I've updated the posting with some more details on the light.

Looks beaut

Nice! ... is that an evolution on the Revolver? It looks a little smaller.

It is a co-operative parallel evolution of the revolver that is pretty much the same size. Key differences are:
1) Removed the revolver milling so that it could be built using only a lathe (reduces cost).
2) Wire out the side and taper on the fins to improve heat sinking (fixing a non-problem!).
3) Single light without andodising or mount (reduces cost & size).

Mine is "open source": if you like it you can use the plans any way you like. However users need some skill, time etc. I understand the revolver will be available as a complete package, aka pay-n-ride, which should be very attractive.

Put this little guy together for the graperide and to test a few ideas.

Lightweight helmet light that will run all night, easy on and off the helmet, front and rear low power lights always on. Main beam is not particularly bright but enough to see over my main light (B&M Cyo) which has a sharp cutoff, and enough to limp home on if needed (or to the gas station for more AAs!).

I had most of the stuff hanging around. Main LED is a low bin XPG, very warm colour. 10mm narrow carclo optic. 350mA micropuck driver wired in buck configuration will run from just under 4 to 9v. Current drops off significantly around 4v and turns off around 3.6V so it's ideal for a 4 cell NiMH pack (won't toast the batteries), but will run off a MS pack too.
Main front led is switched. There is also dual 3mm LEDs front and back which are on all the time. Had planned to do a flashing rear with a bloody bright XPE but realised how blinding this would be for anyone behind me, plus no room for a 555 circuit in there. Resistors chosen to keep the LEDs within spec at 9v. Reds are in series and whites parallel. Front light is bright enough for reading computer and looking for bottles etc and wont blind fellow riders too badly.



Mount is magnetic. 4 strong little guys from Jaycar set in pairs with araldite. I'm using a cateye mount but might glue the magnets direct to the helmet. Really happy with how well it works, snaps on and holds really well. I have a Velcro loop on the cable as a backup but can't see it coming off on the road (branches would be a problem on the MTB).
The driver doesn't like being too close to the magnets, I had to sand the driver casing off a little so I could jam it behind the switch to give a little distance.



Current draw with 5V battery is 35mA low/300mA high so on 4 AAs its good for all night if you don't use the main beam all the time. With a MS battery good for a few nights.

Weight... about 50gms on the helmet but half of that is cateye mount. Hmmm, time to get the crabon cloth out maybe.
Battery and wire add around 140gms.

Nice. Simple yet effective and suitable for purpose. What more could you want?

I've done something similar with a dual led light running from a Lipo pack. Need to lighten it some mostly for when using the head strap.

I like the idea of the small LED running lights.

Time to make some more. http://www.lux-rc.com is about to put out their new 33.4 PCB.

Anyway, here details on the latest revision:

Now with a handlebar notch. Should be the smallest and lightest 1000 lumen light available anywhere. This is because:

1) all the micro, power electronics and leds are on one board meaning that the heatsinking is direct (no cavity for the driver PCB) &

2) the use of a watch glass and gasket means that a separate bezel in not needed to achieve IP67 type waterproofing.

Another big plus is being able to switch directly between high & low without having to go through flashing/off etc.

The STP file lets you get your own ones built by anyone with a cnc machining shop. PM me with your email address if you want it.

znomit wrote:Only recently finished my curtain rail lights, which are fantastic but 12AA batteries is a PITA.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... p?t=194093

Solution....
Dynamo power
I have one on my road bike and its nice to never worry about getting home before dark of running on low power because you're conserving batteries.
Dynamos put out around 500mA, a nice current level for a cree, or four.
And they are pretty efficient these days. The good ones draw 2w when the light is off, and about 50% efficient when on. So 12w of leg power = 5w of LED... 500lm

4 Cree R2 LEDs and medium MR11 optic from Cutter.
Housing from nightlightning. I usually make my own but a bit short on time these days.
Dynamo drive circuit from Martin at http://www.pilom.com

Mount and Dynamo from Crankit here in Palmy. Whenever I go in there and ask about Dynos they have exactly what I want.
I went with the older shimano dn70 because they had one in stock and I got a good deal on it.
If I rode the MTB a lot or competitively I'd look at a newer model (got a dn71 on the road bike). Probably a nicer bike too!

All I had to fabricate was the aluminium bracket between cateye mounts and lighthead,
and put a switch hole in the plastic cap that stops the steerer tube top.



Thats the on/off button on top of the steerer tube.
Heres whats inside:
Some scary electronics that switch between different modes at high and low speed. You can build a simple manual circuit for about 20$ but when you slow below 10kph you need to hit a switch. The scary electronics do this automagically.


My steerer tube has a taper near the bottom so the board wont fall through... capacitors hang below it, still within the tube.
The dyno wires and LED wires run out the bottom (LED via connector).

And heres the business end:


Output is enough to see by at walking speed and ramps smoothly up to 650lm at 20kph!

Cost was about 500 all up. It helped buying things a little at a time!
Should last forever, never have to rebuild a battery pack, never miss a ride opportunity because the battery isn't charged.
And hopefully 650lm is enough to stop me from wanting to upgrade every few months!

Finally going to build up a set of commuter lights run from a dynamo hub front and rear.

Znomit: What was the circuit that you used and how many farad was the capacitor?

For a commuter probably circuit 7 with two white XPE and one rear red XPE.
http://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectronics ... .htm#Multi

1F 5.5V supercap from Jaycar (RU6705) for the standlight power. Standlight circuit here works pretty well….
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... cuit-work-)&p=2706860&viewfull=1#post2706860

I dont see the point of wiring in a rear light. I use a cateye auto reflex which turns itself on and off as needed and batteries last a whole winter. If you want an easy you can buy a 15$ XML lighthead and retrofit a 12 or 6V XML (depending on how fast you ride) and put a blinky on your bars instead of a front standlight.

ps
I actually use a B&M cyo up front these days on the roadie and the MTB dyno hub didn't appreciate being on the bottom of the river so have switched to batteries for off road.