Ed D
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/30/10
Loc: Sunny South Florida
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: star drop]
#5502658 - 11/03/12 05:01 PM
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It's pretty hard to get into a refrigerator to rewire it....the walls are filled with hard foam insulation.
In my refer, I can drill a hole directly from the outside of the fridge into the back side of the cutout for the door switch. I'll post pics when I do it.
Red Green would be proud of you. (Please unplug the refrigerator before proceeding.)
Ed D
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FeynmanFan
sage
Reged: 02/18/11
Loc: N Colo front range
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: jrbarnett]
#5502660 - 11/03/12 05:03 PM
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Or drink it pure and black. 
- Jim
+1 If you've got good coffee, this is truly the only way to drink it. 
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Tori
sage
Reged: 01/10/12
Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: star drop]
#5502962 - 11/03/12 08:48 PM
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It's pretty hard to get into a refrigerator to rewire it....the walls are filled with hard foam insulation.
In my refer, I can drill a hole directly from the outside of the fridge into the back side of the cutout for the door switch. I'll post pics when I do it.
Red Green would be proud of you. (Please unplug the refrigerator before proceeding.)
Only if I use duct tape to attach the switch. ;-)
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orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)
Reged: 10/20/07
Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Littlegreenman]
#5504368 - 11/04/12 06:43 PM
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I have a handy little eye patch from the eye Dr when I got something in my eye. works well.
I also hate it when IDIOTS pull up in their car and sit there with Headlights on, or even turn them on bright to help you see better (true story) ARRRGH glad I sold my guns
when the baby was born!!!!
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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: orion61]
#5504411 - 11/04/12 07:19 PM
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I don't know how many times I had to check my annoyance if not anger with the next oaf to show up with the headlights ablaze myself. It is obvious to me that non-astronomers just do not know the effect of being nailed with a bright light has on people who are dark adapted, I cannot see anything for several seconds. Everytime they do that, my night vision takes at least 20 or 30 minutes to return. This is why I look for places to observe as FAR away from everyone else as I can, I am reclusive to begin with and there are times when I want to be left alone. An aging and grouchy bear like me is not the most social of creatures.
Taras
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tomcody
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/06/08
Loc: Titusville, Florida
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Tori]
#5505609 - 11/05/12 03:38 PM
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It's pretty hard to get into a refrigerator to rewire it....the walls are filled with hard foam insulation.
In my refer, I can drill a hole directly from the outside of the fridge into the back side of the cutout for the door switch. I'll post pics when I do it.
How about a red bulb for the fridge? years ago red bulbs were common in dark rooms for film processing, I bet camera supply stores still have them.
See:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/15766-REG/Delta_35110_Brightlab_Univers...
Rex
Edited by tomcody (11/05/12 03:40 PM)
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GaryJCarter
sage
Reged: 06/06/09
Loc: Fairview, Texas
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: tomcody]
#5505736 - 11/05/12 05:36 PM
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The one annoyance that seems to be prevalent at outreach events of late are the kids wearing sneakers equipped with motion fired high luminosity LED lights.
WOW are those bright to the dark adapted eyes!
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Matt Lindsey
sage
Reged: 06/06/08
Loc: Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Tori]
#5505840 - 11/05/12 07:10 PM
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Perhaps my most coveted piece of astronomy equipment is a handheld vacuum-insulated thermos. Getting up at 2 am? Planning a long observing run (or any observing for that matter)? Make the coffee and add cream before bedtime and pour into the thermos. Stays hot for hours.
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Tori
sage
Reged: 01/10/12
Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Matt Lindsey]
#5506150 - 11/05/12 11:11 PM
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In my case, a red light is a little impractical because the other four people in my house need to see inside the fridge during the day and a bright enough red light might as well be white.
A thermos or leaving the cream out or something... they're great ideas. The problem is that I'd only go to sleep and get up at 2 if the sky was cloudy but forecast to be clear and stable at 2. All too often, despite the predictions, it's not clear or the seeing is horrible, so after looking out the window I just hop back into my warm bed... I'd hate to waste the coffee and I don't want the cream to go bad faster by leaving it out to get warm.
On the special occasion that it does clear as expected, it's easy to make coffee, and besides I need a few minutes to wake up. The only challenge is that darn fridge.
And in a week or two I'll solve that problem 
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Alvin Huey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/18/05
Loc: NorCal
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: FirstSight]
#5506260 - 11/06/12 01:35 AM
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Your alarm goes off. It's 2 am. You look outside, giddy to see steady little pinpoints of light everywhere, just as the clear sky chart told you it would be. You've been clouded in for weeks! You sneak into the kitchen to make coffee before going outside; You've done it so many times you can easily do it in the dark. Your eyes have been shut in the dark house for six hours, so you can make out the tiniest shadows as you move around your kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee fills the air as you open the refrigerator to get the cream... 
Learn to drink coffee black when you're about to go out to observe, and that cures the problem.
Absolutely...pure unadulterated coffee. That is how I drink mine. 
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sissyc
member
Reged: 10/23/12
Loc: Arkansas Ozarks
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Alvin Huey]
#5507905 - 11/07/12 04:37 AM
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Well, read your post, and thought no way would that happen to me,,, coffee at 2 am. Well, I had just started this observing, enjoying being outside late at night. Looking at Jupiter, just giddy! Drink my last swig of beer, teeter into the dark house, throw the beer bottle away (still in the dark), open up the fridge to retrieve another,,,, dam!! Felt like someone shot me. Took me a few minutes to calm down and quit kicking myself! Very annoying! MUST PLAN AHEAD!
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Pinbout
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/22/10
Loc: Montclair
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: sissyc]
#5507964 - 11/07/12 06:26 AM
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for some reason when I first saw this post I thought of this as the most annoying way to loose dark adaptation...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58jkqqgVV08
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Aquarist
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Tom and Beth]
#5519676 - 11/14/12 03:13 PM
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Well, if caffeine is the issue, Red Bull works well.
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uniondrone
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/05/09
Loc: Streetlight Archipelago
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Tony Flanders]
#5519703 - 11/14/12 03:26 PM
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Skip the coffee.
Sorry. If I wake up in the early a.m. -- no coffee, no observing.
Caffiene in tablet form works amazingly well. 
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Meadeball
sage
Reged: 10/22/12
Loc: Midlothian, Virginia
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Tom and Beth]
#5520430 - 11/15/12 12:56 AM
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A shot o' Jack at 2 a.m. would put me right back in the cozy warm sack. 
Here's an idea -- Buy an insulated coffee carafe from Wal-Mart or Target. I have one that will swallow up almost an entire pot of coffee and keep it hot -- I'm not exaggerating here -- for almost two entire days on my kitchen counter. Amazing. Since I like cream & sweetener, I often pre-sweeten & cream the entire carafe so I can just pour & go throughout the day.
If you know you're going to get up and observe (you did have to set an alarm), you could always make your coffee the evening before, put it in the carafe ready-to-go, and then all ya gotta do is pour it in a cup. Heck, take the carafe outside with ya.
The nice thing about a carafe over a thermos is that you can use the carafe at home all the time and for a multitude of purposes. I work at home and use mine every day. Many people aren't aware how much energy is required to keep their coffee warm on their coffee makers for several hours. Mine pulls 800 watts when that little hot plate is on! Why pay your electric company to keep your coffee warm all day? I turn my maker off the moment the coffee's finished brewing and pour it into the carafe.
Meade
Edited by Meadeball (11/15/12 01:09 AM)
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csrlice12
Postmaster
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: sissyc]
#5520765 - 11/15/12 09:00 AM
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Well, read your post, and thought no way would that happen to me,,, coffee at 2 am. Well, I had just started this observing, enjoying being outside late at night. Looking at Jupiter, just giddy! Drink my last swig of beer, teeter into the dark house, throw the beer bottle away (still in the dark), open up the fridge to retrieve another,,,, dam!! Felt like someone shot me. Took me a few minutes to calm down and quit kicking myself! Very annoying! MUST PLAN AHEAD!
See, I told you a cooler was mandatory astronomy equipment!! 
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dscarpa
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/15/08
Loc: San Diego Ca.
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: Tori]
#5521737 - 11/15/12 07:04 PM
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I keep my observing eye closed when doing something that requires white light. My brain seems to deal with having one dark adapted eye pretty well. The problem is my non observing eye isn't very good reguardless of the lighting. David
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av8or
member
Reged: 10/24/11
Loc: Vista, CA
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Re: Annoying way to lose dark adaption
[Re: dscarpa]
#5522104 - 11/15/12 11:16 PM
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Once at a star party, I used the eye patch over one eye method while entering a white light room. It worked fantastic but once I went back under dark skies, I felt like I was blind in one eye!! Couldn't believe the difference it made.
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