From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <15439@umd5.umd.edu> Date: 14 Sep 92 20:14:36 GMT Organization: University of Maryland at College Park In article <1992Sep14.144741.27814@clsi.COM> kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: > >I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a >couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. Try some of the small size cyalume light sticks; flashlights may be a bit heavy. There are all sorts of ways you can attach them. I'd suggest tying them to spots where spars intersect (t-fitting or vinyls on the leading edges). It's a lot of fun. First time I ever tried it, I tied a single light stick to the t-fitting of my Spin-Off. I was mightily confused when I felt the kite heading toward the ground on the left side of the window, and saw the light stick heading toward the ground on the right side--my knot had come untied! If you get into night flying, there are a number of good light kits on the market. Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: mwerling@terminus.umd.edu (Mike Werling) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <15444@umd5.umd.edu> Date: 14 Sep 92 21:26:39 GMT Organization: University of Maryland, Dept. of Good Guys and Cool Stuff In article <1992Sep14.144741.27814@clsi.COM> kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: > >I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a couple >of small flashlights attached to the bridal. > >Has anyone tried this (or similar), does it work? > >Does anyone sell PTFE coated steel wire ? > >Just an idea... > >Kev. > >-- >Kevin Cameron CLSI, Suite 100, 5457 Twin Knolls Rd., MD 21045, USA >kevin@clsi.com Tel: (USA) (410) 992 5700 (- 5709) X229 >uunet!clsi.com!kevin Fax: (410) 992 3536 >----------------------------------------------------------- Reality Is virtual There were a couple of night kites and night kite kits (electric and chemical (the cylaume light stick) types) in the last Into The Wind catalog I looked at. They also had a strobe light to hang from the kite, kind of like a survival strobe. Cylaumes seem to be the cheapest route, and they come in different colors. Just tie a couple on to either side of the kite. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- | Mike Werling, Student Assistant | email:mwerling@umd5.umd.edu | | AT&T Teaching Theater | phone: (301)403-4620 | | Computer Science Center |--------------------------------| = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: hort@ui2.ems.cdc.com (Mark Hortman) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <22797@nntp_server.ems.cdc.com> Date: 14 Sep 92 21:10:16 GMT Organization: Empros Systems International, a division of Control Data In article <1992Sep14.144741.27814@clsi.COM> kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: > >I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a >couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. Try using cylume (sp?) sticks. Try buying them at fishing stores. They look real cool. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <1992Sep16.232716.3780@syacus.acus.oz.au> Date: 16 Sep 92 23:27:16 GMT Organization: ACUS Australian Centre for Unisys Software, Sydney kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: : I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a : couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. : Has anyone tried this (or similar), does it work? You might be able to use a small NE555 timer chip with a capacitor, ultra- bright LED and small battery to create a small flasher unit. This circuit's dead easy, I built them as a kid. This arrangement shouldn't weigh very much (probably the weight of the cyalumes) and since the LED is only momentarily on (the capacitor determines the flash rate) they flash for days without running the battery down. A red and a green LED on each side of the kite would be pretty cool, sort of like aircraft lights. Steve Malikoff. steven@syacus.acus.oz.au = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: heisz@sparky.phy.queensu.ca (Jeff Heisz) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: Date: 17 Sep 92 17:06:54 GMT Organization: Department of Physics, Queens University, Kingston, Canada In article <1992Sep16.232716.3780@syacus.acus.oz.au> steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) writes: >kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: >: I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a >: couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. >: Has anyone tried this (or similar), does it work? > >You might be able to use a small NE555 timer chip with a capacitor, ultra- >bright LED and small battery to create a small flasher unit. This circuit's >dead easy, I built them as a kid. This arrangement shouldn't weigh very much >(probably the weight of the cyalumes) and since the LED is only momentarily >on (the capacitor determines the flash rate) they flash for days without >running the battery down. A red and a green LED on each side of the kite >would be pretty cool, sort of like aircraft lights. > >Steve Malikoff. >steven@syacus.acus.oz.au Actually, there is a special purpose chip for this particular purpose. It trickle charges the capacitor, and then dumps the charge into the LED for a flash. I think the part number is LM3909 - and shouldn't be expensive. If I remember correctly, the techncal literature for these chips mentioned being able to create a flasher unit which had a lifetime comparable to the shelf life of the battery (ie. years). Jeff Heisz, Department of Physics, Queens U., Kingston, CANADA (heisz@sparky.phy.queensu.ca) -> Who has the disk space for a .sig file? = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <15515@umd5.umd.edu> From: mwerling@terminus.umd.edu (Mike Werling) Date: 17 Sep 92 20:52:23 GMT Organization: University of Maryland, Dept. of Good Guys and Cool Stuff In article heisz@sparky.phy.queensu.ca (Jeff Heisz) writes: >In article <1992Sep16.232716.3780@syacus.acus.oz.au> steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) writes: >>kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: >>: I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a >>: couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. >>: Has anyone tried this (or similar), does it work? >> >>You might be able to use a small NE555 timer chip with a capacitor, ultra- -> Stuff about building LED timed lights deleted <- >for a flash. I think the part number is LM3909 - and shouldn't be >expensive. If I remember correctly, the techncal literature for these >chips mentioned being able to create a flasher unit which had a lifetime >comparable to the shelf life of the battery (ie. years). > >Jeff Heisz, Department of Physics, Queens U., Kingston, CANADA >(heisz@sparky.phy.queensu.ca) -> Who has the disk space for a .sig file? I am new to this group, but I will post anyway. I have seen bars of LED lights for sale in a kite catalog. They were supposed to flash sequentially. I don't know how sturdy they were (for those of us who are new at stunt flying, and don't miss the ground). But they do seem more reasonable for those of us without a flair for electrical engineering. Mike (Gotta fix this .sig someday) -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- | Mike Werling, Student Assistant | email:mwerling@umd5.umd.edu | | AT&T Teaching Theater | phone: (301)403-4620 | | Computer Science Center |--------------------------------| = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <15526@umd5.umd.edu> Date: 18 Sep 92 03:56:50 GMT Organization: University of Maryland at College Park In article <1992Sep16.232716.3780@syacus.acus.oz.au> steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) writes: >You might be able to use a small NE555 timer chip with a capacitor, ultra- >bright LED and small battery to create a small flasher unit. Wanna give some hints on how exactly to go about doing something like this to those of us who are engineeringly illiterate but know how to handle a soldering pencil? (hmmm...if you can hot cut, can you solder? ;-) Stuff I'm interested in: what kind of battery, how many legs does the chip have (ie, will I get confused looking at it?), are ultrabright LEDs hard to find and do I need a special kind, in what way does the type of capacitor change the frequency of the flashing, and so on and so forth. I'd much rather do something like this myself than go out and buy a light kit (start building your own kites and you get cocky enough to not want to buy *anything* from the industry! ). Any help, pointers, suggestions, etc., would be greatly appreciated! Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <1992Sep20.232021.22198@syacus.acus.oz.au> Date: 20 Sep 92 23:20:21 GMT Organization: ACUS Australian Centre for Unisys Software, Sydney (I wrote): : >kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: : >* I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a : >* couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. : >* Has anyone tried this (or similar), does it work? : >You might be able to use a small NE555 timer chip with a capacitor, ultra- : >bright LED and small battery to create a small flasher unit. This circuit's : : Actually, there is a special purpose chip for this particular purpose. : It trickle charges the capacitor, and then dumps the charge into the LED : for a flash. I think the part number is LM3909 - and shouldn't be : expensive. If I remember correctly, the techncal literature for these : chips mentioned being able to create a flasher unit which had a lifetime : comparable to the shelf life of the battery (ie. years). : : Jeff Heisz, Department of Physics, Queens U., Kingston, CANADA : (heisz@sparky.phy.queensu.ca) -> Who has the disk space for a .sig file? Yes, this *is* the correct chip, now Mr Heisz reminds me of it... I was using the 555's for other things and they require more support than the capacitor and resistor. However since posting this, I have since been told that you can now get the complete flasher unit built into the LED itself!!!! Wow! This would weigh practically nothing, an AAA battery or two might drive it. I don't think that they are ultra-bright LEDs though, and they cost a fair bit, but if someone tries it, let us know! Steven Malikoff. steven@syacus.acus.oz.au = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: jason@ab20.larc.nasa.gov (Jason Austin) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: Date: 21 Sep 92 14:35:59 GMT Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA In article <1992Sep20.232021.22198@syacus.acus.oz.au> steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) writes: -> (I wrote): -> : >kevin@clsi.COM (Kevin Cameron) writes: -> : >* I was thinking about flying my stunt kite at night, illuminating it with a -> : >* couple of small flashlights attached to the bridal. -> : >* Has anyone tried this (or similar), does it work? -> : >You might be able to use a small NE555 timer chip with a capacitor, ultra- -> : >bright LED and small battery to create a small flasher unit. This circuit's If you don't want to build a circuit to do this, the Into the Wind kite catalog has various LED sets for night flying. They cost between $20 and $52. Call 1-800-541-0314 for a free copy of the catalog. -- Jason C. Austin j.c.austin@larc.nasa.gov = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: ddr@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Douglas Rogers) Subject: Re: Flying at night Message-ID: <44451@skye.dcs.ed.ac.uk> Date: 21 Sep 92 15:20:50 GMT Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh The thing to use is the tiplights intended for fitting to fishing rods for night time use. They use button cells and an LED. Battery life about 50 hours and light up when taped onto a rod. Easy to fit easy to use and easy to throw when their dud. I got mine from Morgan kites but i'm sure they are available at most fishing shops. Douglas -- ============================================================================= Douglas Rogers MAIL: ddr@uk.ac.ed.dcs Tel: +44 (0)31-650 5172 (direct dial) Fax: +44 (0)31-667 7209 =============== So long and thanks for all the fish ========================= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =