The electric fence in the pasture is working well. The fence charger is solar powered, however, so it must face south… which is directly toward the house. That’s a problem because, even though the charger is almost too far away from the house to even be seen in the daytime, at night its little flashing light is incredibly visible and actually annoying, particularly as the view from the bed looks directly at it.
The light is important. It flashes whenever the charger sends a jolt of electricity to the fence, so it’s really the only way to know that the charger is working. It flashes about every 1½ seconds, unless the battery power is getting low in which case it drops back to every 3 seconds. The light has to be pretty bright to be visible in bright sunshine, but in the inky black pasture at night it stands out and can catch your eye as you’re trying to fall asleep. Oh, and it’s on HA’s side of the bed.
I thought about disabling the light, or perhaps even reprogramming the microcontroller in the charger, but opted instead for the higher-tech solution of putting strip of black electrical tape over the light. I doubled over the end of the tape so it would make a little flap that would let us easily check the status of the fence when we’re turning it off and on.
That seems to have almost solved the problem. In the dark of night, I would occasionally see a (much dimmer) flash in the dark pasture. But when I’d look at it, it wouldn’t be there. I’d watch for a while, but nothing. Then as soon as I’d start to look away, I’d see it again. Then I’d look back at it, but there was nothing there.
Eventually, I figured out that I could see the flashing light clearly only if I didn’t look directly at it, but focused a bit off to the side. It’s a known phenomenon that occurs because the photoreceptors at the center of your visual field are optimized for detail and color, while those at the periphery of your vision are more optimized for photo sensitivity. The fence light, mostly obscured by black tape, is precisely dim enough to not be visible when focused on directly but bright enough to be seen in peripheral vision.
I suspect, as the moon is currently waxing, that it won’t be an issue for a couple of weeks. At the next new moon I’ll ask HA if the flashing is still bright enough to be annoying and, if so, I’ll add a bit more tape.
—2p