Z-BOLT® LED Power, Unrestricted!
Beats VCSEL 3R in Beam Brightness
The ACAL is engineered, designed, & manufactured by Americans - in America 🇺🇸. Precision machined billet aluminum parts; anodizing & etching; mechanical & optical assembly; device programing; VCSEL & LED illuminator & dot laser calibration. Kitted, marketed, and shipped from Oregon.

Z-BOLT® offers two tech variants for our ACAL infrared illuminators. Unrestricted LED (Light Emitting Diodes) for the CIV legal device, and VCSEL (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers) for our restricted sale ACAL Class 3B. IR LED chips are common in illuminator only heads from Modlite, Malkoff, and the Surefire Vampire. All use reflectors to focus the beam and provide "flood" or "spill".  They are fixed and cannot be adjusted. A few LED devices offer variable focus optics - most notably in the Steiner DBAL D2 and SPIR.  VCSEL laser illuminators are found in the Class 3R (FDA Restricted) & Class 3B Wilcox Raid XE; BE Meyers KIJI & MAWL; Holosun IRIS.  Earlier generation solid state laser-based IR illuminators are found in the DBAL A3 and ATPIAL (PEQ-15). But there's an LED illuminator in the SPIR & DBAL D2, and the raw performance of these illuminators is top tier. Why is that?  And why is the illuminator assembly so damn big??! Let's talk about that a bit.

LED for the Win!

Unrestricted Power
The Steiner DBAL D2 devices first shipped 12 years ago. Steiner Optics (formerly Laser Devices) has since migrated to lasers for their illuminators on the DBAL A2, A3, & A4. None of these newer products come close to matching the LED illuminator on the D2 or SPIR. The D2 remains a top performer for civilian legal illuminator performance, and has developed a cult like following (despite design criticisms - we'll discuss that below) Scores of reviews, like this one Why the DBAL D2 is Still the Best Civilian IR Laser tell the story. So, why is that? LED chips are low-speckle light sources, and are not lasers, so not regulated by the FDA. The Z-BOLT® 350mW LED chip can operate @ 100% of its maximum output. Result? The beam output, the infrared "light on target",  is superior to a "throttled" Class 3R VCSEL. (the government restricts the power output of civilian legal lasers) LED infrared illuminators are not rated and the power output is UNRESTRICTED.

Situational Awareness

And what about the large illuminator section on the D2?  And now the ACAL? What does the focusing bezel do? It's ALL about focal length and aperture size. An expansive 6° to 25° beam adjustment involves manipulating the position of the ACAL optical elements (the main lens up and down a bezel adjusted helix) relative to the light source and to each other to precisely control the focal point, beam size (spot size), and beam divergence/collimation. Focal length determines the min/max movement of the lens elements back and forth along the optical axis - aperture size determines the limits of wide fan angles - how much illuminator light can exit the device - ie. the illuminator "flood" performance. Quality wide area illumination (not diffused or "scrubbed" light) means enhanced detection of short to medium range threats - it means increased situational awareness. The ACAL ships with a bezel throw lever attachment for quick "on the fly" focus to flood. (Lever position 11:30 to 9:00 if you're keeping time) A quick comparison of competing devices - IR illuminator beam focus to flood:

The Designator IR-V is fixed at 3°. The "adjustable optic" divergence for the EOTECH OGL is 1° to 6° ("patented" lever); Wilcox Raid XE LP is 1° to 5° (wheel); L3 Harris ATPIAL-C (PEQ-15) fixed @ 5°; Holosun IRIS 1° to 5° (slider); Steiner DBAL A3, 5° to 10° (focusing knob). The Z-BOLT® ACAL narrow focus/wide area beam divergence is 6° to 25° (1" travel throw lever).

Made in the USA🇺🇸

ACAL, LED
LED Infrared Illuminator
Advanced Co-Located Aiming Lasers
The D2 is an oddity - a LAM that gets no respect - even as it's praised for its performance. Well, the illuminator performance IS outstanding. So we've kept the LED performance - because it's AWESOME - and reimagined the rest. 1) The ACAL LED has a 35% reduced footprint. Sits less than 1" above top rail for improved optics clearance. 2) The IR & VIS dot lasers are co-located. Two beams - one aperture!  3) The co-located lasers are directly over the bore for low parallax shooting accuracy.  4) Improved motion ratio on adjustable focus optics. Requires minimal 75° bezel travel when transitioning from 6° focus to 25° flood (DBAL-D2 = 360°) 5) Interior of focusing bezel accepts twist-on sacrificial lenses or beam diffusers.

6) The onboard button is on the top, and the illuminator assembly is "saddle bagged", ie.  dropped down, wrapping the rail - for easy ACAL activation. Fits nicely side mounted on the right rail . . .  7) HI/LO Settings for VIS/IR & Illuminator. 8) Dual Crane ports - remote fire and visible override. 9) Rail Grabbers integrated into ACAL housing. 10) Easily swap out bolt and thumbscrew tightener for ADM MFG throw lever mount.  ACAL LED Order Page Here

 

ACAL VCSEL 3B MFAL 
150mW~400mW VCSEL
IR Illuminators, 4° to 25°
Our ACAL 3B MFAL (150mW~400mW Illuminator) includes Z-BOLT® Auto Power Scaling™ technology! ACAL 3B VCSEL Power Output Set @ 150mW, 4° Focused Beam. Auto Increases to 400mW @ 25° Flood for Wide Coverage Illumination & CQB.  Increases battery runtime vs. ACAL 3B-M.  ACAL 3B-M set on 400mW on all illuminator positions. Both variants with 50mW IR; 50mW Green dot lasers. VCSEL illuminators, when ran at full power, provide the highest level of optical beam clarity, offer better battery runtimes, and are speckle-free. Speckle-free illumination allows for sharper, clearer images, particularly for surveillance, or PID of long range targets via night vision devices.
ACAL MFAL Class 3B, Military & LE Here