Talk:Whitefish Point Light

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[edit] Light characteristic and range

My search for this information on line was to no avail. I called the Museum and asked, and that is the source of this info. Maybe somebody can find it in one of the many books I've added to the additional reading, and then we could add that as a reference. In any event, I have every reason to believe that these figures are correct.7&6=thirteen (talk) 19:18, 16 May 2008 (UTC) Stan

[edit] Whitefish Point Lighthouse height and focal plane

There is a discrepancy between the height and focal plane height that are listed by Terry Pepper (height 78/focal plane 76) and the National Park Service Inventory of Lights (height 78/focal 80). The links for Terry Pepper's number are at http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/lists/towers.htm and http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/lists/focalheight.htm. I note that Terry Pepper put in references for his numbers. I also wrote to him personally. He personally replied to me, and sent me back a copy of the 1939 inventory, which he states he believes to be more reliable as a source. He also noted that there have been issues concerning the reliability of the National Park Service Inventory statistics from time to time. This is what he wrote:

• "My personal experience is that the NPS maritime website cannot be considered infallible. I have found many errors on the site. Attached, you will find the appropriate section from the 1939 Great Lakes Light List, which I consider to be far more accurate, and corroborates my data."

I can provide the e-mail with the JPEG if anybody wants to download it (and perhaps upload it to Wikipedia). Just write to me and I'll send it along. Interestingly, the Coast Gaurd doesn't list a height, and other sources say "some 80 feet tall". See http://www.ecophotoexplorers.com/files/pdf/LighthouseDigestJun02.pdf I think that we should go with Terry Pepper's numbers, but I await the judgment of my fellow editors. 7&6=thirteen (talk) 21:38, 28 May 2008 (UTC) Stan

I checked out Volume 7 of the Coast Guard, which is in the Bibliography and is current. It says that the tower is 76 feet, and the height (focal plane) is 80 feet. The characteristic of the light is listed as .2 seconds flash; 4.8 seconds eclipse; .2 second flash; 14.8 seconds eclipse. This would seem to settle the matter as definitively as we can. 7&6=thirteen (talk) 00:58, 29 May 2008 (UTC)Stan

Here is my latest correspondence with Terry Pepper of Seeing the Light. I wrote:

> Volume 7 of the current Coast Guard light list says this light is 76 > feet in the tower, and 80 feet at the focal plane. Don't mean to be > a nudge, but . . . > > There is a third figure in there, which I think was 24, and I did not > know what that meant. > > Maybe I'm misreading it. If you would take a look, I'd greatly > appreciate it. > > It also listed the lights characteristics.I wrote: > Volume 7 of the current Coast Guard light list says this light is 76 > feet in the tower, and 80 feet at the focal plane. Don't mean to be > a nudge, but . . . > > There is a third figure in there, which I think was 24, and I did not > know what that meant. > > Maybe I'm misreading it. If you would take a look, I'd greatly > appreciate it. > > It also listed the lights characteristics.

Here is the latest message from Terry Pepper, which explains in detail the differences between the USCG 1939 Light list and the current USCG Volume 7 light list:

In Volume 7, Column 5 "Height" is defined as "Height above water from

the focal plane of the fixed light to mean high water (low water datum on Great Lakes), listed in feet. This newer Light list is using low water datum as the base measure, whereas the 1939 list was using mean high water. This would account for the increase of 4'.

In Volume 7, Column 7 "Structure" is poorly defined as "height of

structure above ground." Without better definition, it appears likely that the newer volume is not including the vent ball in the measurement.

Finally, I think, but am not 100% sure, that the bold "24" beneath the

height entry in column 5 indicates the Luminous Range, which is defined as " The greatest distance a light can be expected to be seen given its nominal range and the prevailing meteorological visibility."

I hope this helps

Terry