Review 80M Waterproof Underwater 1800 LM CREE XM-L T6 LED Diving Flashlight Torch

Purchased one of these off ebay...

Put a bolt snap on it and went diving... took it to 24m (75ft)., 8 degrees C ( 46 F)..

Results, well it worked during the dive no problems... nice tight beam and about 20-30% brighter that my old UK Light Canon 10W HID. Going by previous lights it looks like ~900 lumens?

However, after the first dive, it had drops of water in the lense... groan...

Stripped it down, left it to dry, greased up the lense O-ring ( which was bone dry) and went back.. this time no problems... 24m depth again. 

One bonus of the strip down is that i've lost the SOS mode. The pill needs to be rotated to match the magnets in the outside ring...I switched the mode selector ring to ON and then rotated the pill till the light came on, then closed it up..

Here are some pictures...

Some closeups of the o-ring sitting on a "ledge".

The lense sits on the o-ring.

I'm sort of happy with it, I'll go through all the O-rings and grease up, making sure all the pieces are tight. Also make sure all the o-ring surfaces and threads are free from loose metal/dirt etc...

Some more pictures...

Some further observations...

The multimode isn't as bad a I first thought.... you don't have to cycle through all the modes every time you switch it on and off.. For instance, if you have it on Full power and just want to turn it off and on again and retain the full power mode, just wait 5 seconds before turning it back on again. If you do it more quickly, it will change mode and go down to the next lower power setting. 

I measured the current on full power, it takes 2.2A with a fresh battery. So at 4.2V its 9.24 Watts.

I had a look at the control board PCB with a view to remove the modes but I didn't understand it enough to come up with a solution. It has one main controller chip ( 8 pin ) in the centre and 2 hall effect sensors on the perimeter of the PCB. It also has space/PCB tracks for 2 more, these are not populated.

So, 4 sensors, each one has a track going into the controller, with +Vcc and GND, leaves two for outputs..

None of the chips had identification numbers on.

There is another 4 pin power device but without taking the PCB out of the base I can't see it or probe it...  

I suppose I could remove the controller chip and put in an ATTiny chip of my own but as i'm going diving next week I want it to be in one piece.

A bit more..

Take care to hold the body of the torch and not the head when you take off the end cap changing batteries OR changing mode/On/Off underwater, the bezel/body connection are too easily loosened and you could create a leak.

Update...

After 14 dives ranging from 41m to 17m in 8 degrees water, I managed to unscrew the bezels by accident and both flooded. Again, dry out and tighten and back to normal. A suggested solution to this was to use a thread lock type product, so i've ordered some Loctite 243 and will see how that goes..

Another Update..

Applied the thread lock ( Loctite 243) to the bezel threads on the head, like so... Tightened the head up. Dived again and didn't flood but only 9m depth dive.... I'll update some more when I get more depth.

Unscrewing it after the dive was not an issue, maybe put a little more on that the small blob in the photo. < Yep works..>...

£3.50 from Amazon.

Update : Bought a third one for the video light project, noticed a slightly different label on the side and it didn't come with the inner plastic battery adapter, otherwise it looks exactly the same. Need to verify its ok with another dive.

Another Update:

Dived to 4m so suspect its ok. I've not got a deeper dive for a month so will feedback then. Tried to disassemble it and noticed: 

The plastic insert/battery adapter was not there, a 16850 battery will still work it just flops about a bit when your tightening up the end, still makes a connection. I had some plastic tubing which I cut down to the same length ( 8cm length, Outside diameter 23mm) as one of the others and it was fine.

The reflector doesn't want to come out nor the LED pcb either. A gently push didn't dislodge it, so might swap the heads around with my older ones to make another video head or give it a whack with a hammer..!

Otherwise this third one, looks ok...

Beam shot :

More shots of the body, the end cap does fit on the head unit... Not sure its water tight but does make a solid seal... Plenty of beam shots on my Vimeo channel...https://vimeo.com/user19212157

Simple goodman handle for the light, found some webbing from an old dive bag, tie wrapped it on. I clip the bolt snap onto my computer bungee to keep it straight. Usually do this once i'm in the water.

Update:

I have three of these now, 2 have glass lenses and 1 has an acrylic lense. None have flooded since I put the loctite thread lock.

1 glass lense one has done 30 dives to a max of 42m ( 137ft).
Another glass one has done 12 dives to a max of 30m ( 98ft)
The acrylic lense version has done 10 dives to 30m.

Run time on an Xtar 2800ma 18650 battery is around 55 mins continuous , which is two dives for me ( its not on all the time).

Two have been converted to Video lights are per my blog.

The only nasty bit is the rotating control ring, this can either go stiff OR very loose... Still works but the spring and steel ball don't like salt water. See other post on my blog for the control ring issues..

The loctite thread lock will need to be applied again soon as I can feel the bezel coming loose again on one of them.

I've not changed the original o-rings. They look awful but so far they have held out, just greased them up.

Another Update:

Someone noticed there was a current drain when in the off position, I checked it with a multimeter and sure enough, looks like around 50mA. I'd not noticed battery going dead when I left them in but I tend to charge them before every dive trip.

I mentioned in another post that the control ring is completely free now i.e. no notch. This mean it slips around quite a bit. The solution is to place a tight bicycle inner tube around it seems to work ok.

Beam shots in the pool:

Dive Light - Part #9 - Maglite - Another go and still leaks...

So tried the single 3mm O-ring on the front and letting the lense rest on the head. Result was that it leaked in exactly the same way as the last time. Small drops between the lense and the drop-in. Still works but not sure for how long.

This time I got 4 dives out of it at 32m ( 105ft) max, there was a slight flicker from the light but it didn't go out...

The only other thought I have is that the leak is coming from where the body and head screw together..

So might try the liquid casket in there or a slightly bigger O-ring, I know 2.5 is too big and it has a 2mm in there at the moment...Maybe even double up on the 2mm rings..?

Some other issues, the light fell out of the clamp and I nearly lost the goodman handle.

The plastic ring with the magnet slipped off and I found it halfway down the cable.

The maglite holder actually snapped, i needed to wrap an old inner tube around the light to stop it slipping in the holder, this increased the diameter of the maglite and this put too much pressure on the maglite holder, so one side snapped off, groan.

Dive Light - New O-rings setup, to cure small flooding..

I'm thinking that, under pressure, the lense might have pushed back into the torch and let water in. I based this on the fact that my lense might of been resting on an o-ring that would have had some give in it.. like so:-

Its a bit difficult to tell what's happening inside but when the o-ring behind the lense, is presented to the torch head, its lining up directly with the head wall, where it goes when I tighten it up, is anybody's guess.. But my thinking is, thats the lense is not resting on a solid/ immovable wall/surface, which could allow it to move under pressure. To make the lense rest on an immovable wall/surface, I changed the design to:

I've removed the inner o-ring to allow the lense to sit on the head wall and have increased the diameter of the outside one to 3mm..

The front 3mm O-ring might be too big as you can see quite a bit of it from the front when tightened up.

I've a 2.5mm section O-ring which I might also try at the front.

The 2.5mm O-ring is too big to go on the body, so the 2mm one is still there.

The lense is still the stepped one, but ideally, it would be better to have one without the step.

When the smaller diameter lense sits inside the head walls.. the bezel can screw further down onto the head which might also help water tightness..maybe!

This is now in testing. Overnight bucket test ok, 4m pool test ok and this weekend 30m dive.

Disaster Strikes (almost) - Torch has water in it..

Ok, first sea dive of 2013 this weekend.... 27m ( 88ft) in to the English Channel for the Broderick off Hastings... 7 degress water temp.

Torch worked fine for the duration of the dive and out performed the UK Light cannon and Green Force umbilical easily...

Used it throughout the dive with no issues but back on deck noticed a little water on the inside of the lense... Still worked but decided to stop using it there and then.

On opening it at home, the water seems to be between the drop-in and the lense... nothing behind near the electronics or cable gland...

So, it was ok at 15m in the lake... and now at 27m not so good.... I did drag it through the sand and generally not look after it... so not sure if depth or I knocked it... Even so.... not the spec I want..

Rubbish Button SPG

2 years old on a pony... can't read it for the pitting on the window and my eyesight is shot so thats something else wrong with it...

Dive light - Part #9 - New Goodman handle

Upgrade the handle from the lash it up in 5mins to something that looks a little better...

Old:

New:

Parts are:

The maglite holder is a Maglite ASXD021 Auto Clamps Skin for ASXD026E (2 Pieces). Its an American part but they crop up on ebay and Amazon in the UK. It was £7.25.

The Goodman handle was from a chap off  TheDiveForum (TDF) , £16 but you can find them on ebay...

At the moment its attached with a couple of tie wrays until I can find some bolts.

The Maglite slips around in the holder preventing the users from turning the ring which has the magnet on! To get round this I double wrapped some dry suit rubber strips to grip it.. works well...

Some more pictures..

Dive Compass - Part # 6 - Experiment with Mask

Once mounted, you can truely understand how the software is working and how you as a diver might perceive the signals...

Some observations:

LEDS are blurred so close up to your face but 10mm seperation is enough to determine which one is which... just.

Might have to change the resistors on the LEDS, in low light, they may be too bright... I've put them on analog output pins so I can vary the brightness under software...but its fixed at the moment..

They need to be forward of the mask frame so as to be both seen.

Some colours are more visible that others, red and blue  is good, green less so and the white ( all three colours) can look like red/green on at the same time..

The green level indicator on the LED_2 is a bit of a distraction so I might go back to a single LED.. or use it purely for the waypoint indicator..

Just thinking, I'm going to keep with this format for the moment until I can prove the in-water use of it but saw on another website ( rebreather world) the use of a small OLED display which intrigues me.... maybe mount an OLED display on the mask below the field of view and have the compass/battery at the side of the head...because the tilting of the head to check compass heading is a key feature...

Dive Compass - Part #5 - Program

Arduino Sketch below...

Notes:
Debug print statement are still active.. very useful for debugging.. but take out when happy with code.

Code starts here, COPY from after the "//" to the end..

//**************************************************************************************************************************************
//
// Arduino Compass HUD - Use RGB LED(s) to communicate bearing to diver and other info ( Tilt/Waypoint direction)
//
// Author : johnohuk@gmail.com
//
//
// History
//
// 3_0 Feedback from first headmounted prototype,
//     2 RGB LED Version
//
//     Two Hall Effect sensors to increment and decrement current waypoint.
//
// Reference the I2C Library
#include <Wire.h>
// Reference the HMC5883L Compass Library
#include <HMC5883L.h>
// Reference the ADXL345 Accelerometer Library
#include <ADXL345.h>

// Store our compass as a variable.
HMC5883L compass;
// Store our accelerometer as a variable.
ADXL345 accel;

int areConnected = 0; // Store our connection status here.

// Main NSEW Bearing LED

#define LED1_RED 3
#define LED1_BLUE 6
#define LED1_GREEN 5

// Secondary Tilt/Waypoint LED

#define LED2_RED 10
#define LED2_BLUE 9
#define LED2_GREEN 11

// Inputs for controlling current waypoint

#define HF_1 2    // Hall effect sensor #1 on Pin2
#define HF_2 12   // Hall effect sensor #2 on Pin12

#define delayTime 20
#define BoardLed 13    //  digitalWrite(BoardLed , HIGH);// HIGH/LOW only

int tilt_too_muchn;      // Global flag to indicate the tilt is too much to give a valid bearing

int WayPoints[13] = {-1,56,130,180,93,45,300,55,66,130,200,230,66};
int Current_WayPoint = 1;
int WayPointMax = 12;        // Size of the waypoint array

int hallState1;             // the current reading from the input pin
int lasthallState1 = LOW;   // the previous reading from the input pin

int hallState2;             // 2nd Hall effect sensor
int lasthallState2 = LOW;

int hallcount1 = 0;        // Current Halleffect sensor (A3144)senses two changes incoming/outgoing so need /2
int hallcount2 = 0;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(LED1_GREEN, OUTPUT);    //LED #1 Primary Compass showing N,S,E and West
  pinMode(LED1_BLUE, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED1_RED, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(LED2_GREEN, OUTPUT);  // LED #2 Level indicator and Waypoint indicator
  pinMode(LED2_BLUE, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED2_RED, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(HF_1, INPUT );        // Inputs to control Waypoint selection, increment and decrement pointer into Array
  pinMode(HF_2, INPUT );

  Serial.begin(9600);       // Initialize the serial port.
  Wire.begin();             // Start the I2C interface.

  compass = HMC5883L();     // Construct a new HMC5883 compass.
  accel = ADXL345();        // Construct a new ADXL345 accelerometer.

  compass.EnsureConnected();
  accel.EnsureConnected();

  if(compass.IsConnected && accel.IsConnected)
  {
    areConnected = true;
    Serial.println("Connected to HMC5883L and ADXL345.");
  }
  else
  {
    areConnected = false;
 
    if(compass.IsConnected == 0)
      Serial.println("Could not connect to HMC5883L.");
    if(accel.IsConnected == 0)
      Serial.println("Could not connect to ADXL345.");
 
    digitalWrite(BoardLed , HIGH);    //If connection fault then onboard green LED will stay on.
  }
  if(areConnected)
  {
    compass.SetScale(1.3); // Set the scale of the compass.
    compass.SetMeasurementMode(Measurement_Continuous); // Set the measurement mode to Continuous

    accel.SetRange(2, true); // Set the range of the accelerometer to a maximum of 2G.
    accel.EnableMeasurements(); // Tell the accelerometer to start taking measurements.
  }

  // Test the three colours in both LED(s), ramp up each one...

  for( int i = 0 ; i < 5 ; i += 1 ){
 
        analogWrite( LED1_RED, i );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, 0 );

        analogWrite( LED2_RED, i );
        analogWrite( LED2_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, 0 );

        delay( 200 );
     
      Serial.println(i);
   
    }

    digitalWrite(BoardLed , LOW); // Toggle the LED on the board itself to indicate progress..

    for( int i = 0 ; i < 5 ; i += 1 ){
 
        analogWrite( LED1_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, i );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, 0 );
     
        analogWrite( LED2_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED2_BLUE, i );
        analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, 0 );
        delay( 200 );
     
      Serial.println(i);
   
    }

    digitalWrite(BoardLed , HIGH);

    for( int i = 0 ; i < 5 ; i += 1 ){
 
        analogWrite( LED1_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, i );

        analogWrite( LED2_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED2_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, i );

        delay( 200 );
     
      Serial.println(i);
   
    }

    digitalWrite(BoardLed , LOW);
}

void loop()
{
  int MaxVal = 5;     //Full on LED=255, 5 = low, dont want LED to be distracting...
  int headingTCn=0;

  if(areConnected)
  {
    MagnetometerScaled magnetometerReadings = compass.ReadScaledAxis();
    AccelerometerScaled accelerometerReadings = accel.ReadScaledAxis();
 
    float headingNTC = CalculateHeadingNotTiltCompensated(magnetometerReadings);
    float headingTC = CalculateHeadingTiltCompensated(magnetometerReadings, accelerometerReadings);
       
    // Update RGB (LED1)

    headingTCn = int ( RadiansToDegrees(headingNTC)); //changed!!
    //Serial.println(headingTCn);

    if (tilt_too_muchn == 1 )
    {
        Serial.println("Tilted too far");
        analogWrite( LED1_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, 0 );

        analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, 0 );    // Clear 2nd LED2 which indicates headset is level... so all u need is to keep that orientation and twist head to get a bearing..

    }
    else if ( headingTCn>355 || headingTCn <05 )
    {
        Serial.println("North");

        analogWrite( LED1_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, MaxVal  );
     }
    else if ( headingTCn> 84 && headingTCn <95 )
    {
        Serial.println("EAST");
   
        analogWrite( LED1_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, MaxVal );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, 0  );
     }
    else if ( headingTCn> 174 && headingTCn <185 )    
    {
        Serial.println("SOUTH");

        analogWrite( LED1_RED, MaxVal );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, MaxVal );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, MaxVal  );
    }
    else if ( headingTCn> 264 && headingTCn <275 )    
    {
        Serial.println("WEST");

        analogWrite( LED1_RED, MaxVal );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, 0  );
    }
    else
    {

      // For any heading outside the above parameters
   
        analogWrite( LED1_RED, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_BLUE, 0 );
        analogWrite( LED1_GREEN, 0  );
    }  
 
    //Waypoint functionallity & Level indicator - communicated through LED2 Blue..
 
    // Sense Inputs
 
    hallState1 = digitalRead(HF_1);
    hallState2 = digitalRead(HF_2);
 
    Serial.print("debug - Hallstate 1 & 2, Waypoint Bearing and Index : ");
    Serial.print(hallState1);  
    Serial.print(" ");
    Serial.print(hallState2);
    Serial.print(" ");
    Serial.print(WayPoints[Current_WayPoint]);
    Serial.print(" ");
    Serial.print(Current_WayPoint);
    Serial.println("");
 
    if (hallState1 != lasthallState1)
    {
      hallcount1 = hallcount1 +1;
      lasthallState1 = hallState1;
    }

    if (hallState2 != lasthallState2)
    {
      hallcount2 = hallcount2 +1;
      lasthallState2 = hallState2;
    }
     
    if ( hallcount1 == 2 )
    {
        if (Current_WayPoint<WayPointMax)
        {
          Current_WayPoint = Current_WayPoint + 1 ;
        }

        signal_led( Current_WayPoint);  // Flash LED_2 Red the count

        hallcount1 = 0;
    }
    if ( hallcount2 == 2 )
    {
        if (Current_WayPoint>1)
        {
          Current_WayPoint = Current_WayPoint - 1 ;
        }

        signal_led( Current_WayPoint);  // Flash LED_2 Red the count

        hallcount2 = 0;
    }  

    // Level indicator & Waypoint display

    if (tilt_too_muchn == 0 )
    {
      if ( headingTCn> (WayPoints[Current_WayPoint] -5 )&& headingTCn< (WayPoints[Current_WayPoint] +5 ) )
      {
          analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, 0 );  
          analogWrite( LED2_BLUE, MaxVal );
          Serial.println("On Waypoint Bearing");  
      }
      else
      {
          analogWrite( LED2_BLUE, 0 );    
          analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, MaxVal );    // Set 2nd LED2 to green to indicate headset is level... so all u need is to keep that orientation and twist head to get a bearing..
          Serial.println("Level but NO Waypoint Bearing");
      }
    }
  }
}
void signal_led ( int pulse_count )
{

     // Pulse LED_2 Red using the pulse_count to indicate to user which waypoint is currently active
   
     analogWrite( LED2_BLUE, 0 );
     analogWrite( LED2_GREEN, 0 );
     analogWrite( LED2_RED, 0 );
   
     delay( 2000 );
   
     for( int i = 1 ; i <= pulse_count ; i += 1 )
     {

       analogWrite( LED2_RED, 1 );

       delay( 1000 );

       analogWrite( LED2_RED, 0 );

       delay( 1000 );    
    }
 
    analogWrite( LED2_RED, 0 );
 
    delay( 2000 );
}

float CalculateHeadingTiltCompensated(MagnetometerScaled mag, AccelerometerScaled acc)
{
  // We are swapping the accelerometers axis as they are opposite to the compass the way we have them mounted.
  // We are swapping the signs axis as they are opposite.
  // Configure this for your setup.

  float accX = -acc.YAxis;
  float accY = -acc.XAxis;


 // float accY = -acc.YAxis;
 // float accX = -acc.XAxis;

  float rollRadians = asin(accY);
  float pitchRadians = asin(accX);

  // We cannot correct for tilt over 40 degrees with this algorthem, if the board is tilted as such, return 0.

//  if(rollRadians > 0.78 || rollRadians < -0.78 || pitchRadians > 0.78 || pitchRadians < -0.78)    //44 degress
  if(rollRadians > 0.175 || rollRadians < -0.175 || pitchRadians > 0.175 || pitchRadians < -0.175)  //10 degrees
  {
    tilt_too_muchn = 1;
    return 0;
  }
  else
  {
    tilt_too_muchn = 0;
  }

  // Some of these are used twice, so rather than computing them twice in the algorithem we precompute them before hand.
  float cosRoll = cos(rollRadians);
  float sinRoll = sin(rollRadians);
  float cosPitch = cos(pitchRadians);
  float sinPitch = sin(pitchRadians);

  // The tilt compensation algorithem.
  float Xh = mag.XAxis * cosPitch + mag.ZAxis * sinPitch;
  float Yh = mag.XAxis * sinRoll * sinPitch + mag.YAxis * cosRoll - mag.ZAxis * sinRoll * cosPitch;

  float heading = atan2(Yh, Xh);
 
  return heading;
}

float CalculateHeadingNotTiltCompensated(MagnetometerScaled mag)
{
   // Calculate heading when the magnetometer is level, then correct for signs of axis.
   float heading = atan2(mag.YAxis, mag.XAxis);
   return heading;
}

float RadiansToDegrees(float rads)
{
  // Correct for when signs are reversed.
  if(rads < 0)
    rads += 2*PI;
   
  // Check for wrap due to addition of declination.
  if(rads > 2*PI)
    rads -= 2*PI;
 
  // Convert radians to degrees for readability.
  float heading = rads * 180/PI;
     
  return heading;
}

void Output(float headingNTC, float headingTC)
{
  Serial.print("Heading (Not Compensated): ");
  Serial.print(RadiansToDegrees(headingNTC));
  Serial.print("\tHeading (Tilt Compensated): ");
  Serial.println(RadiansToDegrees(headingTC));
}

Dive Compass - Part #4 - Circuit

Latest circuit..... Created in TinyCad.

NB Link on ProMini board has been broken to make it run its regulation/output at 3.3v, same on the FTDI usb board..

Dive Compass - Part #3 - New board...

After the first prototype I added the two hall effects sensors as a way of controlling the current active way points and a second RGB LED for showing extra information...

So it started out as this... You really have to prototype on a breadboard, its so much easier...

Then moving to Vero board...

Break in copper strips made down the middle...

Completed board..

Both RGB LEDs are on the underside because I was running out of space topside..

You can see them a bit better from this view..

And here.... you can also one of the hall effect devices, they are place at the edge of the board to sense the magnetic field outside the housing. The second one is at the other end of the board to make them more easily distinguished.

Back in the tube, with battery and mounted on a mask. This prototype needs to go quite forward for the diver to be able to see the LEDs. Its quite fiddly trying to mount a cylinder on a flimsy bit of rubber mask strap...But will do for now...

HUD Compass - Part #2 - Parts list

Purchased from ebay 

Pro Mini Enhancement (3.3V/5V adjustable)/16MHz MEGA168 (Arduino-compatible) US $9.30

To program it : -

FTDI Basic 6 PIN 3.3/5V For Arduino(Free USB Cable), US $6.90

Triple Axis Accelerometer ADXL345

HMC5883 Module Three-Axis Digital Compass

A3144 A3144E OH3144E Hall Effect Sensor, two of.

5mm RGB LED Diffused Arduino (Red Green Blue in one LED) Shared Cathode, two of.

Resistors :- Four 220 Ohms, two 8.8k and two 11K Ohms.

Test bed was :-

Arduino Uno

ARDUINO UNO Proto Shield + Breadboard

And for further testing ... you really need a larger breadboard ... its so much easier..

830 Points Tie-points Solderless Breadboard Circuit Bread Board

The Test waterproof container is like my dive lights but specifically:-

21mm solid Rubber Stopper (rubber bung) for each end.

25mm x 2mm CLEAR Acrylic Perspex Plastic TUBE Pipe 1M.

HUD Compass - Part #1 - Concept

HUD - Compass  Project

The idea for this came when I got fed up of getting lost in zero vis river dives and never being able to see my compass or rather it had to be 1cm from my face to see it... There had to be an easier way!

I’ve played with PIC chips and the arduino which is definitely easier to prototype with quickly.. so this project evolved..

So, what is it trying to be, a HUD compass with waypoint indication, some design ideas I wanted to keep to:

Attach to any mask configuration.

Not obtrusive, on a dark dive i don’t want lights /displays flashing at me..

Parts easily sourced and cheap!

Simple programming language... I’m sick of setting up linkers and compilers every 6 months and i just don’t have the time to keep in with C/C++ etc..

Accessible to anyone.. Simple circuits and international parts..

Evolution

It started out life on an Arduino Uno and its evolved into using a Pro Mini board ( battery operated)...

It used a single RGB LED to show North=Green, West=Red etc... But its moved on from that to a two RGB LED solution and two hall effect sensors for the input controls...

Current function is : Main RGB led show different colours for North, South, East and West. Second led indicates unit is level and hence will show a valid heading. It also server a second purpose to change colour to blue when your point in the direction of your waypoint.. Waypoints are hard-coded at the moment.. in a list, i'll add a bluetooth function later so I can programme from the phone..

Two hall effect sensors allow you to move onto the next waypoint or move back to the last one.

Early prototype with an Ardiono Uno, breadboard, compass and accelerometer boards..

Experimenting against a real compass.. ( Sunnto SK7)

Moving platforms to a Pro Mini so I can get the form factor down....

Program with this... 

Then going to something i can waterproof and get in the water with...

Components wired together to fit inside a arcylic tube.

And fitted into the tube with battery... this will connect  to the mask strap..

After proving i could drive it by battery and wear it... it was  back to the breadboard to refine the software design based on user experience... Adding a second LED and user controls ( with magnet and hall effect sensor).

Next rebuild it again in miniature form.... and try in the pool again..

Underwater Laser

Could it work?

My cheap £5 laser fits in a acrylic tube no worries... just need to switch it somehow... next project...

These also look interesting..

http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_26891_1.jpg

Dive light - Part #8 - Upgraded Power Pack

Following advice from Candlepower forums.

Upgraded to better batteries and double the number... to 4 batteries..

XTAR 18650 2600mAh 3.7V Protected Sanyo Li-ion cell inside Rechargeable Battery (2-pack)

From Amazon £11.99 for two.

Longer Tube, 4 batteries in a 2S2P confguration and positive take off from the centre maintaining the 8.4v but at ~5200mAh. Burn time achieved = 3hrs approx...

Slight issue with the new tube I ordered, it was supposed to the same size as the one I ordered before but there appears to be a variance on the diameter so the original rubber bungs were too small.

So, new test tube is made up of ( off ebay) :-

21mm solid Rubber Stopper (rubber bung)
21mm 1 Hole Rubber Stopper (rubber bung)
25mm x 2mm CLEAR Acrylic Perspex Plastic TUBE Pipe 1M

The holes in the rubber bung had to be drilled out a bit to accept the cable..Cable thread through the hole with silicon sealant smeared over the cable/bung and left to dry.

Mounted between the wing and cylinders:

The old one and new one..

Wired up to the torch head.

Dive light - Part #7 - Goodman handle

Knocked up with some bits lying around...

Plastic tubing used for a stage handle, tie wraps, bolt snap & some yellow bungee...