|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/30/2014 1:33 PM, Joerg wrote: Some of the better front lights have that. But the problem is with tail lights. You can always see when a front light dims away. Happened to me twice and is very annoying but at least I can adjust my riding to it or stop riding. When the tail light goes out this will be unnoticed by the riders and unless you get warnings by honking car drivers you run the risk of being rear-ended or side-swiped. On my road bike I often bend down and look under the seat. On my MTB I can't see the tail light because it's aluminum-encapsulated against rock hits and stuff. So I have two tail lights. That is only necessary because they failed to put in a low-bat warning. I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was worth the trouble. Cadillac had that once upon a time. Works. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
Ads |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
Phil W Lee wrote:
Joerg considered Sat, 30 Aug 2014 09:39:24 -0700 the perfect time to write: Sir Ridesalot wrote: [...] Many AA or AAA tail lights are quite bright especially on trails and some are too bright for a following rider. But you never know when they run out of juice because the manufacturer's engineers can't get it into their heads that there should be a charge level indicator. Technically a piece of cake, you measure the voltage sag upon pulsing and when that exceeds the 80% or whatever discharge mark let the light flash a bit more irregular than usual. Then the rider would still have time to get homes safely but would know that a fresh set of batteries or a Li-Ion recharge is required soon. When do they wake up? They have. Bettery level indicators are so common that they've made them a mandatory requirement (on those few bikes where it's legal to not have a dynamo system) in Germany. For the rear light? So why are all those sold over here in the US sans low-batt warning? Including expensive ones. [...] -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
On 31/08/14 12:52, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/30/2014 1:33 PM, Joerg wrote: Some of the better front lights have that. But the problem is with tail lights. You can always see when a front light dims away. Happened to me twice and is very annoying but at least I can adjust my riding to it or stop riding. When the tail light goes out this will be unnoticed by the riders and unless you get warnings by honking car drivers you run the risk of being rear-ended or side-swiped. On my road bike I often bend down and look under the seat. On my MTB I can't see the tail light because it's aluminum-encapsulated against rock hits and stuff. So I have two tail lights. That is only necessary because they failed to put in a low-bat warning. I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was worth the trouble. My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding. https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991 -- JS |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
James wrote:
On 31/08/14 12:52, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 8/30/2014 1:33 PM, Joerg wrote: Some of the better front lights have that. But the problem is with tail lights. You can always see when a front light dims away. Happened to me twice and is very annoying but at least I can adjust my riding to it or stop riding. When the tail light goes out this will be unnoticed by the riders and unless you get warnings by honking car drivers you run the risk of being rear-ended or side-swiped. On my road bike I often bend down and look under the seat. On my MTB I can't see the tail light because it's aluminum-encapsulated against rock hits and stuff. So I have two tail lights. That is only necessary because they failed to put in a low-bat warning. I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was worth the trouble. My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding. https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991 I had one like that on my MTB. It lasted about half a ride. I heard the impact after it flew off but could not find it in the bush. Now I have this kind but two of them because there is no low-batt warning and you can't see them by bending over: http://www.amazon.com/LIFETIME-GUARA...nus+Innovation -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
On 01/09/14 08:34, Joerg wrote:
James wrote: My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding. https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991 I had one like that on my MTB. It lasted about half a ride. Someone gave me that tail light well over 15 years ago, and it has _never_ failed. I use it at least 3 nights a week for 2 hour rides. It's been on my MTB as well. Now I have this kind but two of them because there is no low-batt warning and you can't see them by bending over: http://www.amazon.com/LIFETIME-GUARA...nus+Innovation I can turn mine on and off while riding. It's not difficult to put my hand behind and look to see the light flashing on my hand. I usually check the light before I go out and keep a stock of cheap AA batteries at home. I think just once I bought a couple of AA batteries from a service station because the light was getting a bit weak after the first hour of riding. -- JS |
#26
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
On 8/31/2014 5:00 PM, Joerg wrote:
wrote: $13 ? eheheyayayyaya.....awcomon Dude $13 http://goo.gl/F09v8p the Canadian has the answer: facing a headlamp backwards with red lens coloration. I'm this after lunch with a small Hella for backup with yellow bulb. beep beep beep beep with a voice sez: atención atención el camión se está moviendo hacia atrás Works with bulbs but LEDs have very narrow spectral bands. I've tried a red filter in front of my fairly powerful LED front light and it made it rather dim. And red is, in a sense, the easiest color to get directly out of an LED. White is actually tricky; white LEDs were a problem that took decades to solve. It's sort of a waste to take all that white light sophistication, then throw most of the wavelengths away by filtering. Just use red LEDs. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
On 8/31/2014 6:13 PM, James wrote:
On 31/08/14 12:52, Frank Krygowski wrote: g. I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was worth the trouble. My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding. Yep, that's exactly what I've been doing. The fiber optic idea might be better if I were doing another long tour with camping gear. Then my taillight is mounted much further back - e.g. on the rear end of the rack - because the sleeping bag and tent would obscure the seatpost mounted light. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#28
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
On Sunday, August 31, 2014 5:00:38 PM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
wrote: $13 ? eheheyayayyaya.....awcomon Dude $13 http://goo.gl/F09v8p the Canadian has the answer: facing a headlamp backwards with red lens coloration. I'm this after lunch with a small Hella for backup with yellow bulb. beep beep beep beep with a voice sez: atenci�n atenci�n el cami�n se est� moviendo hacia atr�s Works with bulbs but LEDs have very narrow spectral bands. I've tried a red filter in front of my fairly powerful LED front light and it made it rather dim. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ ccccccccccccccc no ! back to the drawing board the red paint fogging is droplets spaced by clear lexan who has a can of candy apple red lacquer ? |
#29
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
On 9/1/2014 3:28 AM, Phil W Lee wrote:
Remember that all of the light a red LED produces is already red, so it doesn't have it's light output reduced to between 25 and 40% of what comes out of the filament bulb by putting it straight through a filter. So you are already 250 to 400% up on a filament, even without any efficiency gain at all. Multiply that by the efficiency gain, and you can have something very bright for a power budget that is very low. To vouch for that: I was given some very high output LEDs by an engineer friend who works for a company producing architectural LED products. I used two of the red LEDs to upgrade incandescent taillights on two bikes. After observing them in the dark, I decided to point both taillights downward a bit, below horizontal. I was afraid that otherwise, the glare would be too much for oncoming motorists - not to mention any bicyclists that might be following me. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#30
|
|||
|
|||
Cheap bright tail light
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 9/1/2014 3:28 AM, Phil W Lee wrote: : Remember that all of the : light a red LED produces is already red, so it doesn't have it's light : output reduced to between 25 and 40% of what comes out of the filament : bulb by putting it straight through a filter. So you are already 250 : to 400% up on a filament, even without any efficiency gain at all. : Multiply that by the efficiency gain, and you can have something very : bright for a power budget that is very low. :To vouch for that: :I was given some very high output LEDs by an engineer friend who works :for a company producing architectural LED products. I used two of the :red LEDs to upgrade incandescent taillights on two bikes. :After observing them in the dark, I decided to point both taillights :downward a bit, below horizontal. I was afraid that otherwise, the :glare would be too much for oncoming motorists - not to mention any :bicyclists that might be following me. Which is a big clue you don't have the optics right. -- sig 96 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Bright tail light | somebody[_2_] | Techniques | 0 | July 20th 09 12:51 AM |
Bright up your advertising with a slim light box !----11 mm LED light box in China! | Gabe Vanrenen | UK | 0 | June 29th 07 05:08 AM |
Brief note: modification to create super-bright tail light | [email protected] | Techniques | 11 | January 25th 05 02:06 AM |
Looking for BRIGHT and LIGHT helmet | Jeff Potter | Techniques | 12 | November 19th 04 02:06 AM |
Daylight Bright Bicycle Tail Light | Laurence Dodd | Australia | 0 | September 17th 03 04:36 AM |