It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:06 pm

All times are UTC






Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 25 posts ] 


Author Message
 Post subject: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 12:35 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Posts: 299
Images: 6
Hi All,

Over the past year I have been recording the switching on times from my Sangamo time clock that is mounted in my shed. The Time clock inputs a signal into my arduino which then records it to my website. www.plasticplanet.co.uk.

I noticed this week, the first time in long time, the clock switched on before 7pm. Here are the readings for this week:-
Saturday 27-09 19:09:04
Sunday 28-09 19:06:43
Monday 29-09 19:04:28
Tuesday 30-09 19:01:30
Wednesday 01-10 18:59:42
Thursday 02-10 18:57:17

I wonder what these times would be if I was in the south of the country? Does anyone have any recordings of switch on times?

Regards,

Andrew.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:07 pm 
Offline
Member
Random avatar

Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 3:57 pm
Posts: 31
I can try and manually record what times the lamps in Penzance come on although they are controlled by RF.
Although I would make sure that the clock is correct as I always use a radio controlled clock for such things.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:12 pm 
Offline
Member
Random avatar

Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 3:57 pm
Posts: 31
They came on at 19:06.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:31 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Posts: 299
Images: 6
Hi,

Tonight, 03-10 the lamp came on at 18:54:11 if you follow this link you can see time. http://www.plasticplanet.co.uk/DataLogMainPage.html

Regards,

Andrew


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 10:53 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:21 pm
Posts: 316
Images: 0
Re: Sangamo timeclocks. I may be talking out of my hat on this, however, if your timeclock (which sounds like the traditional mechanical "solar" pattern as used in streetlighting) was plugged into my socket (up here in the North west), the switch on times will continue to follow the same mechanical trend ie coming on slightly earlier each night. However the programmed switch on time in relation to when actually dusk falls (ie the end of civil twilight - when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and taken to be the official start of "lighting up time") may be slightly different up here due to the variation in latitude which is measured in degrees (and minutes and seconds).
In the 1980s, I recall that all the municipal solar time clocks local to me had "LAT 54 ' N" printed on the dial. I'm sure that depending on the area where the clocks were to be installed, the area's latitude would need to be specified at time of ordering. Due to local variations in "lighting up time" the gearing would be slightly different in a Manchester clock than a clock specified for say Surrey.  Whilst Manchester would be 54 deg, Surrey would be about 51 degrees whilst Thurso would be roughly 58 degrees. A universal timeclock would in theory either bring the streetlamps on a bit too soon or too late, depending on where in the UK it was installed - a problem compounded with installations that used SOX lamps!
Like I say, my theory might be a bit off target, however I have seen solar dial Sangamos with LAT 52'N for sale on a well known online marketplace!

_________________
"I can't think what you want to go to London for, you won't find any better lampposts there..."
L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:55 am 
Offline
Member
Random avatar

Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2014 1:20 pm
Posts: 2
Here in the East Midlands (Notts/Derby) the solar dial time clocks all have 'Lat 52deg N' on them, I guess different cams were used inside the advance mechanism to give a different rate for different latitudes.

I have the electronic version of the Sangamo solar dial time clock (its called the suntracker). When this is set up it needs to be told both the latitude & longitude of the installed location in order to work correctly. This also has the ability to provide an offset to the times (just like moving the pins in the slots on the mechanical clocks did).

Adrian


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:08 am 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Posts: 299
Images: 6
Hi all,

Thanks for the info.  It was quite interesting to learn that when my light was switching on at 18:57 on the 3rd of October, sevenman96 said their lights switched on nearly ten minutes later at 19.06.

I have checked my switch and it is a Sangamo 251.13 54deg latitude. It looks like Carlisle used the same latitude setting as mentioned by Greatnorburystdepot.

I was informed that Carlisle photocells used to be calibrated to switch on at 55 Lux, then they changed to 70 Lux. In the early 2000s the Lux level went back to 55 and now it's at 35 Lux!

Regards,

Andrew.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:18 am 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
West Sussex County Council recently posted a press release on their website, following complaint from residents relating to part night lighting.

The part night photocells in West Sussex have a switch off regime of Midnight to 05:30 GMT. Of course, for half of the year we are in British Summer Time (BST). Hence, as the days were getting shorter, the issue of using part night photocells became apparent, as rather than switching on the lighting at 05:30 in the morning when it was still dark, lighting would only switch on at 06:30, due to being BST. There is quite a difference between 05:30 and 06:30 in the number of people up and about.

West Sussex never moved away from part night lighting in many areas, but it is interesting that such a press release should be made now. This is perhaps because of the installation of new lighting as part of the PFI, bringing the topic to the fore. Incidentally, all of this could have been avoided if West Sussex had included themselves on the radio frequency system that the Hampshire and Southampton parts of the same PFI use.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:23 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Posts: 299
Images: 6
Hi All,

That's an interesting point sotonsteve, I'd never really thought about what would happen to part night lighting at the change from BST to GMT. Does the radio frequency system compensate for the change? Up here in Carlisle we don't have part night or radio systems.  What systems are in use in Southampton?

I remember when I got my first sangamo time clock, I didn't realise you were supposed to leave it at GMT and not go forward an hour. I thought it strange that the lights were coming on an hour before the photocell controlled ones.

Still you live and learn :-)

Regards,

Andrew


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Switching on Times
PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:30 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Posts: 299
Images: 6
Hi all,

This week has returned some interesting results from my sangamo time clock logger.

Monday 20-10           18:14:44
Tuesday 21-10           18:12:15
Wednesday 22-10  18:19:12
Thursday 23-10           18:07:55
Friday 24-10                   18:05:53
Saturday 25-10           18:04:42
Sunday 26-10.         17:02:31

The on striker must had got stuck on Wednesday :-)

Regards,

Andrew.


Top
 Profile  
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by  


Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 25 posts ] 

All times are UTC



You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 33 guests



Search for: