Best way to block laptop light

I am going to an observing area where other amateur astronomers may be
i the vicinity. I use a laptop to control my CCD camera and telescope and
was concerned about minimizing the light from laptop screen so I don't
annoy other astronomers.
I'm sure that other people have run into this situation at star parties
and such and was wondering what is the best solution
- keep the screen useful (viewable)
- accessibility to the keyboard and mouse
- prevent light leakage from disturbing other observers.

I have heard of mounting red plexiglass over the monitor. Where is the
best place to find this.

I usually do use night vision red color schema on the computers, bu
sometimes if a reboot is required it comes back with the standard color
schema and therefore would like to avoid relying solely on this.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 00:16:40 -0500, Philip Washington
wrote:

I am going to an observing area where other amateur astronomers may be
i the vicinity. I use a laptop to control my CCD camera and telescope and
was concerned about minimizing the light from laptop screen so I don't
annoy other astronomers.
I'm sure that other people have run into this situation at star parties
and such and was wondering what is the best solution
- keep the screen useful (viewable)
- accessibility to the keyboard and mouse
- prevent light leakage from disturbing other observers.

I have heard of mounting red plexiglass over the monitor. Where is the
best place to find this.

I usually do use night vision red color schema on the computers, bu
sometimes if a reboot is required it comes back with the standard color
schema and therefore would like to avoid relying solely on this.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

I start by using a simple attenuating filter. I always use several
layers of neutral gray (limousine) window tinting over the display. Some
people use red, but I advise against that. Most red plastics (like
Rubylith) aren't deep enough red to protect night vision, and forcing a
color display to red can make readability difficult. Better IMO to use a
neutral filter combined with a color scheme suitable for your own eyes
(which may not be red at all). Of course, you may not be observing at
all, so protecting your own night vision may not be very important.

Next, I cover the laptop with a box with the front open. This blocks all
the side light (which is a problem with LCDs) and also does a good job
of protecting the computer from dew.

An option to covering the computer with a box is to use a privacy filter
(often advertised in airline magazines, since they are very useful when
flying). These effectively block light more than about 20° from
perpendicular. You would still need an attenuation filter, though.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L. Peterson wrote:

I start by using a simple attenuating filter. I always use several
layers of neutral gray (limousine) window tinting over the display. Some
people use red, but I advise against that. Most red plastics (like
Rubylith) aren't deep enough red to protect night vision, and forcing a
color display to red can make readability difficult.

It depends on the software. With Megastar in the "night vision" mode,
even a single layer of Rubylith works just fine with my laptop when it
is set to minimum brightness, although I might suggest the use of two
layers for some displays. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 31 - Aug. 5, 2005, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 01:34:35 -0500, David Knisely
wrote:

It depends on the software. With Megastar in the "night vision" mode,
even a single layer of Rubylith works just fine with my laptop when it
is set to minimum brightness, although I might suggest the use of two
layers for some displays. Clear skies to you.

I don't like red for several reasons- first, in my case, red is not the
best color for preserving my night vision; I do far better with white
(and Rubylith isn't red enough to protect anyone's night vision,
anyway). Second, automatic night vision modes usually leave some
elements of Windows unreadable through red plastic. So things may look
fine when in Megastar, but when you switch to a different application
buttons aren't readable (I think it makes more sense to develop a night
vision scheme than to depend on the night vision mode of any one
application). The OP is an imager, so he is going to be moving between
different apps. If you are critically evaluating your images as you make
them, doing it through any kind of colored filter is a bad idea. Of
course, if you are shooting color (single shot, or doing a little
processing in the field) it is impossible to use a color filter.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Philip Washington wrote:
I am going to an observing area where other amateur astronomers may be
i the vicinity. I use a laptop to control my CCD camera and telescope and
was concerned about minimizing the light from laptop screen so I don't
annoy other astronomers.
I'm sure that other people have run into this situation at star parties
and such and was wondering what is the best solution
- keep the screen useful (viewable)
- accessibility to the keyboard and mouse
- prevent light leakage from disturbing other observers.

I have heard of mounting red plexiglass over the monitor. Where is the
best place to find this.

Several companies sell various red sheets - I gather that the
"plexiglas" versions are less effective than others; some
experimentaiton may be required. I like Chris' box suggestion downthread
- I'm going to try that for the added dew protection; but also because I
like to get all set up in daylight and it's hard to read the screen in
daylight. The box should help.

Re the keyboard, red lights on stocks are also available specifically
for illuminating keyboards. A web search is in order.


I usually do use night vision red color schema on the computers, bu
sometimes if a reboot is required it comes back with the standard color
schema and therefore would like to avoid relying solely on this.

Ah! That problem is easily solved. Run Linux or BSD Unix (AKA Mac OSX
No more re-boots. grin


Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

Philip Washington wrote:
I am going to an observing area where other amateur astronomers may be
i the vicinity. I use a laptop to control my CCD camera and telescope and
was concerned about minimizing the light from laptop screen so I don't
annoy other astronomers.

Hi:

There's always the option of Rublith and similar gel filters. I found I
wanted something a little more sturdy, however. I've been very pleased
with the "Sightsaver" from idealastronomy.com. It works and looks like
it'll last a long time.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:_Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 01:34:35 -0500, David Knisely
wrote:

It depends on the software. With Megastar in the "night vision" mode,
even a single layer of Rubylith works just fine with my laptop when it
is set to minimum brightness, although I might suggest the use of two
layers for some displays. Clear skies to you.

I don't like red for several reasons- first, in my case, red is not the
best color for preserving my night vision; I do far better with white
(and Rubylith isn't red enough to protect anyone's night vision,
anyway). Second, automatic night vision modes usually leave some
elements of Windows unreadable through red plastic. So things may look
fine when in Megastar, but when you switch to a different application
buttons aren't readable (I think it makes more sense to develop a night
vision scheme than to depend on the night vision mode of any one
application). The OP is an imager, so he is going to be moving between
different apps. If you are critically evaluating your images as you make
them, doing it through any kind of colored filter is a bad idea. Of
course, if you are shooting color (single shot, or doing a little
processing in the field) it is impossible to use a color filter.

If you're willing to twiddle with the entire color scheme, you can set up a
Windows screen to work with Rubellite fine. I've not have any problems. But
not everyone wants to go through the effort, and not every laptop is dimmed
enough using just one sheet of Rubellite.

--- Dave
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pinprick holes in a colorless sky
Let inspired figures of light pass by
The Mighty Light of ten thousand suns
Challenges infinity, and is soon gone

Chris L. Peterson wrote:

(and Rubylith isn't red enough to protect anyone's night vision,
anyway).

Do you have sources to support this statement?

--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 31 - Aug. 5, 2005, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 13:30:41 -0500, David Knisely
wrote:

Do you have sources to support this statement?

Well, I have a transmission curve for 5DR Rubylith. It is designed for
standard photo typesetting paper, and has a cutoff that goes from about
625nm to 640nm. The rhodopsin in your rods is responsive to about 655nm.
So the light coming through is doing a perfectly good job of bleaching
your rods. A good night vision safe light will be longer than 650nm, but
getting plastic with this cutoff isn't easy (and IMO, not necessary for
many people).

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

John Steinberg wrote:

(snip)



Nevertheless, I offer some alternative options that I do not see posted
here.

Softwa

DarkAdapted, for Mac and Windows:
http://www.adpartnership.net/DarkAda...ructions_Label
Offering a range of gamma presets for red and green screens as well as
the ability to customize the curves to a setting that best suits your
needs. Presumably Linux users can manage this at the terminal thus
I'll stop here.


John.....

That DarkAdaped looks interesting.....have you used it?

Wayne Howell
Photon Phlats Observatory
Port Townsend, WA