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randtek
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/18/05
Posts: 694
Loc: Central Indiana
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I have been doing most of my observing lately using my laptop and stellarium, no red flashlight needed. I was looking at my copy of "Practical Skywatching" By David H. Levy and Dr. John O'Byrne and decided to use some of the "Star Hop" charts. I could not find the red filter for my AA Mag-Lite. I grabbed a few inches of mi wife's "GLAD Press'n SealŪ" wrap and a red permanent marker. I covered the end of the flashlight with a small piece of the wrap. (This wrap has a slightly sticky side that will stay on securely, but peels off easily when needed.) I colored the portion of the wrap over the flashlight lens with the red marker. It seems to write very well on this wrap. I continued this until I had about 8 layers of wrap, each one colored with the red marker. It worked superbly, and you can control the brightness by adding more layers until you have the illumination level you want. The wrap also diffuses the light some, so you have a softer glow, not a sharp spot.
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Randy
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
George Bernard Shaw
SkyQuest XT10
Homebuilt Surplus Shed 102mm f8.8 refractor (still under construction-OTA done, mount in work)
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chalker
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/14/05
Posts: 586
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Thats pretty cool. I tried something similar with the spare plastic lens that come with the minimags, but when adding layers of marker, it would "take-up" the previously dry layer.
Doing separate films solves that, brilliant!
I now use some 3M electrocut sign sheeting in transparent red ( as whats on a Stop Sign ) its great in a few layers.
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Orion StarMax 127
Meade Lightbridge 10" Deluxe
Toronto CSC
Edited by chalker (07/30/08 12:13 PM)
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Almagne
member
Reged: 02/25/08
Posts: 28
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I use a red cellophane wrapper from a cough drop. Placed over the lens of a small flashlight, it works perfectly.
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wojo
super member
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 148
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Try tail light repair tape , from autozone, or auto parts stores.
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randtek
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/18/05
Posts: 694
Loc: Central Indiana
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Quote:
Try tail light repair tape , from autozone, or auto parts stores.
It was the fact that I did not have any of this tape, and didn't want to go out and buy some that helped me come up with this option. I have used that tape before, and it works pretty well. I do, however, remember it being fairly thick. The Press and Seal wrap is extremely thin and conforms to uneven surfaces (such as the ridge around the front of a flashlight that holds the lens in) much better than any tape I have found. It also removes easily, and with no sticky tape residue, when observing is done.
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Randy
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
George Bernard Shaw
SkyQuest XT10
Homebuilt Surplus Shed 102mm f8.8 refractor (still under construction-OTA done, mount in work)
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