Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 00:28:30 -1000 From: bricj@essex.ac.uk (Brice J A) Message-Id: <19132.9311231028@ircsun0.essex.ac.uk> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Night lights Now with the winter upon us and the days growing shorter the idea of night-flying appeals to me especially if it leads to some 'ufo sightings' :-) Having retrieved 'simple.night.lights' from the ftp archive at Hawaii I find that they are not a simple as implied. Being a social scientist whose electronics knowledge goes as far as resistors in series and parallel, I find diodes a little bit mystifying. I bought a few from Tandy (Radio Shack) and firstly find they need more power than an AAA type battery can deliver so I'm facing bulk and weight problems. Secondly when trying them in parallel one went out whilst the other two glowed on. Can someone give some advice on how I should expect LEDs to behave in series and in parallel, and whether there are low voltage high intensity LEDs, and how do I recognise or ask for such a beastie ? I realise that the original article was posted some time ago but I am a fairly new recruit to Kiting and rec.kites so I hope this doesn't raise yawns :-() around the world. John Brice - Documentation and Liaison Officer British Household Panel Study - University of Essex = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 04:23:31 -1000 From: dickbell@netcom.com (Dick Bell) Message-Id: Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Subject: Re: Night lights Brice J A (bricj@essex.ac.uk) wrote: : Now with the winter upon us and the days growing shorter the idea : of night-flying appeals to me especially if it leads to some : 'ufo sightings' :-) : Having retrieved 'simple.night.lights' from the ftp archive at Hawaii I : find that they are not a simple as implied. Being a social scientist whose : electronics knowledge goes as far as resistors in series and parallel, I find : diodes a little bit mystifying. I bought a few from Tandy (Radio Shack) and : firstly find they need more power than an AAA type battery can deliver so : I'm facing bulk and weight problems. Secondly when trying them in parallel : one went out whilst the other two glowed on. : Can someone give some advice on how I should expect LEDs to behave in series : and in parallel, and whether there are low voltage high intensity LEDs, and : how do I recognise or ask for such a beastie ? John, I don't know if this will help you at this stage or not..but..I have found that the easiest way to make night flight lights is to go to a craft store (here in Dallas we have Zaks) and buy a light kit that was intended to be installed on a sweat shirt. Some people around X-mas put these on a sweat shirt that has a picture of a X-mas tree and thus the shirt looks like a lit-up X-mas tree. Anyway..these light kits come pre-wired with 10 LED's of three different collors. Red, Green, Yellow. The batteries are of the small calculator type. The wires are a bit short for a full size kite so I just add to the lenth. The whole thing can be attached with velcro and I pay $7 for the whole thing. To answer your other question about the different LED's. Yes there are different intensity LED's. What makes the LED's burn brighter is the value of the resistor that you have put in series with them...the lower the value the brighter...also the more current being drawn from the batteries. Thus, the brighter you burn the LED, the shorter the time of the battery. It is best to not put LEDs in parallel. Some LEDs have a built-in resistor. Radio Shack should be able to show you the different styles. Back to the light-kit, It comes with 4 Red LEDs that I place at the top spreader and 3 each Green and Yellow that I place on the bottom left and right spreader. This way I can tell if the kite is up,down-left,right. I hope this helps you. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dick Bell dbell@lobby.ti.com (work) dickbell@netcom.com (home) Dallas, Texas = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 17:51:43 -1000 From: roesler@c1mpls.mn.org (Max Roesler) Message-Id: Organization: Cellular One, Minneapolis Subject: Re: Night lights For my late night UFO excursions, I use Cyalume Chemlights. Chemlights are the plastic tube chemical lights where you bend the light stick, breaking an inner capsule of a chemical catalyst, which when mixed with the liquid surrounding the capsule, produces a bright light for several hours. There are many configurations available, from the original 6 inch long by 1/2 inch diameter stick, to more recent varieties such as bracelets made of 1/4 in tubing. They make a tiny chemlight, about 1 inch long and and 1/8 inch in diameter that I first got hooked on in the military, which literaly procures them in rail car quantities. They were first designed to go inside a clear plastic golf ball with a hole drilled in it, for night play, and have been used widely in fishing lures. They are available at various stores in one of those 2 places- with lures or golf gear. Each one costs up to $2 individually, but can be had for as little as 70 cents in quantities. They provide good lighting for hours, and are still visible after 24 hours. I put them on my wingtips while stunting a delta at night. Like LEDs, they would be almost useless more than 250 feet away just because they're so small. They cn be taped to the frame, or I use two 3/4 inch lengths of light tubing just the right size for the chemlight to fit snuggly in the end of. I used a needle to thread a small piece of dacron through he wall of the tubing, tied into a 1 inch diameter loop. This loop is then "lark's headed" onto the spar or spreader of choice, and the activated chemlight is pressed into the end of the tubing. The lights are small and light enough to have no noticable effect on performance. They're also great to keep in the car, in first aid kits, in a briefcase; anyplace a quick source of safe light may be needed. I use them a lot while flying (airplanes) at night. Keep them in the little foil envelope they're purchased in until use. They are very sensitive to prolonged exposure to light and air. They have a shelf life of 2-3 years in a sealed packet, or about 1-2 months once removed. -- ************************************************************************** * Max Roesler | Internet: roesler@loki.ncent.mccaw.com * * EIS Project Manager | Minneapolis, MN (612) 832-7653 * * McCaw Communications | NeXT,Mac, and VMS mail Okay N0RGH (EN34/35) * = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1993 15:33:20 -1000 From: kevin@hawaii.edu (Kevin Mayeshiro) Message-Id: Organization: University of Hawaii Subject: Re: Night lights Max Roesler (roesler@c1mpls.mn.org) wrote: : For my late night UFO excursions, I use Cyalume Chemlights. [ stuff deleted...] : Each one costs up to $2 individually, but can be had for as little as 70 : cents in quantities. I stock up on chemlights around Halloween. Most stores have them on sale during this time (for safety reasons), and they usually have a good color selection. The fishing stores around here only carry green. I don't want to order a box of each color just to get a good price. :-) - Kevin -- -- \ Kevin Mayeshiro : Go fly a kite. o --|\ University of Hawaii Computing Center : Really, /== ---|/ Internet: kevin@Hawaii.Edu : It's FUN! \ / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 17:53:13 -1000 From: jamie@cs.curtin.edu.au (Jamie Mercer) Message-Id: Organization: Curtin University of Technology Subject: Re: Night lights roesler@c1mpls.mn.org (Max Roesler) writes: > > Stuff about Cyalume sticks Deleted.... > Cyalume sticks can be frozen to stop the chemical reaction taking place. When you want to use them again, you thaw them out. I am not sure how long they can be stored frozen, or if they they "expire" any further while frozen. I vaguely remember someone cracking one open and pouring the contents on themselves and then walking around glowing. I have no idea, whether this is safe or sensible or exactly how long they effect lasted. Can anyone else comment??? Anyhow, I think it's time to fly. Regards, James Mercer. - - - - - - - - - - James Mercer School of Computer Science, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. jamie@cs.curtin.edu.au -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | James Mercer, | 90-90 Rule of Project Shedules: | | School of Computer Science, | The first 10takes 900f time. | | Curtin University, Perth, | The last 90takes the other 90| | Western Australia. |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | Internet: jamie@cs.curtin.edu.au | My point of view and opinions are| |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| due to the fact that I have a | | BUG : n. A surprizing property of a | warped and twisted mind. Anyone | | computer program. A bug can be turned | without one disagrees totally - | | into a feature by documenting it. | which is not a bad thing.... | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 09:14:26 -1000 From: brett@surfpix.Princeton.EDU (Brett Borowski) Message-Id: <1993Nov29.191426.4428@Princeton.EDU> Organization: Princeton University Subject: Re: Night lights roesler@c1mpls.mn.org (Max Roesler) wrote: >For my late night UFO excursions, I use Cyalume Chemlights. Chemlights >are the plastic tube chemical lights where you bend the light stick, >breaking an inner capsule of a chemical catalyst, which when mixed with >the liquid surrounding the capsule, produces a bright light for several >hours. There are many configurations available, from the original 6 inch >long by 1/2 inch diameter stick, to more recent varieties such as >bracelets made of 1/4 in tubing. > >They make a tiny chemlight, about 1 inch long and and 1/8 inch in diameter >that I first got hooked on in the military, which literaly procures them >in rail car quantities. They were first designed to go inside a clear >plastic golf ball with a hole drilled in it, for night play, and have been >used widely in fishing lures. They are available at various stores in one >of those 2 places- with lures or golf gear. > >Each one costs up to $2 individually, but can be had for as little as 70 >cents in quantities. They provide good lighting for hours, and are still >visible after 24 hours. I put them on my wingtips while stunting a delta >at night. Like LEDs, they would be almost useless more than 250 feet away >just because they're so small. I found that the bracelets, in any color other than green, weren't bright enough for the effect I wanted. The green sticks, (about 1/2" rods) were pretty good. But what I liked best were the buttons. They are about 2.5" in diameter and about 1/2" thick. They are not heavy. They have sticky stuff on the back, but I wouldn't recommend sticking them directly to the kite sail. In yellow or green, these were very bold. I know they are available in orange as well, but I can't vouch for brightness. (I ordered some from the Oriental Trading Co. for $1 each on sale. But their shipping charges are a bit much and these say "Happy New Year" on them.) jamie@cs.curtin.edu.au (Jamie Mercer) wrote: >I vaguely remember someone cracking one open and pouring the contents on >themselves and then walking around glowing. I have no idea, whether this >is safe or sensible or exactly how long they effect lasted. > >Can anyone else comment??? The chemicals in cyalume light products are nontoxic. I believe that they won't even adversely affect eyes, but may cause discomfort and the package recommends flushing with water. The stuff feels kind of oily, and the one color I opened up didn't smell so great. (The smell may or may not depend on color.) The only hazard I see, is the broken glass. When you snap it, some of the pieces of the internal glass capsule may be small and sharp. Brett -- brett@surfpix.princeton.edu Brett Borowski = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 11:08:07 -1000 From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib) Message-Id: Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN Subject: Re: Night lights In article , Kevin Mayeshiro wrote: >Max Roesler (roesler@c1mpls.mn.org) wrote: >: For my late night UFO excursions, I use Cyalume Chemlights. > [ stuff deleted...] >: Each one costs up to $2 individually, but can be had for as little as 70 >: cents in quantities. > >I stock up on chemlights around Halloween. Most stores have >them on sale during this time (for safety reasons), and they >usually have a good color selection. The fishing stores >around here only carry green. I don't want to order a box of >each color just to get a good price. :-) I can post the address of a mailorder place for the puppies. Pretty large minimum order, but prices are pretty good. Unfortunately I don't have the info right here. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU | Frog is Frog ala Peach Bitnet: NTAIB@IUBACS ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 11:11:01 -1000 From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib) Message-Id: Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN Subject: Re: Night lights In article , Jamie Mercer wrote: >I vaguely remember someone cracking one open and pouring the contents on >themselves and then walking around glowing. I have no idea, whether this >is safe or sensible or exactly how long they effect lasted. > >Can anyone else comment??? Its pretty icky. The stuff inside has the consistency of syrup and doesn't wash off easily. There are warnings about it on the wrappers. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU | Frog is Frog ala Peach Bitnet: NTAIB@IUBACS ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 14:17:14 -1000 From: roesler@c1mpls.mn.org (Max Roesler) Message-Id: Organization: Cellular One, Minneapolis Subject: Re: Night lights jamie@cs.curtin.edu.au (Jamie Mercer) writes: : I vaguely remember someone cracking one open and pouring the contents on : themselves and then walking around glowing. I have no idea, whether this : is safe or sensible or exactly how long they effect lasted. I can attest 2nd hand to their lack of toxicity. While in the service, 3 of my compatriots, in response to a dare, doused themselves in substantial quantities of chemlite innards and toured our motor pool "in the buff" one evening. I don't know how they adressed the glass splinter issue from the internal capsule. It is obviously of much greater import when "Mr. Happy" is involved. The chemical glows for only 10-15 minutes when exposed to air. -- ************************************************************************** * Max Roesler | Internet: roesler@loki.ncent.mccaw.com * * EIS Project Manager | Minneapolis, MN (612) 832-7653 * * McCaw Communications | NeXT,Mac, and VMS mail Okay N0RGH (EN34/35) * = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 08:27:28 -1000 From: lmarshal@pnfi.forestry.ca (Larry Marshall) Message-Id: Organization: Natural Resources Canada Subject: Re: Night lights >I can attest 2nd hand to their lack of toxicity. While in the service, 3 >of my compatriots, in response to a dare, doused themselves in substantial This may tell you something about its potency as a contact poison but it tells you little about toxicity. One need only look at recent history and substances such as agent orange to know the difference. --- =========================================================================== # Larry Marshall ./\. lmarshal@pnfi.forestry.ca # # Canadian Forest Service _|\| |/|_ # # Petawawa National Forestry Institute \ / Tel: (613) 589-2880 # # Chalk River, Ontario K0J 1J0 >______< Fax: (613) 589-2275 # # CANADA / # =========================================================================== = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 08:00:07 -1000 From: brett@surfpix.Princeton.EDU (Brett Borowski) Message-Id: <1993Dec3.180007.16555@Princeton.EDU> Organization: Princeton University Subject: Re: Night lights lmarshal@pnfi.forestry.ca (Larry Marshall) wrote: > >>I can attest 2nd hand to their lack of toxicity. While in the service, 3 >>of my compatriots, in response to a dare, doused themselves in substantial > >This may tell you something about its potency as a contact poison but it tells >you little about toxicity. One need only look at recent history and substances >such as agent orange to know the difference. True. But one need only look at the package to know that American Cyanamid claims the product is non-toxic. The package also reports that though it may cause discomfort in eyes, it will cause no eye injury. It does suggest flushing eyes in the event of contact. Brett -- brett@surfpix.princeton.edu Brett Borowski = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 15:37:34 -1000 From: mgraves@leadingedg.win.net (Michael Graves) Message-Id: <31@leadingedg.win.net> Subject: Re: Night lights In article , Iskandar Taib (ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu) writes: >In article , >Kevin Mayeshiro wrote: >>Max Roesler (roesler@c1mpls.mn.org) wrote: >>: For my late night UFO excursions, I use Cyalume Chemlights. >> [ stuff deleted...] >>: Each one costs up to $2 individually, but can be had for as little as 70 >>: cents in quantities. >> >>I stock up on chemlights around Halloween. Most stores have >>them on sale during this time (for safety reasons), and they >>usually have a good color selection. The fishing stores >>around here only carry green. I don't want to order a box of >>each color just to get a good price. :-) > >I can post the address of a mailorder place for the puppies. Pretty >large minimum order, but prices are pretty good. Unfortunately I don't >have the info right here. > Most, if not all, of the chemlights you want are made by American Cyanamid. I just so happens that John Martins, owner of Dyna-kite Corp., worked for them for many years. Some time ago he opened up a division of Dyna-kite called "Magic lights in flight" specifically to supply chemlights to the kiting community. John can be reached at: Dyna-Kite P.O. Box 24 Three Rivers, MA 01080 phone (413)283-2555 fax (413) 283-4037 Tell him Michael sent you!! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =