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PUBLISHER’S LETTER
www.siliconchip.com.au
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Production Manager
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2 Silicon Chip
LED lighting for cars
– it’s about time
This month we feature a major article on using high
brightness LEDs in cars. We have wanted to do this
for some time but it is only recently that really bright
LEDs have become available at reasonably cheap prices.
In this article, we have majored on the Centre High
Mount Stop Lamp (CHMSL) and stop lights, plus the
so-called festoon lamps used for vehicle interiors. We
would have liked to have taken the concept much further
but you have to stop somewhere if you are ever going to
publish. Fairly obviously, the bayonet lamp assembly
could be modified to make a bayonet stop/tail light assembly and the smaller festoon LED assembly could be fitted with high-brightness
amber LEDs to be fitted into traffic indicator repeater lights on the sides of cars.
However, the broad thrust of the article is rear end collision avoidance. The
extra stopping time given by LED stop lights could mean the difference between
a severe collision with major damage and injuries and maybe no accident at all
- just some fevered breathing afterwards. If you do nothing else, you probably
should convert your own car’s centre high mount stop lamp to LED operation – it
could save a life.
Victoria to stop DIY mains wiring?
This issue just won’t go away. A recent issue of the Melbourne Herald-Sun
notes that “Electrical goods such as cabling, power points and safety switches
will be banned from public sale under proposals to be presented to the State
Government this week.”
“Electricians, tired of having their lives endangered by “dodgy” cabling
installed illegally by home handymen, have called for a new code of practice
that would restrict the sale of cabling and switches to licensed operators”.
In fact, the proposed code of practice is already part of a new Enterprise
Agreement between the Victorian branch of the ETU and the National Electrical Contractors association. Isn’t that nice and cosy? This has nothing to
do with safety.
Electricians aren’t in danger from DIY wiring. Check the website of the
Office of Chief Inspector: www.ocei.vic.gov.au and click on “incidents”. Not
only does it show that fatalities over the last 10 years have been very low,
it also shows that members of the public have very low fatalities. We doubt
whether any electrician has ever been killed by DIY wiring. If an electrician
is in danger, he shouldn’t be practising – he is not competent.
In fact, I have seen plenty of dodgy wiring done by licensed contractors
installing kitchens, dishwashers, air-conditioners and hot-water systems. DIY
wiring is not a safety issue. In fact, if sales of cables, switches, etc are banned,
safety will be prejudiced. Whereas before, if a power point or wall switch
failed, the competent handyman would just replace it, now it is likely to be
left in an unsafe state. And if an appliance cord frays, it will be left unsafe;
if you can’t buy the cord, you can’t do the repair.
And will all lighting stores close their doors? After all, most light fittings
are fitted by home handymen, aren’t they? So if you have been quietly and
happily doing your own 240VAC wiring up till now, you can forget it. We did
mount a campaign to make it legal but apathy got in the way. Once again, if
you’re not happy about this revolting development, contact your local MP
and make a lot of noise.
Finally, in an encouraging development, a group is being formed in
Queensland to have the Electrical Safety Act changed or repealed. If you
are a technician repairing anything from air-conditioners to sewing machines, computers or anything else powered by 240VAC, contact the AETA
(All Electronic Technicians Association) by fax on 07 4093 9700 or email:
cairnscomms<at>iprimus.com.au
Leo Simpson
www.siliconchip.com.au
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