I remember the "Problem" cobrahead being your profile pic for awhile but I only saw the shoebox once...I THINK it was in the infamous Vince pony thread...

ummm it's IDA , not DSA

love the humor!!!

Thanks, yeah I know it's supposed to be called IDA but it always reminds me of this instead. I wonder where did DSA come from though...

Ironically, it came from ME (yes me, as in Gull, Jace, Jason, Dirty Poopy Bird) ....I at first thought it was only called Dark Sky Association but I was wrong it was International Dark-Sky Association!

i honestly don't have much of a problem with the IDA people— they've got *some* good points, such as having a 250 watt maximum on sodium vapour bulbs— there's really no reason to have any light that's brighter than that, even on main roads. the problem arises when they want the light *only* on the street surface, when streetlights are pretty obviously designed to illuminate sidewalks, gutters and alleyways so that pedestrians and cyclists aren't being run over. in many ways they're right— a good streetlight accentuates the nighttime, but doesn't make it like daytime. i think there's a lot of common ground to be found between the two groups.

The other problem with the group is they believe banning light sources would solve the problem.....but it didn't
.....IDA is anti mercury vapor (actually not all of them actually are but the majority is though)...it would have been a better solution if they banned fixture design or restrict designs instead of banning light source. In fact clear mercury vapor are the 2nd easiest to filter out for viewing stars below LPS which is #1 easiest to filter but IDA refused to believe or admit it....

The Dark Sky Association is a communist organization. They bully people, and act vengefully to those who disagree with them and they even tried to get metal halide outlawed too. These people are self-centered and inconsiderate of others, anything they touch they destroy.

@ Jace; they don't deserve to be called their proper name.

@ Bryantm3; i disagre about a 250W maximum in street lighting. Personally i think lights should be as bright as possible while creating as little glare and light trespass as possible as well. There is such as thing as overlighting. IMO, (going by HPS) 70-100W is best for residential areas, 150-200W is best for in between (like those roads with the double lines yet they're in a residential or rural area) and 200-310W is best for main roads. 250-400W is best for downtown and freeway lightin IMO. 1000W HPS is being very cruel to people but i has it's uses i guess. 1000W MH is used in big warehouses and parking lots though.

There are actually some places that need 750w and 1000w HPS, they're used here to light most 12+ lane freeways.

12+ lanes the most we have is 5 lanes on each side and it's normally not for more than a mile. I-95 is 3 lanes from the CT line (in South Western CT I-95 is only two lanes) to Highway 4, which goes to the beaches. Then it's five lanes on the northbound side for about 1/4 of a mile then it's four lanes on both sides. After I-295 begins, the median turns into a jersey barrier and it's mostly 4 lanes from there to the Mass line where it shinks down to three lanes.

Yep, normally those freeways only have high mast lights running down the centre too so the lights have to be pretty bright to reach the outer lanes.

The 401 through Toronto is almost all 12+ lanes, surprisingly it was like that in the late 60s too. The widest section of the 401 is 18 lanes wide (5 local + 4 express both ways).

it depends on setup and everything......if you need 250 watt, more light fixtures is required and lower poles. Now if you need to use FCO, you either need to have the poles closer together or have them higher, but use higher wattage to evenly light up the roads....Drop lens helps use less streetlights at one road because it spreads the lights....just add shields....

But the best FCO fixtures I have seen that does VERY WELL spreading the lights FAR AWAY are the Holophane Mongoose

I have seen them in use in VA (A LOT on highways) and some here in MD, and some in GA, and some in South Carolina, and a few places and Delaware Memorial Bridge, and NJ is starting to use them in NJ Turnpike, and not to forget those are also used in Long Island Power Authority as private area flood lighting, they are REALLY IMPRESSIVE I must say!

On state owned highways in Pittsburgh, all the street lights are 200 watt high pressure sodium.

@Jace: Did you visit Georgia?

Over here the MTO uses a range of wattages depending on the setup, 150w is usually used for airports where the poles a short and closely spaced. Most cobraheads are either 250w or 400w on 40-50 ft poles. High masts are usually 750w to 1000w HPS.

Yes I have visited GA and saw highmasts, and I saw a few Mongoose fixtures ON highmasts along I-95 which made them look like crabs LOL

They *do* have some valid points but they *can* be overkill. For example, those 175w mercury "yardblaster" lights DO cast a lot of light upward (I have one, I know for a fact it sure does). But laws like the no-yardblaster one in Arizona are overkill IMO.

I agree, it's kinda stupid to ban a light source. To be honest, I'm all for stopping the production of the yardblaster. The throw more light sideways than they do downward. I'd definitely prefer seeing cobraheads in people's backyard rather than yardblasters lol. I don't agree with banning MV and I have nothing against drop lens street lights. If anything, is those blinding LED back-lit billboards that should be banned. They're so bright at night. There's one at an intersection near my grandma's house and the parking lot across the street from it is lit up like a baseball field because of it.

LMAO ! I remember these.