Sammy's Light Zapper

What do you do, when your neighbor simply insists on using a bright, illegal (re. NM Light Protection Act), mercury vapor light over their driveway, that floods the whole block with glare?

What do you do if you've talked with them. explained the problem, but still can't reason with them?

Of course, a true light pollution activist, and I've seen some great ones, would not hesitate to call their neighborhood association, city council, State rep., and on up the chain. My problem is, I'm pretty much a non-confrontationalist. Now that's not to say I don't get angry and active over certain issues.

But light pollution has just never been one of those issues for me. Still... it's a really annoying light, and kills my driveway stargazing.

I do, however, like to build things. Maybe I could build a device that would kill this light. What would "MacGyver" do in this situation? Finally the thought struck me, fight light trespass with some light trespass of my own. Kill the light's photocell with a laser.

So using scrap wood and hardware in the garage, I build an adjustable holder for a standard laser pen.

The unit adjusts on 2 axis, and is patterned after a knife-edge tester that I had built in my mirror grinding days. It uses a threaded ¼" bolt to adjust each axis, so I can accurately "shoot" out a photocell from several hundred yards.

The laser pen sits in a simple cradle. A soft washer slipped over the pointer holds the pointer button ON. The whole thing is about the size of a phonebook

I simply sit the unit on any steady surface, and aim at the photo-electric eye on the top of most large light fixtures. A pair of sunglasses helps to see thru the glare.

It only takes a minute for the photo-eye to shut down the light. If you look carefully, you can see the beam from my green laser from the left side. I usually use an inexpensive red pointer, but I'm hoping that I'll inflict some permanent damage with the brighter green. Red or green, one set of rechargeable AAA batteries last all night.

I have found that my zapper works equally well on street lights.

So now I can be a non-confrontationalist, and still win the battle.

Sammy Lockwood