[Elecraft] Headlights with red lighting

[Rich NE1EE]

On 2020-10-16 20:37:-0500, Dave Fugleberg wrote:

>Watching this thread with some interest, as I use my K3 to drive
>transverters when roving in VHF contests, and it's hard to see the front
>panel controls at night. I tried making a light with a bit of aluminum
>angle stock and a short strip of white LEDs (the kind that come on a long
>roll), but even with a dimmer in line it was too bright.  Maybe if I tried
>it with a short strip of red LEDs it would be better.

I'm active in ARES. My mobile radios are all Kenwood (that might change in the future if I go with KX2 for HF). Fortunately, all the front labels show up really well in red light. I use a really dim (dunno the lumens) light. I turn it on long enough to make changes to the radio, then turn it off. After reviewing recommendations here, I upgraded several of my lamps. "Low" power didn't mean really low in the past, and now I can get both low and red.

Princeton, one of my favorites, used to provide lifetime warranties, but I believe that all their products are now 5 years. I think that generally quality everywhere has seriously declined. OOH, with products getting upgraded all the time, maybe we should not care for some products. OTO, I don't want to go to use something and have it fail unexpected. That's why I keep more copies of some kinds of gear. I can say that my older Princeton TEC head lamps are not showing any wear. Very solid, but bulky, I admit, design. Unfortunately, not red, not dim enough.

They have a FRED model for 30USD that has pretty good reviews.

Didn't mean to post an ad for Princeton...I think that there are many good products available today.

The point is that I use red LEDs for a lot of night work, and wrt my radios, they all work well. I can't speak to many brands, however. But I suspect that they all use the same paint and display tech, so should all be fine. One point is that the kind of backlit LCD that can be turned off shows really well in red light, in my experience.