Panel lighting ideas?

You say that like it's a bad thing. I don't know, with the right music ("Strangers in the Night"?), that could get me in the mood.

 

Bob, if you have one with a NAV system, you can choose so the display in map mode IS a compass... DO you have one that can show this?

 

Sounds like you have the new pri. I have the classic, so my comments may be off. Can you pop the cover off the MFD and snake a wire to something in there? Then just run a wire over to the compass, pop the cover back on over the wire.

A couple of LEDs would light it up nicely and they are dimmable. You could mount them in anything that didn't slide around too much.

They also make car compasses that have built in lighting, you could do a swap.

If you want your light to be mounted up by the ceiling somewhere you might want to get a laser pointer, hook it up to a power supply, put something over the emmiter to spread the beam enough to illuminate the entire face of the compass.

If you put an ordinary 12 volt bulb up by the ceiling you will have to work on focussing the beam so it doesn't light up the entire dash and reflect onto the window.

As far as cave-like goes, how about some electroluminescent wire?

 

Brad,
I assume you are talking about the itty bitty little N sign in the upper left that is impossible to see from the driver's seat?

Or is there a bigger compass I am missing???????
I have GPS.....
8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

Compass mode with nav.

Yes. Tell the car you want "Compass Mode". You'll like it. It also tells you where you are by Latitude and longitude and gives you the street addresses as you drive down the street.

 

>Electroluminescent wire? Sounds cool. Is there really such a thing?
>Does it work like a light bulb filament?

http://www.elwirecheap.com/

>Swapping out the battery light inside the compass won't work because
>a continuously on light, even a small one, would produce too much
>heat.

Not an incandescent bulb, a LED. A LED would run cool. Or swap the entire unit for a compass that comes with a light already in it.

>I did manage to find a nifty blue led light that plugs into the
>power outlet. Helps somewhat. I'm getting used to the "cave"
>effect at night.

(pictures little dangling glow-in-the-dark bats, all of them grinning merrilly...)

 

I just thought that I would mention that Electroluminescent wire while really cool to look at requires maintainance. Basically it will keep its brightness for about a year, then it will be obvious that the intensity has faded. It's not a bad investment, but just realize it's not really a permanent deal.