Theorems of night golf equipment

[Ol' Bob]

Originally Posted by Cerrgurry

...one of the batteries designed for cameras (old film type) are nothing more than 4-5 wrapped 3v ones in a series..

If anyone finds out the number of that battery, I'd like to know.

[The Course Bro]

The Disc Golf Beacon is a night fishing light (for bobbers) repurposed for disc golf. It's waterproof (got my 1 of 6 in the world champ Max out of the lake at Trojan during a night golf round there). They weigh nothing and with clear duct tape across the bottom, on the nipple, don't have much effect on flight. The secret to the duct tape is to use a lighter to heat (but not burn) the tape which melts the adhesive and then press it tight against the disc- WILL NOT COME OFF!!!

Radio Shack has single LEDs for sale 2-3 bucks each. Get some help from the staff to make sure you get the brightest red you can find. Red LEDs have the greatest tolerance to power variations so they will stay brighter longer as the battery runs down. There will be a required voltage on the LED pack so just match it up with the correct battery and tape one lead to each side of the battery for a great little light. As long as you are careful when taping/untaping the light from the battery and store the pair in a way the LED will not make contact with the battery, these last a long time.

Lighting the baskets: the solar LED lights are great especially now you can get cheap yard lights at Home Depot, Lowes, et. al., and mod them for the baskets. Another option is hunting around for electroluminecent dog collars/markers on sale. These are fabric strips that are essentially flexible LEDs. Replaceable batteries and portability are worth the extra money. Next Adventure has some on sale right now. The only drawback of the solar units is that the solar panels used in the solar LED lights degrade over time (ironically due to exposure to the sun) and require replacement of the entire unit.

I would love to use a low voltage system for lights if I could figure out how to run the wire for cheap.

Cheers,
Bro

[Ol' Bob]

Red light at night doesn't kill your night vision. White and other colors do.

The reason LED flashlights get so problematic is it is hard to make switches that don't get intermittent at such low current. This is the issue with low voltage lighting. Also, in DC circuits, voltage losses over distance are a real bite. The lower the voltage, the bigger your wire should be and the better your connections. Use solder, not crimp-ons or wire nuts. Use up what you save in watts in quality switches and fat wires.

[Cerrgurry]

Originally Posted by Ol' Bob

If anyone finds out the number of that battery, I'd like to know.

sorry they are 1.5v inside of the a23's...I think there are 8 inside if memory serves right.

[Ol' Bob]

I'm submarine trained. At sundown, we rigged for red.

[murray the brit]

if you want batteries the best place to go and get them is dollar tree 3 for a buck and you can get a pack off led for 2.99 at the shack

[Jason Philips]

For the baskets one possible solution is electro luminescent wire.

The wire is bright and is lit by battery packs of various sizes or direct current. Various EL Wire (The common term) and blinky items can be found on Michaels Lights http://www.michaelslights.com/products.htm

For a permanent installation it could be easy to attach the wire to the basket attaching the battery pack for night play.

Looking at the site there is a section with rope LED lighting that is solar charged. Fun fun.

[COV45]

1.5" mini glow sticks from www.extremeglow.com (green is best)
Lindy Nite Flite Lites from www.everythingdiscgolf.com (red is best)

Clear duct tape, clear packaging tape works okay, but harder to remove, use 2 strips in an "x" pattern to secure the mini glow stick / led light on the bottom and in the middle of your disc. Seems when they're placed on top they're more likely to come off when they hit something. Darker discs I'll use light up the top and bottom of the disc.

I bring 4 or 5 discs along.

Depending on how long we're going to play, we'll use 6" glow sticks to light all of the baskets or a mini led flashlight.
If we're playing a day round, then a night round, I will hang a 6" glow stick in the baskets as we're playing, so the next time around the baskets will all be lit up. If we're just playing glow for the night and we're not out there earlier, I have a few mini led flashlights that I taped some wire onto to form a hook, so when we get close to the basket, whoever's closet can light it up.

On real dark nights its nice to have a glow stick lit on the the side of your bag, it can easily get lost if you're taking time to look for a lost disc, then forget where you set your bag down!

When you play though, bring along extra glow sticks / lights and tape, once in awhile you'll hit a tree and they might begin to fall off or will completely come off.

They make the lights where you can punch a hole in the middle of a disc and push a light into the hole, but I've tried these, they turn your disc into garbage, they totally lose their natural flight pattern and its very frustrating!

If you have glow discs, finding an inexpensive 6" portable blacklight to wand over it before you throw works so much better than a camera flash.

[Disc Golf Live]

Originally Posted by murray the brit

if you want batteries the best place to go and get them is dollar tree 3 for a buck and you can get a pack off led for 2.99 at the shack

Ding ding ding. If you don't want to order online and wait for delivery, Radio Shack 20 pack misc LEDs ($3) + Dollar store batteries = affordable lights in a hurry. Almost didn't see the 20 packs at my store among the 3 trays of LEDs, glad I did.

About half of the 20 LEDs in the pkg I bought at Radio Shack will do the trick, some of them were not ideal for various reasons. Nonetheless, a way better deal than the other various single or double packs, all costing at least a buck and a half for one unit. And at the dollar store around the corner there were plenty of 3v watch-type batteries to be had for pennies on the dollar compared to RS prices. (I wouldn't put one in my watch or camera, but they should do fine for night golf...)

As much as I like "pure" night golf using only glow discs, I find the LEDs to be a great way to extend the playing hours. No more waiting through twilight for it to get dark enough to see the glow discs. And frankly, they're easier to find in most cases.

Joe

[Mikk]

Made my led lights last night. Worked perfect. I picked up the led asortment at the shack and I aleady had the batteries. I found that the red leds worked the best and that they were the best for any of my champ discs. Even the mildly darker colors and semi-opaque elite-z plastic as well. I just soldered 2 leds facing away from each other and taped the batt inbetween the middle-like a sandwich. Then taped to the disc. I used clear packing tape I had from when I moved. Lasted all night!! Quick easy and simple. Thanks for the idea!!

[jshrack]

Sounds like you found a quick and easy method.

I might suggest incorporating a small resistor to reduce the amperage.

Remember your Ohm's law equation: V=IR. Change the resistance (with a constant voltage) and you will be an inverse change in amperage.

Put in a 5-10 ohm resistor and you will get a VERY SLIGHT reduction in light output and a noticeably longer battery life.

Also, check the rated output for your LED's... that 20 pack was not among the brightest output I saw from the bunch at the shack.
If you buy a two pack of the 5mm UV LED's they have an amazingly higher light output... thus the slightly higher price.

=)

ENJOY!!!

[jshrack]

For those of you who decide to use basket lights, rather than glow sticks...

Grab some of those DOT lights and set them on top of the baskets pointing down. The LED ones are more expensive but create much better light.

If you have any issues with the light in your eyes just build a little paper cone, cut off the top, and line it with aluminum foil.
Fashion it over the DOT light to direct the rays down on the chains.

Use rechargeable batteries and pick 'em up when finishing the round.

[Burge]

Originally Posted by Mikk

Made my led lights last night. Worked perfect. I picked up the led asortment at the shack and I aleady had the batteries. I found that the red leds worked the best and that they were the best for any of my champ discs. Even the mildly darker colors and semi-opaque elite-z plastic as well. I just soldered 2 leds facing away from each other and taped the batt inbetween the middle-like a sandwich. Then taped to the disc. I used clear packing tape I had from when I moved. Lasted all night!! Quick easy and simple. Thanks for the idea!!

Could you post a pic of this little gizmo?

[jevon]

I soldered LEDs in the same fashion. They work great for a while, but eventually the legs will break from all the taping/untaping. Ol' Bob soldered directly to the battery and incorporated a switch to alleviate this problem but I'm lazy and just switched to a single LED.

When you go shopping for the LEDs be prepared to spend some time and be overwhelmed. I would recommend getting the brightest red you can, something over 700mcd, and a narrow angle of visibility. I bought many types to test a couple years ago and these are my preference.

If you have champion glow plastic the UV LEDs work well. It gives the disc a slight glow and although not as bright while flying, you'll be amazed how it stands out when you get within 30 feet of it.

[Jonesy]

glow discs and a portable battery powered blacklight. the only way to go.
________
Ttr50

If you want cheap good quality batteries and leds go to Digikey.com. They sell in bulk and are fast to ship. I forget the numbers but it was cheap. They have a red led that works wonderfully.

Originally Posted by The Brodys

If you want cheap good quality batteries and leds go to Digikey.com. They sell in bulk and are fast to ship. I forget the numbers but it was cheap. They have a red led that works wonderfully.

16 cents for leds if you buy 100. And 24 cent batteries if you buy 50. I found this to be cheaper better quality than dollar store deal and thats if you can find a dollar store with them.

You will be able to try this out first hand if you attend the glow dubs at the Flying L this weekend.

[Altophish]

http://www.nightdiscgolf.com/

they have a couple of good ideas here too.

[chris7graham]

Originally Posted by Altophish

http://www.nightdiscgolf.com/

they have a couple of good ideas here too.

thats the way i do it.And Ive had some of my leds for like 5 years now with only one battery replace ment