Thanks! Turns out the SunSwitch turns the light on exactly at sunset. It came on at 7PM almost on the clock. and sunset last night was at 7PM! Well, this faintly lights the whole yard but most of the light is within a 10ft or so diameter circle under the light. The home made glare shields don't really block any light either lol, all they do is block the bright splotch created by the lamp and make the bucket look tacky.

I probably should install a light in my backyard. But I don't want the neighbors complaining about it. I could hook it up to a switch.

But this is a cool setup, and I'm sure that it will give light to your yard.

do you still have your Westie NEMA? which lights did you keep?

Thanks. It is wired to a plug-in cord so it'll only be used when needed but it does give off a good amount of light. I plan to install a 175W merc over the summer.

NICE ! Is that a touch and glow pc ?

yep, a Touch and Glow, but i swapped it out for a 1989 light gray 120-277V Ripley SunSwitch instead. I love the look of those sunswitches...

I agree those Ripley's do give that nostalgic look

Yeah I love the squared tinted window in contrast with the cream color housing. If I'm feeling better this afternoon i'll grab some pics of the light now with the Ripley. I'm glad that the Ripley at least waits until sunset (and not a second later!) to turn on since that's my least sensitive PC. It refuses to shut off inside the house no matter how sunny it is outside or how many lights are on in the room (unless you shine a flashlight right up to the PC window) so I was afraid it would only shut off in direct sunlight, since I know some PCs here that will keep the light on all day on an overcast day. I don't know how early/late it shuts off though, since Ripleys are especially known for needed a LOT more light to shut off the light than turn it on.

BTW, the PC faces in between south and south-west...

Why not direct it north?

this was just the diection the PC receptacle was oriented when I brought it outside; i never changed.

I would have faced it this way anyways though because it's the darkest spot of the yard. My M-250A and OVC had the PC face that way too when I had them mounted outside.

Ahh, I see.OK Never the less it's a sweet set up.

thanks. yeah I don't pay much attention to aiming the PCs north lol. This doesn't normally run anyways so I don't have to worry about the PC drifting and this faces towards trees so once the trees get some leaves on them some of the sun's direct light would be blocked. I can't wait for the grass to turn soft and green instead of being crunchy and dead. It's like walking on styrofoam.

Looks great! Can you post a night time lit shot?

Thanks! Sure, but please give me a week or so since I'm not really feeling to great (got it friday, saturday i felt great and installed this, and sunday it came back; well it probably never left... ). We're supposed to get more of the dreaded 4-letter stuff later this week. I'll defiently get a pic, probably this weekend, as the second half of this weekend is looking nice. I'm not getting sick anymore but the stomach cramps are very painful! I'm glad I mounted this when I did since I was going to wait until the next day.

I would have to say this almost looks better than a cobra, though your neighbors might not appreciate the glarebomb factor of a NEMA.

Eh I like a cobrahead better but it's all just preference. A cobrahead has better light control and makes better use of the light. I never used this much but if it was used dusk-to-dawn they might not like it. I'd probably use an FCO if it ran dusk-to dawn though. If it was my house, I'd probably install multiple lights (all FCO) so the whole yard would be lit. One of the reasons I want woods on my property is to eliminate light trespass from running 100 and 175W MV drop lens cobraheads at night lol (they wouldn't all run dusk-to-dawn but I'd have one of two lights on my driveway with part-night photocells that come on at dusk, off at a selected time, and back on at a selected time (if desired) and then back off at dawn. The lights would be on wood utility poles on the perimeter of my property with an overhead 240V triplex feed. Each light would have its own switch so I can select what lights are on and the amount of light I want. There would be a master 30A 240V switch to kill the whole feed in the garage or something.

If I end up with any streetlights I'd probably do that here if I had enough power to LOL.

Well you do (sorta) have a street light. It's just 250W and at your godparents' house lol.

And in another state I guess I also have a yardblaster, which can also kinda fall into the category of a "streetlight"
I'll keep ya posted on what develops with that M-400A though!

Yardblasters are just wannabe street lights lol. I personally don't like seeing HID "bucket" NEMA heads used for street lighting, but i like them for area lighting. I don't mind incandescent NEMAs like radial waves and crescent moons for area lighting though.

Yeah Cobraheads have better light control and are better built but I think for yard lighting I'll install either my gumball (with the PSMH retrofit to save energy) or something small like my Revere Peaheads with a 100w remote ballast.