Tying in sunlight

Well I got all my solar panels and inverter installed.

Then I intentionally ran the batteries way down to start my first test of
the system

The panels did a good job of recharging and last night I plugged my OTT
lites into the inverter and tied for a while.

Now I know how silly I'm being, I'm even shaking my hear at myself, but I
found it really cool to be tying not only in light near the color temp of
sunlight but with energy provided by the sun. I got so excited I drug my
bride out to the trailer and explained the system to her ending, "So you
see, I'm really tying with sunlight as my light source ... how cool is that
?! "

Larry L wrote:
Well I got all my solar panels and inverter installed.

Then I intentionally ran the batteries way down to start my first test of
the system

The panels did a good job of recharging and last night I plugged my OTT
lites into the inverter and tied for a while.

Now I know how silly I'm being, I'm even shaking my hear at myself, but I
found it really cool to be tying not only in light near the color temp of
sunlight but with energy provided by the sun. I got so excited I drug my
bride out to the trailer and explained the system to her ending, "So you
see, I'm really tying with sunlight as my light source ... how cool is that
?! "

That's not silly at all and it *is* cool.

You mentioned an Ott light and I just got a light the other day
that I think is better.

https://www.solux.net/cgi-bin/tlisto...ml?id=HwQQ4MGW

A little pricey but the desk version fits over the vice quite nicely,
has a good solid base and a clamp for traveling. I like it.

There's a lot more info at the Solux web site:

http://www.soluxtli.com/

If you ever need to replace your Ott, you might consider Solux.

--
Ken Fortenberry

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote

If you ever need to replace your Ott, you might consider Solux.



I've seen the Solux specs before and agree they look better than OTT

daytripper wrote in
:

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:01:54 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:


"Ken Fortenberry" wrote

If you ever need to replace your Ott, you might consider Solux.



I've seen the Solux specs before and agree they look better than OTT

OTT, unfortunately, has a terrible reputation for reliability that
I've just never been able to get beyond, no matter how good the light
it produces and how much I want one.

Perhaps the Solux will prove to be a more robust design...

/daytripper (Time will tell, and fwiw I'll be watching)

I haven't heard any Ott complaints, and certainly never experienced any.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

On Mar 28, 5:20 pm, daytripper wrote:
On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:01:54 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:



"Ken Fortenberry" wrote

If you ever need to replace your Ott, you might consider Solux.

I've seen the Solux specs before and agree they look better than OTT

OTT, unfortunately, has a terrible reputation for reliability that I've just
never been able to get beyond, no matter how good the light it produces and
how much I want one.

Perhaps the Solux will prove to be a more robust design...

/daytripper (Time will tell, and fwiw I'll be watching)

OTT is a bitch to talk to as well. Mine went south about 2 months
after I had it and 2 days after I lost the reciet for buying the
SOB. The people on there phone line didn't give a rats ass. Snotty,
ill mannered bunch. they told me if I sent it back with $ 15 they
would look at it and see what it would cost to fix it. I wouln'd t
buy another on of their lamps for a fifth of the price.

wrote in news:qn2m03dnfnia46927lkscmahoc1n87fm4g@
4ax.com:

sseidman wrote
I haven't heard any Ott complaints, and certainly never experienced
any.

If I may, what makes these bulbs any "better" than any other such
K-range bulbs? IOW, why are these "better" than another 5500K (or
xxxxK, apples to apples) bulb?

TC,
R



I don't know about better or worse, but there are differences: the ott
is flourescent, and the solux is an incandescent bulb, or at least looks
like one, so is likely easier to package in a variety of assorted ways.
Solux claims, and I believe (http://www.solux.net/Ott_lite.htm), that it
has a spectrum closer to daylight than Ott-light. Whether this makes a
difference to fly tiers, I don't know.

A big plus for Solux, though, is that they are a local Rochester company,
and the head guy is working on a project with some of our undergrads.
Seems to be a nice guy, a hard worker, and generous with his time for the
undergrads. I'd probably buy a Solux today if I needed another lamp, and
go out of my way to do it if I needed to, but not because I have a real
problem with Ott reliability.

A big plus for the Ott, by the way, is that Joanne's Fabrics sells them,
thus if you join the Joanne club, and wait till you get the coupon book
mailed to you, as they will periodically do, you can get an Ott lite at
40% or 50% off!


--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:01:54 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:


"Ken Fortenberry" wrote

If you ever need to replace your Ott, you might consider Solux.



I've seen the Solux specs before and agree they look better than OTT

OTT, unfortunately, has a terrible reputation for reliability that I've just
never been able to get beyond, no matter how good the light it produces and
how much I want one.

Perhaps the Solux will prove to be a more robust design...

/daytripper (Time will tell, and fwiw I'll be watching)

daytripper wrote in
:

Well good luck to you. I did significant research on the Ott light.
Hundreds if not thousands of complaints are just a Google away, and
they draw a distinct pattern. There's no way I'd buy one...

/daytripper


I use the light at http://www.questoutdoors.net/gear/tested/ottlite/, for
the same purpose, even with the same vise. I don't particularly care for
the flex-arm with the magnifier that seems to be marketed for fly tying--
it just doesn't look real robust. The package that I have looks like it
would stop a bullet, though. I've tied just about every fly I've tied in
three or four years under it, which granted, isn't as many as I would have
liked to tie, but I find I really prefer to have it instead of not having
it. Given a choice of an Ott light, or nothing, and the $40 or so I paid
for three or four years of use, I can say I've gotten my money's worth.
There are probably some who haven't.

I'd love it if you can point me in the right direction for google, though.
I tried "ott light", "Ott lite review", "ott lite complaint", "ott lite
customer service", and the like, and really haven't hit anything
substantial.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

wrote

I looked at the websites, and I can't see what makes these "special"
(other than the price, although the Solux bulbs aren't so bad). The OTT
compact fluorescents seem about 4-5-6 times the price of standard "full
spectrum" bulbs, and I couldn't find anything on color temp, etc. About
all I could find was "buy this because we say so..."



I've come to believe you are right about OTT largely hype, "cause we say so"
.... although I own three ... one a special fly tying model that is actually
very poorly designed for that, one my wife uses ( and loves ) for
scrapbooking, and one my kid has as a desk lamp ( when my wife got hers it
was a two fer one deal and thus, the kid got one )

I actually tie with the one OTT and two 27 watt fluorescent fixtures sold as
Sunwhite or some such and claiming a color temp near daylight .... I got
them for far less than OTTs and honestly can't remember where ... some
webstore My old eyes seem to gather light poorly and I need a lot of
light to enjoy tying ... the OTT-like 'daylight' color temp bulbs seem to
strain my eyes less and THAT is my main reason for having them, although I
"think" I "see color" more like a trout under them too G

wrote in news:834m035ca8khg0dcvaickl9p0vq9lepeqs@
4ax.com:

And I'm still interested in opinions as to why OTT or Solux are "better"
- they may be, but I can't find anything that would convince me they are
- it all seems to be salespitch.


Are you wondering about "better than a standard task light", "better than a
standard CFL", or such? Try http://www.solux.net/comparison.htm, and they
have a pretty good comparison. The standard solux uses is basically a
spectral comparison to daylight, and they claim they're better than the
products they compare too, which seem pretty representative.

So far as "is it better to use a light source that's close to daylight?"
who really knows? They try to address some of this stuff in the solux faq,
http://www.solux.net/faq.htm, but its still somewhat subjective.

I find my ott to be pretty convenient and portable, and I got it at a
reasonable price. I most definitely prefer to tie with it instead of with
ambient light, or even with "standard" flourescent task lights like the one
in my circular magnifier.


--
Scott
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