UPDATE June 2024
Sorry I’ve been so slow on this, had a huge number of things going on and a lot of projects slipping. Pushing through some exhaustion today to get some other todos off my list to free up capacity.
Testers arrived mid to late May. Initially, the calibration was off and read ~10-20% high.
Fara developed a low cost calibration lamp with a calibrated output that we can use to recalibrate our spheres. Currently available to group buy participants to buy (if you were in on the group buy and haven’t had the info yet, DM me here or ask Fara on the TKLamp discord). If you participated and aren’t interested in buying one, Fara is I think working on loaner ones to recalibrate your sphere too.
The datalogging version of the tester is now available for general sale: (NEW) 🔦 TK2303D Flashlight Tester
The calibration lamp should also in the future be available separately to the sphere for DIY builds etc.
I’m proud to have got this project started, and a huge thanks to everyone who bought one who really made it possible.
UPDATE 21 Feb: 8 confirmed orders, 2 more needed to secure production.
UPDATE 20 Feb 2024:
The product page is now live to order the datalogging version, production will be confirmed once there are 10 orders. Still open for anyone else who wants to get in on the group buy.
The base price is $400, plus $39 shipping to NA/Europe. In addition, there will be a $10 rebate per tester (refunded to original payment method) if we reach 15 ordered in total, and $25 if we reach 20.
https://www.tklamp.co/product/tklamp-flashlight-tester-group-buy
Thanks to everyone who signed up for making this project happen, I couldn’t have ordered 10 by myself
Original post:
Product: https://www.tklamp.co/product/tklamp-flashlight-tester-2024-new-version-pre-order (edit: link updated)
TKLamp Discord: TKlamp Lighting Lab
Have talked to TKLamp a bit about this, and it’s really promising, a decent integrating sphere for $350 with no calibration needed (free recalibration at any time if you ship it to them), and, from my conversation with them, good enough repeatability (~1% variance) that it can be used as a reference to make calibration lights for other equipment too, plus it has a separate external luxmeter for measuring candela.
I asked them if they could incorporate datalogging into it too, as their other product, a car headlight tester, incorporates this, and they said they could if there was enough demand, and if I could get a group buy of 10+ then they could make a custom version with those capabilities.
The entry port size is a little too small for some of the biggest lights, but if you have one it would be easy to make and calibrate a larger tube/sphere for those using it, and the maximum brightness is 13,000lm, but it would be easy to just add an ND filter to the port to test higher outputs (or use it to calibrate a tube as mentioned above).
Price will be $400, possibly $350, although if I get a decent sized group buy together, might be less, so I guess post if you’re in for $350 or if you are interested if I could get us a lower price.
So, who wants an integrating sphere?
Crossposted with Reddit, we need to get 10 people signed up to get this version made. Reply or DM me to sign up, you can be listed publicly or privately, whichever you prefer, but I will keep this post updated with number of slots filled. Probably no quantity limit, but a minimum of 10.
- Wolfgirl42
- LiteintheNite
- /u/containerfan (reddit)
- duckie
- yasenf
- /u/fixeverything2 (reddit)
- LeaveMasonAlone
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- peartrie
- Anonymous
- /u/-nom-de-guerre- (reddit)
- Anonymous
FAQ:
- Temperature compensation: Yes, it uses a temperature compensated sensor.
- Warranty: 1 year
- Datalogging on candela reading as well as lumens: Yes