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Red LED headlamp - anyone used this one? Bargain?

Spec-Chum

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JamesF

JamesF

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Indeed. Also how bright it is with the red cover on. Without "modification" it might turn out to be fine for solo use, but could still be so bright that it's no use if there are others around. Not that it looks like it would be difficult to modify appropriately if it were...

James

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Ganymede12

Ganymede12

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I have one! I haven't been able to actually use it yet on account of the cloud but It works fine.

The red visor is quite lose and doesn't quite cover the LED's but blue tak fixes that :D

It has 3 modes. Normal light, fast flashing, really fast flashing!

Brightness, it's bright enough (for me).

I like it.

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acey

acey

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I've used all sorts over the years. Cheap headlamps are fine and you can't go too far wrong. These days I use a 9-led white headlamp (couple of quid in ASDA as I recall) filtered with deep red lighting gel - better than a red LED or any ready-filtered lights I've tried. I need to have full dark adaptation before using it, though, otherwise it's just too faint. I use a bog-standard red-LED headlamp while setting up. My map lights are white LEDs with the same red gel filter. I use Marius Red from Lee Filters but that seems to have been discontinued - a pity as it's far deeper and better than Primary Red.

An advantage of a heavily filtered multi-bulb headlamp is that you get a broader, more even area of illumination, rather than a little bright spot in a fainter surround. And red gel really is red - it doesn't start looking bright orange or whitish once your eyes adapt, which is what can happen with improvised filter materials such as nail varnish, cellophane etc.

For best results, of course, it should be used under a dark sky. If you're observing at a place illuminated by streetlights then you might as well use a dim white light.

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fredster

fredster

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I have one too. We bought it from Go Outdoors for £3. Works okay. The red shutter doesn't block all the white light which means i daren't take it along to club nights. And having to cycle through different modes is slightly annoying. But for the money it's just the job in the garden.

I splashed some cash for decent light, bought a Smith & wesson. Absolutely awesome! Has to be the best astro light ever.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=2739

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Astroegg

Astroegg

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To be honest I'd save the small amount of money it costs and buy a slightly better one so that no white light appears when in use. However if you want a really cheap night use torch just stick the red cellophane wrapper from a Quality Street Strawberry Delight over a white torch and you have a winner!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Well, as promised here is my take on this very useful piece of kit.

In my opinion you can't go wrong for the price, the 3 LEDs are quite bright and the red visor does its job in turning most of the white light into red, but it's quite loose and doesn't cover the edges, but fine for own garden use. Might get on peoples nerves at a star party tho. You can also tilt the lamp down to aid in reading.

The LEDs have 3 modes as stated above but you can pretty much skip the flashing ones by pressing the button quickly 3 times.

The head strap seems to be decent quality and is fully adjusting on both axis, so thumbs up for that also!

I recommend it!

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Mr Q

Mr Q

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I have one! I haven't been able to actually use it yet on account of the cloud but It works fine.

The red visor is quite lose and doesn't quite cover the LED's but blue tak fixes that :D

It has 3 modes. Normal light, fast flashing, really fast flashing!

Brightness, it's bright enough (for me).

I like it.

Have you used it for hiking in woods? If so, how far can you see with it?

BTW, your signature "ANT, the other one", what does it mean?

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Darkstar_1

Darkstar_1

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I use a cheap asda headtorch, the front clear cover is easily clipped off, and inside i used a piece of the red wrapper off a babybel cheese. Job done; Not too bright but if it is too bright for personal taste just add more wrapper.

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Ganymede12

Ganymede12

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Have you used it for hiking in woods? If so, how far can you see with it?

BTW, your signature "ANT, the other one", what does it mean?

I have not been hiking in the woods with it. I haven't actually had a field test with it but if you want to save your eye's dark adaptation then It should work.

As for my signature, Ant, The other one, It's because there is another ant, an admin whose username is ant. It's a little joke because sometimes people refer to me as Ant and when we are both posting in the same thread it can become confusing!

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Mr Q

Mr Q

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OK, but why do they call you "ant"? I hope you don't look like one :grin: Years ago I knew a boy your age and his nick name was "termy" (short for termite). I asked him how he got it and he said his parents said he looked so small and white when he was born - like a little termite. He was a small kid for his age but liked the name and thought it was cool.

BTW, I was looking at some of your solar images on here and was wondering if you solved the "out-of-focus" problem you were having. If the scope is focused and you are focusing the camera on its image, I don't understand why the final images are so fuzzy...but then again, I'm not an imager. Years ago I placed a TTL (through the lens focusing) SLR camera against the EP of a 4.5" reflector and focused the camera. It was a daytime shot and even with a medium power EP, the picture came out focused fine. Is that what you were doing or using another method?

Sorry for temporarily hyjacking your thread Space chum.

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Mr Q

Mr Q

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Doooo! I just slapped myself on the side of my head. So simple an explanation. When I was your age one of my friends had the same name and we called him "antonym" (poor kid, he never knew what it meant because we never told him but liked it anyways - that's how kids are - accepting anything that comes their way without much of a fuss) Hope your astronomy challenges are treated the same way - that's what keeps me going since I was 10 and having fun at the same time is a bonus :grin:

BTW, My father's name is the same as yours and my birthday is 11 days after yours - strange coincidence ain't it? :Envy:

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Tyr

Tyr

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Not as cheap as that but available on the high street, I found a £13 one in Clas Ohlson with a red LED while I was in town last week.

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Varta-Active-LED-Head-Torch/Pr362992000

It has a sliding switch, which you slide one way for red and the other way for white light. This is good as it means you don't need to cycle through the bright white light before getting to the red one.

I've used it a couple of times now, the red light is a maybe a little bit bright, but it beats holding a cycle light with my teeth while trying to read.

I'll have to see how I go with further sessions.

Tyr

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