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LED Navigationlights

Re: LED Navigation Lights

erica said:
Hello everybody,

I'm planning to replace my Tricolor Mastheadlight with a LED -Tricolor+Anchorlight next spring.

Has anybody heard about the "optolamp"? This one sounds interesting to me:
http://www.optolamp.com/prd_info.php?lang=en&id=3 - 8k

What kind of LED's are you using and what's your experiences / suggestions?


Erica
SY Carina
Click to expand...

http://www.svendsensmarine.com/Optolamp_Amazonia_5_in_1_LED_p/olp-1015.htm


http://www.svendsensmarine.com/Optolamp_NavXXI_Tri_Color_LED_Navigation_Light_p/olp-15.htm

Nothing for Optolamp or "AMAZÔNIA Mirim” 2009 -at West Marine, Defenders, SSCA List, Sailing Anarchy. Latitude 38 or Fisheries Supply

John Foster
Blueberry, Nonsuch 22, sail #48
 
Hi Erica,

Several boats in our shorthanded fleet have these:

Orca Green Marine LED's

I've had my OGM "Tri-Anchor" for several years and it has been fine. Some of us have had problems with RFI between the OGM light and masthead VHF antenna, but OGM has redesigned the circuit board to fix that (see their Technical page).
 
erica said:
Has anybody heard about the "optolamp"? This one sounds interesting to me:
http://www.optolamp.com/prd_info.php?lang=en&id=3 - 8k
Click to expand...
My rigger recommended the Optolamp, and we installed it last January. So far it has been working well, and the power drain is what I would expect from an LED unit (much less than the old incandescant tricolor).

Note that the wiring may be different than your present setup. My old Aqua-Signal tri/anchor/strobe had three hot-wires plus a ground (as I recall). The Optolamp uses two wires and polarity to select tri/anchor mode (+/- or -/+), plus a third (and fourth?) wire for strobe. They provide a little relay assembly that might help, but I ended up designing my own switcher to go between my existing switches and the Optolamp.

I still don't have the strobe working, but that's no doubt my mistake, and I haven't bothered to troubleshoot it yet.
 
Thank you all for your answers.

Paul,
good to hear you're using the optolamp. I favour this lamp, because I can get it in NL for half the price a orca, topolight or aquasignal would cost.
Maybe you know, does the optolamp meet the COLREG? I couldn`t find any information about that. Are the sectors clear? Do you have any problems with VHF when running the lights?

Bob
the ocra green looks nice, but costs a lot of money....I wonder if it is worth spending that much money?
Where is the big differene between all the "expensives" and the "cheaper" lamps?


Does anybody know about using the old tricolor and just replacing the lamp with a LED? Is this possible? If so, what's required?


cheers
Erica

Sorry for my poor englisch !
 
Erica, I replaced the incandescent bulb in my deck-level combo light with a combo red-green LED from a company here called "DR. LED." They cautioned that the colored plastic lens in the fixture is not enough to project the proper colors with an LED array - you need to find an actual red-green LED to go behind the lens (not white). This may be difficult to find for your existing masthead fixture.

Regarding your cost question, I thought the OGM was quite expensive too when I bought it in 2005. If the Optolamp was available then I wasn't aware of it. Approval by our U.S. Coast Guard is an important issue also.
 
erica said:
Thank you all for your answers.




Does anybody know about using the old tricolor and just replacing the lamp with a LED? Is this possible? If so, what's required?


cheers
Erica

Sorry for my poor englisch !
Click to expand...

Erica, I didn't run a masthead tricolor for SHTP 2008, I used my deck-level lights and had a strobe at the masthead. I replaced the Aqua-Signal incandescent light bulbs with LED's and they worked just fine and were plenty bright.

Dr. LED makes an Aqua Signal replacement LED bulb for the tricolor, as well as replacement LED bulbs for other Aqua Signal lights..

http://us.binnacle.com/product_info.php?products_id=5122
 
BobJ said:
Erica, I replaced the incandescent bulb in my deck-level combo light with a combo red-green LED from a company here called "DR. LED."

SNIP

Regarding your cost question, I thought the OGM was quite expensive too when I bought it in 2005. If the Optolamp was available then I wasn't aware of it. Approval by our U.S. Coast Guard is an important issue also.
Click to expand...

US Coast Guard approval seems to be available for a complete lamp plus bulb combination. As far as I know, the USCG does not approve bulbs by themselves.

In the US, using a not approved bulb in what was, with the old bulb, a USCG approved combination, might some how be used against you in an insurance claim or collision damage controversy. In the rest of the world, far from US lawyers, using a better bulb might not be a problem.

John Foster
Blueberry, Nonsuch 22, sail #48
 
Optolamp = NOT a strobe

Please note if you have, or are thinking of installing the Optolamp, especially for the LongPac and SHTP. The Optolamp DOES NOT have a strobe..... it has a 'flashing' Anchor light that the manufacturer claims is a strobe. It does not qualify as a strobe per the SSS race rules.
 
Strobes are no longer required for the Singlehanded TransPac.

However if you really want a strobe, a stored-energy type (Xenon, etc.) will be more visible. Just don't use it inside the COLREGS line where it's considered a distress signal.
 
Hello

I guess I have to put things right:
I'm NOT prepairing for LongPac or TransPac. - not yet - but it would be nice to be there for TransPac 2016 or later. At the moment I'm just prepairing for a world-cruising.

I do not care much for the strobe which might be even "just a flashing anchorlight". It simply comes with this type of lamp and might be helpful someday.

All I'm looking for, is a Tricolor with anchorlight for my CARINA, a Carter 30, to be used on long ocean-passages and hundreds of nights in beautiful anchorages. It has to draw as less power as possible, has to be reliable and should meet the regulations. To find a less expensive one, would leave some money for other things I still want to put on.

For very special rules of some countries I still have my bow- and sternlights wich meet the COLREG and the German BSH and surely the rules of most countries in the world and I can always use those if required.

It looks like there are not many kinds of LED-Tricolots available. All I could find, was the Aquasignal, Lopolight, Orca and Optolamp. All at pretty much same price apart from the cheaper Optolamp. BTW it was chosen for the "Vendeeglobe", "Minitransat" and other races, which makes me think it meets at least the COLREGS.

Erika
SY CARINA
 
erica said:
Hello
SNIP
All I'm looking for, is a Tricolor with anchorlight for my CARINA, a Carter 30, to be used on long ocean-passages and hundreds of nights in beautiful anchorages. It has to draw as less power as possible, has to be reliable and should meet the regulations.
SNIP
Optolamp. BTW it was chosen for the "Vendeeglobe", "Minitransat" and other races, which makes me think it meets at least the COLREGS.

Erika
SY CARINA
Click to expand...

At the SSS 2010 Transpac seminar last night, person after person reported that on the open ocean, navigation lights, even mast head navigation lights were not noticed at anywhere near the distance that a strobe was noticed by ship captains they conversed with in passing. That is why strobes are favored off shore.

As a practical matter, lights are only one way that ships passing close to each other in the dark become aware of each other. Many of these same people that commented on the lights also commented on the use of Radar alarms on their own radar, AIS receiver alarms, AIS transcievers, and SeaMe radar transponders.

The bottom line is this. Get the mast head light of your choice, and also get some AIS based and Radar based alarm systems as well.

John Foster
Blueberry, Nonsuch 22, sail # 48
 
The bottom line is this. Get the mast head light of your choice, and also get some AIS based and Radar based alarm systems as well
Click to expand...

Thank you John,

that's the plan! - in case there is some money left, after buying the LED ;)

I am waiting for the NEW radar-system, which will be much lighter and draw less power, untill it gets cheaper.


Erika
 
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