Boggle

The Reid said:

I've seen poor visibility for driving which required headlights
so others could see you, I've not seen true darkness in the
daytime, even at the eclipse

I've watched the 1999 eclipse from a hill in Lorraine in France. There
was a thunderstorm going on nearby at the same time. Very spooky - and
very dark too. We were lucky to see the total zone at all because there
was a small gap in the cloud, but some other people who had been on a
different hill nearby told us later that they only got dark cloud with
the backlight switched off.
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales

Fran said:

to get a clear sky is at the picnic area on the Rhigos - and that's only
good if the traffic is sufficiently light. I do not particularly like

Surely you mean if the traffic is sufficiently /dark/? ;-)
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales

Following up to Rudi Winter

Quoted message said:

I've watched the 1999 eclipse from a hill in Lorraine in France. There
was a thunderstorm going on nearby at the same time. Very spooky - and
very dark too. We were lucky to see the total zone at all because there
was a small gap in the cloud, but some other people who had been on a
different hill nearby told us later that they only got dark cloud with
the backlight switched off.

I was equally lucky, clear the day before then we woke to cloud,
but just as the eclipse started a gap opened, it was perfect as
the thin cloud meant you didnt need any eye protection. We could
see flares at the totality.
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

The Reid said:

I've seen poor visibility for driving which required headlights
so others could see you,

So how would streetlights help then?

Quoted message said:

I've not seen true darkness in the
daytime, even at the eclipse

Were you in Cornwall?

Paul

Following up to Paul Saunders

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've seen poor visibility for driving which required headlights
so others could see you,

So how would streetlights help then?

I don't think they would much, if at all.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've not seen true darkness in the
daytime, even at the eclipse

Were you in Cornwall?

Yes, Lizard. Did you get a good view in Wales?
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Paul Saunders <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The Reid said:

I've seen poor visibility for driving which required headlights
so others could see you,

So how would streetlights help then?

Bzzzt! This argument was done to death in 19?? When the Powers That
Be decided to ignore the fact that street lighting and car headlamps
worked in opposition, and decided that in spite of al the trouble I had
gone to installing *dimmed* headlights, dipped headlights would be
mandatory.
<Sulk>
--
Gordon Harris

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Fran
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 09:49:24 +0000, The Reid
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>lampposts come on at lighting up time.
>lamppost wants to know when that is.
>GPS can tell them.
>Map and compass, light sensors or timers cant?

Duh! If the lamppost can't see the map and compass then it must have
gone dark, silly!

Judith dear, just what /have/ you been putting in that cake of yours?

Whatever it is you can't have any so there!

<Pout>
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

Dave Fawthrop said:

On Tue, 7 Feb 2006 09:48:56 +0000 (UTC), Chris Malcolm
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

|Dave Fawthrop <[email hidden]> wrote:
|> On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 20:25:04 -0000, Fran <[email hidden]>
|> wrote:
|
|> |Take a look at this - and then can someone please tell me why on /earth/
|> |a *lamppost* of all things would need anything as high tech as a GPS to
|> |tell it when it's getting dark?
|> |
|> |http://www.stwol.com/english/index.htm
|
|> But it does *not* detect when it is raining and dark. The present ones
|> work on ambient light intensity and have done for 30 years to my certain
|> knowledge.
|
|It's an interesting example of what happens when you specify a problem
|incorrectly to an engineer.

Quoted message said:

A *good* engineer will think about the *real* problem and say "That
specification is a load of rubbish because ......"

I've sat in the pub with good engineers and listened to them going on
about what happens to you when you do that. In some companies you get
promoted and paid more if you don't tell the boss the spec is rubbish.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Gordon said:

Dave Fawthrop <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

But it does *not* detect when it is raining and dark. The present ones
work on ambient light intensity and have done for 30 years to my certain
knowledge.

Quoted message said:

<Smile>
I watched the street lamps tonight. The ones on the adjacent
road to mine all fired at precisely the same time, about 4 or 5 minutes
after sunset (according to my GPS12).

Quoted message said:

The ones in my own road fired within one minute of this time, again
simultaneously. They are obviously on a timer, or I suppose they could
be all controlled by a master switch located in the area. They
could be on sensors, but I have never seen one switch off after once
striking, except when there was a fault.

Quoted message said:

They could easily be controlled by a strategically located, simple GPS,
possibly only 2 or 3 channels, which switches on whenever the sunset
time for the area is reached.
I will watch them tomorrow, and see whether the time has altered; it
should be 2 minutes later. 8-)

They could also be controlled by the clockwork ancestor of this
device, one of which I once liberated from a lampost which a nice
motorist had felled near my house. In addition to the usual 24 hour
clock dial for switcing on and off the lights, it had a year wheel
which drove a system of cams and levers which adjusted the on-off
times for the changing seasons. There was an adjusting screw with
which to set the latitude, and an electric motor which wound the
spring up when it got low, so that the device was independent of power
cuts and manual intervention for at least months.

I gave it to a mechanically minded astrologer who used it to make an
astrological clock which not only told the time, but had dials showing
sunrise and sunset within the signs of the zodiac.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Chris Malcolm <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Gordon <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I watched the street lamps tonight. The ones on the adjacent
road to mine all fired at precisely the same time, about 4 or 5 minutes
after sunset (according to my GPS12).

Quoted message said:

The ones in my own road fired within one minute of this time, again
simultaneously.

Quoted message said:

They could easily be controlled by a strategically located, simple GPS,
possibly only 2 or 3 channels, which switches on whenever the sunset
time for the area is reached.

They could also be controlled by the clockwork ancestor of this
device, one of which I once liberated from a lampost which a nice
motorist had felled near my house. In addition to the usual 24 hour
clock dial for switcing on and off the lights, it had a year wheel
which drove a system of cams and levers which adjusted the on-off
times for the changing seasons. There was an adjusting screw with
which to set the latitude, and an electric motor which wound the
spring up when it got low, so that the device was independent of power
cuts and manual intervention for at least months.

I gave it to a mechanically minded astrologer who used it to make an
astrological clock which not only told the time, but had dials showing
sunrise and sunset within the signs of the zodiac.

Ingenious!
This evening the lights came on, not simultaneously, but within seconds
of each other, in one Local Authority area anyway, at about 17:15, which
is about 12 minutes after sunset, but this was under a clear sky, rather
than the dull, overcast of yesterday. This thickens the plot, and
my latest [censored]-eyed theory is that the power is applied to the lights at
sunset, determined by a central controller, and each lamp then strikes
according to the state of its sensor. This would account for them all
striking together at sunset time on a dull day, but noticeably later on
a bright clear evening, thus saving money.

I will try to carry out the next observation with an occluded sky.
<g>
--
Gordon Harris

Chris Malcolm said:

Quoted message said:

|Dave Fawthrop <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A *good* engineer will think about the *real* problem and say "That
specification is a load of rubbish because ......"

I've sat in the pub with good engineers and listened to them going on
about what happens to you when you do that. In some companies you get
promoted and paid more if you don't tell the boss the spec is rubbish.

Only to be sacked or made redundant later when it's obvious to everyone
that it was rubbish. And the engineer who's job it was to say so stayed
quiet. I go for the critical approach - the managers who don't like it
don't stay long themselves. And if they do, I'm glad to be gone.

-adrian

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

To be honest, I've never seen overcast weather dark enough to require
streetlights IMO.

I have, albeit not often and only once was it severe. I was working in
London at the time so it was somewhere in the early 1980s probably or
maybe late 70s. At 15:00 one August afternoon everything went pitch
black and the street lamps came on as if it were about 19:00 in January.
It didden 'arf rain.
--
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[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Following up to Fran

Quoted message said:

The ones round my way don't have the audio version either.

I bet you haven't got the gold paving stones either?

What? You've got gold paving stones? Oy, referee! I demand a re-
count!
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Fran said:

to get a clear sky is at the picnic area on the Rhigos - and that's only
good if the traffic is sufficiently light. I do not particularly like

Surely you mean if the traffic is sufficiently /dark/? ;-)

"__!!__"

--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

Following up to Fran

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I bet you haven't got the gold paving stones either?

What? You've got gold paving stones?

how else do you think I maintain this leisured life of luxury?
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Following up to Fran

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I bet you haven't got the gold paving stones either?

What? You've got gold paving stones?

how else do you think I maintain this leisured life of luxury?

<g>
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful person
Chris Malcolm <[email hidden]> said
<snip>

Quoted message said:

They could also be controlled by the clockwork ancestor of this
device, one of which I once liberated from a lampost which a nice
motorist had felled near my house. In addition to the usual 24 hour
clock dial for switcing on and off the lights, it had a year wheel
which drove a system of cams and levers which adjusted the on-off
times for the changing seasons. There was an adjusting screw with
which to set the latitude, and an electric motor which wound the
spring up when it got low, so that the device was independent of power
cuts and manual intervention for at least months.

I once (198x, iirc) managed a team which designed/programmed the
electronic replacement (for consumer lamps) which used a 4-bit
microcomputer chip (ripped from a pocket calculator) to do the maths
based on latitude/longitude. Worked just fine if you didn't move the
light after you'd told it where you were, and as long as you were
between about 65 degrees N and 65 degrees S (the simple version of the
maths goes pear shaped further from the poles than that).

The problem with a simple light sensor ?? 6 feet of snow ...

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

Fran said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lampposts come on at lighting up time.
lamppost wants to know when that is.
GPS can tell them.
Map and compass, light sensors or timers cant?

Duh! If the lamppost can't see the map and compass then it must have
gone dark, silly!

Judith dear, just what /have/ you been putting in that cake of yours?

Oh, just the usual...... but I think I may have confused tsps and
tbsps.

Judith

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

The problem with a simple light sensor ?? 6 feet of snow ...

On top of a lamppost??

OK then, use a timer.
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[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Fran said:

Quoted message said:

>lampposts come on at lighting up time.
>lamppost wants to know when that is.
>GPS can tell them.
>Map and compass, light sensors or timers cant?

Duh! If the lamppost can't see the map and compass then it must have
gone dark, silly!

Judith dear, just what /have/ you been putting in that cake of yours?

Oh, just the usual...... but I think I may have confused tsps and
tbsps.

Excellent, I'll have some of whatever you're having please :-)

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To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
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