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Glowing revs?


ahofer

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we use Square Scotch Tape foam pads

I use the black scotch brand 1/2" velcro dots, one on the kite and other to the back of the battery w/ the wire from the LED under the adhesive, keeps it in place where I wan't itsmile.gif

Michael

Ok thanks!!

I've read through this post and through the Kite Lights topic, and I figured I better ask just in case someone came up with a new way to attach them since 2010...

I'm glad I can use something with an adhesive backing, I was dreading the thought of putting any more holes through the LE material for zip-ties.

Tonight should have strong enough winds to try them out!! :ph34r:

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the video had 'em mounted to magic-stick types of structures

and projecting the light onto the back of the sail,

with an all white sail, it's quite dramatic I must say!

This sounds like an interesting lighting approach. As I don't use magic-sticks, I am wondering if anyone has tried to mount bright LED's on the junctions of the bridle? Could this work to illluminate the pilot's side while glowing through for the audience side? Would a little weight on the bridle cause handling issues? I will have to see if I can come up with a fixture that might aim well enough while the lines are tensioned.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This sounds like an interesting lighting approach. As I don't use magic-sticks, I am wondering if anyone has tried to mount bright LED's on the junctions of the bridle? Could this work to illluminate the pilot's side while glowing through for the audience side? Would a little weight on the bridle cause handling issues? I will have to see if I can come up with a fixture that might aim well enough while the lines are tensioned.

I have found that you need a fairly strong light to have it show through one side of the Rev to the other, even in the dark. But it is possible!!

I don't think mounting anything to the bridle is going to work, because of the weight.

The bridle is there to amplify your inputs from the handles. Any force (force = mass * acceleration) acting against the bridle is going to translate into movement of the kite. If you add any weight to the bridle, other than the weight of your line, and you get that weight moving, it is going to negatively effect your inputs from the handles and make performance unpredictable.

This also means that when mounting lights to the sail/frame, try and find the stiffest areas (LE material near tips, heavy sail material near vertical spar bottom tips, LE frame or vertical spars). Try and keep lights off the sail material, except for near the vert tips.

Since the magic sticks mount perpendicular to the vertical spar, you have a nice structure to mount a light to and aim it right at the sail!

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Thanks again! So many variations on these LED finger lights......

You got me to thinking - my finger lights come apart with tiny philips screws, maybe I could loosen them enough to sandwich the line in between the 2 halves of the finger light case, and then torque 'em down just so.

Aimed at the sail of course. once the lines are taught it should keep the light pointed at the sail.

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May work just don't get a cutting pinch between the halves on line.

They will certainly point. Bounce a lot though. If you had orange and yellow aimed at a white kite it would easily look like dancing flames that's how much movement there is. I don't consider it "ideal" for a solution. The little alligator clips kept things more stable just easily lost if things came apart where they weren't supposed to.

One could glue the clip so it can't come apart where it swivels, but having the ability to swivel it made it easier to light the sail. Still nothing really "ideal" out there, just a lot of good products that someone has yet to properly adapt IMO.

Bart

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  • 1 month later...

Inspired by some posts in this topic, I built a rig for my Revs that uses a small accelerometer chip to control the color of some programmable LEDs based (mostly) on the kite's orientation. I got to test it in flight last weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and my wife took a few short video clips. It's hard to see much besides the lights themselves, so you can't tell how much the camera is panning. The software is still pretty primitive and I have some ideas for more interesting things it can do.

The whole rig weighs about 77 grams (under 3 oz) including an AAA lithium battery which gave me over an hour of light. Hopefully longer with some software tweaks. It's fully removable from the kite. In the video, it's attached to my full-sail 1.5 B. The balance is pretty good and the kite handled surprisingly well. I plan to take it back down next month for the "Kites with Lights" event at Jockey's Ridge. In the meantime I'll find out how it handles with less than OBX wind. :)

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That's really cool, a tad heavy - but VERY cool... Can't wait to see more!

Thanks! I definitely want to get the weight down. That's the main reason I didn't really fly it until I could get to the beach. The kite performed well in 6-10 mph or so, but it's not for light wind as currently built. I might have to sacrifice either some weatherizing or some brightness. It was bright enough to attract spectators from far down the beach and over the dunes under a full moon.

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Great idea! love it.

Inspired by some posts in this topic, I built a rig for my Revs that uses a small accelerometer chip to control the color of some programmable LEDs based (mostly) on the kite's orientation. I got to test it in flight last weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and my wife took a few short video clips. It's hard to see much besides the lights themselves, so you can't tell how much the camera is panning. The software is still pretty primitive and I have some ideas for more interesting things it can do.

The whole rig weighs about 77 grams (under 3 oz) including an AAA lithium battery which gave me over an hour of light. Hopefully longer with some software tweaks. It's fully removable from the kite. In the video, it's attached to my full-sail 1.5 B. The balance is pretty good and the kite handled surprisingly well. I plan to take it back down next month for the "Kites with Lights" event at Jockey's Ridge. In the meantime I'll find out how it handles with less than OBX wind. :)

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Inspired by some posts in this topic, I built a rig for my Revs that uses a small accelerometer chip to control the color of some programmable LEDs based (mostly) on the kite's orientation. I got to test it in flight last weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and my wife took a few short video clips. It's hard to see much besides the lights themselves, so you can't tell how much the camera is panning. The software is still pretty primitive and I have some ideas for more interesting things it can do.

The whole rig weighs about 77 grams (under 3 oz) including an AAA lithium battery which gave me over an hour of light. Hopefully longer with some software tweaks. It's fully removable from the kite. In the video, it's attached to my full-sail 1.5 B. The balance is pretty good and the kite handled surprisingly well. I plan to take it back down next month for the "Kites with Lights" event at Jockey's Ridge. In the meantime I'll find out how it handles with less than OBX wind. :)

w00t.gifw00t.gif Awesome setup Khal!

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Hi Andrew-

Awesome....

I'd like to see it up close and personal smile.gif .

What's up with the Kites with Lights event? Where's Jockey's Ridge?

I love night flying... with lights, of course!!!!!

Laura,

Jockey's Ridge is the large sand dune at Nag's Head on the outer banks of NC.

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Hi Andrew-

Awesome....

I'd like to see it up close and personal :) .

What's up with the Kites with Lights event? Where's Jockey's Ridge?

I love night flying... with lights, of course!!!!!

Laura,

Jockey's Ridge is the large sand dune at Nag's Head on the outer banks of NC.

Hi Laura,

Thanks. I'm not Andrew, I'm Brian. We met at MASKC in Ocean City. I seem to recall you and Wayne doing some night flying on the beach there. Lots of fun.

Wayne's got the right place. Here's some info about Jockey's Ridge from another thread. It's one of the premier flying spots in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Here's some info (with pictures) about the Kites with Lights Event there. Haven't been to one yet.

My first night flying was at WIKF (no S) in Wildwood, NJ last spring. They had music blasting, spotlights, tons of kites. It was great. Even my 4 year old loved it.

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Hi Laura,

Thanks. I'm not Andrew, I'm Brian. We met at MASKC in Ocean City. I seem to recall you and Wayne doing some night flying on the beach there. Lots of fun.

Wayne's got the right place. Here's some info about Jockey's Ridge from another thread. It's one of the premier flying spots in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Here's some info (with pictures) about the Kites with Lights Event there. Haven't been to one yet.

My first night flying was at WIKF (no S) in Wildwood, NJ last spring. They had music blasting, spotlights, tons of kites. It was great. Even my 4 year old loved it.

Hello Brian....

Sorry... I didn't go back a page on the thread 2.gif .

I was in Wildwood in the spring (Memorial Weekend). The night flys are always a lot of fun.

I really want to get down to Jockey's Ridge and a few other places in the area. Maybe next year!

Good luck with your lights. I'm interested in seeing the lighter version.....

See you in the spring.... WW or MIKE??

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Hello Brian....

Sorry... I didn't go back a page on the thread 2.gif .

No worries.

I was in Wildwood in the spring (Memorial Weekend). The night flys are always a lot of fun.

I really want to get down to Jockey's Ridge and a few other places in the area. Maybe next year!

I'll have to find out whose ear to bend at KHK about getting the Rev Riders invited down to one of the festivals next year.

Good luck with your lights. I'm interested in seeing the lighter version.....

See you in the spring.... WW or MIKE??

Thanks. I'll be working on it. WW/ECSKC is looking doubtful at this point, but I'll likely be at MIKE/MASKC. Hope to see you there!

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  • 1 year later...

Where do you find the 2030 leds? I had an outfit that two leds on both ends of a plastic tube with the battery on the center in a cut out area. It had a rubber band going through to run around to attach to the line. something similar to the thing Josh Lewis had but with the tube and two leds. Soon as I can find some leds and build the device I'll try and get a picture posted or a link to my photobucket.

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  • 11 months later...

Here is a picture using 15ft (a bit too short as you can see...) of EL Wire, powered by a single 14500 3.7v battery (the size of an AA but less heavy). The battery and inverter were taped to the center of the leading edge, and the wire threaded trough the bungies, with a piece of line supporting the bottom center. It is a bit wobbly, but I didn't have to alter the sail.

It would be better if it could be tied to the trailing edge.

The picture is from the pilot place, with 120's.

IMG_0651_800.jpg

Using EL Wire

post-3811-0-58337800-1441140330_thumb.jpg

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