Tips on Technology By: Bill Michiling

I hope those of you that are into sports are enjoying the Sports Challenge being put on by the CNMI Sports Association and their sponsors on Saipan. This could be a chance in a life time to rub shoulders with some great sports stars.

As I was having lunch at the Golden Lobster Restaurant on Sunday with my family and some friends, a thought struck me. The CNMI is moving into the monsoon season, or like some call it 3the typhoon season2. Thinking about this, I thought it would be a good time to talk about some technology that might make this typhoon season a little better if an emergency does arrive.

Lets talk a little about what kinds of things you really need should an emergency happen. We will start with 3low tech2 items first. Some items we can start storing in advance, while some things will need to be planned for closer to the actual emergency.

One of the first things you should consider is fresh water storage, as fresh water could get scarce during an emergency. Then emergency food, such as can goods and nonperishables should be planned for.

We can also stock up on flashlight batteries and make sure we have a working battery or 3other2 portable radio, so we can keep up with weather bulletins and the like. We will need to make sure we have a full tank of gas should an emergency warning be given. I won1t even go into all the things you should do to prepare your home and the area around your home.

But wait, where is all the technology you were alluding to in the beginning? Well lets go back to a one of the items.

Lets look at the flashlight. We are probably all familiar with the standard flashlight. It consists of a case or holder for the batteries, usually 3D2 size or larger to ensure good life expectancy. Then there is the light bulb which is powered by the batteries. This bulb can be the 3weak2 link of the flashlight system. The bulb will burn out, and it will without warning, when you least expect it. It does not matter how many extra batteries you have, if you don1t have a spare bulb or more, you are in the dark! Lets see how we can do something about this bulb situation. The average flashlight bulb has a lifetime of about 50-100 hours of use. This seems like a good lifetime, but how many people keep track of the time that may be left on your flashlight bulb? Not too many I dare say. What if you had a light bulb that could last 100,000 hours of life.

How long is 100,000 hours? There are 8,760 hours in a year (24 hours X 365 days), if you divide 100,000 by 8,760 you will get just over 11 years! Of course you would not use you flashlight 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for years?? So for all practical purposes we could say the light would last a lifetime? What kind of light is this anyway? It turns out the light is not really a light as we think of a light. It is an 3LED2, which stands for (L)ight (E)mitting (D)iode. The main difference between a regular light bulb and an LED is that the LED has no filament to burn out. The LED creates light by a difference of potential of a electrical current. Suffice to say its life is much, much longer than a regular incandescent light bulb.

So lets list the main advantages of LED lites: 1. Electricity consumption—5% – 10% of incandescent bulbs example, an LED equivalent to a 20 watt lite could use only 1- 2 watts! 2. Reliability, High – vibration resistant (no filament) 3. Technology Solid State semiconductor (no filament) 4. Flashing Instant and / or dimming (adds to life cycle) 5. Colors Pure and sharp narrow band wavelengths 6. Maintenance, None 7. Heat, cool bulb surface (average – 1 degree Fahrenheit ! ) 8. Environment, no haloization (Less light and heat pollution)

So you can see the LED is now and the future….

Next week we will talk about lites and radios that need NO batteries! Just think, no more batteries……Or at least, less…