Megalight
 

Anybody use the Davis Megalight? Anyone having problems with it?

It's a neat enough gadget,. though at $40 os so pretty damned pricey. A
tiny bulb inside a fresnel lens that draws only 0.13 amps and
automatically turns itself on and off at dusk and dawn. Perfect for an
anchor light.

However, it is as fragile as a Christmad tree ornament. We have gone
through five bulbs this season alone. It seesm that just waving in the
wind is enough to break the bulb filament. Anyone else having this
problem?

Gogarty wrote:
Anybody use the Davis Megalight? Anyone having problems with it?

It's a neat enough gadget,. though at $40 os so pretty damned pricey. A
tiny bulb inside a fresnel lens that draws only 0.13 amps and
automatically turns itself on and off at dusk and dawn. Perfect for an
anchor light.

However, it is as fragile as a Christmad tree ornament. We have gone
through five bulbs this season alone. It seesm that just waving in the
wind is enough to break the bulb filament. Anyone else having this
problem?

I think I went through one bulb the year I used it a lot. I also had
one die, and Davis gave me a new one. I did find that the bulbs are
standard, so its cheap to have a few extras.

There are pros and cons to it: on low power, its nice as a cockpit
light or second anchor light. Even on a mooring, where I wouldn't use
an anchor light, its nice to have a friendly light to guide you home.

One the other hand, with the low power bulb, it isn't a proper anchor
light. And the construction doesn't inspire full confidence -
dangling, it takes a beating, and for a permanent masthead mount I'd
want something with a bulb that will last forever, i.e. LED.

Which brings up the real issue: isn't there an LED gadget that will do
the same?

Such a thing should be easy to make. Cavers have recently made the
transition to LED headlamps that put out a lot of light but use little
power. Their need for power conservation is much greater than the
anchor light application so I'd be surprised if such a light could not
be adapted. The easiest thing to do would be to use a cluster of LEDs
that put out light into a fairly small solid angle and use a toroidal
CPC reflector to redirect the light into an annular cone shaped beam.
If somebody built a high quality LED Anchor light with low power
consumption with an ON at night and OFF in day, how many people would
buy it (assume less than $50)?

"Gogarty" wrote in message
...
Anybody use the Davis Megalight?

Yes, for several years now.

Anyone having problems with it?

Nothing other than a burned out bulb.

It's a neat enough gadget,. though at $40 os so pretty damned pricey. A
tiny bulb inside a fresnel lens that draws only 0.13 amps and
automatically turns itself on and off at dusk and dawn. Perfect for an
anchor light.

That's what it is intended for.

However, it is as fragile as a Christmad tree ornament. We have gone
through five bulbs this season alone. It seesm that just waving in the
wind is enough to break the bulb filament. Anyone else having this
problem?

Have only burned out one bulb in 4 years. One of those years was full-time
cruising. I suspect they might be coming out with an LED version soon.
That's
the best way to go. We hang ours from the middle of the boom so it won't
bash on anything.

Doug

On the market for $350.00.
http://www.premiermaterials.com/Prem...s/model601.htm


On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 10:43:42 -0400, Jeff wrote:

wrote:
Such a thing should be easy to make. Cavers have recently made the
transition to LED headlamps that put out a lot of light but use little
power. Their need for power conservation is much greater than the
anchor light application so I'd be surprised if such a light could not
be adapted. The easiest thing to do would be to use a cluster of LEDs
that put out light into a fairly small solid angle and use a toroidal
CPC reflector to redirect the light into an annular cone shaped beam.
If somebody built a high quality LED Anchor light with low power
consumption with an ON at night and OFF in day, how many people would
buy it (assume less than $50)?

If you can have it install itself on the masthead, I might even pay $55!

See: http://www.firststarled.com/

http://sealite.com.au/product_page.php?prod_code=SL05
I like the latter one better.

It has no way to power it from an aux source and also no way
to turn it off.

"Keith" wrote in message
oups.com...
See: http://www.firststarled.com/

http://sealite.com.au/product_page.php?prod_code=SL05
I like the latter one better.

What light are you talking about? The SL05 runs on 12V. You wire it up
with a switch, just like anything else. When you supply power, it comes
on automatically at dark, off at daylight. When you turn the power off,
it's off.