Street Lights

[LENNY RUEL]

Tim:

That was THE reason I shyed away from Lasers. Was going to mount on my Chimney. Problem is it would have to have been green and it's much more visable, plus IF the sensor is facing away it wouldn't have worked. Then I had pointed out the reflection possibility and hitting someone the wrong way. Others mentiond a C7 on a PVC shaft straped to the side of the light pole and on a timer. But it's across the street and again would invlove the neighbor and would also shut it off completely which I felt would cause questions. Only option was going to the public works with the light pollution issue. It worked.

Lenny

[Tim]

Lenny,

That's a good point. In reality, there probably is more harm than good out of it, but I would love to see the lights "pop" more without the background lighting. Plus, I would feel bad if something happened to any of my neighbors if the light were out. So we'll see what I decide to do. I just may try it once so I can see the lights at their best, then put it away. The people that come by to watch, I'm sure, never notice the light. Like all of us on this forum, we want it to be the best it can. Thanks for the advice!



Tim

[TJ Hvasta]

I have to chime in on this one.. as a pilot who's been blinded by a green laser, DONT DO IT!! Call your city, tell them the lamp is keeping your kids awake by lighting up their rooms at night. Tell them you want a shade installed or you'll have to resort to other means to block the light.. leave that open-ended, they can draw any conclusion they want.

You want to see what we see? http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

[Nova5]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

I have to chime in on this one.. as a pilot who's been blinded by a green laser, DONT DO IT!! Call your city, tell them the lamp is keeping your kids awake by lighting up their rooms at night. Tell them you want a shade installed or you'll have to resort to other means to block the light.. leave that open-ended, they can draw any conclusion they want.

You want to see what we see? http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

thats if you're aimed at. If its aimed at a street lights sensor the beam is no where near hitting you.

[jimswinder]

Nova5 wrote:

TJ Hvasta wrote:

I have to chime in on this one.. as a pilot who's been blinded by a green laser, DONT DO IT!! Call your city, tell them the lamp is keeping your kids awake by lighting up their rooms at night. Tell them you want a shade installed or you'll have to resort to other means to block the light.. leave that open-ended, they can draw any conclusion they want.

You want to see what we see? http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

thats if you're aimed at. If its aimed at a street lights sensor the beam is no where near hitting you.

I've flown with TJ...he likes to fly with the tree tops...

[Nova5]

jimswinder wrote:

Nova5 wrote:

TJ Hvasta wrote:

I have to chime in on this one.. as a pilot who's been blinded by a green laser, DONT DO IT!! Call your city, tell them the lamp is keeping your kids awake by lighting up their rooms at night. Tell them you want a shade installed or you'll have to resort to other means to block the light.. leave that open-ended, they can draw any conclusion they want.

You want to see what we see? http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

thats if you're aimed at. If its aimed at a street lights sensor the beam is no where near hitting you.

I've flown with TJ...he likes to fly with the tree tops...

I'll have to rig up my AA weaponry then! Keep the lunatic at bay!

[Guest guest]

jimswinder wrote:

Nova5 wrote:

TJ Hvasta wrote:

I have to chime in on this one.. as a pilot who's been blinded by a green laser, DONT DO IT!! Call your city, tell them the lamp is keeping your kids awake by lighting up their rooms at night. Tell them you want a shade installed or you'll have to resort to other means to block the light.. leave that open-ended, they can draw any conclusion they want.

You want to see what we see? http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

thats if you're aimed at. If its aimed at a street lights sensor the beam is no where near hitting you.

I've flown with TJ...he likes to fly with the tree tops...

gee, he's never invited me to fly..and i have a few miles (silver level) on that airline of his..:X:X....

I figure I'll know when I'm on one of his flights..he'll be the guy with the pirate hat walking into the cockpit...:shock:

[TJ Hvasta]

Well, we had to have Jim sedated during the flight, seems he didn't like going under the Tacoma bridge

took this this morning in Oakland.. I look just like my avatar..






Attached files

[jimswinder]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

Well, we had to have Jim sedated during the flight, seems he didn't like going under the Tacoma bridge

took this this morning in Oakland.. I look just like my avatar..

yep...you and Johnny were definitely twins separated at birth...

[DownTown]

Tim wrote:

I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed in the past, but this year our city put in a really bright bulb in the street light across the street from my display. I called the city to see if they could do something, and once they stopped laughing, they said their is nothing they can do. Since I really don't want to pay for it, shooting it out is NOT an option. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to "Dim" this thing (somewhat legally)? I hope everyone's show is going well so far. Thanks!



Tim

CLEARLY, the problem is that you don't have enough lights in your display


D.T.

[jimswinder]

DownTown wrote:

Tim wrote:

I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed in the past, but this year our city put in a really bright bulb in the street light across the street from my display. I called the city to see if they could do something, and once they stopped laughing, they said their is nothing they can do. Since I really don't want to pay for it, shooting it out is NOT an option. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to "Dim" this thing (somewhat legally)? I hope everyone's show is going well so far. Thanks!



Tim

CLEARLY, the problem is that you don't have enough lights in your display


D.T.

lol...hadn't thought of that...make it sooo bright from Christmas Lights that the light thinks it is daylight and shuts itself off...

BRILLIANT!!!!

[Tim]

jimswinder wrote:

lol...hadn't thought of that...make it sooo bright from Christmas Lights that the light thinks it is daylight and shuts itself off...

BRILLIANT!!!!

That's what I've been trying to tell my wife, but she just shakes her head!! I think she thinks I'm nuts. Go Figure:). BTW, got the laser and tried it for poops and giggles and it didn't work. Either I had the wrong angle or it's not strong enough. I think it's only a 5mW when I thought it was a 50mW. Oh well, I gave it the old college try.

[boborino]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

Well, we had to have Jim sedated during the flight, seems he didn't like going under the Tacoma bridge

took this this morning in Oakland.. I look just like my avatar..

Hmm... slightly less hair though

[boborino]

What about just adding the streetlight to your display.. and if your strand of c9's just happen to be close to the sensor and it shuts off... OH well

[Richard Hamilton]

Yipes. I'd say you are taking some big unnecessary risks here. If anyone gets hurt in your area, you will likely have the pants sued off of you for making it more hazardous by lowering the light level. If the city finds out, they will probably charge you a bunch of money to have it fixed, and no telling what else.

A couple years ago, I considered the laser route, but determined I didn't want to take the risk of changing lighting conditions that are controlled by the city. As for you folks using lasers... good luck on that one... most of the light sensors (depending on the design) will respond only to light coming from above, not from the side.

[LENNY RUEL]

Ditto what Jeff said. As I said earlier they put an adjustable shade in mine. When I called the city they said the only lights they where responsible for where the new Aluminum poles downtown, and any others where the resposibility of WE Energies. The call to WE got it taken care of in a few days as you can see from my earlier post. And as mentioned even though the CS rep I talked to thought it was an odd request it didn't take her long to call back and say it wasn't that strange after all once she asked. It is very obvious they had had this requested before. In daylight it actually looks like the light cover is blacked out. But when the light comes on at dusk, it's just directed away from my lot. If you look on Facebook at the photo album I have posted at, these lights ruel, you can see how decent the pictures are. And this light is across the street from me and about a half a lot North, so very close. In Fact I'll include a picture here. At this Camera angle the street light would be at about 10 o'clock with me at 6 looking at noon.

Lenny

[Richard Hamilton]

Jeff Millard wrote:

The township will always take the route that nothing can be done. However, the lights belong to the electric utility not the town. They are rented from the public utility.

Interesting. Tha may be how it is in your area, but where I live here in California, the CITY owns the lights. Same goes for where I used to live in Tennessee. Thus, it appears to be different depending on where you live. When I was doing this, I was having to deal with the City council and city managers. In fact, a VP of the utility company lived next door and it was out of his hands.

[Richard Hamilton]

Nice postings Jeff. Good information.

Yup, California is always a little weird. It seems that people can do anything out here without someone else wanting to control other people's lives ;-)

Bottom line to me is that I wasn't willing to take the liability risk of some shark lawyer coming to sue me for a million bucks just because some person steps on chewing gum in the dark and smudges a shoe. Well, that's a little sarcastic and extreme, but you get the idea ;-)