Need Spotlight to Turn Off Mercury Vapor Yard Light

[EvenSteven]

I'm looking for a way to turn off my mercury vapor yard light by shining another light on its photo eye. It's mounted on a utility pole and wired directly into the transformer that supplies my house and the utility company will not add a switch. I like the yard light but want to turn it off when star gazing.

I tested the concept with a Sure-Fire 6Z with Malkoff drop-in. Shining that through a magnifying glass creates a nice spotlight that shuts the yard light down from about 25 feet away.

I plan to mount the shut-down light on a building about 50-feet from the yard light so I need something more powerful than the Sure-Fire. Also it needs to be powered by 120 VAC so I can control it with a remote switch.

I tried a 15 watt, 8 degree LED pin spot but it's not bright enough. Not even close. If I could find one several times brighter, that may do the trick.

Not wanting to spend a ton of money on this, $100 or so.

Suggestions anyone?

 

[Timothybil]

Just a warning. If it is powered directly from the transformer, and you are getting the bill, you will not see any savings by turning the light off for a period of time. The power company just calculates how many hours the light will run in a year, and factors in the cost of the electricity, the depreciation of the light and fixture, and a fudge factor for very cloudy days.

What is the reason for wanting it off?

 

[Going_Supernova]

LASER pointer.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Could you climb the pole and mount a wired light pointing at the sensor and connect a battery pack to it down the pole?
I think some of these lights the sensor is mounted pointing upwards making it harder to shine a light at them so cars passing by won't shut them off.

 

[EvenSteven]

Timothy, I'm not looking for cost savings. I'm charged a flat $8 per month for the light. I want to turn it off for star gazing. On nice clear nights I bring out my telescope to look at the night sky and the stray light from the yard light interferes with that.

Supernova, I tried using the Crimson Trace Laserguard on my piston but it had no effect. It is a red laser rated at 5 mW peak. Google tells me there are much brighter lasers available. I have no experience or knowledge regarding lasers … any recommendations? I like the laser idea a lot since it would not mess with my star gazing. This may be the best solution since I'm actually not wanting light.

Lynx, I'm not gonna be climbing a utility pole, I've read too many "Darwin award" stories. The photo eye (sensor) is easy to see from the ground: it faces south. A Sure Fire flashlight and a magnifying glass to focus the beam turns the yard light off almost instantly.

Thanks guys,
Steve-

 

[Timothybil]

Is this something you do often? If so, and otherwise the light isn't really needed in that direction, you could ask the power company to put up a light shield for that portion of the light. That should at least take care of any side light entering the scope. Hopefully it would also protect your night vision as well, but I kind of doubt it will. You might want to think about a portable or semi-portable shield that you could stand between you and the light. That should take care of both problems - light into the scope and your night vision.

Of course, if you are really hardcore, you could build a little mini observatory.

 

[Timothybil]

Is this something you do often? If so, and otherwise the light isn't really needed in that direction, you could ask the power company to put up a light shield for that portion of the light. That should at least take care of any side light entering the scope. Hopefully it would also protect your night vision as well, but I kind of doubt it will. You might want to think about a portable or semi-portable shield that you could stand between you and the light. That should take care of both problems - light into the scope and your night vision.

Of course, if you are really hardcore, you could build a little mini observatory.

Another thought, not so drastic. From your remarks, I am assuming you live in a rural or semi-rural area. You could ask the power company to put a switch at the base of the pole, with a lock so only you and they could access it. Then switch it off when you are gazing, and back on the rest of the time.

 

[EvenSteven]

Timothy –
I live out in the sticks on several acres at the end of a county road. My nearest neighbor is about 300-feet north and they have a lot of trees around their property shielding me from most of their light [good!]. Pretty decent night sky viewing here even with the yard light but turning it off makes a huge difference. I've been a star gazer for decades and recently bought a 6-inch reflector, go-to scope.

SWITCH
A switch for the yard light would be the perfect solution but the utility company will not install one. I called them a few weeks ago to see if we could make that happen but no dice. I'm not really interested in a light shield. I'm perfectly happy with the lighting as-is at least 90% of the time and a shield would compromise that.

LASER
I don't know enough about laser pointers/pens and photo-eye semiconductors to try a laser solution on my own. I've read of people using a laser to turn off street lights but there are no details about the laser intensity or possible negative effects on the photo-eye if the laser remains pointed at it for an hour or two. Too many questions, not enough answers. For a while I thought using a laser would be a better solution than a spot light but now I'm not sure.

SPOTLIGHT
I'm leaning back toward a narrow beam spot light. Simpler technology and I know it won't hurt the photo eye. I had success with a "flashlight + magnifying glass" spotlight at a short distance (about 30-feet) so I know that works. For reference, when installed the distance from spotlight to photo eye will be about 50-feet. What I need is a powerful spotlight that runs on mains electricity (120 VAC). Google is my friend but so far I haven't found what I'm looking for.

I considered trying something like this Brinkman (shown below). Maybe strip out the light element, build an enclosure for it and add a 120VAC/12VDC transformer. Thing is, I'm not looking for a building project :shakehead. If possible I'd like a plug and play solution but if the situation demands it, I'll build something. I've got skills

I mentioned earlier I tried a LED pin spot. (shown below). I figured for 10 bucks I'd give it a shot. It's pretty compact (good), about 6" overall length. It has one 15w LED. At first I was pretty impressed: it threw a nice tight spot on the photo-eye, but not enough lumens to shut it down. Something like this with a lot more power in a weatherproof enclosure for wall mounting would be great. Actually, if this one was bright enough I wouldn't mind building the enclosure.

REMOVE YARD LIGHT
As a last resort I'm thinking about having the light removed and adding my own so I will have control. Kind of hate to do that though since the pole light is in a great location and provides 360-degree lighting. Decisions, decisions.

Anyone have a suggestion for a tight, bright spotlight that runs on mains electricity? Something in a weatherproof enclosure or that could be put in one?

Thanks all, looking forward to dark skies.

 

[Timothybil]

Just to satisfy my nosiness, did the power company give any reason for not wanting a switch? Did you explain why you wanted one put in? I'm thinking you might have gotten a phone drone who said no because it wasn't in their sacred book of things to say yes to.

Addendum: If you are looking at the Brinkman, take a look at the Streamlight Waypoint (alkaline). It will run off of a 12v car adapter cable directly. If you look around you can find an AC to 12v power supply that has the jack needed to accept the adapter. That way you wouldn't have to rewire the light.

 

[kaptain_zero]

Have you considered going old school.... as in a sling shot? You know..."Honestly, I was just cleaning my slingshot when it went off..... err..... 37 times and suddenly the light went out"

 

[FRITZHID]

I've been able to kill street lights with one of those little 10 watt LED "baby" spotlights (the pistol grip, tiny versions of the bigger 35 watt HID versions) and they last an hr or so, more with a batt pack. They're fairly cheap, $10-20 or so.

 

[EvenSteven]

Timothy, all questions are welcome! In my area electricity is provided by a rural co-op. The lady that answered the phone was very polite and when I explained what I wanted, she said she wished she had a switch on her yard light! She put me on hold while she talked to someone in operations about my request then came back on to tell me they do not install switches. Perhaps if I "knew somebody" they could make it happen but I'm not connected. Keep in mind the yard light is wired direct to the output side of the transformer without over-current protection. The wire to the light effectively becomes fuse wire. To add a switch at the base of the pole they would have to install a small breaker box or add an in-line fuse. I guess they just don't' want to get into the business of doing that for everyone. Oh well. Thanks for suggesting the Streamlight Waypoint, I'll check it out if I go down that path.

Kaptain, I'm not going to shoot out my own light. I can have the light removed with a phone call if I want that.

Fritzhid, could you name a brand/model as an example? I tried a 15 watt LED spot (mentioned earlier in this thread) and it had no effect. It threw a tight spot on the photo sensor but not bright enough to kill the light.

My latest idea is to try a PAR36 sealed beam. If it works, it makes more sense to just buy the sealed beam than to buy a light assembly and strip out the sealed beam. Perhaps I can rig up my own version of a "light cannon" with the sealed beam, a magnifying glass and a PVC tube. Not really needing a high tech solution, just need something that works.

 

[broadgage]

I would try approaching an actual utility worker, rather the office of the utility, offer a suitable gift and point out that electricity use is potentially being reduced whilst the same income is produced.

It should be a simple matter for TRAINED UTILITY WORKER to install an outdoor rated fuse holder and a switch.

 

[FRITZHID]

Steven, I had given my stepson the small Stanley 10w LED spotlight for Xmas (he wanted one of the 35w HID versions like mine... Nooooo way! Lol) and once he saw me turn out a street light with it.... He went around turning them off up and down our street. It only worked on its highest setting and only when aimed directly at the sensor.
I've also used my 1000lm 10w coast polysteel to turn them off but need to be rather close for it to work.
I'd assume anything over 1000lm in a very tight beam should be effective.

 

[PhillyRube]

I've been able to kill street lights with one of those little 10 watt LED "baby" spotlights (the pistol grip, tiny versions of the bigger 35 watt HID versions) and they last an hr or so, more with a batt pack. They're fairly cheap, $10-20 or so.

When I was on the PD there was a neighborhood with heritage style streetlights. If we drove into the neighborhood on one street, and due to the way the photocells were pointed, we drive through using the car Unity light to "knock out" the lights. I think I had the record with 21 in a row. Then the neighbors started calling IAB complaining. The lights would come back on!

 

[get-lit]

I'm thinking maybe borrow a drone. Good luck!