Switching off street lights

In uk.sci.astronomy message , Sat, 16
Feb 2008 10:01:23, Abo posted:

Apparently they are mulling over the idea of switching off the town's
street lights in an attempt to cut back on their electricity usage.

The most modern street lights, I gather, nowadays use multiple LEDs,
which are cheaper to run.

Apart from that, multiple LEDs could give three other advantages, which
I've not seen mentioned though they ought to have been realised : (1) An
appropriately-fitted luminaire could be turned on/off LED-by-LED (or by
PWM), which is nicer for the electricity supply and avoids sudden
changes in illumination; (2) A small proportion of the LEDs could be
left on all night, to provide a modicum of illumination; (3) Any
transition between lit and unlit areas could be tapered.

For astronomers, there can at least be the hope that the size and low
dissipation of LEDs may permit the production of luminaires that are
more directional.

--
(c) John Stockton, nr London UK.
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Hi,

I have been trying to track down separate insurance cover for an
ovservatory dome, and telescopes. As part of this, I have enquired of
a UK Broker, who do similar cover for model engineers, covering things
like workshops and equipment.

The company is Walter Midgley (www.waltermidgley.co.uk).

Now, they don't _at present_ have such a policy, but are trying to get
an insurer interested. As such, it'd be quite useful for them to know
if there are other people 'looking' for such cover.

So I am posting this as a general comment to UK scope owners,
suggesting that if they are interested in such cover, they drop the
company an email.

Hopefully such cover could be a boon to everybody, instead of having
to go round trying to get suitable extensions on existing 'home'
cover.

Best Wishes