Foster wrote:
: Agree on the LED conversion of the mini-Mag. I replaced the bulbs with
: the TerraLUX MiniStar 2. I also got pyrex lenses to replace the too soft
: plastic ones.

: Another option, the Inova 24/7. It's multi functioned with low and high
: intensity white and a pretty bright red. It also has several signal
: modes that are more useful when earth bound. It uses a 123 lithium cell
: - which are obscenely expensive if you buy them in a store, but can be
: gotten almost as reasonably as AAs online. They have a long shelf life,
: last forever with an LED and are lighter than AAs.

My problem with all the LED lights and conversions for the mini-mags is that
they are all *too* bright. My plane has red flood and a dozen or so red bulbs behind
the panel. I've bought into the theory that the least possible amount of light you
can use the better your night vision will remain. A second's blast of white from a
minimag will blow out my night vision.

I took a regular mini-mag, and bought a T-1 sized green LED... just the bare
LED. It was the brightest I could find, but most conversions use 4 or more LEDs to
replace the white bulb. Anyway, the spacing of the terminals on the LED is the same
as the white bulb, so that fits in great. Trouble is putting a resistor inline to
limit the current of the 2.1v bulb with 3.0v batteries. I ended up taking a 39 ohm
resistor to limit the current to about 25 mA. Using a small piece of double
insulation (think lamp cord, but for about 24 gauge solid wire), I folded the leads
back on each other with the double insulation between them:

_______
-___R___-
|________ | - Resistor config
________|

o o
ooooooooo o
ooooooooo - Insulator config threaded between resistor leads as shown.
Conductors lay on opposite sides in the crease between the double wire sheath
insulation. It fits nicely between the two AA's in the light and inserts the
resistance inline. Works great, it's just bright enough to see a chart, doesn't ruin
night vision, runs forever, and the green+red is enough color to discern just about
everything you need.

-Cory


--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************