# Help finding LEDs for night disc golf



## gaines (Jul 6, 2009)

I'm trying to find a good source for small LEDs that I can attach to a button cell battery and tape to the bottom of my discs for playing disc golf at night. I have tinkered with LEDs and such in the past, but rather than spending hours upon hours reading through the forums to get up to speed I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

FYI, I read a post from someone indicating that they felt red is the most visible color for this purpose, however I think white would work fine.

Thanks,
Gaines


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 6, 2009)

I say bring a bright flashlight and just cover the disk in glow stuff. Just recharge it from time to time with the flashlight to make it really bright, and search for it w/ flashlight if you can't find it. 

Or if you had too much money, you could get a high-power UV flashlight and a neon-colored disc


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## gaines (Jul 6, 2009)

bshanahan14rulz said:


> I say bring a bright flashlight and just cover the disk in glow stuff. Just recharge it from time to time with the flashlight to make it really bright, and search for it w/ flashlight if you can't find it.
> 
> Or if you had too much money, you could get a high-power UV flashlight and a neon-colored disc



I appreciate the response, however I'm specifically interested in help finding the best LED option.

I do have a couple glow in the dark discs and have located a UV keychain light to activate them before throwing, however the LED option would allow me to use any disc and provide them for friends.


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## vali (Jul 6, 2009)

Maybe DX fauxtons?


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## Foxx510 (Jul 6, 2009)

You'll want to do it aerodynamically, weight and drag of the lights will affect how the disc flies. I'd honestly be looking at glow/reflective tape/paint if possible, but LED would be much cooler. Can you link to an image of the disc?


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## gaines (Jul 6, 2009)

Foxx510 said:


> You'll want to do it aerodynamically, weight and drag of the lights will affect how the disc flies. I'd honestly be looking at glow/reflective tape/paint if possible, but LED would be much cooler. Can you link to an image of the disc?



I know people who have used lights on their discs without any noticeable effect on their flight. The trick is placing them in the center of the under side. Most of the air flow is over the top of the disc and with the weight placed in the center it can't change the balance significantly.

In any case, I'm thinking two LED lights and a button cell battery should do it. There's a website where they talk about doing this very thing and even sell the equipment, but if I'm going to do something I like to do it right so I came here to be sure I got the brightest bulbs.


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## gaines (Jul 7, 2009)

vali said:


> Maybe DX fauxtons?


By the way, I'm not ignoring your suggestion. I'm still trying to identify what exactly a DX fauxton is and where I'd acquire them.


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## vali (Jul 7, 2009)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1100

Yo can buy the button cells and some cheap 5mm leds there too if you want to do it yourself.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 7, 2009)

I don't know how big the discs you use are, but I have a frisbee somebody gave me when I was younger, 4 5mm LEDs pointed outwards and a square box in the middle housed 2 AA or AAA batteries and some simple circuitry. So if the disc is large enough, don't think you are limited to button-cells.


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## mds82 (Jul 7, 2009)

i would say the easiest option would to be to buy a small button style battery then 1-3 little led's and tape it into place. you wouldnt get much life from the battery, but it would help keep the disc balanced.

i play frisbee all the time and even the LED lit frisbee's dont work that well. the extra weight in the center of the disk screws up the way it flies.


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## gaines (Jul 7, 2009)

vali said:


> http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1100
> 
> Yo can buy the button cells and some cheap 5mm leds there too if you want to do it yourself.


Thanks for the link. Now I know that DX = DealExtreme. 

The 5mm red LEDs I found on there are supposedly not very bright, so I may pick up some of the white ones which reviewers say are quite bright...along with a variety of others since they're so cheap.


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## gaines (Jul 7, 2009)

bshanahan14rulz said:


> I don't know how big the discs you use are, but I have a frisbee somebody gave me when I was younger, 4 5mm LEDs pointed outwards and a square box in the middle housed 2 AA or AAA batteries and some simple circuitry. So if the disc is large enough, don't think you are limited to button-cells.


I've seen those and can't imagine attaching AAA batteries to a golf disc...much less AA! Golf discs are smaller and thinner. I still think a button cell and a couple LEDs are somewhat insignificant compared to any other lighting option.


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## StarHalo (Jul 7, 2009)

There's a ready-made option: http://www.batteryjunction.com/niizefl.html


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## gaines (Jul 7, 2009)

StarHalo said:


> There's a ready-made option: http://www.batteryjunction.com/niizefl.html


Thanks, but I don't think those are made for disc golf. Even if they were, there is a wide array of golf discs that fly differently based on their design and weight. My objective is to add maximum night time visibility without limiting myself to certain discs.


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## LukeA (Jul 8, 2009)

I think you need to make some mini LED Throwies (minus magnets). I think you'll want some 3mm LEDs and whatever 3V button cells you can find. Harvesting them out of fauxtons may be the cheapest way to get those.

Mouser.com and Digikey.com are where you want to get your 3mm LEDs. Personally I would probably use 525nm green LEDs because they have a good Vf to run from a 3V button cell and I like the color, but they're kind of expensive at $.50-$1.00 ea.

5mm LEDs would probably be ok as well. 

All you need for a mini throwie for disc golf discs is an LED or two with a button cell between the legs and a piece of clear tape over the whole deal.


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## gaines (Jul 8, 2009)

LukeA said:


> I think you need to make some mini LED Throwies (minus magnets). I think you'll want some 3mm LEDs and whatever 3V button cells you can find. Harvesting them out of fauxtons may be the cheapest way to get those.
> 
> Mouser.com and Digikey.com are where you want to get your 3mm LEDs. Personally I would probably use 525nm green LEDs because they have a good Vf to run from a 3V button cell and I like the color, but they're kind of expensive at $.50-$1.00 ea.
> 
> ...



Thanks! I forgot that years ago I placed an order with Digikey. I'll check out their sites. Whatever I don't use for disc golf I may still wire up and use to add lighting effects to my motorcycle and car. 

You're absolutely correct about the design. It couldn't be simpler...although I may pull out the soldering iron and throw in a tiny switch if it isn't too much hassle just to avoid fumbling with anything in the darkness.


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## gaines (Jul 8, 2009)

I'm looking through the Mouser and Digikey catalogs trying to figure out which bulbs are good for what I want.

I used the filter feature on Mouser and found the *R20GRN-F-0160 *which are a bit pricey at ~$1 each, but boast a luminosity of 1000 mcd. From what I read, this seems too good to be true as the LEDs on cell phones are supposed to be 20-30 mcd. If it is true, then I guess this would suck the juice out of a button cell battery quite quickly.

On the other hand, I found a link to LEDs at futurlec and, though I'm guessing they are of lower quality, the choices are simple and the prices seem extremely low. I hate to go cheap if it means they wont be very visible as it defeats the purpose.

I checked out the selection at ledssuperbright. Their normal ones are inexpensive, but it seems like a +/-20 viewing angle might be very narrow. They do have some 3W Ultra-Bright ones that have a 140 Deg viewing angle and look like they might do the trick, but it looks like they're $14 each!

Should I be looking for any specific characteristics?

Thanks!


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## Foxx510 (Jul 9, 2009)

If you are going to use button cells you need to stick with the basic 5mm 20mA high brightness LED. Have you decided on a battery? I'd just be trying the dealextreme keyring lights personally, cheap and effective if you are going with button cell powered lights.


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## gaines (Jul 9, 2009)

Foxx510 said:


> If you are going to use button cells you need to stick with the basic 5mm 20mA high brightness LED. Have you decided on a battery? I'd just be trying the dealextreme keyring lights personally, cheap and effective if you are going with button cell powered lights.



I have a bunch of button cells I bought off eBay. I'll have to check what their specs are when I get home. I also purchased 10 of those 22000mcd keychain lights. I'm guessing those are what you guys are calling fauxton.

I do tend to over engineer things so you're probably right.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 9, 2009)

another good place to harvest those 3v button cells is from old computers. If your IT guy at work goes through a lot of computers for the company, see if you can get the CMOS battery from trashed computers =)


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## Illum (Jul 9, 2009)

something like this?
http://flashlightreviews.woodlandsconnection.com/flashlightreviews/reviews/niteize_flashflight.htm

gee...why not have someone standing my your side and pan a long throwing light directly at the disc?


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## gaines (Jul 9, 2009)

Illum said:


> something like this?
> http://flashlightreviews.woodlandsconnection.com/flashlightreviews/reviews/niteize_flashflight.htm
> 
> gee...why not have someone standing my your side and pan a long throwing light directly at the disc?



Yeah, that is exactly what I'm looking to do, minus the fiber optic channels.

Although seeing a lighted disc weave through the trees is really cool, the real purpose for the lighting is retrieval. If you haven't played disc golf, you might be surprised to see how difficult it can be to find a disc in the middle of a wide open field during the daytime. When you start adding brush and trees to the mix it's easy to loose your disc. If you're doing it at night with only a flashlight, you better be prepared to buy some new ones the next day. The irony is that it's easier to find a lighted disc at night than a normal one in the middle of the day. :twothumbs


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 9, 2009)

what if you DID do the fibre optic channels? Just get one of those cheap pens that has like, a poof of plastic fiber optic =)


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## gaines (Jul 9, 2009)

bshanahan14rulz said:


> what if you DID do the fibre optic channels? Just get one of those cheap pens that has like, a poof of plastic fiber optic =)



That'd be pretty cool, but would make it much more difficult to use than simply slapping a piece of tape in the center of the disc.


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## Foxx510 (Jul 9, 2009)

Where are you mounting the lights? Is there a risk that if it lands normally the light will be covered by the disc and not be visible? Or is it a clear disc?


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## gaines (Jul 9, 2009)

Foxx510 said:


> Where are you mounting the lights? Is there a risk that if it lands normally the light will be covered by the disc and not be visible? Or is it a clear disc?


They are primarily clear discs, although some of the ones that aren't clear would probably still glow even if they were LED side down.


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## Foxx510 (Jul 10, 2009)

Ah clear will work well. I'm not sure how familiar with LEDs you are, but they normally require another component, a resistor, to stop them from being damaged. When used with the button cells they are generally ok though as the button cells aren't able to deliver enough current to damage them. You might only get a few hours out of each battery also.


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## gaines (Jul 10, 2009)

Foxx510 said:


> Ah clear will work well. I'm not sure how familiar with LEDs you are, but they normally require another component, a resistor, to stop them from being damaged. When used with the button cells they are generally ok though as the button cells aren't able to deliver enough current to damage them. You might only get a few hours out of each battery also.



Yeah, I read about that. The button cells I purchased off eBay were super cheap so I really wouldn't mind using one per round/evening.


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