Eisboch wrote:
"K. Smith" wrote in message
...

wrote:

With few people at work, its hard to get much done. Today I woulda got
more done on the boat but spent it at work. I'll go to the boat to
change the oil and engine zinc on my Yanmar 2GM tomorrow.
Tried to find some 600 ohm resistors at Radio Shack for my homemade
ultra-bright LED anchor light but no luck, will havta order em.


It seems the LEDS are the thing, trucks etc & I assume your traffic stop &
speed limit lights are all LED arrays now??? Here they're replacing them
with LEDS, apparently much less power & of course if one dies the traffic
light is still functional.

Torches are all going LED & still seem to have plenty of punch.

As for anchor lights we have used them for about 3 yrs now, but we buy
them.

The problem with using them as a "real" anchor light is compliance, in the
probably unlikely even you were run down in the night while at anchor the
insurance people would use whatever they could to claim you were not using
legal lighting.

The one on my boat is "maybe" visible at 2 miles, in complete darkness you
can see a pin prick of light but it's so tiny you're not sure if it's just
what you see when you look that hard at the dark:-) but by well over a
mile it's definitely in play & by 1 mile very clear.

Here the pleasure boat rules just require "visible" at 2 miles.

K


Here, at least some are being sold as "USCG approved" and suprisingly have
only 2 or 3 LEDs. Same requirements: visible at 2nm. Part of the
brightness secret is the use of a molded Fresnel lens. Even the truck
lights have mini Fresnel lens molded into the plastic housing. Fresnel lens
have been used in lighthouses since they were first built and concentrate
the light for maximum visibility.

Eisboch



OK yes that must be right because the light on the white cabin top is in
streaks, I assume being focused by the plastic lens.

K

wrote:
K. Smith wrote:



The one on my boat is "maybe" visible at 2 miles, in complete darkness
you can see a pin prick of light but it's so tiny you're not sure if
it's just what you see when you look that hard at the dark:-) but by
well over a mile it's definitely in play & by 1 mile very clear.

Here the pleasure boat rules just require "visible" at 2 miles.

K



What brand of LED are you using?

It's not an "approved" anchor light I think I mentioned it here probably
at least 2 yrs ago, it's just a large garden light, the transformers
that come with them are 12 volts so they're OK, all plastic so no
corrosion & the current one has been there at least 2 but probably 3 yrs
now.

Even though they've come down in price it was only $20 back then.

Ummm a bit sheepishly:-) I better give credit when it's due Chuck; good
job on the NG well done.

K



There are some (pricey) LED lights made in the Netherlands, called LOPO
lights, that are certainly a lot brighter than a standard bulb. I first
noticed them about a year ago at a boat show and they appeared
dazzlingly bright even in an indoor setting with a tradeshow light
level.

You could probably get a "deal" on some if there isn't currently a
distributor in AUS.

http://www.lopolight.dk/

I use 6 resistors and put everything in parallel so that if one LED or
resistor goes bad the entire light does not go out.
Fresnel lenses are useful if the light is emitted in all directions.
In these LEDs, the light is emitted into a 45 degree cone so the
Fresnel lens is not too useful. My 6 LEDs are spaced so their cones
overlap.
As far as Shrodingers Cat goes, my next cat will be named "Psi" and her
kitten will be named "Eigenvalue".