Fluorescent street lighting

[Telecolor 3007]

Still beats me how they work fine at minus 20-25 degress Celsius. In an 1962 book I found out that the ones used in Romania worked 'till -15 ° C.

[init4fun]

I would like to commend Telecolor3007 for your command of the English language . I know of native English speakers who couldn't spell "Fluorescent" to save their lives and to see and read your well written posts time after time made me want to say "Great Job" . I realize with the availability of "spell check" anyone SHOULD be able to produce great writing in any chosen language but a quick look around most English speaking forums will prove that it's usually the native English speakers who make the most blunders . Your well written posts make them a pleasure to respond to , rather than the "seek & find" often played while reading some native speaker's posts .

So again , great job , and in this case I'm sorry I don't have much to add to your Fluorescent street lighting discussion . For a guy as technically minded as myself I'm now kinda surprised I've never really given much thought as to what's lighting the roads beyond my two (or four) headlights .....

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by init4fun

I would like to commend Telecolor3007 for your command of the English language . I know of native English speakers who couldn't spell "Fluorescent" to save their lives and to see and read your well written posts time after time made me want to say "Great Job" . I realize with the availability of "spell check" anyone SHOULD be able to produce great writing in any chosen language but a quick look around most English speaking forums will prove that it's usually the native English speakers who make the most blunders . Your well written posts make them a pleasure to respond to , rather than the "seek & find" often played while reading some native speaker's posts .

So again , great job , and in this case I'm sorry I don't have much to add to your Fluorescent street lighting discussion . For a guy as technically minded as myself I'm now kinda surprised I've never really given much thought as to what's lighting the roads beyond my two (or four) headlights .....

Well, I proved your point, I needed spellcheck to spell "fluorescent."

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by init4fun

I would like to commend Telecolor3007 for your command of the English language . I know of native English speakers who couldn't spell "Fluorescent" to save their lives and to see and read your well written posts time after time made me want to say "Great Job" . I realize with the availability of "spell check" anyone SHOULD be able to produce great writing in any chosen language but a quick look around most English speaking forums will prove that it's usually the native English speakers who make the most blunders . Your well written posts make them a pleasure to respond to , rather than the "seek & find" often played while reading some native speaker's posts .

So again , great job , and in this case I'm sorry I don't have much to add to your Fluorescent street lighting discussion . For a guy as technically minded as myself I'm now kinda surprised I've never really given much thought as to what's lighting the roads beyond my two (or four) headlights .....

No kidding, and some native English speakers are such poor spellers that they give the impression of never having finished the third grade.

As for your car, am I correct in guessing it is equipped with sealed beam headlights? I don't see many vehicles that are old enough to be so equipped.

I don't recall seeing any fluorescent street lights, but I did get an antique three-tube T12 fluorescent fixture for free last week. Two tubes were done for but the ballast is fine. It has a rapid-start ballast but it also has knock-out plates for preheat starters. It's filthy right now but I cleaned a small part of it to see how it will turn out; it's in very good condition, perhaps all that filth helped to preserve it. The fixture was made by Electrolier Manufacturing Company in Montréal; I haven't been able to find out when they were in business.

[zeno]

I vaguely remember fluorescents at gas stations & private lots.
They used tubes & were set at a 45 deg angle.
The big thing especially out west is the BIG telescopes can be
made useless by some lighting for some types of research.
Been a big push for years to change out the bad lighting & make
it much more directional. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/abo...s-intermediate
I sure would like darker skies. You can still see the milky here way but
the sky glow is closing in on us.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[Tim R.]

Saw this one in Santa Monica, CA a week ago. There’s quite a few of these old fixtures out there still, often hidden in plain view.

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

Still beats me how they work fine at minus 20-25 degress Celsius. In an 1962 book I found out that the ones used in Romania worked 'till -15 ° C.

I was googling around during lunch and this post came to mind when I found something interesting.

Apparently GE offered some sort of a "cold"climate" option where a thermostat and heater was installed in series with the line power or photocell. You would set the photocell to turn on while it was still a bit brighter outside, or presumably turn the lights on earlier and it would first activate a heater in the lamp head to get the internals and the tubes above freezing, then the thermostat would satisfy and while switching the heater off the lamp would switch on and the ballast would take over from there.