pbryant, referring to your post at #143, on this page...
In keeping with Colregs special dispensations granted to under 12 meter vessels.... the proportionate math for the separation of vertical all-rounds is also entirely reasonable for a 2NM permitted navigation light vessel of 8 meters... in length....under sail.
It is in keeping with the spirit of the Rules, and with the urgency of identifying smaller moving sailboats in a variety of hairy conditions.
However, if the meter separation between green and red all-rounds is adhered to by all who choose to exhibit sailboat exclusive R.O.G.,
the amount of separation seen by another ship can be used to guesstimate distance from the observer to the sailboat. Wider the separation, the
closer the sailboat - closer red and green appear together, the further the boat is from observer. I'll do the full meter on litlgul's mast.
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{This can be skipped for the reason given in the next section}
CREATING ALL-ROUND ON THE MAST
Assume that incandescents are obsolete, and LED is the light source of choice. Expensive - and ridiculously expensive.
However, LED light has much going for it: Durable long lasting life - 20,000 to 100,000 hours. More compact sizes. Much less current draw. Smaller wires. And if designed well, tolerates a sodium cloride environment.
For navlights up the mast, those risky trips to fiddle with light bulbs are done for. LEDs arrived and are here to stay.
They have also been around awhile, hopefully making them more reliable. If the light goes, the whole expensive 'light engine' must be replaced.
{Deleted section here about Attwood's 'reasonably priced' 2" round Wall mount red and green sidelights rated for 50,000hrs with a 10yr warranty.}
It finally occurred to self to find out if these sidelights are CE approved.
No knowledgeable vendors - finally got through to Attwood.
The bottom third of this post has been replaced:
DO NOT USE THESE ATTWOOD LED SIDELIGHTS on your mast with VHF antenna.
LEDs on a boat need expensive switching drive circuits that operate at high frequencies - and must maintain very high slew rates.
Can't give you a definition of slew as I'm unplugged, but it has to do with the maximum rate of change in voltage output.
The manufacturer of better LEDs must add more complicated design to his 'light engine' to offer EMI mitigation.
Blocking electromagnetic interference comes at a cost...to us.
Attwood 3570-7 2NM vertical sidelights do not have CE certification.
We cannot ring the mast with these LEDs. What off-the-shelf LED lamp can be used? Haven't a clue.
The salesman I talked with at Attwood said a "quiet design was deliberately left out", or more likely considered an unnecessary expense. Hence their 'attractive' price at $77 a pair. ASSUME THIS ATTITUDE EXTENDS TO ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTS.
Until confirmed otherwise these LEDs are a big potential problem interacting with VHF radio, antenna and other electronic devices like solar controllers. http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.co...d.php?t=154064 ....VHF Noise Suppression {no Attwoods here}
Did you know that compliance with FCC Part 15 and the CE "Is primarily based on the honor system."
Other problems: the salesman couldn't tell me about: how short the wire tails are, no links to a manual, no country of origin
Imco, these are not genuine navigation lights.
There are some Hella Compact Sidelights 2.79"l x 2.09"W x 1.29"H (CE unknown) 4 sets $720 among a bunch of vertical nav sisdelights on the market. What WAS most attractive about the Attwood is the circular footprint, one dimensional 2"D and their spherical 1" height. Really too bad Attwood did not go the extra nautical mile and give their sidelights global status. Their hype states that the lamps exceed USCG requirements. Not stated as an approval.
Defender presents AquaSignal 2NM Series 33 LED vertical sidelights with a dimension diagram: 2.68"L x 2"W x 2.05"H.
I'll be using these at hull level on LittleGull. Their more than double volume (compared with Attwood 3570-7) would look stramge anywhere on the mast, imco, and the elongated footprint would make them awkward, if not impossible, to position on the mast curves. They were never meant for masts, anyway. Approvals: BSH, USCG, IMO COLREGS, GL, RINA, ABYC A-16, CE. World Class, wouldn't you say?? We hope these AS Series 33 lamps are world class dependable.
CE is a mandatory EU logo used to indicate a device conforms to EMC Directives and is similar to US FCC Declaration of Conformity.
ALSO, look for the International Protection Code on LED. IP65 is 'weatherproof'. But IP68 is the highest rating for protection against dust intrusion (6). Highest mark for continuous water intrusion (submersion) is (8) and is called 'waterproof'.
$77 for the Attwood pair. $90 for the AquaSignal. Can't find any current navigation sidelights to use at mast top.
Attwood shaves $13 and ends up selling a toy - rather than the dependable safety device a navigation lamp has to be.
No R.O.G.s in this BOG.
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