parrotheaddiver:
Less is more
I think you will be having a full moon during that time frame so you won't need a lot of light plus most of the stuff you look at is small close up stuff.... Doc hardly has any light at all he uses a red?? type light...Doc help me with this cause I can't remember....
If it's calm and clear, hardly any need for light. I housed a Gen 1 Night Vision scope and tried that- not much application was realized, but it was interesting to watch larger predators as the stood off 30+ feet into the gloom.
I always start with small lights, things that use 2xC batteries or 4xAA will be fine.
I use a Night Rider Blackwater rechargable with rheostat power control.
I carry a
housed UV Blacklight - quite inexpensive from InovaLight. Also a housed
RED Inova as well. Both are LED lights. I have gaffer-rigged the housings from canibalized UK-4C lights. The Inova products are water resistant, but at depth- I just leave them turned on and housed. they're LED, I get about 40 hrs of burn time for each set of #123 batteries.
The RED doesn't affect critters, you can point it at any of the most light-sensitive Corals- they do not react. It is an easy way to examine otherwise light sensitive critters.
A
Red LASER Pointer is very handy for directing the attentions of fellow divers. Again, it is red, so it doesn't affect most animals adversely. I use the simple $40 model from Trident.
The BLACK LIGHT UV causes many Corals to photo-flouresce. Most of them glow a bright green, rarer are the
red ones. The UV attracts critters that any light would, only
a whole lot more-so. It must be out of our eyesight spectrum- but it is a beacon to Krill... and Basket Stars
hate it.
I carry a 16 watt UK 800R which is about like a '66 Chevy high beam. I have found that if you increase light volume
slowly, most critters could care less- many will use it to their advantage. I find that Octopus and Squid are quite accepting, and an upturned bright light pointing upward in the water column not only attracts yummy stuff to eat, but Squid seem to enjoy floating in the beam of light.
Any light can be used to feed Coral "tentacle polyps" or Basket Stars. Just direct the light in front of the critter, pointing up. Don't light up the subject! Soon enough, little worms, krill and other yummies will swim into your upturned beam of light and fall victim to your new best friend's feeding habits... just off to the side in relative shadow darkness.
Even in the "dark", never ever turn all of your lights off. Keep one small one burning and cover it with your hand. That way, if you croak out, you're easier to find.
Along that line, use your fingers as a "shutter blind". Open and spread them apart gently to increase the light. Also- illuminate the area
next to sensitive critters, versus pointing the light right at them.
LED's are fairly useless in the dive environment, as the light is quite diffuse. However, for nightime advance critter spotting, they are good. Here is an intersting new LED with a highly focused beam.
http://www.coastcutlery.com/display...59¡258¡247¡248¡233¡234¡228¡229¡230¿&mastCat=5 I will be doing a T&E on it this trip.
As a basic light, I always recommend that 4xC as a starter, carry it on every dive, night and day. You can add another as a back-up for warm-water pretty-fish Caribbean diving, or you can buy something bigger. There is no one light that will suit every exotic application, but that 4xC (UK or similar) will take care of most of them!
