Nighttime ground lighting on the field
From AAS Observatory Wiki
Status: Resolved
It would be a good idea to have some type of ground lighting on the observing
field. At least, there should be pathway markers from the parking lot to the
observatory. Also, it would probably be a good idea to have markers showing
the way to the road. The light should be solar powered, automatically
on at night, off during daylight, and should use red LEDs.
The plastic legs look a bit weak. A button on the bottom of the unit powers it off, but it's impossible to tell the state since the button is covered by a soft plastic guard. The unit is powered by 2 AA NiCd rechargable batteries. Upon arrival, 2 of the batteries appeared to be dead, and one of the units had corrosion on one of the battery connections. Otherwise, they seem reasonably serviceable.
More information about the Gama Sonic light can be found here:
Gama Sonic Solar Powered Ground Lights
[Update June 7, 2008]
I installed 6 ground lights on the path between the parking lot posts and observatory East doors. Will wait and see if there is any feedback from AAS members regarding the amount of light, location, etc. If no unfavorable responses are received, and if they continue to work over a period of time, then I will recommend that AAS purchase more lights for the field.
Stleary July 10, 2008
A week after the lights were installed, someone dug two of them up. One was cracked, probably from being thrown, but both still worked. I reinstalled them in the ground. During the last members-only star party, no one complained about the ground lights, so I would consider them at least a qualified success. No plans at this time to add to the lighting, so this issue is resolved.
