"Jan Akalla" skrev i meddelandet
...
There is a boat show on in Stockholm this weekend, so I'll check that out.

Prices on the show a

Starboard/port combined SEK 2500 (US$360)
Combined Starboard/port/stern/anchor SEK 3758 (US$540)

The combined one draws 3.9W in sail mode, 2.4 at anchor. For an additional
SEK555 (US$80) you get a special lid where you can mount a Windex, and the
lid also have a small hole that lights up the windex.


Quite expensive compared to regular lights. They claim MTBF more than 50000
hours, and they look very sturdy. The tricolor looks like a nice one to have
for night sailing when you want to save on battery.

Jan

"TomS" wrote in message
news
First: My opinion is that regular "white" LEDs are really too blue to use
as
the only overhead lighting.

I thought that too, but in using them regularly I got used to the bluish
tint and now 'normal' halogen and especially incandescent look downright
yellow, borderline orange in comparison. "White" is in the eye of the
beholder.

"sel1" wrote in message
...
Like most postings, it draws varying opinions, but gets you thinking. At
the
risk of asking a dumb question, you refer to "white LED Lamps (not LED's)
are a different beast." What do you mean by LED Lamps. If they are a
different beast, what are they?

LED lamps are mostly one or more LED chips on a substrate, with a suitable
current-limiting resistor to make them suitable for a normalized voltage
like 5V or 12V

Meindert

Terry Spragg wrote:
removed
Each LED consumes about 80 milliamps at 1.6 volts or so.

I think you're mistaken here. If I remember correctly, most LED's
require a minimum voltage of 1.7v just to conduct current across the
diode. (Someone help me here if my terminology is incorrect as well as
my lack of electronics knowledge.) You would have a hard time seeing an
LED running at that low of a voltage. I believe most white LED's
require a minimum voltage of 3.6 volts, at least all of the ones I've
dealt with. Sometimes they are driven at a higher than rated voltage to
get more or rather brighter light, as in some flashlights, but the LED's
that are overdriven like this will typically be heatsinked(sp?).

If anyone is looking for a reasonably priced supplier in the US, check
out superbrightleds.com. They seem to have some of the brightest LED's
and their prices are, or at least were, the best I've found for LED's.
They also have LED lamps.

-Jim

I've seen quite a number of White LED driver chips on the market.
Apparently they are boost converters that output 32 volts to drive
2 to 8 LEDs from a 3.3 to 5.5V supply. Apparently the flash in my
cellphone camera is a white LED.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Jim" wrote in message ...
Terry Spragg wrote:
removed
Each LED consumes about 80 milliamps at 1.6 volts or so.

I think you're mistaken here. If I remember correctly, most LED's
require a minimum voltage of 1.7v just to conduct current across the
diode. (Someone help me here if my terminology is incorrect as well as my
lack of electronics knowledge.) You would have a hard time seeing an LED
running at that low of a voltage. I believe most white LED's require a
minimum voltage of 3.6 volts, at least all of the ones I've dealt with.
Sometimes they are driven at a higher than rated voltage to get more or
rather brighter light, as in some flashlights, but the LED's that are
overdriven like this will typically be heatsinked(sp?).

If anyone is looking for a reasonably priced supplier in the US, check
out superbrightleds.com. They seem to have some of the brightest LED's
and their prices are, or at least were, the best I've found for LED's.
They also have LED lamps.

-Jim