On Thu, 27 Jul 2017 05:32:15 -0700, AS wrote:

On Thursday, July 27, 2017 at 7:55:56 AM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Wed, 26 Jul 2017 16:54:58 -0700, AS wrote:

On Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 4:31:19 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
According to their FAQ page, it runs on 100 Volts to 200 Volts,
Alternating Current only. If using batteries to provide AC power
through an inverter, a "small" inverter will power 1 square foot
(.0929 sq Meter). A "large" inverter will power 2 square feet (.186
sq meter).
Current draw is 1 milliamp per square inch, so 1 square foot is 144
milliamps.

Doesn't sound practical. Intense flashing LEDs are a better bet. At
least they won't require an extension cord.


Doesn't sound practical.
Well - not so fast! Maybe it is not practical on our gliders but how
about turning the backs of our trailers into one 'big-ass' stop
light? Could a 12VDC fed inverter provide enough AC juice to light up
a 1m^2 surface? 1m^2 = 1,550in^2, so according to the above, one
would need 1,550mA or 1.55A. That doesn't sound too bad.
Opinions?

Nice thought!

But, one tiny niggle: is their orange paint red enough to count as a
stoplight? IIRC transport authorities tend to be picky about that.
Remember Lumilor doesn't do red because materials cost.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org |

Ahhh - didn't think about the color but at any rate, even if the back of
the trailer turns bright white at night with the stop lights functioning
in their legal red, it sure would be an attention grabbing feature.
Or how about paining on a matrix with large (1in^2) pixels which would
allow for all kinds of fun, like spelling out the word 'STOP' once you
hit the brakes. The possibilities are endless. :-)

Over here, anyway, I think the rozzers would have something to say about
a white or blue lightshow on the back at night. IIRC the only white light
allowed on the back is the license plate illumination, and that's
indirect in any case, since its aimed at the plate and the lamp shouldn't
be directly visible to a following driver.

Might get away with orange though. A giant orange STOP across the back
panel with an exclamation mark the full height of the fin box would be
fairly unmissable. How about writing WATCH IT and connecting it to a
distance sensor as the brakes?


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |