Homebrew PCBs

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Ben Buxton <bb@...> wrote:
>
> javaguy11111 wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > The half angle is 10 degrees which is the half power point according
> > to the data sheet from Best Hong Kong. So if I want the two LEDs half
> > power point to fall halfway between them, that would be .25 inches. A
> > little trig gives me that the LEDs should be 1.4 inches above the
board.
> > 
> > So I am pretty close to what a calculation will show. Of course 1.25
> > was just a guess, not a calculation.
> 
> Have you tried chopping off the tops of the LEDs with a Dremel? That 
> should give significantly broader coverage, no longer constrained to
the 
> 10 degree lens. I do this when making arrays of LEDs for illumination.
> 
> You can test the coverage using a luminescent (day-glow) material. The 
> average intensity will be lower, but more even.
> 
> BB
>

You want to keep the 10 degree angle so the lines do not get undercut.