1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2875
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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I've been muttering under my breath for months about the bright orange sodium vapor street light about 60 feet from my house. This puppy is bright enough to read by if I sit on the wall in front of my house. Needless to say it's bright enough to TOTALLY ruin any observing activity from the front yard or driveway which is a shame since it's the only place I can view to the W/SW. Right now there's some pretty nice stuff in that direction. In a moment of well contained rage/frustration I wrote letters to the local electric provider and to the city. You guessed it, NO RESPONSE, not even a FORM LETTER! GRRR! So I e-mailed my city councilman, got an automated response saying they received it and then NOTHING! GRRRRRR! That was a week ago and I was getting steamed until I checked my e-mail today and got a nice letter from my city councilman saying that CPS, our local utility, will be installing a shield on the light to block the glow from the light so it doesn't hit my front yard! 
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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JShrum
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 734
Loc: Bay City, MI, USA
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 That's pretty amazing...I've got a couple of pot-holes in the road near my driveway...could you get them fixed for me? 
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Jeff Shrum
Bay City, MI
CPC 1100 XLT
WO 2" Crayford 2-speed Focuser
OPT 2" Dielectric Diagonal
Sunset Astronomical Society
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1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2875
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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Take a picture of yourself kneeling in one of them, photoshop your legs away and e-mail it to your city councilman. Tell him your dog is in the other pothole to your right. Tell him the dog's a Great Dane!
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 15004
Loc: Kuiper Belt
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Seriously though, occasionally the system will surprise us and actually work!
Erecting a light blocking blind between yourself and the rays is also helpful, even if they put up a shield.
Regards and clear skies,
MikeG
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Specializing in exotic and rare meteorite falls.
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JShrum
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 734
Loc: Bay City, MI, USA
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Quote:
Seriously though, occasionally the system will surprise us and actually work!
There's a system?!?  
Healy's been on this beat ever since she saw the Light Pollution layer on San Antonio...I believe she's gonna go after it one light post at a time if she has to and I'm impressed by the tenacity.
Dark and Clear Skies...
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Jeff Shrum
Bay City, MI
CPC 1100 XLT
WO 2" Crayford 2-speed Focuser
OPT 2" Dielectric Diagonal
Sunset Astronomical Society
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RandyR
Enginerd
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 14168
Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL
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Karen,
Just hope they don't send you a bill for the shield and installation.
I HOPE this works out in your favor. Getting light pollution reduced is a major PITA.
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"Dark Skies & Great Viewing"
RandyR / NQ0R
GPS 9.25 XLT/Sky Align /FeatherTouch
TV85 w/FeatherTouch
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Spoonsize
Vendor/Clothing
Reged: 08/27/04
Posts: 2328
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Cool, I've had three shields installed in the vicinity....$75 bucks a pop....worth every penny if you ask me.
Here are the part numbers
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Steve Durham
www.margesmonograms.com
(Marge made me do it)
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30411
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Quote:
Take a picture of yourself kneeling in one of them, photoshop your legs away and e-mail it to your city councilman. Tell him your dog is in the other pothole to your right. Tell him the dog's a Great Dane!
I like the way you think.
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. - Galileo Galilei
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chanda7
super member
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 148
Loc: Southeast TN
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Way to work the system 
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Chanda
Orion XT8 Classic, ultra-cheap 10x50 binoculars
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Dougal
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/11/06
Posts: 951
Loc: Wake Forest, NC
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I feel for you Karen. I'm building a new house in a subdivision and of course they put the streetlight right across from my driveway. I also noted that my soon-to-be-neighbor has installed a bunch of those little solar powered lights all over his yard. Arggggggh! I've seen threads on here before about getting positive results when requesting streetlight shields put in place.
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imeridian
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/22/07
Posts: 893
Loc: South Central PA
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I wouldn't worry about those solar powered lights, the battery power doesn't last long once it's actually dark, plus they're typically not very bright to begin with. You could always put paper lunch bags over them, draw smiley faces on the bags, your neighbor will be perplexed and have a laugh.
Spoonsize, you had to pay for the shielding that should have been there from the start?!
I rather wish the street lights in my neighborhood were like those, but they're all those cheap Home Depot specials on the utility poles... shining light in every direction, except down onto the street. I'm going to give the power company a call and see if they can do something about the most offending one, there's some weird agreement between property owners and the power company here. I think the property owner buys the light and then the power company allows it to be put on the utility pole. Whatever it is, it leads to horrible lighting choices.
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Zhumell 10" Dobsonian
Don't know how to shorten links in posts? Click Here!
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FirstSight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/26/05
Posts: 2668
Loc: Raleigh, NC
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Below, I've merged two separate photos to better show for comparison:
a) on the LEFT is a streetlight about 150 yards further down my street that is NOT BACKSHIELDED.
b) on the RIGHT is the streetlight at one front corner of my property that IS BACKSHIELDED. My house and yard would, relative to the photo of the shielded light, be to the right and downward about 30 degrees.
THE ILLUSTRATED SHIELDING IS WHAT I GOT MY LOCAL POWER COMPANY TO DO FOR FREE, SIMPLY BY CALLING WITH A REQUEST (GIVING THE REASON THAT IT SHONE IN SOMEONE'S BEDROOM AT NIGHT).
There are some trees and bushes 10-20 feet behind the backshielded light, and there's only a dim amount of backglow on those plants, perhaps 20% of what there would be absent the shielding. BY CONTRAST, there are also some tall evergreen shurbs/small trees a similar distance, similar position behind the unshielded light up the street, and they are brightly bathed in that nasty yellow reflected sodium glow.
While from the rear and at side angles I can of course still see a portion of the lit front side of the streetlight, it is about 85% defanged, and makes possible enjoyably sitting on my considerable traditional-southern style front porch without any uncomfortable degree of glare. MORE IMPORTANT, with the help of some further intervening shrubbery between the light and my driveway observing spot, the streetlight is totally de-fanged from interfering with my observing - I get more annoyance from a little residual glare from the unshielded streetlight 200 feet the OTHER way up the street if I set up in some spots further down my driveway (to better access some sky quadrants) which spots still have *some* vegetative screening, but not as complete or tall as further up my driveway. All in all, not bad for a suburban driveway location.
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Chris M., aka "First Sight"
Orion XT12i Dob with Moonlite CR-2 focuser
WO Megrez 90 refractor on UniStar Light mount
Nikon 10x50 Binoculars
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1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2875
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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To tell the truth I really don't care if they charge me $70 to install it, it's about 100 times that in terms of the aggravation everytime I step outside after "dark". I really can sit on my wall and read the front page of the newspaper, the want ads are a bit difficult tho. My neighbors are all cool, when ever I've asked them to turn out a light cause I'm viewing from that area they have. Now if they even see me bring out the scope the lights go out. Couldn't ask for better people to leave near.
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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imeridian
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/22/07
Posts: 893
Loc: South Central PA
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I have the same problem, I can read the newspaper from my kitchen, without any of my own lights on. The thorn is the light is coming from a private school, and thus far have been unwilling to even return a phone call regarding the lighting. They did something to it right before school started that caused the light to shine directly at my house, significantly brighter than ever before.
I've attached a photo, so we can share the pain (hehe), as you can imagine with the leaves falling from the trees the problem has intensified greatly. Now the other two lights hidden by the trees are also in view. This photo corresponds to my south-western view, so it's truly a pain.
I'd be willing to pay for the shielding of these, but it'd be great if they'd at least bother to point them down at the parking lot, where it might actually do some good. If someone was breaking into the school, or vandalising it, I'd not be able to see to report it due to the glare.
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Zhumell 10" Dobsonian
Don't know how to shorten links in posts? Click Here!
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FirstSight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/26/05
Posts: 2668
Loc: Raleigh, NC
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Quote:
The thorn is the light is coming from a private school, and thus far have been unwilling to even return a phone call regarding the lighting. They did something to it right before school started that caused the light to shine directly at my house
WRITE them a letter stating that:
1) they are shining intense, unshielded light right at the windows of your house, including room(s) where people sleep;
2) you hope you and they could discuss and reach a mutually satisfactory solution that met both parties' needs in as inexpensive a way as possible, WITHOUT NEED FOR LITIGATION. [Phrase it EXACTLY like that.]
3) suggest some dates - either at the school, or after hours at the local Starbuck's, your treat for their choice of java.
Attach the exact photo you posted to us with your letter, addressed to the head administrator.
I THINK they will be paying attention to your problem, and soon.
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Chris M., aka "First Sight"
Orion XT12i Dob with Moonlite CR-2 focuser
WO Megrez 90 refractor on UniStar Light mount
Nikon 10x50 Binoculars
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imeridian
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/22/07
Posts: 893
Loc: South Central PA
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Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give that a try. I hope they'll be more willing to at least discuss the situation.
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Zhumell 10" Dobsonian
Don't know how to shorten links in posts? Click Here!
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starramus
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/01/04
Posts: 1124
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I have a neighbor who on occassion leaves on a floodlight on his patio. One night I retreived my mega candlepower spotlight from the garage and played it around his windows. He got the idea and shut off the flood.
A short while ago I was on the eastern side of the house oggling 17P/ Holmes for the umpteenth time. The elderly lady across the road however had her garage flood and main entrance lights on. She must have forgotten to turn them off after she returned home. I fought with it for awhile, but finally gave up in disgust and began disassembling my 10" SCT. After complete disassembly and upon returning from the storage shed in the back I noticed she had shut off the offensive lights. Oh well i am tired as heck anyway. Sometimes it almost seems they are deliberately antagonizing us. 
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Tom L
Reged: 01/07/04
Posts: 29880
Loc: Sunny Oregon
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I ask my neighbors to turn off the lights and most of the time they do.
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Tom 
Tele Vue 102mm f/8.6 on an EzTouch
Vixen 80mm f/5 A80SSWT on a grab-n-go mount
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RandyR
Enginerd
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 14168
Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL
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The problem at my house isn't lights, it's houses and trees. The only place I could really see much sky is on my back deck, and the way it's built, if a cat walks across the floor in the house, the deck vibrates... About my ONLY choice is to go somewhere...might as well go where it's really DARK.
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"Dark Skies & Great Viewing"
RandyR / NQ0R
GPS 9.25 XLT/Sky Align /FeatherTouch
TV85 w/FeatherTouch
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Carol L
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 5897
Loc: Tomahawk, WI 45N//89W
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Regarding porch and flood lights, some members have built portable walls which they surround themselves with. From what I've read, they work really well. 
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 *Step-by-Step Lunar Sketching*
CN Gallery
Photo Gallery
8"SCT ~ 120achro ~ 90Mak ~ 80ST ~ 11x70s ~ 22x100s
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