PHOTON "SCORPION FINDER"
FREEDOM MICRO

Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro, retail $15.96 (www.photonlight.com...)
Manufactured by LRI (www.photonlight.com)
Last updated 08-01-08






The Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro Light is the latest offshoot from the Photon Micro Lights I, II, 3, Freedom Micro, and Freedom to the Max Micro series of ultra-small, keychain-sized lights. It is made by LRI, which stands for Laughing Rabbit Inc.

It comes housed in a glass filled resin case, runs from 2 CR2016 cells, and uses a NUV (near ultraviolet) LED that causes fluorescence (glowing) in many species of scorpion - this is its intended purpose - to check dark areas for scorpions before you find out about them the hard way.

According to the web page on LRI's website about this product,

"...makes the keychain-sized 'Scorpion Finder' perfect for sweeping dark rooms in the middle of the night to check for scorpions before climbing into bed, putting on boots, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, or just reaching into dark places..."

The "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro has a microcontroller buried inside that allows it to have dimming, strobe, and SOS functions you cannot get just with an LED and battery alone.

Finally, this product has an ACU (Army Combat Uniform) camouflage body for full compliance with military uniform regulations.

For some reason, I keep wanting to call it the "Scorpion Hunter" - even when I started this web page, I had named it scorphnt.htm for a short time before renaming it.


SIZE



The "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro is almost ready to use right out of the package.
First thing you'll want to do is hold the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro's button down for 20 seconds (until the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro turns off) to remove it from "demonstration mode". Then you'll have full use of all the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro's features.

To turn the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro on, just press and release the button on the top of the flashlight. To turn the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro back off, press and release the button again.

Note: Some of the text below is from the LRI website.

To dim the light once it is turned on, simply press and hold the button to dim the light to the desired level.

Pressing and holding the button when the light is already off will turn it on at the lowest level and allow you to gradually increase the brightness to give you just the amount of light you need.

When needed, the four safety strobe functions (fast, medium, slow, & SOS) can be accessed by continuing to hold the button down. Once the light has dimmed or brightened fully, it will proceed to cycle through the various strobe functions. Simply release the button when you reach the desired beacon mode.

Momentary or "signaling" mode can be accessed by tapping the button several times in rapid succession. In this mode, you can send morse code messages to somebody, or just squeeze it to get a shot of light whenever you need it. To exit this and return the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro to normal operation, simply press and hold the button for several seconds until the light turns off.

End theft mode.



Changing the batteries in your "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro is easy. Just turn the light upside down, and carefully pry the battery cap off by inserting the tip of a knife blade or the tip of a nail file under the recess for it right in front of the keychain hole at the tail end; then pull the cap off once it is lifted far enough for you to grasp.

Remove the two dead batteries and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Lay in two new CR2016 cells into the battery compartment, flat side (+) facing up; being sure the edge of the top battery fits under the brass strap or bridge you see in the battery compartment.

Now, lay the battery cap or door over the opening, and simply press the cap into place like you would the lid on a Tupperware bowl. You'll feel that satisfying "Tupperware snap" as the cap is fitted in place. :) This cap has a tighter fit than the cap on the original Freedom Micro, so you may need to press down on it more firmly when closing up the flashlight after a battery change.

More than ever, it is important that you get the batteries in correctly. With just an LED, you can sometimes get away with it, but with the microcontroller found in this product, something nasty might happen if you put the batteries in backward.

Notice that I didn't advise you to flush anything away or advise you to throw the battery cover into an open-pit cobalt mine or into the dustbin (wastepaperbasket) and then rather emphatically tell you not to.



Like its predecessors, the Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro is one tough cookie. The housing is made of a glass reinforced polyurethane resin compound, and is, for all intents and purposes, indestructible.

The "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro seems built to take any punishment or misfortune you may bestow upon it.
Because of its size, "The Smack Test" will not be possible here; best I can do is throw it on the floor and repeatedly step on it.

The instructional materials don't specify the degree of water resistance, but they do provide instructions for resurrecting a flooded light (disassemble it and let the pieces dry).

The "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro comes with a spring-loaded quick-release keyring attachment (a "lobster claw" clasp), already affixed to the light with a small split ring. This allows you to "snap" the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro onto your keyring with just a flick of the wrist, and allows you to quickly remove it by depressing the flat "gate" on its ring. So you don't have to fumble with jingling keys and try to get a split ring aligned correctly in order to get the "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro off your keychain. It goes on and comes off quite easily.

We don't have scorpions in the greater Sacramento CA. USA area - well, none that I can readily find anyway; but many species of scorpions are known to fluoresce (glow) when irradiated with UVA (ultraviolet type A aka "longwave ultraviolet") and NUV (near ultraviolet) radiation, so there isn't even a shadow of a doubt that this product will function in the manner it is advertised to.

Included with the Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro is the new "Hands Free Photon Clip". This simple device allows you to use your Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro hands-free; clipping to the brim of a hat or to a shirt pocket or even to your collar if your shirt does not have a pocket. You can also clip it to the bridge or lens of your eyeglasses if you wish. The fairly stiff spring-loaded clip has serrated "teeth" on the inner faces of the clip, so it ought to stay put where you clip it on. A ball & socket joint on a pedestal allows the flashlight to be pointed just about anywhere when it's affixed to the clip. There are pictoral instructions included in the Freedom Micro's instructional leaflet.

In case you can't figure them out though, it kinda goes like this:

Insert the front (LED-end) of your Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro into the front of the clip where the two larger and more widely-spaced plastic tits are. After the front of your flashlight is in there, lower the rear side of the flashlight (where the keychain hole is) into the two narrowly-spaced plastic tits on the Hands Free clip. Be sure it's on there all the way so you don't lose your Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro. Clip it to whatever you want to clip it to. Turn your Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro on, and aim it wherever you think scorpions are. Finally, turn your Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro, at least until you're ready to use it.
There, that was easy, wasn't it?


Here's the device itself, compared in size to a Photon 3 (the same size & shape as a Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro).


And here it is, clipped to the brim of a baseball hat.
Yes, the hat has "CandlePower Forums" on it. :-)


And, finally, here it is clipped to a pair of eyeglasses, while I'm using them.
My eyes are closed in this photograph because one of them is still {vulgar term for having had intercourse} up from (crash course in) brain surgery I had in late 2002.
(yeah, I lifted these pictures off another one of my Photon pages - that's why white light is visible from the LED in the last two and the first one shows a black Photon Freedom Micro, so sue me!)



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
That blue color is a camera artifact; in reality, the light is a dim violet.
Wavelength is too short to measure intensity with the instruments at my disposal.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this NUV source.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.









TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on the Photon Lights website on 07-21-08, and was received on 07-29-08. It probably came in the mail earlier; however, I was in the process of moving to a new location when the product was received at my new address.

Product was made in the United States of America.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.

As a minor footnote, this is the first evaluation I have performed in its entirety and published from my new location at 490 Forastera Circle in Sacramento CA. USA.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: LRI
    PRODUCT TYPE: Keychain "scorpion hunter" NUV source
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm NUV LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Wide spot w/dim corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Snap-action microswitch with digital signal processing.
    CASE MATERIAL: Glass-filled resin
    BEZEL: None
    BATTERY: 2xCR2016 lithium coin cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: 2xbatteries, "lobser claw" clasp
    WARRANTY: Full lifetime

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Photon "Scorpion Finder" Freedom Micro * www.photonlight.com...






Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind? Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at ledmuseum@gmail.com.

Please visit this web page for contact information.

Unsolicited flashlights, LEDs, and other products appearing in the mail are welcome, and it will automatically be assumed that you sent it in order to have it tested and evaluated for this site.
Be sure to include contact info or your company website's URL so visitors here will know where to purchase your product.


WHITE 5500-6500K InGaN+phosphor 
ULTRAVIOLET 370-390nm GaN 
BLUE 430nm GaN+SiC
BLUE 450 and 473nm InGaN
BLUE Silicon Carbide
TURQUOISE 495-505nm InGaN
GREEN 525nm InGaN 
YELLOW-GREEN 555-575mn GaAsP & related
YELLOW 585-595nm
AMBER 595-605nm
ORANGE 605-620nm
ORANGISH-RED 620-635nm
RED 640-700nm
INFRARED 700-1300nm
True RGB Full Color LED
Spider (Pirrahna) LEDs
SMD LEDs
True violet (400-418nm) LEDs
Agilent Barracuda & Prometheus LEDs
Oddball & Miscellaneous LEDs
Programmable RGB LED modules / fixtures
Where to buy these LEDs 
Links to other LED-related websites
The World's First Virtual LED Museum
Legal horse puckey, etc.
RETURN TO OPENING/MAIN PAGE
LEDSaurus (on-site LED Mini Mart)



This page is a frame from a website.
If you arrived on this page through an outside link,you can get the "full meal deal" by clicking here.