Blue versus red light for preserving night vision

[Russian007]

After reading this thread, I decided to rig up my boat with red, blue, green, dim white, amber and pink. I wrote some code so that the boat shifts color every 15 seconds, this is the only way to assure that at least part of the time you get the right color...if only for 15 seconds.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

Red/white switchable in the boat, not dimmable yet but its on the list. The first time I used them I found the red was bright enough to wash out. I tend to not use the lights at all.

For you and others heading down the dimmable path some thoughts. Lots of people have and are shifting to LEDs for reduced power consumption. Not all LEDs are dimmable. When they are there are often RFI/EMI problems. Most apparent with HF/SSB the noise floor at VHF is very often raised (less sensitivity to weak signals). The problem runs in the other direction as well - you sometimes see lights flickering or turning on and off when you key a radio. This is particularly a problem on Bavaria boats (very pretty soft touch electronics control pad that has the printed circuit board integrated to the panel - it's etched on the back of the panel so no shielding at all); one boat turned the nav lights off when you keyed the radio. *sigh* Tred carefully and test what you buy before you start drilling holes and fishing wires.

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

As for the type of night vision , at sea on watch the vast majority of time watch crew Are on deck. These days there’s almost no reason to visit a chart table except at watch change over. The issue is dim helm and deck instruments not red light below.

Not good enough. Lights below shine through hatches and up companionways. The watch should be able to nip down for coffee, a snack, or the head without losing night adaptation.

Organization is a partial solution. Crew should be able to dress for watch and use the head without turning on any lights at all. Panel lights are generally enough below for fully night adapted crew to maneuver.

Meal prep is the biggest shortfall. Very rare to have dim enough task lighting in the galley for meal prep, particularly on shorter days. It's a major frustration, particularly on catamarans with galley up. Secondary are nifty appliance lights activated when you open a door or lid. I either pull the bulbs out or tape over them.

[Methersgate]

I’m going to replace cabin lights (still got fluorescents - will be fitting LEDs).

At present all lights switch: White/Off/Red.

This might not be the best idea. It might be better to have some simple white lights and a couple of dimmable red ones?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

As for the type of night vision , at sea on watch the vast majority of time watch crew Are on deck. These days there’s almost no reason to visit a chart table except at watch change over. The issue is dim helm and deck instruments not red light below.

This is the key. At night on my boat, I run with the chartplotter as dim as it goes and set to the night color scheme. That's pretty easy on the eyes, although not as good as having it off. Engine instruments get the dimmest red backlight that lets me just be able to read them, nothing more. VHF display backlights, etc. are off. If I go down to the head, I typically do it without lights (we rarely run at night, so we don't have cabin lights that won't trash your night vision).

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

Ive never seen a nighttime formation acro air show or any kind of nighttime air show for that matter. It sounds very disorienting and dangerous to be doing low level acro without a clearly defined horizon or being able to see obstacles. Where do they have those and who underwrites they insurance?[emoji15] I suppose you must have the planes lit up so spectators can see something besides just fleeting glimpses of vague shapes in a black sky?

There were few teams doing it. We had formation lights on the wingtips, which illuminated parts of the aircraft so the other team members could position but with shields on so they didn't affect the pilot. We also had display lights like a big belly light that shone back through the smoke trail but again positioned to not bother the pilot and when I went into the slot lead would kill the belly light.

Our shows were timed to end right at then end of civil evening twilight. So, the show itself was after sunset, but before full dark and the show concluded at full dark, then we had to rejoin, rtb, and recover the aircraft which could sometimes be a distance, the show is not always at the airport. E.g. Chicago the show is waterfront but we based in Gary.

We didn't use pyro, but other teams did, to spectacular effect.

Yes, the risk/reward calculation is a bit off and I don't do it anymore. In fact I'm not sure any teams are, and the big teams (we had 10 aircraft in the box) are done after some FAA rule changes a few years ago. We raised our hard deck from the day show, there was no ground-level stuff at night. I did loose a friend on another team practicing for a night show. He thought he pulled up, but he pulled right into the ground from a few 100 feet. Not much chance of recovery.

I don't remember who our carrier was, but the rates were not exorbitant. Off the top of my head, Gary Air and Water, Chicago Air and Water, Milwaukee Air and Water, Thunder Over Louisville, Boshears, Halls, Pensacola NAS, Atlanta Peachtree, Wings Over Halls, Williamsburg PA...