DIY anchor light - components?

[Locquatious]

It may not be Coast Guard brightness though we have been able to pick the light out at 1 3/4 mile distance. It turns on/off automatically at day/night. It gives a nice glow on deck and only uses ~0.2A.

The photocell might be a 1528-2141-ND from Digikey.com. See the attached schematic.

Also put the entire assembly inside a clear plastic tube made of this stuff:
5737K43 from McMaster Carr. It's very sunlight resistant. You can seal one end w/heat and seal the wire in end w/silicone.

We wrapped it around our mizzen mast but the tubing can be heated into a coil that rests on a stay at the end of a spreader.

If you are hesitant about buying a full movie reel of the lights, keep in mind that you can cut the strip and solder them in parallel. We mounted them on CD's for dome lights and took out old fluorescent bulbs, adhering them to the fixture base.

[Secondshift]

We use a photo switch to control our anchor light though I'd think it too clumsy for your application. I've set it up as a bypass to the panel while unattended, fused of course, allowing me to leave the main batt switch off. It can also be used inline while on the boat.

Sounds like a fun exercise with much small detailed soldering. A quality soldering tool will greatly help. Youtube is always a great resource for me.

An electronics forum of some sort would probably be best to sort out the tricky bits.

As for the USCG rating I'd doubt a binocular inspection is on their list of
"things to do".

Good Luck and please let us know how it turns out.

Best Regards

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Secondshift

Sounds like a fun exercise with much small detailed soldering. A quality soldering tool will greatly help. Youtube is always a great resource for me.

An electronics forum of some sort would probably be best to sort out the tricky bits.

The first post was request for a suitable electronics forum
Jlbpcb do a the surface mount soldering, really cheap service! So just the through hole stuff to solder, it's pretty easy. No way could I solder surface mount!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by mvmojo

An auto-on circuit can be purchased from Amazon and incorporated into your existing anchor light.

Quiet!!!!!!!!!!!! He already said he only wants a "technical" answer for his drawing.

:whist ling:

[RogerLloyd]

I dislike masthead anchor lights. They can be confused with stars and do not assist with visual distance perception.

I purchased a garden light. It comes on automatically in the dark. There is a hole at the bottom to allow any water to drain away. I replaced the AA rechargeable battery by one with more capacity. I also fitted a small waterproof switch that allowed me to prevent the light illuminating in the dark, but still allowed the battery to be charged in the day light. When not in use when sailing, I hang it on the taffrail to be re-charged by day. When in use, I hang it on the baby-stay with an extra piece of string to secure it to the baby-stay below the unit which stops it swinging about. I move the switch to allow the light to illuminate when it is dark. The cost is minimal.

The main drawback is that the anchor light is not visible at a great distance, but then I do not usually anchor in the middle of a TSS. Also the light can be hidden from a vessel that is approaching from dead astern, but there is some reflection from shrouds, etc. If I am worried I can hang another light under the boom or on the backstay (at a level below that of the bow anchor light).

[Secondshift]

Oh nooooooo!! Am i becoming one who replies with no useful info. Say it isn't so.

An electronics buddy will ask around about a forum.

In the meantime found a complete parts list at. Electricforu.com. under the listing
"Automatic anchor light." Unless im misunderstanding the detail specs a mofset does not appear to be included.

Best Regards

[Secondshift]

Oh nooo X2.... and now an incorrect link.
I think im getting worser.

Link should read

Electronicsforu.com

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Secondshift

Oh nooo X2.... and now an incorrect link.
I think im getting worser.

Link should read

Electronicsforu.com

Thanks for the link, looks like some interesting stuff on there. Though tbe auto switch maybe a bit mofe complex than the one i copied from the web somewhere, which does actually work though could no doubt be better. Only a few cents of components though project on hold for a week or 3 with some of that nasty work stuff to pay for another load of months cruising but I'll be sure to post back when the boards turn up.... Even if they don't work first time
And what else would be handy the have some cheap PCBs for apart from esp32/raspberry pi stuff? Ground breakout board might be handy, parallel a dozen connectors or something similar for nmea 0183? Nmea 0183 to WiFi based on esp32 being worked on at the moment with opto isolators. The big corporate boys of boat bits no longer have a monopoly on this stuff, opensource is great

[RaymondR]

You have eight sets of LEDs wired in parallel. Say at 20 ma per set that's 160 ma. You don't need that many LEDs as you can get them with 30 degree beam widths so 12 will give you 360 degrees of coverage.

If you want to really get the power down you can use a decade counter clocked by a 555 or a PUT oscillator, and get that down to say 20 ma, not worth switching it off during the day.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

You have eight sets of LEDs wired in parallel. Say at 20 ma per set that's 160 ma. You don't need that many LEDs as you can get them with 30 degree beam widths so 12 will give you 360 degrees of coverage.

If you want to really get the power down you can use a decade counter clocked by a 555 or a PUT oscillator, and get that down to say 20 ma, not worth switching it off during the day.

The cree503 have 15 degree width. Brightest known good quality I could find at low power. Running at 66% of rated max so should last forever. Not sure there's any point making the constant current control more complex, not exactly hungry and not much wasted through the fet. Thnx for reply though.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by conachair

The cree503 have 15 degree width. Brightest known good quality I could find at low power. Running at 66% of rated max so should last forever. Not sure there's any point making the constant current control more complex, not exactly hungry and not much wasted through the fet. Thnx for reply though.

The device I described is not constant current.

The oscillator on the clock terminal of the counter activates each of the outputs sequentially so that only one LED at a time is turned on. If the current is set by a resister on the commoned terminals of the LEDS to say 20 ma and the oscillator timed to have equal mark space timings the average draw would be 10 ma. You could use a hex mosfet counter if you wanted to power sixteen LEDs.

[conachair]

This is like waiting for christmas!
Boards ordered, made and getting surface mount stuff soldered on so should ship tomorrow. JCLPCB really have got their act in gear, great service so far.
Though top tip - easyeda doesn't seem to have a full list of SMD components available, better to find the component you want here
https://jlcpcb.com/client/index.html#/parts
then search easyeda library for the LCSC Part #.
Quite a few SMD sensors available too so started on an ESP32 sensor board, ammeters, voltmeters, thermometers, barometer, NMEA0183 in/out - all assembled, just solder some header sockets and plug in an ESP. Hopefully...



£10.73 for 5 boards plus shipping, need to add LEDs - 24 @ about £0.20 each & a transistor so round about £6.
Ditched the auto on/off for now but there's header pins to easily add a few chips to make that work.

Will it work........ Find out in a few days

[conachair]

Boards turned up, quick enough. Look OK but will it work....

[Davidhoy]

Make sure to test for radio frequency interference! It would suck if your VHF, AIS, SSB, etc. are useless when your anchor light is on.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

Make sure to test for radio frequency interference! It would suck if your VHF, AIS, SSB, etc. are useless when your anchor light is on.

will check but the circuit works in a completely different concept to the ones which cause rf noise. Slightly less efficient but nothing in it really at such low current. And there's a little decoupling capacitor which hopefully will calm things down if it does try to oscillate.