Moth collecting in Ko Tao

[Paul K]

We arrived on one of the islands in Gulf of Thailand and after we settled down I had set up my light trap equipment which I drugged here from Canada. I had not bring nor buy generator as I was planning to set up my lights in my backyard and enjoy moth collecting all night.
The sheet and lights are up and all checked and work.
After dusk I turned on the lights , 2 mercury vapor 160 W bulbs ( I know it's not too much power but worked okay in Canada and Franch Guiana too ).
So all excited I grubbed cold beer and ready for the action .
After no more then a minute my lights turned off.
To my disappointment I have checked all connections if there would be any problem, but all looked fine.
After short time the lights turned on again but turned on and off and on and off....
Mercury vapor bulbs they need steady , continued power to work properly and to my big disappointment the island is missing that.

Does anyone know how to go around that problem?
I don't think that regular energy efficient bulbs would work.
They are used around homes but no moths or other insects are gathering around them .

Paul

[nomihoudai]

Buy a generator and sell it afterwards or give it to someone. Only solution that comes to my mind. Or settle for a smaller lamp, when I used to do light trapping I did most of it with 40W tubes and motorcycle batteries. 320W is a lot for that grid.

When I was in Indonesia, using a single hair dryer wasn't even possible as the outlet in the house was not strong enough to support it.

[Adam Cotton]

Try looking in the local electrical shop for a 32 Watt fluorescent "Blacklight" tube. I used to use those for moth collecting here in Chiang Mai, and the biggest problem was making sure they didn't break when transporting them on bumpy mountain roads (not an issue in your back yard).

Adam.

[Paul K]

Generator is not a good idea as a close proximity to next door homes could be a problem.
Too much noise . Regular fluorescent tubes don't work as I have one on the porch and nothing comes to it.

Black lights I don't think they would have on such small island but I can try to find it when I will be in Bangkok for couple of days in January.

Another explanation is that is not a moth season here on the island .

Adam , do you think home pro or Watsadu would have black lights tube or it should be some speciality electric store . How is it called in Thai?

Paul

[Adam Cotton]

I expect that even in Ko Tao there will be fluorescent blacklight tubes for sale in a local electrical shop. They are very widely used, both for locals to catch insects to eat (mostly Belostomatid bugs) and also as decorative lighting in bars and the suchlike. It is possible that the local shop may only have the short 18 Watt tubes, but even those would be better than none. The Thai name is "lawd becklai", where 'lawd' means a bulb, and 'becklai' is the way they pronounce the word blacklight. The tubes are dark purple in colour, and when switched on the light is violet. When used hanging in front of a sheet it is not difficult to see the moths, but it is also a good idea to add a normal white tube with them to aid visibility on the sheet.

It is indeed possible that right now is a poor season for moths, but even so there should be some.

Adam.

[Paul K]

Thank you Adam .
I will try to find here .

Paul