Greetings All,
I’m in search of a 123 or 18650 light with a proper heat-sink that will allow the brightest setting to be ran, whatever that is, through the entire cycle of the battery. Something around 600+ lumens if possible with a tight spot and throw of around 200ft. I’m needing this to mount on a Mavic 2 quad for search and rescue at night, so it will see extended runtime. Does such a specimen exist?
Everything I see now will reduce intensity after a few minutes and is rarely above 400 lumens when it does
My M22 Warrior and several other older lights have them, back when they used to physically mitigate heat transfer instead of throttling output. I’m sure lawyers are the culprits for this design feature. I may end up having to surrender one of them for this task.
Maxtoch Shooter 2X and Maxtoch M24 (both use 2 x 18650) and both will run in highest setting (1200 to 1400 lumens) for 80 minutes average with NO step down and easily reach to see human or human sized objects ,well beyond what the naked eye usually is able to see with a flashlight (unless using binoculars or such). Both maintain Medium mode (900 to 1000 lumens) for around 2 hours and both reach well over the 200 ft mark even in the low setting of 250 lumens for 12 plus hours.
Both have been upgraded for better output and runtime since my reviews were done but here is the reviews of both those lights.
What would be ideal for you is a headlamp with Temperature regulation and good thrown such as the Nitecore HC30, if you are flying then the air flow will cool it and you should manage 900+ lumens constantly, if it heats up it will reduce output and then increase once cooled. Also the headlanp could be mounted easily with zip ties through the rubber mount.
Edit: Wow. That’s a torch, and too large I’m afraid. I have Fenix TK65R that i carry on duty that’s nice, but it’s too much for a little Mavic 2 to handle.
Big sam, I’ve looked at several headlamps and bike lights too. They would help with takeoff and landing because I had to buy leg extensions for that purpose. My first attempt was with a Fenix HM50R, billed as a headlight, but it’s just a right angle torch. I asked specifically about regulating and the guy at Fenix recommended it. So I bought it and it will dump at about 15-20 minutes, plus it’s barely visible to the drone camera at 65ft up and not really a spot.
It would be ok if I’m on the river and flying at 35-40ft, but the trees around here average 80-100ft. I’ll keep that light in my drone case as a backup. I can lift close to 2lbs, but don’t want to get above 1lb if i can help it.
I fly slow and/or hover a lot, so most of the cooling will probably occur from the little prop wash that might reach it rather than from flying at speed. Also, most headlights are billed as a flood more so than a spot. They are on my radar though, so thanks for the suggestion
If you can use the right angle headlamp then the Thrunite TH 10 V2 is one of , if not the best “Thrower” headlamp I have seen to date. My full review of that one HERE
I think you might be a bit optimistic about how long a Mavic can fly with a payload of any additional amount… Plus, a moderate flooder would probably be more beneficial since theres no way youre mounting it on the gimbal.
Id probably go the route of anything with an XHP70, perhaps a Nitecore TM03?
Nick, not really. I put my M22 warrior on it with only a few of minutes difference, and i have 6 batteries. I’ll have to watch the motor heat though. I have a mount that wraps around the body at the center. It covers the bottom sensors and is a pain, but it’s lightweight and it works. I’ll check the lights you mentioned, thanks
