Missing caption

On page 129, the missing caption should read "Combined Room and LED Lighting ISO100, F8".

Pricing

Not sure where you buy your fluorescent lighting but a 4 foot fixture with 2x T-8 bulbs is $28 at Home Depot.
Seems to me that standard LED strips are a third the price and don't require assembly (how much do you value your time?).

Pricing

Hi Alan,

Thanks for commenting.

Check out the author bio(s) anytime you are wondering what their local area is.  I do see a fixture with two four foot tubes for $28 at Home Depot in Canada, but it uses two 18W tubes.  Dave's light uses two 40W tubes.  I am seeing fixtures using 32W tubes priced at $50.  Dave maybe paid a little more for his?

I've been working more with the LED strips.  I've found they have some downfalls that I feel the LED boards address quite well.  I can't go into much detail now, but I can tell you that everyone I have shown the LED boards has been 'astounded' at the level of light output from such a small footprint.

Since perception of color is so subjective, I can't tell you what you would like, but being able to directly compare the quality of the light in my environment between the two products I have, I like the light from the LED boards better.  Michael Rose did a great job selecting the temp of the LED's, in my humble opinion.

I don't value my time too highly because of the enjoyment I get from doing it.  I was a budding electronics hobbyist long before I discovered the wonderful world of model railroading.  There is no better Maker hobby in my opinion.  Honestly, the only time I value 'my time' too highly, is when I am writing about my hobby, because that is work for me.

I hope I have answered your question.

Best regards,
 

To confirm

I googled the light fixture I have installed, and that was the price at Home Depot in Canada.  I'm sure you could find cheaper prices for other lighting.  

As the article concluded, this isn't for everyone.  If you want cheap, there are many cheaper alternatives.  I haven't found anyone who has purchased these to be disappointed in what they got as of yet.  I'm very happy with them and actually find the process of soldering the lights on rather enjoyable while helping me strengthen my soldering skills for other tasks, such as decoder installs and electronics as I get into Arduinos and the like.

Thanks for the feedback!

And then...

Dave's comment reminded me of something else.

Keeping in mind again, this is not for everyone.

I myself, get a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment from taking a quality designed and engineered light board that as it happens, was produced in the good old United States of America, buying the LED's and (far too many) resistors and building lights.  I know, I'm such a nerd.

When I get thinking about it I remember that this all started with a fellow model railroader who designed a good product and shared it with another fellow model railroader who with the support of other model railroaders, marketed it so that model railroaders world wide could get this high quality lighting product for their own layouts.  I think it's pretty cool.

Nice article ! It would be

Nice article ! It would be nice to know how much power the 3 1/2 feet of 5050 strips need to produce the same amount of light. Just curious...

Power

Whoops I should have included that, sorry!

Three and half feet of my 5050 'stick-on' LED strips @ 12VDC draws 950mA according to my meter.

Michael, perhaps you can help me with something I recently observed?

The first three LED boards I assembled all drew 290mA when I put them together.  Now all of my boards except for one are drawing 200mA.  The odd one out is drawing even less, 190mA.  First I thought my meter was bad, so I borrowed my sons brand new meter.  It confirmed my meter.

I should also note that although I am seeing reduced load, the lux output has not changed.

Am I missing something obvious?

The first three LED boards I

That's funny. I have no explanation. Does the first one still draw 290 mA when you test it again?

Kevin, just a shot in the dark....

Are we talking digital VOM's?  My experience is that some of the cheaper models of those can vary widely in the readings they give. Not to imply yours is cheap. Anyway, I had to set some current on something awhile back and the only way I found to do it consistently was with an analog meter. Like I say, just a total shot in the dark.

Michael

Whoops I should have included

That amounts to 11.4W per foot compared to the 7.2W of my strip. That's 58% more power!

At the risk...

...of sounding politically incorrect, I still have to say,  'Michael Rose, those boards all look alike!'  I can't say which is which anymore but of the completed boards I have, none of them is reading 290mA.

Michael (noah_count) No, the meter in question is a cheap digital VOM.  That is why I suspected the meter first and grabbed my sons meter.  It's not a fluke either but it agreed with my meter.  I wish I had my old analog but it was stolen years ago.

Lets also keep in mind that the same meter measured the boards at 290mA not that long ago.

As for the power consumed, Michael, thank-you for doing the math!

P_(W) = I_(A) × V_{(V)  or 11.4 = 0.950 X 12  and 6.96 = 0.290 X 24}

Thumbs Up!

Thanks for the great review guys, Michaels light boards are excellent.
I'm glad to see them giving getting some more exposure!

PDC will have more boards in stock in about two weeks.

Cheers!

Thumbs...

Bill,

Funny you mention thumbs as I thought I was all thumbs on this article!

The boards are indeed excellent.  I'm very happy with them.  Hey, this will tell you all something.  My WIFE is very happy with them!

They are not inexpensive initially but with their (IMO) excellent lux to watt ratio, they begin to pay back that investment right away in power saved.

Bill, you are the man!  You got the ball rolling on these boards so thank-you!

Best regards,

Oh Yeah...

Regarding the current draw being lower.

The only thing I can think of that has changed here is with my power supply.  I installed diodes on both outputs of my twinned 12V ATX power supplies, which have been working great so far.

Is there any reason to think this would change what the boards will draw?

Ripple

Looks like you eliminated some sort of AC component in your power supply output, either 60 hz or switching frequency bleed through. That would confuse a DC current meter, especially if there are any capacitors in the system. As far as the AC component is concerned, you have changed the circuit from a half wave rectifier (the LEDs) to a full wave rectifier.  Have you looked at the power with a scope?

pqe

Ripple and Scope

Very Interesting Pelsea,

It seems odd somehow that there would be an AC component in the output from two PC power supplies?  The full wave rectifier seems like a good thing, no?  A confused meter is inconvenient when I want to check circuit loading but I can just assume 300mA per board regardless of what the meter says.

I wish I had a scope so I could see what is happening.

Thanks for your comments.

Regards,

The boards are in stock again...

We have the boards in stock again and have added a starter kit for anyone wanting to try the boards out.

The starter kit is also perfect for anyone wanting to do up to an 8ft module. Just add more boards, order a few more LED's and you're all set!

The kit includes the 1 Circuit Board, LEDs, Resistors, and a 75W UL/cUL certified 24v Power Supply.

AND... we've lower the prices back to the original prices for this product.

Starter Kit

I think a starter kit is a good thing to offer your customers, Bill.

I was sitting on the fence over the LED boards until Dave Kilborn sent me some to try and I saw the first one light up.

With these boards, seeing, truly is believing.