[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[DSLF] Digest Number 627
_________________________________________________
To subscribe to the DarkSky List Forum send email
to: DarkSky-list-subscribe@yahoogroups...
Help save your town from obtrusive lighting --
invite your planning and zoning department to
join us! Ask them to visit the IDA website at
http://www.darksky.org today!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are 9 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Re: Xenon & night vision - Headlight Glare
From: "Terry McGowan" <lighting@ieee...>
2. Lighting in Cambridge, MA
From: Mike Hansen <mhansen@einhornresearch...>
3. NPR sound bytes
From: ctstarwchr@aol...
4. RE: Yahoo has pulled a sneaky.
From: "J. Delvin Armstrong, P.E." <del@softlite...>
5. Moon Light
From: "J. Delvin Armstrong, P.E." <del@softlite...>
6. Re: Czech Republic articles on the new LP law
From: Jan Hollan <jhollan@amper....muni.cz>
7. Re: Czech Republic articles on the new LP law
From: ctstarwchr@aol...
8. Re: CNN online article
From: rlgent1@aol...
9. Driving with mesopic light levels
From: ctstarwchr@aol...
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 13:17:19 -0500
From: "Terry McGowan" <lighting@ieee...>
Subject: Re: Re: Xenon & night vision - Headlight Glare
This is the time to send your comments about headlight glare to the NHTSA.
Daniel Stern, an automotive lighting expert, kindly sent me a reference to
the comments that he sent. They can be read via:
http://www.pergolesi.demon.co.uk/dastern/
(you have to download a 1+ MB pdf file). I urge anyone interested in the
subject to read it though. It's "Automotive Headlighting 101" plus a
passionate plea to revise U.S. glare limits.
Terry McGowan
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Davis <w2sgd@juno...>
To: <DarkSky-list@yahoogroups...>
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2002 9:00 AM
Subject: [DSLF] Re: Xenon & night vision
snip..
> And speaking of the NHTSA, it was headed by a MD who just passed
> the problem on to one of his lieutenants who quickly ducked the issue
> by saying that the lights meet current guidelines that were established
> decades ago. Time to revisit the guidelines, and the sooner the better,
> or all the light manufactures along with friends in the automobile and
> truck industry will be screaming foul. -sd
snip..
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 2
Date: 30 Mar 2002 16:39:14 -0500
From: Mike Hansen <mhansen@einhornresearch...>
Subject: Lighting in Cambridge, MA
A recent post made a comment about "light police" in Cambridge. I've never heard of any such thing going on. The only existing ordinance is in regards to residential zones and is only enforced if someone complains.
Also, we aren't totally FCOs. Harvard Square and Porter Square are loaded with unshielded acorns. Mass. Ave. between the two is mostly drop head cobras with some really bright ones in the latter area. The newly built water treatment plant and the Fresh Pond Parkway have pretty bad "architectural" lighting despite a master plan that asks for non-glare fixtures.
--
Mike Hansen
2561 Massachusetts Avenue #1
Cambridge, MA 02140-1020
617-661-6520
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 13:03:10 EST
From: ctstarwchr@aol...
Subject: NPR sound bytes
Some interesting sound bytes...
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/me/20020325.me.06.ram
http://search1.npr.org/opt/collections/torched/me/data_me/seg_140490.htm
Cheers,
Cliff Haas
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 12:38:18 -0800
From: "J. Delvin Armstrong, P.E." <del@softlite...>
Subject: RE: Yahoo has pulled a sneaky.
Kevin: GREAT WORK!!! This was absolutely incredible! Every item was
checked yes. Change them to No's.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Conod [mailto:kdconod@optonline...]
> Here's what you need to do:
> Go to My Groups and click on Account Info, verify your password if it
> asks you to, and your Yahoo ID card comes up. Click on 'Edit your
> Marketing Preferences' and change all those Yes's back to No's! Click
> Save Changes.
I found a short cut...go to:
http://subscribe.yahoo.com/showaccount
Enter your Yahoo ID (username) and password.
Change All the "Yes's" to "No's."
Click on "Save Changes."
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 12:49:43 -0800
From: "J. Delvin Armstrong, P.E." <del@softlite...>
Subject: Moon Light
Thanks for continuing the discussion on moonlight. Moonlight is
referenced many times as a threshold limit of spill light. In other
words, if the spill light is equal to or less than moonlight then it
could be deemed acceptable. We have had reports of moon light from the
IESNA Handbook of .1 Lux to over .5 Lux. This is a substantial range.
Does anyone know of an "Official" measurement of moonlight???
James Benya wrote:
> The other issue is whether the reading is taken of each potentionally
> objectionable light or whether the entire scene is measured. Current
> CIE standards are for single light sources only, which requires a tube
> shield to take the measurement. A shield is used to eliminate moon
> contribution when required, but remember it is only 0.05 fc.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 22:44:33 +0100 (CET)
From: Jan Hollan <jhollan@amper....muni.cz>
Subject: Re: Czech Republic articles on the new LP law
> Thanks so much for your hard efforts Jenik because you have set an excellent
> example and provide an entirely new standard for everyone. You have also
> proved that it is indeed possible to reform obtrusive outdoor lighting at the
> national level. I have been striving for this goal in the United States
> since 1999 and still have achieved very little to show for it. Thanks very
> much and please keep up the awesome work!!!
Cliff,
your efforts and the new US laws have been crucial in getting the LP
recognised as a serious kind of air pollution. The MPs got the translation
of the Connecticut law -- as an example that FS lighting is a way nobody
should be afraid of. And of course, anybody who is interested in the issue
goes to your LiteLynx at last, as some journalists now. A wealth of
information which is available is convincing. I mirror the LiteLynx weekly
as
http://www.astro.cz/darksky/ctstarwchr/LiteLynx.htm#index
so that people looking at our pages get it quickly from the same server.
(Perhaps even at your site, the mirror could be mentioned, for European
users.)
I would achieve nothing were the devoted effort of all the leading Czech
astronomers and of amateurs in the Czech darksky group absent. Some ten
people apart from me, Pavel Suchan and the MP Stanislav Fischer have done
and are doing very much
Finally, an apology: when I asked for a review of a draft of our
LP-measuring project, I forgot about non-unix readers...
There is a platform-independent draft now (I have to finish it Monday),
http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/grant/lp_res.html
or its abstract (bilingual)
http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/grant/lp_res_a.html
> Clear skies and good seeing,
> Keep looking up!
>
> Cliff Haas
> Chair Light Pollution Education
> Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford
> http://members.aol.com/copernicanview
After three weeks of overcast weather we had a nice clear skies at last
Friday evening, with the comet being really impressive... resembling
Hale-Bopp quite a lot. Today the air has been less transparent, but still,
everybody sees that it's really a comet. I recommend everybody to go
north from Brno in the next evenings to see how beautiful it can be with
less pollution and I express my hope that in a decade, the sky will be
darker even in Brno.
Happy Eastern,
Jenik
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 7
Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 01:33:37 EST
From: ctstarwchr@aol...
Subject: Re: Czech Republic articles on the new LP law
In a message dated 3/30/02 8:33:17 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jhollan@amper....muni.cz writes:
> The MPs got the translation of the Connecticut law -- as an example that FS
> lighting is a way nobody should be afraid of.
Thanks very much Jenik, but I am merely the sound of one hand clapping. The
CT FCO law passed last year was the concerted effort of a few people and
several very dedicated legislators who really worked hard on getting support.
I spent most of my time getting support from many people by giving 44 public
presentations before large groups around the state last year. Each time I
passed out vital information regarding the two Bills (one failed to pass)
urging the audience to contact their legislators and ask for their support.
Many of them did including my Dad who never contacted any public official in
his life before that! He also became an IDA member last year, which really
stunned me because I was considered to be a black sheep by my
ultraconservative family for taking such an unwavering vocal stance on the
public platform while fighting for this goal of global reform that we all
strive to achieve.
To get more support I also wrote over 100 individual letters directly to the
legislators themselves and provided the ones not showing support sound
engineering and manufacturers' marketing data for them to review. I fought
for the eye and not for the sky to assure this quest was not interpreted as a
special interest. If it was not for the diligent work of Leo Smith, who
spent much time at the Capitol keeping track of what was going on, I honestly
do not think we would have experienced the sweeping unanimous votes that we
did in the General Assembly. The final vote was 166 to 0 in favor. I also
won other powerful allies to get behind our efforts. Only a few of the
letters that I received back are available here.
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr/letters
This achievement overall was a team effort that I am very proud to be a part
of. As you know from your efforts in the Czech Republic, it is imperative to
stay on top of the progression of proposed legislation at all times to be
able to put out sparks of opposition before they turn into big fires.
Everyone who crosses my path anywhere we go always gets a dose of the *LP
treatment* whether I know them or not. >:-)) Today Mike Hansen mentioned
the lighting around Harvard Square that brought back a very fond memory.
Last year when I attended a NELPAG / IDA planning meeting in Cambridge, I
educated 6 different strangers about LP issues while walking from the bus
station to the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University. It was really
a fun experience and people listened, but none of them understood right away.
There are a few fully shielded lights around Harvard Square that provided
excellent examples helping them to see what I was talking about. Every
person agreed that shielded lighting helped them see better afterwards, too!
Hopefully they will never look at lights the same way again.
It pays to stick your neck out on these issues no matter what we fear others
might think, and I wish more people had the propensity to do so. Just
imagine the amount of progress we would make if everybody did something like
this!!! Try it, learn from the mistakes (I made many), and you will get a
bit more comfortable each time. I never leave home without a stack of LP
information in my car now, because one never knows when that golden
opportunity to raise awareness will occur again. The opportunities abound
all around us nearly everywhere. Food for thought.
Congratulations again on that fabulous achievement in the Czech Republic!
Without your diligent efforts organizing things it never would have happened,
and a new standard now exists for everyone to strive for. Thanks for raising
the bar and showing everyone it IS possible to do!!! No goal worth achieving
comes without great effort.
Clear skies and good seeing,
Keep looking up!
Cliff Haas
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr/index.htm
Fight for your right to see stars in the night!
Join IDA Today! http://www.darksky.org
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 8
Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 02:12:50 EST
From: rlgent1@aol...
Subject: Re: CNN online article
Hi Perry,
Thanks for the notes below about the CNN coverage. One thing to
be aware of when dealing with the media is that they call the shots
concerning what is published or aired. Their objective is to sell news.
Controversy and conflict sells.
Rarely do they give anyone, let alone IDA, permission to edit
their story. We always present the complete win-win story, but sometimes,
that's not so newsworthy. Most of the news stories have been accurate, but
one in a while they are not so comprehensive. Everyone dealing with the
press should always keep this in mind.
arrivederci,
Bob Gent
European Liaison Officer
International Dark-Sky Association
www.darksky.org
***************************************************************
Protecting the nighttime environment and preserving
our heritage of dark-skies through quality outdoor lighting
In a message dated 3/30/2002, Pjmaresca@aol... wrote:
<< I just read the short interview with CNN online. I am disappointed in Mr.
Dybus' demeaning response.....
Perry Maresca
Perry@theglarebuster... >>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 9
Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 11:06:19 EST
From: ctstarwchr@aol...
Subject: Driving with mesopic light levels
Greetings:
Two interesting articles titled, "Off-axis Detection At Mesopic Light Levels
In A Driving Context," and "Peripheral Detection While Driving Under A
Mesopic Light Level," appeared in the Winter 2002 Journal of the IES. They
can be read here:
http://www.iesna.org/PDF/Abstracts/AbstractsJIES-Winter2002.pdf
I wonder if the Smart Road down in Virginia has the ability to mimic these
driving conditions for the first study with a real world scenario because it
was performed in a laboratory simulation. The last part of the second study
performed in real world conditions considered the effects of glare on
off-axis detection and stated that one type of headlight hampered driver
performance. Could it have been those infamous xenons many people have been
complaining about? If so, this might be a piece of scientific evidence
people have been hoping for. Unfortunately the headlight type that hampers
vision in oncoming vehicles was not identified in this article. :-( What's
up with that???
Has anyone ever visited the experimental Smart Road area in Montgomery County
at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg? They allow tours!!! :-)))
http://www.ctr.vt.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=DisplaySmartRoadTours
See more on the VTTI/VDOT Smart Road projects here...
http://www.ctr.vt.edu/
http://www.cee.vt.edu/program_areas/tise/smart/
http://www.vdot.state.va.us/proj/smartx.html
Another interesting article in JIES Vol 31 No 1, titled, "Visual Acuity
Depends on the Color Temperature of the Surround Lighting," appears in this
document. It is about indoor lighting but may also tend to substantiate data
on spectral effects discovered in the previous two studies mentioned above.
Interesting reading indeed. Thanks IES!!!
Clear skies,
Cliff Haas
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/