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New circuit for the incandescent Pelican Light Shield
by Alan
Thanks for the Great GBA Light site! I'm working with 2 new (incandescent
type) Pelican LSs. They stink. These two were nothing like the first LS I
bought 4 months ago. Pelican responded to the short bulb life by
drastically cutting the power.
I took apart the 2 newer LS and found out that they have a different board.
The newer LS have a board labelled "G4LS V.6". The most visible difference is the addition of 2 electrolytic caps, 1 diode, and 1 inductor behind the on/off switch. The entire board layout is different but I didn't have the time to trace it out. This LS version only supplies 2.096-2.758 V (measured without a cart).
The older LS that works well has a board labelled "REV 4.1". The board is much simpler and doesn't have the caps, inductor, or diode behind the on/off switch.
The only way to check the LS version without dismantling a unit is to look at the clear or pink units. Looking from the back, check the space between the port and the on/off switch for 2 small caps (circular) close to the port. If you see the circles or any components behind the on/off switch, then it is probably the newer (crappy) version.
I've attached a pic
of the newer (crappy!) V.6 LS showing the 2 caps next to the port
-this is the easiest way to tell if the board is the newer version
especially if it is still sealed in the package. Too bad you can't
tell with the white or indigo shields!
Best bet would be to find the older LS version. I'm off to the local toy store to see if they still have the older units. The newer versions were purchased 2 weeks ago from the Rat Shack.
Editor's Note: This is bad news for anyone who is just getting a light shield and looks to modify it with a radioshack LED :(
I found this very interesting since Pelican has also released the white LED version of the Light shield...I don't understand why they just didn't switch all production over to the new LED version.
I was FINALLY was able to pick up one of the new LED Pelican shields and will be adding a review and pictures as soon as I return home and have full net access and access to my camera again. For anyone interested though, the LED version of the Pelican shield is quite a bit (say 15-20%) dimmer than a modded light shield. The "auto sensing" feature is pretty useless in my opinion, my eyes tell me when I need light or not, so I don't really need a photo light sensor to let me know when it's dark out :)
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