LED's in navigation lights will change their color.

[rptb1]

Depends on at what distance you wish to be seen.

Perhaps, but I've read two accounts by ship captains complaining that masthead tricolour lights are harder to see than deck level lights. I'll save them next time I see them as this discussion seems to come up regularly. Since LEDs are cheap to run and easy to rig I'm considering the rarely-used red over green at the masthead plus deck level directional lights. That ought to do it!

 

[st599]

Very old trick question - what is the colour of the glass in a starboard nav light.?
The correct answer is BLUE (ish). This is because oil lamps and electric bulbs tend to give off a yellowish light. Blue and yellow make green.
If the light source is changed to a very white led then the nav light will appear blue (ish).
I see this effect frequently in updated traffic lights.

A blue filter removes the non-blue spectrum. It isn't additive.

 

[cowpat]

A little test this afternoon,

Switching between some white and green cree LEDs

Making your own LED lights isn't that tricky and costs little.

The blue light we see was presumably the result of using a white LED. This is exactly the result I found.--(green)
You show this very neatly, but where can you find the green festoon LED that I presume you must have used? Chris.

 

[cowpat]

Very old trick question - what is the colour of the glass in a starboard nav light.?
The correct answer is BLUE (ish). This is because oil lamps and electric bulbs tend to give off a yellowish light. Blue and yellow make green.
If the light source is changed to a very white led then the nav light will appear blue (ish).
I see this effect frequently in updated traffic lights.

Very interesting. That explains a lot. Thanks. Chris.

 

[cowpat]

I seem to recall when I changed all of ours, I had to specify whether the LED was for port, starboard or stern light - they were not interchangeable. Silly question but you gave fitted the right one? Although i have no idea how the others would make a blue light.

Question. Where did you go to get specific Port/Starboard LED's?
I simply used white cob 43mm festoon ones. Chris.

 

[GHA]

The blue light we see was presumably the result of using a white LED. This is exactly the result I found.--(green)
You show this very neatly, but where can you find the green festoon LED that I presume you must have used? Chris.

Yep, white goes blue, green stays green.
If you click on the highlighted "white and green LEDs" it should take you to RS who sell the leds (also available elsewhere)
And a pretty useless how to thread now photobucket has changed..
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?438936-DIY-anchor-light

 

[lpdsn]

Since LEDs are cheap to run and easy to rig I'm considering the rarely-used red over green at the masthead plus deck level directional lights. That ought to do it!

I've considered that but the biggest problem is getting the required separation. I reckon having half lights either side of the mast above the forestay would do it. The light from LEDs is quite directional so getting an even all round light might be difficult, but it would still really supplement deck level nav lights. Probably one of those ideas that keeps getting trampled by more pressing jobs joining the list.

 

[rptb1]

I've considered that but the biggest problem is getting the required separation. I reckon having half lights either side of the mast above the forestay would do it. The light from LEDs is quite directional so getting an even all round light might be difficult, but it would still really supplement deck level nav lights. Probably one of those ideas that keeps getting trampled by more pressing jobs joining the list.

I have over a meter of mast above the top of the yard with no other obstructions but the halyard, so I'm planning to experiment with wrapping strips of red, green, and white LEDs around it. I should be able to space out the red and green by 1m.

Note that the rules for the red and green lights aren't quite as strict as for masthead lights. They need to be placed where they "can best be seen" but not "free of all obstructions" and only "near the top of the mast".

Since my boat is under 7m I'm not actually required to show any fixed lights at all! Currently I hoist a utility light on my burgee halyard (where your forestay is) as my "all round white" which isn't required to be at the masthead, under power or at anchor.

Whether an LED strip wrapped around the mast is "a light" might be debated, but since they're all all-round and unambiguous I don't think it's a problem.

I'll be happy to listen to criticism!

 

[lpdsn]

I have over a meter of mast above the top of the yard with no other obstructions but the halyard, so I'm planning to experiment with wrapping strips of red, green, and white LEDs around it. I should be able to space out the red and green by 1m.

Note that the rules for the red and green lights aren't quite as strict as for masthead lights. They need to be placed where they "can best be seen" but not "free of all obstructions" and only "near the top of the mast".

Since my boat is under 7m I'm not actually required to show any fixed lights at all! Currently I hoist a utility light on my burgee halyard (where your forestay is) as my "all round white" which isn't required to be at the masthead, under power or at anchor.

Whether an LED strip wrapped around the mast is "a light" might be debated, but since they're all all-round and unambiguous I don't think it's a problem.

I'll be happy to listen to criticism!

I was thinking of the LED truck sidelights that are readily available these days and are reasonably water proof. I'm not sure you can get the strip lights suitably protected from the elements, but willing to be corrected.

I've about 10' of mast above the forestay so plenty of space to fit with good clearance between the red and green. I am concerned though about holes in the mast at that point, even very small ones (mast head kite - drawings show jumpers and runners but she was built without them).

 

[rptb1]

I'm not sure you can get the strip lights suitably protected from the elements, but willing to be corrected.

Well, they claim to be IP65 waterproof, and since they're non-essential I will give them a try. I can easily reach the top of my mast by folding it down or climbing the sail battens, so it's not too much of a pain to experiment.

I am concerned though about holes in the mast at that point, even very small ones (mast head kite - drawings show jumpers and runners but she was built without them).

Ah, the joys of a low-stress mast!

I've made this sketch to show what I'm on about: https://imgur.com/a/camPI

 

[lpdsn]

I've made this sketch to show what I'm on about: https://imgur.com/a/camPI

Looks good. Obviously I assume the white won't be lit when the red over green is shown.

One thing I've just thought of, if the green is obscured but the red is not could that cause confusion?

 

[rptb1]

One thing I've just thought of, if the green is obscured but the red is not could that cause confusion?

A good point. I'll take a good look at the way the sail obscures the mast and see if this is likely to happen. Thanks!

 

[Polly's Kettle]

The light from my pulpit bicolour with warm white LED installed is definitely a blue-ier green than when it had an incandescent bulb. This worries some people a lot, but since it's still definitely green I can live with it.

I wonder if you have just solved a problem for me. I am red/green colour blind, which in my case perversely now means that I struggle to distinguish between white and green. But I didn't used to struggle that way - it was just that the reds are more faint.

Perhaps the bluer tinge of the new LED nav lights is what I am struggling with - they end up looking white to me. Or more accurately - the use of LED replacement lights behind a lens designed for incandescent. If that were proved (which clearly it isn't as far as the cause of my own particular struggle goes), then I would just remind that not everyone has perfect eyesight, and you probably wouldn't want to live with the wrong colour if it meant me thundering into you when I thought it was your stern light!! That said, as the whole industry swaps across from incandescent to LED, I bet that there are loads of boats out there with exactly this problem but are unaware of it, as we aren't all au fait with wavelength effects.

(Before I get a stream of helpful finger wagging, being aware of my disability I have several coping mechanisms to make sure that I never actually do mistake a light).

BTW - Those wavelength charts are very interesting - a picture says so much more than the words on bulb boxes.

 

[JumbleDuck]

... If that were proved (which clearly it isn't as far as the cause of my own particular struggle goes), then I would just remind that not everyone has perfect eyesight ...

Of course, and for that reason the choice of red and green for port and starboard was probably, in retrospect, a little unwise ...

It would be interesting to know how you perceive my bicolor. If you're ever on the Clyde, let me know and we can do an experiment.

 

[JohnGC]

Of course, and for that reason the choice of red and green for port and starboard was probably, in retrospect, a little unwise ...

It would be interesting to know how you perceive my bicolor. If you're ever on the Clyde, let me know and we can do an experiment.

There is a also the interesting point of our colour perception of faint light. For those of us who are not colour blind it goes something like this.

For a number of separate, different coloured light sources.
When the lights are too faint to distinguish colour, we see them as white.
As they get brighter, we can first separate red (makes it a reasonable choice for stop, danger or give way).
As the brightness further increases we can distinguish green and yellow from those remaining but cannot distinguish between green and yellow.
Next is red, green and yellow from the rest.

So in respect of distinguishing faint light coming out of the fog, red and green aren't too bad a choice.

I have a friend who cannot distinguish traffic light red from sodium street light orange. Not a good thing when approaching Newcastle from the east! He has to pay careful attention to the light geometry since the traffic lights have street lights for background as you drive down the hill.

I have also heard, that around 1 in 4 men have some colour blindness. Whereas it's more like 1 in 12 woman. Which tells me two things;
1. The woman are best on the night watches!
2. Never argue with a woman over colour (in my case, particularly anything at the top of the spectrum).

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have also heard, that around 1 in 4 men have some colour blindness.

William Stroudley was locomotive superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, and stamped his imprimatur on the railway, by designing a new shade of green to be applied to its locomotives. Unfortunately, Stroudley was red-green colour blind. Here's a locomotive painted in Stroudley's Improved Engine Green: