martissimo
join:2001-12-01
Las Vegas, NV
clubs:
| the 2.4 GHz spectrum
is going to be a complete mess at some point... though i certainly don't think that the mentioned lighting in the article is likely to be around any time soon. It's just the fact that the spectrum is not regulated much at all.
At least the faster 5GHz spectrum has a few hundred MHz set aside exclusively for communications equipment. Hopefully the FCC doesn't let it turn into the mess they seem to care less about in the 2.4 one |
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homebrewer5
join:2001-01-23
Lowell, MA
|  Save The Night Sky!!!!
As a computer professional and amateur astronomer I am all for any new lighting technology that will reduce light pollution. Ever see the poster of the USA at night? That's all wasted light being directed upward, which means more oil, coal and nuclear being used. Besides, sodium and mercury lights also affect RF frequencies. As well as your CD player and your radio and your toaster......
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Bavarian Berthold |
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animejunkie$
The Experts Of Justice
Premium
join:2002-05-08
Corona, CA | Is there something wrong with my old lighting?
Just wondering... |
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barqsdrinker
What Can I Photograph Today?
Premium
join:2001-02-26
Apo, AE
clubs:
| If you're using incandecent lighting, then, yeah. It is incredibly inefficient. Flourecents are much more energy efficient (for the same amount of lumens), but tend to add a blue-ish tinge to things and also tend to wash the colors out.
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Thanks for reading!  |
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Chakthi
Galactica Is Back
Premium
join:2001-07-11
Dayton, OH
| reply to homebrewer5
Re: Save The Night Sky!!!!
said by homebrewer:
As a computer professional and amateur astronomer I am all for any new lighting technology that will reduce light pollution. Ever see the poster of the USA at night? That's all wasted light being directed upward, which means more oil, coal and nuclear being used. Besides, sodium and mercury lights also affect RF frequencies. As well as your CD player and your radio and your toaster......
I've never seen the poster, but would like to see it to satisfy my curiosity. Do you have a link, or can you post a pic of it?
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Chakthi - DSLR Team Starfire - 108WU/575hrs |
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russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA
| Tempest. Teapot.
Is this the stuff that uses a microwave source to excite a luminescent gas? It's been around for a while, never really scaled well in either direction -- everyone is probably going gaga over a press release designed to attract capital. I doubt it will be used enough to cause a problem. No one wants a light source that leaks microwaves in that band anyway, so it's going to have to be shielded (like a microwave oven). And any interference is likely to be a continuous signal on a single frequency.
Astronomers tend to dislike light for basically the same reasons other people like it, so this technology is unlikely to reduce light pollution. It should have characteristics similar to other fluorescent (including vapor) lamps.
Incandescents, though much maligned, interfere the least with radio frequency devices and provide the best color rendering index. |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
Host:
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Home/Office setup ..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
| maybe not lighting but other things...
I experienced terrible interference with my home 802.11 network as a result of being in the city. Checking the airwaves revealed only a few nearby access points, I can't imagine the mess if half the nearby apartments had 802.11 and bluetooth and 2.4ghz phones..
mind you only an idiot can miss the connection between lack of FCC regulation, and exciting useful wireless gadgets and explosive growth .. all they need to do is point the consumer electronics industry at another wider band that does not allow satellite radio providers or other idiots to invade it or complain about it, and things would really get going ...
all this spectrum available .. and below 5ghz the only bit of 'ok, you can build what you want here' is a tiny slice at 2.4ghz? Madness.. total madness.. 95% of civilised modern cool end-user communication technology crammed into this tiny little 2.4ghz chunk, and the rest of the real estate is for 20th century junk like commercial radio, car and taxi service, tv and the military ?? bah! |
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pH1
Rawr
join:2001-12-31
Canada | reply to animejunkie$
Re: Is there something wrong with my old lighting?
said by animejunkie:
Just wondering...
Yes!
Old lightning makes you SICK! |
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barqsdrinker
What Can I Photograph Today?
Premium
join:2001-02-26
Apo, AE
clubs:
| reply to Chakthi
Re: Save The Night Sky!!!!
Try here: »antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970830.html It is a black-and-white version from 1997, but I think it gets the point across...
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Thanks for reading! |
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TZi
k1L0
join:2001-07-05
Miami Beach, FL
| Well....
Guess it's time to push up the power level on my access point to illegal levels via that SNMP hack to combat all the new interference. Sorry XM 
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt. |
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braden
join:2001-12-12
Aliso Viejo, CA
| reply to Chakthi
Re: Save The Night Sky!!!!
Here's the earth lights at night.
[text was edited by author 2002-05-08 19:33:12] |
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
| reply to barqsdrinker
Re: Is there something wrong with my old lighting?
said by barqsdrinker:
Florescents are much more energy efficient (for the same amount of lumens), but tend to add a blue-ish tinge to things and also tend to wash the colors out.
Not the Compact Florescents, they are virtually the same color temperature as incandecents. I can turn on every light in my house (about 25) and still be using just 500 watts or less. Even with summer AC (new efficient unit), my highest electric bill ever here was ~$90. (Single person household) typical around $45... most people I know it is more like $110 typical
Water heater is also time controlled, and the fridge has a start current spike suppressor/motor speed vs load limiter.
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
Terminology or acronyms have you confused?? Use Glossary tool at upper left/mid of page. |
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
| reply to justin
Re: maybe not lighting but other things...
said by justin:
all this spectrum available .. and below 5ghz the only bit of 'ok, you can build what you want here' is a tiny slice at 2.4ghz? Madness.. total madness..
You forgot the old 49mhz (original cordless phones) band and the even older 27mhz CB range. (BOTH PRETTY TINY TOO)
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
Terminology or acronyms have you confused?? Use Glossary tool at upper left/mid of page. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to Hayward
Re: Is there something wrong with my old lighting?
I did the same thing, I've switched practically every bulb to compact flourescents, and I replaced my old inefficient Air conditioner with the most efficient one I could find.
I also did some basic caulking and weatherstripping (but I still have more work to do, because I still feel drafts).
Still, the result is impressive, my highest electricity bill last year was around $55. |
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
| My next step is to get my roof redone with a new product called Snow Roof (an elastic plastic like overcoating of existing roof. It claims to be 90% reflective, and can drop roof temperature from 250 degrees to 80 (or actual temperature) That should help with the AC a lot.
(roof due for replacement soon anyhow and this can extend it a long time for much less than fully redoing the roof...plus the energy savings)
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
Terminology or acronyms have you confused?? Use Glossary tool at upper left/mid of page. |
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animejunkie$
The Experts Of Justice
Premium
join:2002-05-08
Corona, CA | How much is a kWh in Florida? Here I'm paying as much as .19 per, depending how much I use. |
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DonChicago
Copper-Free Last-Mile
join:2002-02-10
Lincolnshire, IL
| reply to russotto
Re: Tempest. Teapot.
said by russotto:
Incandescents, though much maligned, interfere the least with radio frequency devices and provide the best color rendering index.
In practice, this color rendering claim is simply not true. The published CRI for compact fluorescent and T8 fluorescent lights with electronic ballasts is significantly better than standard OR improved incandescent light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs almost always produce too much long wave radiation for good color balance. It has been possible to achieve excellent color rendition, color balance, and far superior efficiency with fluorescent lights for many years. The improved phosphor technology developed over the past few decades, allows ighting designers to customize the lighting to meet a variety of applications that require accurate color rendition and balance. |
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homebrewer5
join:2001-01-23
Lowell, MA
|  Compact Incandescants
We had to move one of the compact incandescents from near our home intercom base unit. It was sending very loud static over the intercom. Also, my wife's boss has a lamp with one in his office and every time he turns it on it sends a hum thru her phone headset.
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Bavarian Berthold |
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M_Martin
join:2000-10-31
Germantown, MD
| reply to KrK
Re: Is there something wrong with my old lighting?
said by KrK:
I also did some basic caulking and weatherstripping (but I still have more work to do, because I still feel drafts).
Did you check outlets? You can get a lot of draft around electrical outlets and light switches. There are foam "gaskets" you can buy at a Home Depot (or similar) store to fix that.
Also, I'll second the previous post mentioning a timer on the water heater. I looked at the label on my water heater recently and noticed that the "energy use" sticker claims it's rated at an expected 4990 kWh/year. I checked a year's worth of electric bills and the total for a year was about 16000 kWh. If the water heater uses as much energy as claimed, that's over a quarter of my house's energy use! A timer will keep it from cycling the heating element during long periods when you don't need to have hot water handy (at night, and during the day if nobody's home). Of course, a tankless water heater would be better. Best would probably be a solar water heater, or perhaps a geothermal heat pump or fuel cell unit with hot water co-generation. |
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animejunkie$
The Experts Of Justice
Premium
join:2002-05-08
Corona, CA | Electric heat of any kind is expensive. I chose natural gas for range, heater and water heater. |
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