Do electronics blind you at night?

[ctswf]

I looked at an android tablet last season and was temporarily blinded during night boating.

I'm going to buy a decent combo gps/ff unit this year and was wondering if night vision is ever an issue, or do they all have that covered for the most part?

I currently have an old cheap back lit fishfinder with no night vision issues.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

I have a HB798 Sonar/GPS. It can be dimmed enough to not be an issue.

The instrument gauges are the problem. I thow a towel over them to block them out.
I think a Gauge Dimmer may be in my future.

 

[sam am I]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

U.W.,

Perhaps put red boots over the bulbs as a cheap/quick work around? Not sure what ya run but.......

Auto Meter 3214 Red Light Bulb Boots - Rakuten.com Shopping

Or swap out the incandescent's w red LED's?

Four BBT Marine Grade Red LED Direct Replacement for Wedge Base Light Bulbs | eBay

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

I do the same as UncleWillie, turn down the screen brightness.

Perhaps put red boots over the bulbs as a cheap/quick work around?

I just pulled all the bulbs and painted them with red spray paint, light coat, works well.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

Your Android tablet's screen can be dimmed and almost every depth sounder can as well.

 

[ctswf]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

i did dim the android tablet as low as it could but still could not look back and forth at it, i was running the navionics app.

my guages are dim enough by default (haha, probably because i bought the cheapest ones i could find)

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

most gps's switch between dark on light to light on dark for night. does the navionics app have a similar feature?

 

[ctswf]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

I don't think so, but the android app is not meant to be a real navigation tool and was limited last time I saw it.

I was more concerned with a new unit with maps being a larger white screen, similar to my blinding tablet. My current ff is a dull back lit yellow/grey.

I've never heard anyone complain perhaps I'm overthinking it.

I was considering the raymarine dragonfly, by chance has anyone here navigated at night with this unit?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

I have a Lowrance GPS unit and I can dim it to a good level.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

I have a Lowrance GPS unit and I can dim it to a good level.

Yup, mine has 10 levels of brightness and its really easy to change between them

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

The GPS Daytime charts show deep water as White with Black depth soundings.
A Night Display uses Black Water with White Depth numbers.
The display dims so far that I can use the Daytime colors at night without any problems.

On Lake Erie on a moonless night the horizon is not visible. Spooky Dark!
The Red/Green Nav lights light up about 50 feet ahead after your eyes adjust.
The GPS display is plenty dim. The Gauge lights are way too bright. Out comes the towel.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

The Gauge lights are way too bright. Out comes the towel.

I just bought red LED lamps for my gauges. Hope that will help with the gauge blindness.

 

[gm280]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

The GPS Daytime charts show deep water as White with Black depth soundings.
A Night Display uses Black Water with White Depth numbers.
The display dims so far that I can use the Daytime colors at night without any problems.

On Lake Erie on a moonless night the horizon is not visible. Spooky Dark!
The Red/Green Nav lights light up about 50 feet ahead after your eyes adjust.
The GPS display is plenty dim. The Gauge lights are way too bright. Out comes the towel.

My 1 1/2 cents worth, but use them at your own discretion...

UncleWillie and others, Depending on how many gauge lights you are talking about or the typical current draw for your gauge lights, you could gang them all together (parallel, not seried) and install a two, three or even a variable position switch to adjust those lights for nighttime use. It really is quite easy and again depending on the total current draw not too hard to do... Just a suggestion...

 

[dingbat]

Re: Do electronics blind you at night?

The trick to night time viewing is adjustable backlighting, color selection and viewing angle.

GPS......auto dim and adjustable backlight system. Mounted in the electronics box, well below viewing level. I look down to see the gps.

Sounder.......adjustable backlighting, navy blue background with pale blue to black returns.

Gauges....... black face, white lettering with incandescent red back lighting.

The all around light caused biggest problem, even on the hardtop. A flat, snap-on deflector solved most of that problem.