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[DSLF] Digest Number 739



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There are 8 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. 3-w CF's
           From: "Karolyn Beebe" <keedo@merr...>
      2. Re: NY/LI pops its cork
           From: Steve Davis <w2sgd@juno...>
      3. Re: Re: NY/LI pops its cork
           From: "James Benya" <jbenya@benyalighting...>
      4. California Alert CUP#5 sets unwanted Precedence
           From: "therickcrockett" <therickcrockett@yahoo...>
      5. Re: Dark Sky bill and the Governor: Call to Action
           From: ctstarwchr@aol...
      6. An interesting read...
           From: ctstarwchr@aol...
      7. Dangerous forward throw
           From: Steve Davis <w2sgd@juno...>
      8. Re: Dangerous forward throw
           From: "James Benya" <jbenya@benyalighting...>


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Message: 1
   Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 14:29:41 -0500
   From: "Karolyn Beebe" <keedo@merr...>
Subject: 3-w CF's

I wondered about the 3 watt bulbs in carriage style
lights that Steve wrote about while back, in an area
sans streetlights. Well my daughter sent me a 3 watt 
compact florescent that she picked up at a Home 
Depot in CT. It's base is for a small socket. From the 
package:  

840-090 Candelabra Florescent Bulb; 
120volt 3watt from:
Commercial Electric
2455 Paces Ferry Road N.W.
Atlanta, Geogia 30339
800-771-9335

Also: -20F min. starting temperture; Totaly enclosed 
fixtures recommended for outdoor use);  Not dimmable;
Life: 6,000 hours based on 4 hours use per day; 3w = 
15w, 120 lumens. 

(Hm.. I prefer the 7watt bulb to the 15 I tried on my 
porch.)  -kb




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Message: 2
   Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 19:31:40 -0400
   From: Steve Davis <w2sgd@juno...>
Subject: Re: NY/LI pops its cork

James Benya wrote:

> Some of the lighting is 25% efficient

But most of it is less than 10 % efficient,
and better than 90 % of what is left on after midnight
is totally useless -- nobody home.  A fine return
on investment. -sd


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Message: 3
   Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 19:47:34 -0700
   From: "James Benya" <jbenya@benyalighting...>
Subject: Re: Re: NY/LI pops its cork

Steve, I was kidding.  Of course it is incredibly wasteful.  And I can't
tell you how frustrating it is to see such constant waste when we have cost
effective tools to control it.  That's a very wierd thing about lighting.
Would you leave your car running in the garage all night?

James R. Benya, PE, FIES, IALD, LC
Benya Lighting Design
1880 Willamette Falls Drive
Suite 220
West Linn, OR  97068
(503) 657-9157 cell (503) 519-9631
Fax (503) 657-9153
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Davis" <w2sgd@juno...>>
> But most of it is less than 10 % efficient,
> and better than 90 % of what is left on after midnight
> is totally useless -- nobody home.  A fine return
> on investment. -sd
>




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Message: 4
   Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2002 04:46:29 -0000
   From: "therickcrockett" <therickcrockett@yahoo...>
Subject: California Alert CUP#5 sets unwanted Precedence

On June 27th. the Kern County Planning Commissioners approved a 
Conditional Use Permit allowing a small property owner, twenty-six 
miles out of town and nextdoor to a free Astropark, to convert his 
property to virtually unlimited commercial use without a zoning 
change. The small A1 (limited agriculture)lot will be used for a 
rodeo arena with unlimited training and practice events. Tens of 
thousands of watts of unsheilded lights have led to complaints from 
Pacific Crest Trail hikers over nine miles away. The observatories 
often available to the public and research free of charge, are doused 
in light somewhere between twenty full moons and a mid-day sun. The 
lighting was selected to produce the most scatter and was actually 
skewd to point as much as possible towards the Observatories. It is 
known that the arena owner also wants the land the Astropark is on 
and has laughed at suggestions to shield his lights and run during 
the full moon.

In making their decision, it was accepted as fact that:

Rick Crockett was the only person in Kern County concerned with light 
pollution (I was the only one to show up).

"Amateur Astronomers are an insignificantly small group of quaint 
eccentrics practicing a non-essential hobby of little importance"-
Planning Commissioner McClintock in comparing amateur astronomy to 
the more practical and socially valuable hobby or Team Roping.

Amateur Astronomers only practice their craft after Midnight.

If somebody moves in next door with bright lights, they (we) can just 
haul our telescopes up to Mt. Pinos.

Staff did suppress an Email from NASA/JPL supporting Dark Skies. 
Unfortunately the other Emails, Letters and Attendees from the IDA 
and Local clubs never materialized though promised. Perhaps it was 
just a case of anybody could, everbody thought somebody would and 
nobody did. The point is if YOU won't stand for something who else 
will?

Under the concept of equal protection under the law, any Rural A1 
property owner with as little as 2.5 acres, has the right to do the 
same thing. This would be so, anywhere in the State of California but 
might also be used as a template in other states. Most of the rural 
private lands are A1. I have paid $420 to get this reheard by the 
Supervisors. Paper work should be sent in before Aug. 7th. The 
Hearing is Aug. 27th. Anything sent or Emailed to Planning should be 
repeated to each of the Supervisors. This is a Good Old Boy Syndicate 
and the applicant is connected, thus the staff suppression of the 
NASA/JPL Email.

This is about CUP#5 Maps 20-29, Brian and Karen Cain, applicants.

Again I want you to understand that this is not just a one time local 
thing but significantly the most dangerous threat to darkskies that 
has ever been encountered. Mt.Pinos is less than a mile from A1. A1 
surrounds Joshua Tree. TDS is A1 (I owned it before the SD Club. 
Convinced them to buy it so I could get my $500 deposit back). A1 is 
right across the Highway from Little Blair Valley and Camp Oaks (RTMC)
is right next door to several A1 parcels. I could go on...

I appologise for this long post but I needed to press home the point 
in your best interest.

Rick Crockett 1976 WAA Convention Chairman. etc. etc. etc.




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Message: 5
   Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 01:44:17 EDT
   From: ctstarwchr@aol...
Subject: Re: Dark Sky bill and the Governor: Call to Action

In a message dated 08/02/02 1:21:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
mmotta@massmed... writes:

>     Hello everyone. The initial exuberance is now under control, now it
> is time for the final push, getting the governor to accept and sign the
> Dark Sky Bill. (For those who have asked, no I will not be streaking
> anywhere, sorry).
> 
>     I now would like everyone to send an e-mail to Governor Jane Swift.
> Her email address is:
> GOffice@state....us   .
>     Note, to be accepted, Letters or e-mail should include your home
> address in the message to her (instructions from Emily Weiss, an aid to
> Rep Marzilli.)
> The e-mail campaign for the House and Senate went so well that Rep
> Marzilli has told me that other Reps were asking HIM to support the
> bill! He had to remind them that he is the original sponsor of the bill!
> He also relates that the conferees got so many e-mails and requests for
> support, that it sailed through. Actually created some buzz. GREAT WORK
> EVERYONE!!
> 
>     For the Governor, my thoughts are the following. There is no a
> priori reason to veto the bill as there is no spending associated with
> it, but she will be seeing this cold with no prior lobbying, thus any
> misinformation might stick. Also, she is from western Mass, and has in
> the past stated how she likes the beauty out there. Our letters should
> play on these thoughts. Therefore, I give you a sample letter as
> follows. Use it by cut and paste  if you wish, or modify it, or better,
> write your own.
> 
> Dear Governor Jane Swift:
> 
>         I am a citizen of Massachusetts from (City/Town), and write in
> support of of section 52 (Dark Sky amendment) of H 5243, the
> transportation bond bill. This provision would not cost any tax dollars,
> in fact would save money over time. It would also improve the quality of
> life and the beauty of Massachusetts. This bill simply asks that any
> state supported new or replacement lighting be full cut-off fixtures. It
> does not mandate any change in existing lighting until a replacement is
> due, thus no new costs exist. This provision would:
> 1. Make the streets safer at night by eliminating glare that blinds
> drivers, especially the elderly with cataracts.
> 2. Aesthetically improve street lighting by eliminating the harsh glare.
> 
> 3. Save energy, since with full cutoffs, all light is directed to the
> ground and not wasted by shining up, thus the wattage of the lighting
> can be cut, with better lighting on the ground.
> 4. Preserve the beauty of the night sky for the citizens and children of
> Massachusetts
> 5. Cut night electricity costs, saving on tax dollars and air pollution
> to generate the energy.
> 6. Is supported by many interested groups, including the Massachusetts
> Medical Society, Advisors to Mayor Menino of Boston "Light Boston group"
> and others.
> 7. Similar Legislation has been passed in 7 other states, including
> Connecticut and Maine in New England.
> Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
> "Your Name, Address"
> 
> Use the above as a guide to write your own, make it to the point and
> include reasons why.
> I hope that by next week we are all celebrating!!
> 
> Anticipating Dark Skies for all,
> 
> Mario Motta, MD




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




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Message: 6
   Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 08:18:23 EDT
   From: ctstarwchr@aol...
Subject: An interesting read...

Greetings:

Many people remain skeptical about whether unnaturally occurring light has 
negative impacts on plants and animals (including humans), somehow 
conveniently forgetting all of the bare essentials we learned in Biology 
class.  

Farmers have known for years they can turn chickens into egg laying machines 
and dramatically shorten their natural lives simply by modifying the photopic 
periods their fowl are subjected to. Greenhouse owners realized long ago that 
modifying light periods affect plant yields and flowering behavior.  Horse 
owners bring mares to foal by the first of the year so their (less than) 
yearlings can race prematurely.  

The list goes on and on, yet finding documented scientific research on the 
negative impacts imposed by unnaturally occurring light still remains 
difficult to locate for those of us outside of the medical and primary 
research circles.  Though I have not read or explored much of it yet, we may 
have another arrow in our quiver with this publication.  Displaying the map 
with human dispersal checked proves to be very interesting.

Clear skies,

Cliff Haas
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr

> "UN ATLAS OF BIODIVERSITY MAPS HUMAN IMPACT
> 
> CAMBRIDGE, England, August 1, 2002 (ENS) - Plants are vanishing 
> so quickly that the Earth is losing one major drug to extinction every 
> two years, according to a new atlas of biodiversity released today by 
> the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre."
> 
> For full text and graphics visit: 
> http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-01-01.asp



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




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Message: 7
   Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 10:29:08 -0400
   From: Steve Davis <w2sgd@juno...>
Subject: Dangerous forward throw

I had an experience last night when I pulled into a new
Hess station to check out a nearby motel sign.  Hess uses
LSI as its corporate lighting designer, and they use LSI
manufactured lights.  This place is bright - designed for
65 fc maintained at the pump!  400W MH FCO canopy lights
and 1000 MH FCO forward throw around the perimeter.  That
forward throw totally ruined my vision at the exit.  I could
not see the traffic coming done the road on the side were
the light was.  It was worse than a flash bulb going off
and burned a hole in the retina of at least one eye that
lasted a short distance after leaving the gas station.  This is
another example of a designer who only sits in the office in
some distant city and never checks his work out in he field.
The numbers look good to him on paper, but he hasn't got
a clue as to what he is doing even though the note in the
margin of engineering drawing says IESNA methods were used. -sd


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Message: 8
   Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 09:28:00 -0700
   From: "James Benya" <jbenya@benyalighting...>
Subject: Re: Dangerous forward throw

Please do not confuse LSI factory sales engineers with professional lighting
designers. Hess is getting what they paid for - no lighting design, just the
most fixtures LSI can sell them. We professional designers have means to
differentiate glare from good lighting even sitting in our offices many
miles away.

James R. Benya, PE, FIES, IALD, LC
Benya Lighting Design
1880 Willamette Falls Drive
Suite 220
West Linn, OR  97068
(503) 657-9157 cell (503) 519-9631
Fax (503) 657-9153
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Davis"

> I had an experience last night when I pulled into a new
> Hess station to check out a nearby motel sign.  Hess uses
> LSI as its corporate lighting designer, and they use LSI
> manufactured lights.  This place is bright - designed for
> 65 fc maintained at the pump!  400W MH FCO canopy lights
> and 1000 MH FCO forward throw around the perimeter.  That
> forward throw totally ruined my vision at the exit.  I could
> not see the traffic coming done the road on the side were
> the light was.  It was worse than a flash bulb going off
> and burned a hole in the retina of at least one eye that
> lasted a short distance after leaving the gas station.  This is
> another example of a designer who only sits in the office in
> some distant city and never checks his work out in he field.
> The numbers look good to him on paper, but he hasn't got
> a clue as to what he is doing even though the note in the
> margin of engineering drawing says IESNA methods were used. -sd




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