# Navigation Lights



## gixer454 (May 25, 2010)

Does anyone have any recommendations for inexpensive bow and stern lights for a 14' flat bottom jon boat? I need an elevated Bow light, at least 6" high and the Stern light needs to be about 42" to meet regulations. I don't like the battery operated models and I have the fused switch panel to wire the lights up too.

Thanks guys!


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## bobberboy (May 25, 2010)

The trouble is that except for the battery ones they're usually expensive. I got some on sale at the end of the season a couple of years ago but that doesn't do you much good now at the beginning of the season. I just checked at Great Lakes Skipper and you can get sockets for about [email protected] and the lights are between $20 [email protected] This makes it in the neighborhood of $100 by the time you ship them. BPS is a little more expensive and Cabela's a lot more.


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## gixer454 (May 25, 2010)

Thanks...I have been watching the sales flyers for BP and Cabelas and even searched on eBay some. Looks like I will have about 100 in them no matter where I shop.


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## bear7625 (May 31, 2010)

Here is a link that has plug in lights with sockets for about $25 each.

https://www.lowcostboatingstore.com/Boat-Lights_c_37.html


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## crazymanme2 (May 31, 2010)

This is what I did for my stern light.All the parts I already had except the LED light which I bought from Blue Water for I think 2 or 3 bucks.The plastic is just an single serving milk container.Everything else is made out of aluminum tube.I made another hole on the starboard side to match.Good rod holders.The light plugs into bow light wire.I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going to get my green & red lens for the bow light.
The stern light works great.It doesn't seem to be blinding bright while under way.I made it tall so its above my head.It stows neatly under the seat


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## gixer454 (May 31, 2010)

THANKS! I think I am going to grab the lights off of https://www.lowcostboatingstore.com/, they have exactly what I am looking for and it will cost less than $50 for both front and back.

Anyone know where to get anchormates for cheap?


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## fishluvme (Jun 10, 2010)

nice setup there!


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## Pruitt1222 (Jun 11, 2010)

bear7625 said:


> Here is a link that has plug in lights with sockets for about $25 each.
> 
> https://www.lowcostboatingstore.com/Boat-Lights_c_37.html


 
Have you bought from here before? there prices are really cheap


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## longjohn119 (Jun 12, 2010)

crazymanme2 said:


> This is what I did for my stern light.All the parts I already had except the LED light which I bought from Blue Water for I think 2 or 3 bucks.The plastic is just an single serving milk container.Everything else is made out of aluminum tube.I made another hole on the starboard side to match.Good rod holders.The light plugs into bow light wire.I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going to get my green & red lens for the bow light.
> The stern light works great.It doesn't seem to be blinding bright while under way.I made it tall so its above my head.It stows neatly under the seat



That's some nice looking homebrew, you could probably pull a skier from those light mount/sockets.

I'm looking to convert regular bulb nav lights over to LED, what I can't find is how many LED's I need to make it regulation. Also LED's are directional so you need to mount them in a circle with a minimum of 3 LED's per row/circle to get complete 360 degree coverage. If they are all pointing the same way you end up with a dead spot that get's bigger and bigger as you get further away. I night fish a lot on a large river with commercial barge traffic so I need to be seen and legal. Plus on weekends there are a lot of drunk idiots out with Daddy's big boat and they'll run right over you even with legal lights. (It happened to my fishing buddy back in the 90's and damn near killed another friend that was with him who is a paraplegic and can't swim)


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## crazymanme2 (Jun 12, 2010)

I just used the one 3 light strip shown & it gives off plenty of light.I'm trying to figure out what I could use for the green & 
red bow light lens.The bow will only need 1 three light LED strip also.My stern gives off more light than the battery powered ones that you buy that are Coast guard approved.


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## longjohn119 (Jun 12, 2010)

crazymanme2 said:


> I just used the one 3 light strip shown & it gives off plenty of light.I'm trying to figure out what I could use for the green &
> red bow light lens.The bow will only need 1 three light LED strip also.My stern gives off more light than the battery powered ones that you buy that are Coast guard approved.



I guarantee you have a blind spot if those LED's are all pointing the same direction, LED's are directional and there is no way to get around the physical structure of an LED to get change that, at least not with the current technology. A good reference on LED's https://www.theledlight.com/technical1.html

Navigation lights are not for you to see, they are so others can see you, what appears to be plenty of light up close might not be enough for far away and that's one of the differences between conventional filament bulbs and LED's, filament light sources can more easily throw light a longer distance than LED's. US Coast Guard regulations for navigation lights says your stern light must be 360 degrees visible at 2 nautical miles. I have a couple of 3 white LED spotlights and you can't see them 2 miles away, you can barely see them a mile away and that's using a reflector to concentrate the light (which also narrows the viewing angle even more)

If I'm fishing the tip of a wingdam on the edge of the navigation channel and some clown is coming toward me at 40 MPH I want him to see me at least 2 miles away because if he is going 40 MPH and is 2 miles away he's going to be on top of me in about 3 minutes, if he's a mile away he'll be on me in 90 seconds and I can't pull anchors and move in 90 seconds. 

Now granted if you are fishing a small lake with 9.9 HP or electric only restrictions you'd probably be OK but you play like that on the Mississippi River with the Big Boys you are taking an unnecessary risk and if you do get run over and your lights aren't up to regulations you are at fault both criminally and financially for all parties involved in the accident. Like I said I have a couple of close friends go through this, by the time Tim realized they didn't see him he barely had time to pull my paraplegic friend overboard and out of the way of the hull running him over. First thing the rich kid's lawyer tried to pull is claiming Tim's light's weren't regulation but that didn't fly because they recovered Tim's lights along with the boat and they were USCG approved. 

For the front lights why not just use red and green LED's? The front is easy because you only need to cover 112.5 degrees on each side. Since red and green LED's have a lower voltage drop across the junction you can string 5 in series with 12 V and get more light at the same current draw so there is no good reason to use less. My only concern is would 5 LED's be enough to be seen 2 miles away ....


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## crazymanme2 (Jun 13, 2010)

My lens on my light reflects the light from the LED's which gives it 360 visibility. [-X


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## gixer454 (Jun 13, 2010)

Try www.digikey.com for your led lights.


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## rusty.hook (Jul 4, 2010)

Also remember when you have lights, you must have pull/push switch or two switches. Push/pull switch will let you turn on the transom white light when running or anchored and pull one more time and the bow lights red/green are on. Wiring this switch is tricky. Some use two switches for simplicitys sake.


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## longjohn119 (Jul 6, 2010)

rusty.hook said:


> Also remember when you have lights, you must have pull/push switch or two switches. Push/pull switch will let you turn on the transom white light when running or anchored and pull one more time and the bow lights red/green are on. Wiring this switch is tricky. Some use two switches for simplicitys sake.



The solution to that problem is use a DPDT center off switch (You could use a SPDT center off but they are harder to find and cost about the same, with the DPDT you can switch poles after the first pole wears out). Hot goes to center, transom light goes to the first throw and jumps over to the second throw, bow light goes on the second throw only. Flip the switch to one side and both lights come on, the center position is both lights off and flipping to the other side lights the transom light only.

You can get a DPDT center off toggle at about any Radio Shack for $3.69


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