(meteorobs) overhead (car) light

[Gregg Lobdell]

I have several solutions to the overhead car light problem:

1)  PULL THE FUSE!
Figure out which fuse in the car includes the overhead lights, and  
pull it out for the duration of your observing session.  Every car  
I've tried this on will still run fine.  You may have to reset the  
radio stations on your fancy car stereo after you put the fuse back  
in, but that's better than annoying your observing neighbors, or  
having a flat battery.  This is also useful on car camping trips.

2)  Replace your overhead light with a red LED bulb
LED bulbs are the wave of the future, and are available in many  
standard bulb bases and colors, usually including red.  And they use  
a fraction of the power of regular bulbs.  I googled "led bulb car  
auto red" and came up with http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ 
store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR  I have no affiliation with, or  
interest in this company, and cannot vouch for their customer  
service.  They just seemed to have a wide selection.

3)  Buy a GMC Envoy
I recently went on vacation to Hawaii, and happened to rent this  
particular model.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the  
overhead light did not come on unless requested.  This came in very  
handy when we visited the Mauna Kea Visitor's Center and did some  
observing from there, and from another location.  Maybe it was a  
special setting, but as long as I didn't lock the car, the lights  
stayed off, even with the doors open.  A very cool feature, at least  
to me.

Clear skies,

Gregg Lobdell


On Jan 12, 2006, at 6:44 PM, Dave Hostetter wrote:

>> More annoying in my 2002 car is that there's no off switch for the
>> interior white light.  That's a pain for observing on the Downs,
>> especially if it affects other astronomers.  There always used to be
>> three positions: off, on, and come on/go off when the door is
>> opened/closed.
>
> And I thought I was the only one driven crazy by this!  Before you  
> start
> taping red filters on your car, though, take a look at the knob that
> controls your car's dashboard lights.  The one on my wife's car  
> defeats the
> overhead light if I turn the dashboard lights off until the knob  
> clicks into
> the off position.  I seldom drive her car so it took me a couple of  
> years to
> discover this -- it's not in the manual.  It was a pleasant discovery!