Hi All
I live on a circumnavigating sailboat presently in Thailand and plan to leave for South Africa in the late fall. On this passage we expect to encounter heavy rain, high winds and very poor visibility in many squalls especially at night. It then becomes difficult when operating the yacht from a pilothouse to tell where the wind is coming from.
On a recent squall filled passage from India I experimented with illuminating a small flag from the transom. I found that very little light is required and essential to maintain night vision. In fact one collimated LED of the type sold in multiple strips of three was more than sufficient. The light needs a little collimation to prevent stray light reflecting from other surfaces besides the flag again to maintain night vision. It probably should be white since red lights aft on a sailboat or any boat is a nono (-:
I would like to power this LED with a battery and package the light in PVC fittings which I intend to clip on the transom rail.
The battery needs to power the light for two to three weeks. I have a solar switch bought in India but it is rated at 12 v. I am not sure if it will operate at lower voltages.
Since I lack sufficient expertise to judge the various possibilities like battery types, voltage requirements and LED types to fulfill my requirement of two to three weeks I would very much appreciate any help offered.
Cheers
Jim
I live on a circumnavigating sailboat presently in Thailand and plan to leave for South Africa in the late fall. On this passage we expect to encounter heavy rain, high winds and very poor visibility in many squalls especially at night. It then becomes difficult when operating the yacht from a pilothouse to tell where the wind is coming from.
On a recent squall filled passage from India I experimented with illuminating a small flag from the transom. I found that very little light is required and essential to maintain night vision. In fact one collimated LED of the type sold in multiple strips of three was more than sufficient. The light needs a little collimation to prevent stray light reflecting from other surfaces besides the flag again to maintain night vision. It probably should be white since red lights aft on a sailboat or any boat is a nono (-:
I would like to power this LED with a battery and package the light in PVC fittings which I intend to clip on the transom rail.
The battery needs to power the light for two to three weeks. I have a solar switch bought in India but it is rated at 12 v. I am not sure if it will operate at lower voltages.
Since I lack sufficient expertise to judge the various possibilities like battery types, voltage requirements and LED types to fulfill my requirement of two to three weeks I would very much appreciate any help offered.
Cheers
Jim