefly level up to the highest level of the flashlight’s ability, is a worthy goal for a BLF special. If you think about it, it wouldn’t be just a moonlight special. It would be almost infinitely customizable within those three modes. Some of the possibilities:

  • Moon-1, Moon-2, Moon-3 (the Moonlight Special)
  • Moon-1, Moon-2, Hi
  • Moon, Lo, Hi
  • Moon, Lo, Mid (Muggle Mode?)
  • Hi, Lo, Moon

IMHO, it wouldn’t be a worthy light unless it could reach the limits of technology. So, I’d like it to be unexpectedly bright for its size. Since the levels are programmable, we don’t have to worry about heat too much. Of course, we should make it the best it can be, using a copper pill, DTP MCPCB, and true thermal protection on the driver. But make it so the thermal protection can be disabled. Let the user decide, by setting their modes to the levels they feel comfortable with. Maybe by default, it could ship in muggle mode, in order to be inherently safe at the start.

At the same time, it should be capable of very high efficiency in the lower modes. One of the reasons for Moon mode is to have a minimum usable amount of light that will last for the maximum amount of time, like SB said above.

We have drivers and firmwares that can do these things, but I haven’t seen it all put together just like this. I would definitely save up my pennies to ensure I could buy one of these if someone started a Group Buy. This would be the light to not miss, if it were done right. :crown:

19

I would love to have one of those lights. :THUMBS-UP:

20

The main issue with single AA or AAA lights is the MCU. To have a driver with fully adjustable modes you need firmware, and almost every firmware I’ve seen here operates on ATtiny MCUs which require minimum of 1.8V to operate. A single AA or AAA falls a little short of that unless there is a boost circuit.