I never liked white light in a night IFR cockpit.
https://www.steinair.com/product/red-led-maplight-cockpit-light-12v/
What a great idea. Thanks for sharing. And yes I will add a strip of light weight alum angle as a light baffle to prevent seeing the leds directly.LED strip under the glareshield is the way ahead. Last time I used a 12volt 4 colour LED strip (white/blue/green/red) with a dimmer from Perihelion (which seem to be no longer available). A 4 position rotary switch allowed me to select whatever colour was most appropriate at the time. The LED strip was attached with double sided tape. If the LEDs shine toward your eyes a small bead of foam directly behind the strip may be required.
Pete
I had the same dilemma several weeks ago. I am not flying, but decided to use the dimmer on the G3x system to dim a LED strip across the underside of the glare shield. I found a LED strip at a local electronics supplier that can be cut to any length and runs off 12V. In testing my baggage lights out, I figured a 3 foot strip gave the most light I would ever need. If it is too much light even when fully dimmed, then I will just lop off some. The light is well dispersed so should really flood the cockpit and panel. If I remember right, the FAA's IFR handbook said a white light is best for IFR work due to the accurate color rendition; it just needs to be turned down to avoid completely destroying night adaptation. I think the strip is $1 per foot and comes on a roll. I thought about a spot light approach or a shorter, higher output option, but I would rather bath the panel in a soft glow, than have a hot spot on certain instruments. JMHO
I have a Perihelion dimmer from Steins for the intruments. Can that dimmer handle another string of LED's along the underside of the glareshield? I'd hate to have a second dimmer unless necessary. But what about more generic cockpit lighting? Lighting my lap and my GIB's lap? I'm thinking of a string of LED's under the canopy rail on both sides for this? Then there is the need for a more focused light to read a map, perhaps? Am I at three dimmers now? Panel lighting. Ambient lighting and focused map lighting?
I have mostly lighted steam gauges (and one Dynon).
Photos: the one on the LEFT is the newer one from FLIGHTLites; the one on the RIGHT is the one I've had forever and not sure where it came from. It is the better of the two....
A few thoughts ...
Carry a penlight, or two, so when you drop the first one you can use the second one to find it....
…..l.
I have mostly lighted steam gauges (and one Dynon). None are on a dimmer. I have one Vans red LED swivel light off the RIGHT bulkhead in the cockpit (RV-4) that focuses well on the panel or maps; not on a dimmer. Not sure if that is still available. Store is currently closed. I have a finger tip light that usually sits on a behind-the-panel support rail (easy to find) that Velcros on to my RIGHT index finger and does a great job of directing light where I need it. I've had it for years and have no idea where I got it. FLIGHTLite sells one that I also bought but I am not as impressed with it. They also have some that attach to your microphone boom. Those you find on Amazon are more toys than anything else. If I find another source, I'll post that.
Photos: the one on the LEFT is the newer one from FLIGHTLites; the one on the RIGHT is the one I've had forever and not sure where it came from. It is the better of the two....
Here is the website that has the fingerlight for sale. The first one listed is shown in the post photo. They have others as well
http://nitevis.com/SSI_Fingerlight.htm