Thinking about installing a LED masthead anchor light. So far in my search I have found two that I like.
Lopolight from Pyacht for $277
OGM LXA for $129, this light includes photocell switch.
I am also waiting for a responce from Pyramid Tech on a quote for an anchor/strobe.
Was wondering if anyone has any experience or know of better sources/products?
Appreciate any help.
LED Anchor Lights
Edited to say: Wow, I just noticed the price you have for the OGM, and it seemed so much cheaper than I remembered. So I went and looked at the site. I'm not sure they offered that anchor-only light in the past. In any case, the ones I'm talking about below were the Tri-anchor, for what it's worth (anchor light plus tri-color).
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I've sold a few of the OGM masthead units to customers, and a yard I used to work at installed a few also, so that's where my experience with them lies. The company is very pleasant to work with, and was helpful when I needed diagrams, or to make returns, etc. You get one of the same two or three people on the phone each time.
Some of their optional switches were a bit crude, but at the time (a year ago) they said they knew that and were redesigning them. They pleasantly took back one I'd had lying on the shelf for a number of months after we decided to use something else on an install (their suggestion that I return it).
I haven't gotten much feedback from most of the customers (nothing negative though, that usually means), but one fellow did a complicated install (trying to match an unusual factory masthead) and on top of that is a persnickety guy, and after he'd done the install and cruised with it for a week out at Isle Royale he had only positive things to say about it. He got the photocell model and really liked it.
Before I ordered the first photocell one I called OGM to ask about the unit, after having gone through a number of Davis photocells while out cruising (the light would keep working but the photocell would die). They assured me that their unit was a different, better type. However, since the photocell is an integral part of the light (i.e. if it did malfunction there is - they say - no way to repair it), I did ask them if the light could be used as a regular, switched light if/when the photocell broke, and they said that it could (something about the switching mechanism made us wonder, but I forget what it was now).
The above customer also said that when he was ashore, looking for his boat at night in the anchorage, it was normally the brightest one (and somewhat more bluish), so it's not a dim light.
I will say that the photocell is really a handy feature. I loved it when the (non-OGM) one we had was working; you could go ashore and not have to do the "Will we be back before dark?" thing (which was usually wrong, however you figured it). Also, no worries about jumping right up to turn it off in the morning, or forgetting it on, or forgetting to turn it on in the evening. I suppose that's all obvious, but I'm just saying that it really was nice.
I did do a trip last December on a boat with the OGM bow lights just installed. They are very non-traditional looking (moreso than the anchor light), but very well made, with nicely machined parts and a satisfying heft. They were also very bright, at least from on the boat. I'd made a trip on the same boat with their previous lights (not sure what kind, but something like an Aquasignal 40, probably), and these were much brighter. The design of the mount on that boat causes the lights to reflect off the bow pulpit, and this year we had to put a strip of black tape on it to block out the light. (Granted the old lights probably had lenses that were old and crystallized, so not a totally fair comparison.) It wasn't a long-term test, but we subjected them to plenty of spray over a period of a week or so and they didn't miss a beat.
On the same boat they had a Lopolight steaming light in a box (to be mounted later), and all I can say about it is that it was a stylish design in a neat little round box. Kind of had a "bridge of a spaceship" look. Looks-wise, quite the opposite of the more "functional" looking OGMs. I had considered them when I made the OGM order (was ordering five anchor lights together), but at the time their brochure didn't mention being Coast Guard approved, and I couldn't get ahold of them by e-mail or phone. I believe they are marked as approved now. Funny how little things like that make you buy them or not, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Rachel
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I've sold a few of the OGM masthead units to customers, and a yard I used to work at installed a few also, so that's where my experience with them lies. The company is very pleasant to work with, and was helpful when I needed diagrams, or to make returns, etc. You get one of the same two or three people on the phone each time.
Some of their optional switches were a bit crude, but at the time (a year ago) they said they knew that and were redesigning them. They pleasantly took back one I'd had lying on the shelf for a number of months after we decided to use something else on an install (their suggestion that I return it).
I haven't gotten much feedback from most of the customers (nothing negative though, that usually means), but one fellow did a complicated install (trying to match an unusual factory masthead) and on top of that is a persnickety guy, and after he'd done the install and cruised with it for a week out at Isle Royale he had only positive things to say about it. He got the photocell model and really liked it.
Before I ordered the first photocell one I called OGM to ask about the unit, after having gone through a number of Davis photocells while out cruising (the light would keep working but the photocell would die). They assured me that their unit was a different, better type. However, since the photocell is an integral part of the light (i.e. if it did malfunction there is - they say - no way to repair it), I did ask them if the light could be used as a regular, switched light if/when the photocell broke, and they said that it could (something about the switching mechanism made us wonder, but I forget what it was now).
The above customer also said that when he was ashore, looking for his boat at night in the anchorage, it was normally the brightest one (and somewhat more bluish), so it's not a dim light.
I will say that the photocell is really a handy feature. I loved it when the (non-OGM) one we had was working; you could go ashore and not have to do the "Will we be back before dark?" thing (which was usually wrong, however you figured it). Also, no worries about jumping right up to turn it off in the morning, or forgetting it on, or forgetting to turn it on in the evening. I suppose that's all obvious, but I'm just saying that it really was nice.
I did do a trip last December on a boat with the OGM bow lights just installed. They are very non-traditional looking (moreso than the anchor light), but very well made, with nicely machined parts and a satisfying heft. They were also very bright, at least from on the boat. I'd made a trip on the same boat with their previous lights (not sure what kind, but something like an Aquasignal 40, probably), and these were much brighter. The design of the mount on that boat causes the lights to reflect off the bow pulpit, and this year we had to put a strip of black tape on it to block out the light. (Granted the old lights probably had lenses that were old and crystallized, so not a totally fair comparison.) It wasn't a long-term test, but we subjected them to plenty of spray over a period of a week or so and they didn't miss a beat.
On the same boat they had a Lopolight steaming light in a box (to be mounted later), and all I can say about it is that it was a stylish design in a neat little round box. Kind of had a "bridge of a spaceship" look. Looks-wise, quite the opposite of the more "functional" looking OGMs. I had considered them when I made the OGM order (was ordering five anchor lights together), but at the time their brochure didn't mention being Coast Guard approved, and I couldn't get ahold of them by e-mail or phone. I believe they are marked as approved now. Funny how little things like that make you buy them or not, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Rachel
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Scout
Thank you Rachel, OGM, we will look closer at.
As we decide on a LED anchor light, we will have to look at the placment of all the other things on top of the mast. When we aquired Scout, she only had a broken windex on the masthead. Now we want a wind vane ("windex" 16 inch?) VHF antenna and masthead anchor light.
This is the masthead cap, with fore facing left.
To see the windvane from the helm, we would think it should be extended back, to keep it out of the way of the antenna and light.
Any thoughts?
Here is a shot of our "project table" , all the hardware that needs work that is.
As we decide on a LED anchor light, we will have to look at the placment of all the other things on top of the mast. When we aquired Scout, she only had a broken windex on the masthead. Now we want a wind vane ("windex" 16 inch?) VHF antenna and masthead anchor light.
This is the masthead cap, with fore facing left.
To see the windvane from the helm, we would think it should be extended back, to keep it out of the way of the antenna and light.
Any thoughts?
Here is a shot of our "project table" , all the hardware that needs work that is.
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Peter
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I have a Windex AVon the Vega.
It's 15" long and pivots on the VHF antenna, eliminating any conflict in that department.
Should work like a charm, when I get relaunched.
It's 15" long and pivots on the VHF antenna, eliminating any conflict in that department.
Should work like a charm, when I get relaunched.
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Tim
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The Windex that pivots on the VHF antenna is a good space-saving device, and works in a lot of cases. This may well end up being a good way to go for you. Remember that the Windex should be on the centerline, not off-center.
It makes for the clearest view of the Windex, however, if you mount it aft of the mast on a support that locates the mount in such a place that the arrow will clear everything before it.
You can buy mounts from Davis for this purpose, or make something up out of scrap material (or even newly-purchased material). Your particular masthead cap might make installation a little more difficult, or require more inventiveness than mine, but if you can come up with a sturdy bracket that extends the Windex aft of the mast, it's an ideal situation.
On your masthead, I could see a Y-shaped bracket, with the open part of the Y facing forward and screwed to the cap on either side of hte backstay, thereby supporting the single arm that extends aft to support the Windex itself.
I love the Windex and have become to accustomed to sailing with one (basically forever) that I truly miss it if I sail on a boat that doesn't have one. They're ubiquitous, and very handy.
I used part of one of my old jumper struts for my Windex installation. This was handy because there was already a flat surface with a mounting hole at one end, and all I had to do was cut it to length and screw it to the top of my masthead cap.
It makes for the clearest view of the Windex, however, if you mount it aft of the mast on a support that locates the mount in such a place that the arrow will clear everything before it.
You can buy mounts from Davis for this purpose, or make something up out of scrap material (or even newly-purchased material). Your particular masthead cap might make installation a little more difficult, or require more inventiveness than mine, but if you can come up with a sturdy bracket that extends the Windex aft of the mast, it's an ideal situation.
On your masthead, I could see a Y-shaped bracket, with the open part of the Y facing forward and screwed to the cap on either side of hte backstay, thereby supporting the single arm that extends aft to support the Windex itself.
I love the Windex and have become to accustomed to sailing with one (basically forever) that I truly miss it if I sail on a boat that doesn't have one. They're ubiquitous, and very handy.
I used part of one of my old jumper struts for my Windex installation. This was handy because there was already a flat surface with a mounting hole at one end, and all I had to do was cut it to length and screw it to the top of my masthead cap.
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Figment
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I actually much prefer having the windex aft of the masthead, though it does pick up some turbulence there if you don't also elevate it a bit.
A couple of years ago I moved my windex onto the whip of my Metz vhf. A couple of different forces came into play. My old windex was broken, the antenna-mount version was on sale somewhere, and the clean look appealed to me. Over time, though, I've become less happy with it. It has this annoying tendency to hide behind the masthead.
This year I'm probably going back to the old bracketed mount.
A couple of years ago I moved my windex onto the whip of my Metz vhf. A couple of different forces came into play. My old windex was broken, the antenna-mount version was on sale somewhere, and the clean look appealed to me. Over time, though, I've become less happy with it. It has this annoying tendency to hide behind the masthead.
This year I'm probably going back to the old bracketed mount.
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Scout
Tim,
Your setup is just what I was thinking, and would also allow us to rise a "pigstick" on a flag halyard block, without worring about the stick bending the windex.
The "y" bracket, that I think you are talking about, is screwed in thru the mast into the masthead. This bracket is located by the spinaker halyard loop, located forward on the mast though. This was were the original windex was mounted.
Thanks all for the responces.
Your setup is just what I was thinking, and would also allow us to rise a "pigstick" on a flag halyard block, without worring about the stick bending the windex.
The "y" bracket, that I think you are talking about, is screwed in thru the mast into the masthead. This bracket is located by the spinaker halyard loop, located forward on the mast though. This was were the original windex was mounted.
Thanks all for the responces.
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Tim
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I wasn't actually talking about anything specific--just a concept based on how your particular masthead is set up.SCOUT wrote:The "y" bracket, that I think you are talking about, is screwed in thru the mast into the masthead. This bracket is located by the spinaker halyard loop, located forward on the mast though. This was were the original windex was mounted.
One certainly wouldn't want the Windex mounted at the forward part of the mast--it would be impossible to see. It's best aft of the mast on a bracket.
Good luck!
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Ceasar Choppy
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Scout
