backup cockpit lighting

Here's where I got mine:

http://www.pocketlights.com/terralux_ministar2.asp

Blanche wrote:

Got a product number or something for the Luxeon bulb that
fits into the MagLite?

thanks

Blanche wrote in news:1104360173.687273
@irys.nyx.net:

Got a product number or something for the Luxeon bulb that
fits into the MagLite?

Google LED conversion and you'll find many choices. The LED Museum,
http://www.ledmuseum.org, has reviews and links for many sources.

--
Regards,

Stan

Foster wrote:
: Agree on the LED conversion of the mini-Mag. I replaced the bulbs with
: the TerraLUX MiniStar 2. I also got pyrex lenses to replace the too soft
: plastic ones.

: Another option, the Inova 24/7. It's multi functioned with low and high
: intensity white and a pretty bright red. It also has several signal
: modes that are more useful when earth bound. It uses a 123 lithium cell
: - which are obscenely expensive if you buy them in a store, but can be
: gotten almost as reasonably as AAs online. They have a long shelf life,
: last forever with an LED and are lighter than AAs.

My problem with all the LED lights and conversions for the mini-mags is that
they are all *too* bright. My plane has red flood and a dozen or so red bulbs behind
the panel. I've bought into the theory that the least possible amount of light you
can use the better your night vision will remain. A second's blast of white from a
minimag will blow out my night vision.

I took a regular mini-mag, and bought a T-1 sized green LED... just the bare
LED. It was the brightest I could find, but most conversions use 4 or more LEDs to
replace the white bulb. Anyway, the spacing of the terminals on the LED is the same
as the white bulb, so that fits in great. Trouble is putting a resistor inline to
limit the current of the 2.1v bulb with 3.0v batteries. I ended up taking a 39 ohm
resistor to limit the current to about 25 mA. Using a small piece of double
insulation (think lamp cord, but for about 24 gauge solid wire), I folded the leads
back on each other with the double insulation between them:

_______
-___R___-
|________ | - Resistor config
________|

o o
ooooooooo o
ooooooooo - Insulator config threaded between resistor leads as shown.
Conductors lay on opposite sides in the crease between the double wire sheath
insulation. It fits nicely between the two AA's in the light and inserts the
resistance inline. Works great, it's just bright enough to see a chart, doesn't ruin
night vision, runs forever, and the green+red is enough color to discern just about
everything you need.

-Cory


--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

I tend to use a little flashlight that Rayovac makes. (I don't remember
their part number, but you can buy them at Wal-Mart for less than $10..
they're green with a clip, swivel head, and both a red and white lens, and
they run on a couple of AA batteries). When you clip it to your headset, it
gives you straight-ahead lighting, which is somewhat adjustable and perfect
for helping you see the panel. I use it as a backup source of panel light,
and supplemental lighting when flying night IFR in poorly lit airplanes.
They are, howver a bit too bright and too red (if you use the red lens) for
map reading.

Just my two cents.

-Rob
-Rob

"Josef Burger" wrote in message
.. .
What do you use for extra and backup lighting in the cockpit for IFR
flights at night? Some airplanes have pretty decent lighting built in.
Others can have decent cockpit lighting and poor panel lighting.
Others have shadows in poor locations, or areas of the panel/cockpit
you'd really like to have illuminated, but aren't.

Myself, I keep a LED flashlight around my neck, and other flashlights
nearby and handy. I keep on trying other items and discarding them.
Perhaps .. I've just never found the right item.

Things I've been thinking about ...
A yoke/yoke-board mounted light, such as a flex-lite or some LED
bar might work well for lighting the panel either in normal flight
or when the lights go out. Some velcro on adhesive strips, stick it
to the cockpit ceiling, and put something like a pelican VersaBrite
II up there to provide some area illumination.

Some better lighting for a yoke/knee board would be nice, maybe a
flexlite,
or same flood light on velcro mentioned earlier. Of course, some
sort of backlit timer/counter/stopwatch would really be great, but I
haven't found a good one in many years of looking.

That's some of the considerations I have, was wondering what other people
use.

Thanks
Bolo -- Josef T. Burger
--
| Josef Burger U of WI-Madison Computer Sciences | "No matter where you
go,
| "Bolo" uwvax!bolo | There you are"
| http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~bolo/ | -- Buckaroo Banzai

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:45:55 +0000 (UTC),
wrote:


My problem with all the LED lights and conversions for the mini-mags is that
they are all *too* bright. My plane has red flood and a dozen or so red bulbs behind
the panel. I've bought into the theory that the least possible amount of light you
can use the better your night vision will remain. A second's blast of white from a
minimag will blow out my night vision.

Then you'd like the little Ray-O-Vac I use. It's the three AAA cell
unit. It's just bright enough that you can use it to walk around in
the dark without falling. Just enough light to barely read a chart
when held at the normal distance. Even unfiltered it doesn't bother
my night vision.


snip

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

wrote in
:

My problem with all the LED lights and conversions for the
mini-mags is that
they are all *too* bright. My plane has red flood and a dozen or so
red bulbs behind the panel. I've bought into the theory that the
least possible amount of light you can use the better your night
vision will remain. A second's blast of white from a minimag will
blow out my night vision.

I don't use any of these in the cockpit, they're only for preflighting,
etc. The white LEDs do help with seeing oil levels in sight gauges. In
the cockpit, I use a green LED lip light that I made. I also have a
headlamp with a green LED for a backup, but it's a very bright LED and a
little too bright for normal use. It's OK for me, but it distracts my
copilot. The lip light works well for us, and he talked me into building
one for him.

--
Regards,

Stan