Zebralight SC64 equivalent size and UI

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
17

This is a pretty common feature. Different lights do it in different ways, of course, but it’s one of the main things a bunch support.

The most basic, essential controls seem to be:

  • From off: Immediate access to low, med, and high.
  • While on: Immediate access to off, up, down, and high.

The way Anduril implements these is:

  • Off:

    • 1H: low
    • 1C: med (or mem)
    • 2C: high

  • On:

    • 1C: off
    • 1H: up
    • 2H: down (or 1H soon after a 1H)
    • 2C: high

… and the user can configure what “low”, “med (or mem)”, and “high” mean. Lots of options for different people with different preferences. Personally, I usually set low to moon, high to the brightest level the light can thermally sustain for a few minutes, and med/mem is … more context-sensitive. I configure it to use mem (last brightness I was using) when the light has been off for 10 minutes or less, so it’ll remember during a single session. Adjust it to whatever brightness I need, and I can turn it on/off with 1 click to use that brightness. But at 10 minutes (timer is configurable and optional), it resets to a default medium level I configured. It avoids surprises, and I don’t have to remember any state from one session to the next.

The way ZebraLight does it is (by default, in G5):

  • Off:

    • 1H: low
    • 1C: high
    • 2C: med

  • On:

    • 1C: off
    • 1H: low (or 1H longer for med, or even longer for high)
    • 2C: toggle current slot’s primary or sub mode

With G6 + G7, the user can configure the value for low 1, low 2, med 1, med 2, high 1, and high 2. With G5, the user can configure low 2, med 2, and high 2 within a limited range. G6/G7 can, for example, be configured for “1H low, 1C med, 2C high” to give it an interface similar to other lights.

ZebraLight is a little unusual because it has no concept or shortcuts for “up” and “down”, and no shortcut to “high” while on (unless you configured G6/G7 to use 1H for high, but that’s not recommended). Instead, it has a shortcut to low (usually).

This is more difficult to find. ZebraLight has pretty unusual sculpted single-piece hosts which are smaller than most and have better thermal performance than most… plus uncommonly good ergonomics and often a nice screw-on clip.

However, for about a third of the price, one can get something similar (ish) in the form of a Wurkkos FC13 or Sofirn SC31 Pro. The host quality isn’t as high or quite as compact as ZebraLight, but it’s the same category of light and can generally do more things. So there may be non-ZL options available, depending on how strict the requirements are.

18

Since we’re just talking about ZL and Anduril I feel compelled to link this masterpiece here, too:
https://teddit.adminforge.de/r/flashlight/comments/12bpnin/zebralight_sc700d_with_anduril2_lumex1/

1 Thank
19

Great concise summary - very well done.
Those both look like excellent options and would be a good intro for me to Anduril 2.0.
Now to look for the best place to buy them. I know that some of these brands offer BLF pricing.

20

LoneOceans does amazing things, no? That modded ZL seems pretty fantastic. It’s what a lot of people would consider a “grail” light.

They’re definitely toward the low end of Anduril lights… but they’re intended to be. The SC31 Pro has a simple FET+1 driver, and I’m not even sure what kind of power circuit the FC13 has.

Also not sure what firmware version(s) they ship with, so it’s possible that some of the most recent features might not be there without a reflash. That’s not an issue for me personally, but it could be a hurdle for someone without the right tools, if they want to install any updates or customize it beyond what the UI provides.

Hank’s lights are generally higher quality and more advanced, and he sells a flashing kit too… but for some reason, he still hasn’t made a light in the SC64 category. I find that unfortunate, because it’s probably the single most practical type of light. If you don’t mind a wider beam though, the D4K is pretty nice. It’s almost as small as a D4, but uses a 21700 battery instead of 18650. So… 5000 mAh max capacity instead of 3500 mAh.

Personally, I like the KR4, which is like a D4 but with a tail switch instead of side switch, and a much nicer clip. It’s even thicker though, and the D4 was already pretty thick to begin with (hence why a 21700 could fit without perceptibly expanding the diameter). Hank likes short and stubby.

1 Thank
21

Absolutely amazing and it is the grail light for me. I might buy the upcoming SC700 with 70.3 HI despite the high price but I feel the UI is kind of a letdown once you are used to Anduril2.
Unfortunately the ppl over at the other flashlight forum are far less open to this wonderful mod, some are even outright denying any advantages. :person_facepalming:

22

Using ToyKeepers “Spagetti Monster” base code I designed and tested probably ALL kind off UIs. Best and most intuitive e-swich UIs is simple UIs like “Baton” but with more modes and the very best is saw-saw or swing UI .

23

Could you summarise please to save me trawling through olights website?

24

The Baton UI, basically:

  • Single click on/off, with memory.
  • While on, hold to ramp up in steps. After high, it goes back to low and repeats. (upward sawtooth pattern)
  • Hold from off for moon, otherwise hidden.
  • Double click for turbo.
  • 3+1 steps. (low/med/high + moon) Also turbo might be above high? I forget.

It looks like Quadrupel’s swing UI is the same, but with a few changes:

  • 5+2 steps instead of 3+1. (the bottom 2 levels are semi-hidden instead of just the bottom 1)
  • It looks like 2H is added to ramp down, and can reach the bottom 2 levels.
  • Instead of looping a low-to-high sequence, it ramps back down after hitting the top. Triangle wave pattern (a.k.a. zig-zag) instead of sawtooth pattern.

Anduril in stepped mode with 7 steps is very similar to the swing UI, but:

  • The bottom 2 levels aren’t hidden.
  • The up/down zig-zag pattern goes up, down, stays down, then goes into lockout mode. It’s meant as a protection against accidental stuck buttons, not as a part of the UI people should use on purpose.
  • A hold immediately after another hold goes the opposite direction (a.k.a. auto-reverse).
  • Has a lot of other features and options.
2 Thanks
25

Damn, I regret being lazy now, thanks so much for the summaries!

26

ToyKeeper, Thank You for your attention. One of the reasons why “Swing UI” was created is that I couldn’t find another way to easily set manual brightness levels in Baton and Anduril code. Swing UI is coded to add easily any brightness level in any mode. UI is polished , but have some old bugs like no aux LVP and floating stepdown timer… and amateur coding :blush: If you like i can share it with you and you will fix all bugs in no time. I think its an ultimate UI and should be represented as an alternative.

27

Oh, cool. I didn’t realize you created it. I’m sure I missed some things, having only seen a short video of it.

You wanted to manually set the level for each step, to get better spacing?

Usually it’s easier to adjust spacing by changing the ramp shape… give it a different exponent to bend the curve up or down. Like, x ramps up the low modes faster than x2, and dedicates more of the ramp to high modes. And x2 has fewer low modes than x3. And so on. To really devote a lot more of the ramp to the low modes, sometimes I’ve bent it as far as x9. But if the lowest power channel doesn’t have enough resolution for that, you could end up with a bunch of 1’s in a row at the ramp bottom.

Manually setting the level of each step seems like an effective way to get visually-linear steps without a visually-linear ramp. But when possible, it’s usually easier to fix the ramp shape instead.

About aux LVP, it’s usually pretty easy. It just takes a few extra lines, and the hard part typically is whether there’s enough space in ROM for the extra code. I avoided adding it for a long time because I was trying to squeeze out every last byte.

28

Yes indeed.
WTF is x2…x3.x9… dont mind it . Like i mentioned before i can send you a code and you’ll see what is what . You can test it with fet+1 driver.

29

Just regular math. x2 is x * x, and x3 is x * x * x.

Anduril’s ramp calculator script takes an exponent as one of the parameters, and this exponent determines the ramp shape. The higher the exponent, the more it squishes the ramp down, meaning it has more low modes and fewer high modes.

Usually x3 is regarded as “visually linear”, but that’s a bit of an oversimplification. Calculating a good ramp usually takes more fine-tuning.

The parameters are usually given for each build target in the cfg.h file, to make it easy for people to adjust. If the mode spacing on a particular light seems bad, copy/paste the command in its cfg file, and start changing values to produce a better ramp.

31

Thanks. I just took delivery of the FC13. Pretty impressive performance and the Anduril 2 is very well done and fairly easy to navigate. Easy access to low and high from the off position was no problem. Other nice features like the find in the dark aux light etc. etc.
However, it’s considerably longer and about 40% heavier than the SC64 with a terrible pocket clip. So it will definitely not replace the SC64 as my EDC but will be a good backup light and useful to take on trips as a spare.

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32

In case some visuals might help, here’s a graphing calculator showing some of the ramp shapes I’ve used in different Anduril lights.

From left to right, the shapes shown are x2, x3, x5, and x9. But the exponent can be anything, even 3.7231 or whatever… to really fine-tune things.

Usually I find the best ramp shapes are between the blue line and the green line, but not always. It really depends on the specific light being calibrated.

33

21700 without a counterweight unbalances the light sometimes, D1 already felt nicer with the short tube than 18650, surprised that Hank went for a d1k, not a 21700 d1s.

34

And it also depends on balance preferences, length restrictions, and battery life and throw needs. I’m more averse to length than bezel diameter, which is why I like the dt8 and d1 with short tube more than 18650 lights. Given the cheap b35am option at the moment, I think the D1 is my default rec to people, the only nit to pick is the moonlight output.

35

@samsat Looks like the SC64c LE is back in stock now:

36

OK great, that’s comforting to know. Thanks.

37

I’m aware of that, but my comment was a response to the comment I quoted recommending lights with Anduril firmware and FET drivers.