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Streetlamps in Camden Town
In message
, MIG writes [ blue lights on street lamps] A wild guess: maybe it's to do with distinguishing between power off and the lamp failing? That's possible, but I posted here a long time ago about new street lamps on the South Circular that have a very distinct (and not at all feint) blue lens pointing upwards. This is very obvious from above, but can only be seen from ground level if standing a very long way from the lamp post concerned. If it is some sort of pilot lamp, it seems very badly positioned. I didn't receive any plausible replies when I posted about this, but I have seen it suggested that modern "cobra" street lamps are so well designed to prevent night-sky pollution, that they need an upward aspect in blue in order to delineate the location of major roads for aircraft that, due to failure of automatic systems, are having to rely on visual navigation at night. I have no idea whether this is true (despite quite a lot of fruitless research), but I have noticed that most of these upwardly-directed blue lights are on major trunk routes in the capital (specifically on TfL red routes). All of the new red-route lamposts around here also have two brackets, about two metres apart vertically, with eyes that seem to be designed to tie banners. No banner has ever appeared - if the only one that ever does is "London Olympics 2012", I shall be even more despondent about the hidden costs of "the games" - an awful lot of welded steel has gone into these appendages. -- Paul Terry |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
Paul Terry wrote:
In message , MIG writes [ blue lights on street lamps] A wild guess: maybe it's to do with distinguishing between power off and the lamp failing? That's possible, but I posted here a long time ago about new street lamps on the South Circular that have a very distinct (and not at all feint) blue lens pointing upwards. This is very obvious from above, but can only be seen from ground level if standing a very long way from the lamp post concerned. If it is some sort of pilot lamp, it seems very badly positioned. I didn't receive any plausible replies when I posted about this, but I have seen it suggested that modern "cobra" street lamps are so well designed to prevent night-sky pollution, that they need an upward aspect in blue in order to delineate the location of major roads for aircraft that, due to failure of automatic systems, are having to rely on visual navigation at night. I have no idea whether this is true (despite quite a lot of fruitless research), but I have noticed that most of these upwardly-directed blue lights are on major trunk routes in the capital (specifically on TfL red routes). All of the new red-route lamposts around here also have two brackets, about two metres apart vertically, with eyes that seem to be designed to tie banners. No banner has ever appeared - if the only one that ever does is "London Olympics 2012", I shall be even more despondent about the hidden costs of "the games" - an awful lot of welded steel has gone into these appendages. Possibly they're markers for police and other emergency helicopters? |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
"Brimstone" wrote in message ... Paul Terry wrote: In message , MIG writes [ blue lights on street lamps] A wild guess: maybe it's to do with distinguishing between power off and the lamp failing? That's possible, but I posted here a long time ago about new street lamps on the South Circular that have a very distinct (and not at all feint) blue lens pointing upwards. This is very obvious from above, but can only be seen from ground level if standing a very long way from the lamp post concerned. If it is some sort of pilot lamp, it seems very badly positioned. I didn't receive any plausible replies when I posted about this, but I have seen it suggested that modern "cobra" street lamps are so well designed to prevent night-sky pollution, that they need an upward aspect in blue in order to delineate the location of major roads for aircraft that, due to failure of automatic systems, are having to rely on visual navigation at night. Lit roads are perfectly visible even if you can't see individual lamps. Besides, there are usually much better markers than roads - sports stadia are very distinctive, for example. .... Possibly they're markers for police and other emergency helicopters? That sounds the most likely. They would want to know where the posts are when trying to land on a road. Colin Bignell |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
"nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here wrote:
Possibly they're markers for police and other emergency helicopters? That sounds the most likely. They would want to know where the posts are when trying to land on a road. Hmm, which road in Camden Town do you think you could land a helicopter on? |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
"Steve Firth" wrote in message . .. "nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here wrote: Possibly they're markers for police and other emergency helicopters? That sounds the most likely. They would want to know where the posts are when trying to land on a road. Hmm, which road in Camden Town do you think you could land a helicopter on? I don't know the area, but my local Police helicopter pilot reckoned he could land his Twin Squirrel in an area about 15m wide and 25 m long. if he really had to. Like most Police helicopter pilots, he was ex-military. Colin Bignell |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
"nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here wrote:
"Steve Firth" wrote in message . .. "nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here wrote: Possibly they're markers for police and other emergency helicopters? That sounds the most likely. They would want to know where the posts are when trying to land on a road. Hmm, which road in Camden Town do you think you could land a helicopter on? I don't know the area, but my local Police helicopter pilot reckoned he could land his Twin Squirrel in an area about 15m wide and 25 m long. if he really had to. Like most Police helicopter pilots, he was ex-military. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...e=&q=camden+to wn&sll=51.543693,-0.140076&sspn=0.005278,0.012424&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=51. 5396 36,-0.142924&spn=0.002639,0.006212&z=18&iwloc=addr http://tinyurl.com/az2oxc It's not an area where I can see a helicopter landing in the street. |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
In message , nightjar
writes "Brimstone" wrote in message ... Possibly they're markers for police and other emergency helicopters? That sounds the most likely. They would want to know where the posts are when trying to land on a road. You'd never land a helicopter on the road concerned. The south circular in these parts is a narrow single-carriageway road, with buildings right up to the pavement. Also, most buildings are higher than the lamp posts - I can clearly see the upward-pointing blue lights from my second floor because they are just below window level. They are very hard to see from pavement level. I wondered if they could be for aircraft recognition because we are close to the spot where the Battersea heliport flight paths cross the incoming Heathrow flight path, albeit at a lower level. But if these lights are appearing in other parts of London, that would not be the reason and, as has been pointed out, there is plenty of light diffusion on main roads to see their positions from the air. Given that the blue light is in the position normally occupied by the dusk - dawn light sensor, I wonder if the blue glow is some way of making the sensor more accurate in densely-lit areas? -- Paul Terry |
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Streetlamps in Camden Town
"Paul Terry" wrote
All of the new red-route lamposts around here also have two brackets, about two metres apart vertically, with eyes that seem to be designed to tie banners. No banner has ever appeared - if the only one that ever does is "London Olympics 2012", I shall be even more despondent about the hidden costs of "the games" - an awful lot of welded steel has gone into these appendages. Be grateful for the emptiness - in my neck of the woods, they all have McDonalds adverts - either way, don't blame the olympics - it's the local council trying raise revenue. -- Andrew http://www.flayme.com/ "If A is success in life, then A = x + y + z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut." ~ Albert Einstein |
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