Campsite flagpole lighting - advice please

grumpyhack · June 3, 2014

It's all very well having a flagpole at your encampment but without decent lighting you will struggle to find it at night.

At Wychwood I encountered a group with a stunning 10 metre flagpole with LED lights flashing all the way to the top. So I went and asked them how they did it.

Their answer was a 12 volt car battery, running through an inverter to power 240 volt light strings.

But I'm confused as most 240 volt light strings have a transformer that knocks down the 240 volt input to somewhere around 12 volts.

Surely you loose power if you start with 12 volts, invert it up to 240v and then transform it down back to 12v.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has suggestions to really light a 10 metre flagpole up well? I'm happy to invest in a separate 12 volt car battery to drive things.

Anyone know of people selling good 12 volt LED lighting strings or any other suggestions.

I've got three weeks as I want to shine out at Glasto and find my way home.

**Yoghurt on a Stick** · June 3, 2014

Hello grumpy. I can't answer your questions as I haven't got a clue about those things. Just to say I saw those two flagpoles lite up at Wychwood and agree that they were more than impressive. I'm kind of mulling over getting the same sort of thing so will be watching this thread avidly.

Rodbull · June 3, 2014

We have a 8 m flagpole and use solar powered led lights that can flash or stay on permanent. They come on automatically at night and cost less than a tenner. They look ace at night too. Think we got them from home and bargain

June 3, 2014

The solar lights are brillant, we have used a string for years. I was typing as the above answer appeared. Believe ours came from Amazon. Same detail as above. Everyone else uses them for navigation as well.

grumpyhack · June 3, 2014

Hello grumpy. I can't answer your questions as I haven't got a clue about those things. Just to say I saw those two flagpoles lite up at Wychwood and agree that they were more than impressive. I'm kind of mulling over getting the same sort of thing so will be watching this thread avidly.

**Yoghurt on a Stick** · June 3, 2014

I'm not too sure about you being allowed to follow this thread Yog, seeing as you didn't say hello at Wychwood. But maybe the deal is at Glasto I'll show you mine if you show me yours.