September 24, 2024

Biscotti firmware -- "biscuit" - the end result

After working on this for just over a week, I have it in a flashlight and had a chance to give it a try.

Here are the brightness levels as PWM values (divide these by 255) 

0, 1, 7, 15, 32, 63, 127, 255
Level 1 is "moonlight" and is just what I wanted.
Level 2 (7/255) is "low" and was just fine for hiking a trail at night.
Level 3 (15/255) is fine for walking around outside the house at night.

I'm not sure what levels 4 and 5 will be good for.

Levels 6 and 7 are ridiculously bright.

Lights with fewer 7135 chips

I have a Convoy S3 that I just flashed "biscuit" into. It has only 4 of the 7135 chips, and thus all the current levels are half what I would have on the light with 8 of these chips. I.e. a max current of 1400 not 2800.

I find level 5 (63/255) is agreeable to use walking around the house. I think it is great that the moonlight is now half what it is on the light with eight 7135. However, comparing moonlight from the two side by side, I am hard pressed to see a difference.

Here are current levels and run time with a 2000 mAh battery. 

1/255 11.0 mA  182 hours (7.5 days)
7/255 77.0 mA  26 hours
15/255 165 mA  12 hours
32/255 351 mA  5.7 hours
63/255 692 mA  2.9 hours
127/255 1394 mA  1.4  hours
255/255 2800 mA  0.7 hours
In a light with only four 7135 chips, the times would be doubled.

Modes and manipulations

I very much like it always coming up in moonlight mode. For any time when you want to be discrete, knowing that it will always come up in the lowest possible mode without fail, is invaluable.

Not having any strobes or blinking modes whatsoever is also perfect. Even in lights (like the BLF-a6) where they are supposedly hidden and out of the way, they get inadvertantly activated (as they did during tonights testing), resulting in cursing, anger, and resentment. Not to mention annoyance and inconvenience.

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Light Info / [email protected]