montana wildhack wrote:

Way back when, I bought my parents a photosensor that was a little black
box which plugged into a wall socket & then you plugged the lamp into
that. You could put the little black box closer to the window (on the
window side of the curtains) and it worked really well, turning the lamp
on at dusk, or when the weather made the day really dark.

I have seen units that screw into the lamp between the lamp and the
bulb, but they don't do a great job because the curtains interfere with
the photosensor's interpretation of light.

Well, if you really can't find that "separate" kind you want, you could
always wire a lamp bulb socket to a cord and plug, put one of those
"screw into the lamp" kind of photoswitches into it, screw a bulb
threaded plug adaptor into that and plug the lamp into it.

That would permit you to put the photoswitch in the window.

A bit klutzy to be sure, but it will work.

HTH,

Jeff

Does anyone know where I shoul look for this type of photocell? I've
checked all the local places and Googled, but I'm still coming up empty.

Any help appreciated!



--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

montana wildhack wrote:

Way back when, I bought my parents a photosensor that was a little
black box which plugged into a wall socket & then you plugged the lamp
into that. You could put the little black box closer to the window (on
the window side of the curtains) and it worked really well, turning
the lamp on at dusk, or when the weather made the day really dark.

I have seen units that screw into the lamp between the lamp and the
bulb, but they don't do a great job because the curtains interfere
with the photosensor's interpretation of light.


Well, if you really can't find that "separate" kind you want, you could
always wire a lamp bulb socket to a cord and plug, put one of those
"screw into the lamp" kind of photoswitches into it, screw a bulb
threaded plug adaptor into that and plug the lamp into it.

That would permit you to put the photoswitch in the window.

A bit klutzy to be sure, but it will work.

HTH,

Jeff


Does anyone know where I shoul look for this type of photocell? I've
checked all the local places and Googled, but I'm still coming up empty.

Any help appreciated!



Hi,
I think HD still sells them. You also have a adjusting shutter for cell
sensitivity.
Tony
Tony

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 06:48:41 GMT, Tony Hwang wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

montana wildhack wrote:

Way back when, I bought my parents a photosensor that was a little
black box which plugged into a wall socket & then you plugged the lamp
into that. You could put the little black box closer to the window (on
the window side of the curtains) and it worked really well, turning
the lamp on at dusk, or when the weather made the day really dark.

I have seen units that screw into the lamp between the lamp and the
bulb, but they don't do a great job because the curtains interfere
with the photosensor's interpretation of light.


Well, if you really can't find that "separate" kind you want, you could
always wire a lamp bulb socket to a cord and plug, put one of those
"screw into the lamp" kind of photoswitches into it, screw a bulb
threaded plug adaptor into that and plug the lamp into it.

That would permit you to put the photoswitch in the window.

A bit klutzy to be sure, but it will work.

HTH,

Jeff


Does anyone know where I shoul look for this type of photocell? I've
checked all the local places and Googled, but I'm still coming up empty.

Any help appreciated!



Hi,
I think HD still sells them. You also have a adjusting shutter for cell
sensitivity.
Tony
Tony

I have seen them at Menards.
or even though I am no fan of Ebay, give Ebay a try,

On Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:14:52 GMT, montana wildhack
wrote:

On 2006-01-15 05:26:22 -0500, said:

I have seen them at Menards.

I'll see if Menards is online.

To all-

Thanks for the variety of really interesting answers!

The old unit worked really well for many years (read decades) which is
why my 85 year old father wants to replace it. He tells me he has the
kind that screw into the socket, but he's not happy with them. I don't
know if he has properly adjusted the things or not. Considering how
well he he gets along with electronics, I suspect user error.

It's my job to try and find stuff for him that he likes without
editorializing, because as far as I'm concerned, at 85, it's not too
much to ask!

I agree.

What bothers me is when kids say, "We moved our father down to
Arizona," or "in with us", instead of "Our father moved to Arizona"
"to be near us." They say this about parents who are fully competent,
but even if the parent is fully senile, I think it is disrespectful to
suggest to others that he or she doesn't run his own life.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.