Nobody sent me any dead greenies from DX as I had asked, so this may become one-of-a-kind...
This was a pretty easy mod.
The DX red modules here fit almost perfectly into the DX green CR2-powered body once all the guts are removed.
I don't like tail-switches, and wanted to use a push-button controlled multifunction circuit, so installed a tiny push switch on the front end. I kept the tailswitch as a safety, in case the push button gets pressed in my pocket.
The circuit is pretty simple - just the generic 2-transistor regulator, being powered through a FET that's controlled by a special chip. That chip is out of a Photon Micro-Light; it provides dimming up/down, fast or slow blink, SOS, and momentary-on modes, all through the push-button. I've got this unit set for about 50mA current.
This circuit board is kind of ugly - I'm not too steady with the soldering iron (even when I can see the parts), and I actually changed the circuit a couple of times (breadboarding on a .7 x .3 board - yuck!)
The photos show the finished unit with the circuit diagram; front and back of the board with a dime for scale; and the head piece with the switch temporarily mounted. The flat cable on the right is from a dissected DVD burner - I used it because it's flat and tough and won't melt even at soldering temps. That gave me a set of connections in my head piece that were long enough to handle easily but folded very small for assembly. There's more value than a diode in those DVD units!
This runs on 2 rechargeable Lithium CR2's. To make that fit I had to chop the tail plug some, which was the hardest mechanical task apart from making the flat spot for the head switch (for which I used a hand-held Dremel)
[circuit edited/corrected 2/18/08]
This was a pretty easy mod.
The DX red modules here fit almost perfectly into the DX green CR2-powered body once all the guts are removed.
I don't like tail-switches, and wanted to use a push-button controlled multifunction circuit, so installed a tiny push switch on the front end. I kept the tailswitch as a safety, in case the push button gets pressed in my pocket.
The circuit is pretty simple - just the generic 2-transistor regulator, being powered through a FET that's controlled by a special chip. That chip is out of a Photon Micro-Light; it provides dimming up/down, fast or slow blink, SOS, and momentary-on modes, all through the push-button. I've got this unit set for about 50mA current.
This circuit board is kind of ugly - I'm not too steady with the soldering iron (even when I can see the parts), and I actually changed the circuit a couple of times (breadboarding on a .7 x .3 board - yuck!)
The photos show the finished unit with the circuit diagram; front and back of the board with a dime for scale; and the head piece with the switch temporarily mounted. The flat cable on the right is from a dissected DVD burner - I used it because it's flat and tough and won't melt even at soldering temps. That gave me a set of connections in my head piece that were long enough to handle easily but folded very small for assembly. There's more value than a diode in those DVD units!
This runs on 2 rechargeable Lithium CR2's. To make that fit I had to chop the tail plug some, which was the hardest mechanical task apart from making the flat spot for the head switch (for which I used a hand-held Dremel)
[circuit edited/corrected 2/18/08]