From josh@happym.WA.COM Sat Sep 21 22:15:45 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!agate!bionet!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!mips!cs.uoregon.edu!milton!sumax!polari!rwing!happym!josh From: josh@happym.WA.COM (Joshua_Putnam) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: 20W halogen headlight details Summary: how I did it Keywords: do-it-yourself Message-ID: <4779@happym.WA.COM> Date: 12 Sep 91 19:04:11 GMT Reply-To: Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com Organization: Happy Man Corp., Vashon Island, WA Lines: 96 After commenting a few weeks ago about the 20 watt halogen light I use for commuting I received several email inquiries about it, so I thought I might write it up for other rec.bicycles readers now that winter is rapidly approaching. The Search: After looking at commercial systems like the Brite Lite and Night Sun I was dissatisfied with brightness, battery life, and cost, and decided to make my own commuting light. My initial criteria were: at least 15 watts halogen bulb; rugged enough to survive a winter commuting in Puget Sound rain; at least three hours battery life; and lowest possible cost. I started by looking at automotive and motorcycle accessory lights, but these were all too heavy or too energy-hungry for bike use. I got out a few light bulb catalogs looking for appropriate bulb sizes, then used the application notes in the catalogs to determine what type of fixture to look for. The best compromise appeared to be low-voltage landscape lighting. (For those not familiar with low-voltage lighting, this is a low-cost outdoor lighting system that runs off stepdown transformers. Since the wiring is all 12 volt, homeowners can do their own installation without permits, licensed electricians, etc.) The Light: After going to several lighting fixture stores, I settled on the Toro VariFocus MiniSpot. This is a 20 watt, variable-focus fixture designed for outdoor use. It has a plastic body with a glass front lens to protect the bulb. The lens has a stone guard. The fixture is intended to be mounted on a plastic stake driven into the ground, but this stake was easily modifiable to mount under my stem. The wiring is also very simple: two sharp teeth stick through the insulation of 16 ga. zip cord. I was somewhat concerned about bulb life since the fixture is intended to be stationary, but the filament structure appears similar to automotive halogen bulbs, and so far the light has held up well on rough roads and gravel. The fixture cost a bit over $20 with one bulb, and replacement bulbs are around $7. Unlike some exotic bike light bulbs, these are sold at my neighborhood hardware store. Other Parts: For a power source I bought a lead-acid gel cell, 12 volt, 6.5 amp-hour at 20 hour rate. This cost $32.18 plus shipping. To keep the battery charged I made a 500 mA trickle charger out of a cheap battery eliminator for about $7. Finally, I bought an in-line lamp switch from the local hardware store for about $2. This is not truly waterproof, but at 12 volts there does not seem to be any problem with it getting wet. Assembly: I mounted the light on my handlebar stem with pipe hangers. This was not as rigid a mounting as I wanted, so I added a lightweight aluminum channel under the mounting stake for stiffness. The light, being designed for stationary use, rattled when shaken, but this was easily cured with judicious applications of electrical tape. I put the battery in my rear trunk-bag, and ran the zip cord along my frame with the switch near the handlebars. The total cost for the lighting system is under $65. Performance Review: In use the system is wonderful. Oncoming cars dim their headlights hundreds of feet away. I can see roadsigns at more than half a mile, and the texture of the pavement for more than 60 feet. In all, I feel entirely comfortable at 25 mph on narrow back roads with no moon. The long mounting stake on the light let me mount the fixture far enough forward that there is no glare in my eyes when I stand up and lean forward climbing steep hills. This is a significant improvement over must handlebar-mounted lights I have used. With the variable focus and adjustable head angle of the light I can optimize the lighting and avoid blinding oncoming traffic. I played around with a spare rheostat and found the light acceptable as low as 8 volts, well below the fully discharged output of the battery. I have considered adding a 3 or 4 ohm dropping resistor for times when I need longer running time, but have not needed to yet. My next project along these lines is to develop a version of this light with a quick release mounting for use on my mountain bike. I may opt for a smaller bulb and battery to reduce weight. Low voltage landscape lights are available in 7, 11, and 18 watt sizes as well, though these are not halogen bulbs. -- Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com Happy Man Corp. 206/463-9399 x102 4410 SW Pt. Robinson Rd., Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399 fax x108 We publish SOLID VALUE for the intelligent investor. NextMail OK Info free; sample $20: Send POSTAL addr: Solid-Value@happy-man.com From josh@happym.WA.COM Sun Sep 22 16:29:04 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!rutgers!ub!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!cs.uoregon.edu!milton!sumax!halcyon!happym!josh From: josh@happym.WA.COM (Joshua_Putnam) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: 20W halogen headlight (Q&A) Summary: answers to questions on batteries for lights Keywords: headlights, batteries Message-ID: <4851@happym.WA.COM> Date: 19 Sep 91 19:11:57 GMT Reply-To: Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com Organization: Happy Man Corp., Vashon Island, WA Lines: 63 After my posting a while back on my 20 watt halogen lighting setup, I received quite a few questions and comments. I will post a more detailed summary later, but the most common Q&As are summarized below. So far the questions are mostly about the battery. Feel free to ask more. Q: What is that "20 hour rate" specification on your battery? A: That means that the amp-hour rating is only valid if the battery is drained over 20 hours. For a 6.5 Ah battery this means 325 mA discharge current. At a higher rate of discharge, the battery will put out less total energy due to internal inefficiency, so a 20W light drawing 1.67 A will not really last 3.9 hours on a 6.5 Ah battery. Q: So how long will it last? A: I'm not sure -- I still have not drained it all the way. Maybe next weekend.... (Why put off today what you can put off putting off until tomorrow?) Note that the overall life of the battery declines as discharges get deeper, to the point that extremely deep discharges can permanently reduce charge capacity. Specifications recently posted in sci.electronics for Sonnenschein gel cells make the point clear: Depth of Discharge Life (charge/discharge cycles) 100% 200 50% 400 10% 2000 1% 20000 Q: What does the battery weigh? How big is it? A: Mine, a Panasonic, is 4.85 lbs; 5.95x2.54x3.70 inches. Q: Where can I get one of these batteries? A: Used batteries are available at flea markets, ham fests, garage sales, etc. for very low prices. This is because they often don't have much (if any) life left in them. New batteries can be found at electronics shops, and mailorder. Two mailorder electronics suppliers that I know carry 12v 6.5 Ah @ 20h batteries are: Digi-Key Corp, P.O. Box 677, Thief River Falls, MN 56701-0677 1-800-344-4539 Mouser Electronics, P.O. Box 699, Mansfield, TX 76063 1-800-346-6873 If anyone has more questions or comments they would like to see in my complete summary, feel free to email or post. Thanks again to all who sent comments and questions. -- Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com Happy Man Corp. 206/463-9399 x102 4410 SW Pt. Robinson Rd., Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399 fax x108 We publish SOLID VALUE for the intelligent investor. NextMail OK Info free; sample $20: Send POSTAL addr: Solid-Value@happy-man.com From bchivers@tailor.mitre.org Sun Sep 22 19:19:14 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!linus!linus!tailor.mitre.org!bchivers From: bchivers@tailor.mitre.org (Brent Chivers) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Home-brew light systems. Summary: do it yourself, impress everyone, and save big bucks Keywords: cheap bright heavy Message-ID: <1991Sep19.222606.1667@linus.mitre.org> Date: 19 Sep 91 22:26:06 GMT References: <4779@happym.WA.COM> <47220@cup.portal.com> <4803@happym.WA.COM> Sender: news@linus.mitre.org (News Service) Organization: Engineers Anonymous Lines: 175 Nntp-Posting-Host: tailor.mitre.org >From an ancient article <1991May28.225647.22418@sol.UVic.CA>: > Recently on the net there was some discussion on homemade > light systems. I didn't save any of the posts, and now wish > I had. .... Could people who posted e-mail me their plans? I sent him a reply describing my setup back in May, intending to post it as well. I never got around to it, but the recent return to this topic has inspired me again. And now that it's getting dark earlier (at least for those of us north of the equator -- you lucky Kiwis!).... It's long. If you don't want to build your own light system, skip on by. And if you have questions, feel free to write me (bchivers@mitre.org). ________________________________________________________________________ Many months ago I told someone in e-mail that I'd eventually be posting a description of my setup. Well, that bike got stolen [8-(], but I've done it all again, and this time a little better. So here's one kick-ass home-brew setup: Main Ingredients: 1 bumper-mount 55-watt halogen driving light (These are sold in pairs. Find a friend, or let your first bike get stolen.) 1 red utility light (Looks like a generic replacement taillight for an old pickup truck.) 12-volt power source -- I'm using 1 or 2 sealed 6.5 amp-hour lead-acid batteries. 2 toggle switches wire, connectors bolt -- replace handlebar/stem bolt to mount the headlight Velcro or equivalent (I think I used about 3 yards.) battery charger The driving light mounts rather nicely through that stem bolt. You'll probably need to find a longer bolt at a hardware store so that it can reach thorough the lamp bracket. The taillight will probably be an easy mounting job. Mine was made with a right-angle bend in its bracket. This mounted nicely to the seatpost bolt (this bolt needed to be longer too -- bike shop had one) and then the rear rack on my previous bike. On my present bike, I straightened (unbent) the bracket and mounted the light on the rear brake bolt. This points the light up at an angle, rather than level, but maybe that's even better? [I'm thinking about experimenting with high-brightness LEDs to replace the tail light. They should increase my battery life and be more reliable than an incandescent bulb.] The batteries hang from my top tube. They sit in little "baskets" of Velcro hooks, and soft strips of Velcro loops go over the tube and also around the front end (to keep the batteries from sliding back and forth and swinging side-to-side). I used 2-inch wide Velcro. It was the widest I could find, but it seems to be more than adequate. I have 2 strips (front and rear) around each battery over the top tube. And one more long strip along the sides of the batteries around the fork stem. To describe the little "baskets", picture the rectangular battery suspended just below your top tube. Imagine a strip of Velcro around the sides of the battery, the top rim of a basket. Then envision strips of Velcro at the each end of the battery, going down one side, under the bottom, and up the other side. This does involve some sewing, so find a friend with a sewing machine. It's fairly easy, so this is your opportunity for an introduction to sewing. As an alternative, you could just glue the Velcro to the battery. Adding a rear rack and mounting the batteries back there would probably be easier. Just glue Velcro hooks under the batteries and loops on the rack, and loop an elastic tie-down over the top to keep things from moving. I thought my front end was already pretty light, so I didn't want to add any weight behind the rear axle. (My batteries are 6 pounds each.) And I was too cheap to spend another $35 on a rack (But the Velcro cost me nearly $20 ! 8-) My switches are mounted on a scavenged rectangle of plastic, sandwiched between the headlight bracket and the stem. This plastic is soft rather than brittle, so it doesn't mind all that force on the bolt to keep the handlebars from moving, and it was easy to work for mounting the switches. I expect anyone going this route won't need a lot of details on wiring. The bike frame makes a fine ground connection, even through the steering bearings (good thing, since automotive lights assume their mounting points are their ground connection, and they have just one lead!), so you just need to pick some point to ground the battery. My batteries have spade lugs, so I have a wiring harness with sets of female lugs for 2 batteries and a connector that mates to wiring to the switches and frame ground. I plan to make a matching connector for my battery charger. (It makes sense to use a polarized connector. 8-) My lights came from the automotive departments of discount stores. These things tend to go on sale perodically, if you can wait. Switches and connectors from Radio Shack or wherever. Some of the wire I used came with the lights, and rest came from my old electrical parts boxes. I don't know a source offhand for the batteries. Mine are PS-1265's >from Power-Sonic Corp of Redwood City, CA. That's about all they said, besides the output rating and "Made in Japan". I got them at a computer flea market for $3 each. (I'm assuming mine are all good, but you never know with used equipment at flea markets.) For lead-acid batteries, a 1-amp light-duty motorcycle battery charger should be fine. If you go with NiCads, you might want something more gentle. A trickle charger should work for either, if the setup can sit still long enough. NiCads will cost you a lot more than lead acid too. 55 watts from 12 volts means 4.6 amps, so they'll need to be beefy. (Consider this in your wiring and switch selection.) Add in something for your taillight too. There's a lot of room for variety and improvising with all this. Here's some things I did better the 2nd time around: separate front/rear light switches placed switches where they are easy to use while riding batteries are easily removable (good for day use, but not good for parking and locking) can use 1 or 2 batteries -- less weight for less light-time used sealed batteries First time I just had 1 switch for both lights. There was an extra hole in the taillight bracket, so that's where I put the switch. Now I have 1 for front and 1 for back. I like this much more, as I can conserve the battery capacity. If I'm on a trail (no car traffic), there won't be many joggers or other bikes. I don't need the taillight there at all, and I don't always need the headlight if the trail is lit. On streets, I can turn on the headlight as I need it, and the taillight whenever someone is behind me. I ride with a rear-view mirror, so I see cars pretty far off before they overtake me. (If you're not very aware of your surroundings, then just keep the lights ON!) I tested a couple of my batteries one at a time. They lasted just over 50 minutes each, running both the headlight and taillight. Full brightness through about 51 minutes. Seriously dim after 55 minutes -- still enough enough light to attract attention, but not enough to help see road problems at speed. Adding batteries should add time. Having separate switches, easy to reach, will let you really stretch that time. The first time around I used a 9 Amp-Hr motorcycle battery, taped with strapping tape to a rack over the back wheel. This battery was NOT sealed, and I found it a major nuisance. I did not mount the battery so it was easy to remove, and I had to be very careful to always keep the bike upright. Even so, there was frequently acid dripping out the overflow tube (which was routed to keep the acid off the bike, but that stuff's still going to land somewhere, like maybe your carpet). A removeable setup didn't seem like a big issue in February, since if I did any weekday riding, it was going to be dark when I came home (if not when I left, too!). I have to admit that the big drawback of my setup is WEIGHT. The lights aren't bad at all, but the batteries are HEAVY. If you want a 55-watt light, you've got to carry some serious batteries. If you're riding for exercise, this may not bother you. I love the light, so I live with it. The big advantage is that cars can't help but see you. From the way they often wait on side streets, they must think I'm a motorcycle -- until I finally go by in their headlights. And you can really see well enough to go 20+ mph. It's hard to overdrive this much light. In the daytime I get a lot of stares. (I don't know whether it's the 4"x6" headlight they notice or my _very_ streamlined helmet -- on a MTB. But the helmet was a good buy -- cheap AND certified.) It's also a conversation starter on the METRO. It's a pretty nice bike in the first place, but everyone wonders about that light, and a few people will even break the "conversation taboo" and ask about it. People with any sort of technical background find it very intriguing. This is a lot cheaper, brighter, and heavier than commercial bike offerings. I expect replacement bulbs will be much cheaper and easier to find too, since they're not specialty items. -- ______________________________________________________________________ Brent Chivers McLean, VA bchivers@mitre.org From josh@happym.WA.COM Mon Sep 23 10:33:13 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!cs.uoregon.edu!milton!sumax!halcyon!happym!josh From: josh@happym.WA.COM (Joshua_Putnam) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: 20W halogen headlight details Message-ID: <4865@happym.WA.COM> Date: 20 Sep 91 19:13:20 GMT References: <4779@happym.WA.COM> <47220@cup.portal.com> <4803@happym.WA.COM> <1991Sep18.143502.2430@cbnewsd.att.com> Reply-To: Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com Organization: Happy Man Corp., Vashon Island, WA Lines: 56 In <1991Sep18.143502.2430@cbnewsd.att.com> grande@cbnewsd.att.com (brad.l.grande) writes: >In article <4803@happym.WA.COM>, josh@happym.WA.COM (Joshua_Putnam) writes: >> In <47220@cup.portal.com> SteveSgt@cup.portal.com (Steven Eugene Sergeant) writes: >> >> >In your performance review, you failed to mention what your real-life >> >battery life has turned out to be. >> >> Actually, I have never run the battery down all the way to find out. >> I plan on doing so some time soon, but somehow that always means next >> weekend, not this weekend :-) When I got home last night I had some tedious lathe work to do. Since the lathe is only two yards away from the bike stable I decided it was time to time the battery life. I turned on the light and checked its brightness and the battery voltage every 15 minutes. At the beginning, the loaded voltage of the battery was 12.5 volts according to my old and somewhat unreliable voltmeter. After three hours this had dropped to 10.75 volts, but the brightness of the light was not visibly lower. My light meter did show the output to have dropped substantially, but thanks to the adaptability of the human eye the change was not obvious. After 3:20 I turned the light off. It was still more than adequate for high speed riding, but the poor calibration of my voltmeter made me hesitate to drain the battery much further. >The amphour rating of the battery is at a current draw of 1/10 of the charge >storage rating (e.g. a 6AH battery should be able to supply 0.6 amps for >10 hours at ~70 deg. F.) As I noted in my Q&A posting, this battery's rating is actually for 20 hours, not 10, so the derating should be slightly higher since the rated discharge current is 325 mA and I am drawing 1.67 A at full charge. > ((AmpHour Rating of batt)/(current draw)) * ~0.8 A friend pointed out to me last night that the current draw would drop as the voltage dropped from discharge. If the discharge voltage declines linearly, then by my voltmeter the average voltage is actually 11.6, not the 12.0 I used in my original calculations. Using 12.0v, the above formula gives an estimated life of (6.5/1.67)*.8 = 3.1 hours. Using 11.6v, I get a lower current (1.61 based on nominal 12v wattage) and a life estimate of 3.2 hours. These are both slightly shorter than the observed life, indicating: (a) my voltmeter is really off and I was below my intended cutoff; (b) the bulb has a higher than specified resistance; (c) the battery is rated conservatively; (d) some combination of a, b, and c. -- Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com Happy Man Corp. 206/463-9399 x102 4410 SW Pt. Robinson Rd., Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399 fax x108 We publish SOLID VALUE for the intelligent investor. NextMail OK Info free; sample $20: Send POSTAL addr: Solid-Value@happy-man.com From allard@isi.edu Thu Sep 26 07:50:49 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka!bloom-beacon!gatech!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!usc!isi.edu!allard From: allard@isi.edu (Dennis Allard) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: How many watts melts a CatEye? Keywords: home-brew Turbo Cat -- what's the danger point? Message-ID: <19329@venera.isi.edu> Date: 24 Sep 91 16:17:24 GMT References: <10104@vela.acs.oakland.edu> Sender: news@isi.edu Reply-To: allard@isi.edu (Dennis Allard) Organization: USC Information Sciences Institute Lines: 17 awesley@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Tony Wesley) writes: > How many watts was your upgrade? Turbo Cat with the 4 Watt bulb. > Did it melt the Cateye? I heard about this problem so as a precaution I drilled two 1/4" holes just behind the reflector near the left and right corners of the housing. I mount my cateyes below the handlebars. The holes face the road. I've had no problems with either melting or with water getting into the housing through the drilled holes. Of course, maybe I would never have had any melting problems. After all, they sell these things by the thousands now, and the instructions still don't tell you to drill holes into the thing. Dennis Allard allard@isi.edu From koren@hpfcdc.HP.COM Fri Sep 27 15:51:29 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdc!koren From: koren@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Steve Koren) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Re: Home-brew light systems. Message-ID: <7910141@hpfcdc.HP.COM> Date: 24 Sep 91 04:35:22 GMT References: <1991Sep19.222606.1667@linus.mitre.org> Organization: HP Fort Collins, Co. Lines: 20 [ rest of post on home-brew light deleted ] > I don't know a source offhand for the batteries. Mine are PS-1265's > from Power-Sonic Corp of Redwood City, CA. That's about all they Try: American Design Components 1-800-776-3700 or 1-201-941-5000 815 Fairview Ave PO Box 520 Fairview, NJ 07022 They have a selection of lead acid batteries ranging from 1 AH @ 6v to 20 AH @ 12v. They are slow, however, so order a while before you need the batteries. I bought some 10 AH batteries from them about a year ago, and they were around $14 each. - steve From phil@waikato.ac.nz Thu Oct 3 13:07:24 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!agate!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!wupost!waikato.ac.nz!phil From: phil@waikato.ac.nz (Phil Etheridge) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: time to talk about lights Message-ID: <1991Oct3.101259.5082@waikato.ac.nz> Date: 2 Oct 91 22:12:58 GMT References: <1991Oct2.080802@eklektix.com> Organization: University of Waikato, New Zealand Lines: 38 Dick Dunn writes: > So, how about kicking off a quick discussion of what [lighting > system] works or doesn't? > There are probably several categories: > - generator-driven > - serious, high-power, wet-cell rechargeable > - standard C or D cell (for limited or relatively safe situations) > > Personally, I'm interested in the last category--lights that don't weigh a > bunch and are reasonable for bike paths or lightly-traveled residential > streets. I'd like to find one that casts a reasonable light pattern; my > older Cateye isn't very good at speeds over, say, 15 kph.:-) Are the newer > halogen-bulb versions better? I've just completed a southern winter riding with a Sanyo generator light. It's reasonably priced, and works extremely well. I would NEVER go back to torch battery-style lights. The batteries are always going flat, and the cost of rechargables + charger + lights is more than the generator system. Also, the generator system has the added benefit of appeasing the greenie conscience in me. One thing I don't like is that the small moisture drain hole in the bottom actually lets road spray and grit IN. This is because the cantilever brakes on my MTB don't allow the mounting of the light from a bracket attached to the top of the headset. I plan to clean it out then put some tape over the hole. A modification I recommend is to mount the generator unit from the brake bridge rather than behind the bottom bracket. A small length of steel with a hole drilled at each end will suffice to mount it from the brake bridge. Having the unit up there dramatically cuts down the ammount of road grime it collects. -- Phil Etheridge (phil@waikato.ac.nz) Fax: +64 +7-838 4155 Computer Services/Mathematics & Statistics Phone: +64 +7-856 2889 x 8339 University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ. I'd rather be MTBing From king@reasoning.com Sun Oct 6 21:55:36 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!agate!spool.mu.edu!mips!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!ucselx!petunia!kestrel.edu!king From: king@reasoning.com (Dick King) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Lights, Lumens, and Watts Message-ID: <1991Oct3.175635.28094@kestrel.edu> Date: 3 Oct 91 17:56:35 GMT References: <58405@ut-emx.uucp> Sender: news@kestrel.edu (News) Organization: Reasoning Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA Lines: 34 Nntp-Posting-Host: drums.reasoning.com In article <58405@ut-emx.uucp> kuehne@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (kuehne) writes: >I have yet to see any information about the most important part of lights >for bicycles : THE BULB. What is the efficiency of these halogen bulbs? >I recently purchased a compact florescent bulb (a GE 'twin-tube'), which >is only a few inches long. For nine watts it produces the light of a 40 >watt incandescent. What other bulbs are available, and what are their >efficiencies and spectral characteristics? It would be interesting to >see the data in tabular form. >-john kuehne The problem with florescents for a bike is that to get any focusing one would need an enourmous reflector. I would measure efficiency as watts per foot-lumen delivered to the eye of the driver about to cut you off, and secondarily as watts per foot-lumen delivered to the pothole or animal in the road. I have a homebrew helmet-mounted Union Halogen light. It's very good at nuking drivers because i can aim it quickly with a natural motion that doesn't involve steering. It's good for spotting animals and stationary vehicles; the fact that the light is close to my eyes makes the reflections from the animals' eyes and from the vehicles' reflective materials show up very nicely. It's MEDIOCRE TO POOR for pothole avoidance; the fact that the light source is close to and above my eyes means that there will be no shadow in the pothole. I have occasionally missed potholes big enough to snakebite, but never one big enough to upset me. -dk From dahls@delab.sintef.no Sun Oct 6 22:20:58 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!morrow.stanford.edu!decwrl!uunet!europa.asd.contel.com!darwin.sura.net!Sirius.dfn.de!math.fu-berlin.de!mailgzrz!opal!fauern!unido!mcsun!news.funet.fi!sunic!ugle.unit.no!DAHLS@ELABA.ER.SINTEF.NO From: dahls@delab.sintef.no (Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Lights, Lumens, and Watts Message-ID: <0094F8F0.36CCAD80@ELABA.ER.SINTEF.NO> Date: 3 Oct 91 13:58:34 GMT References: <58405@ut-emx.uucp> <1991Oct2.192925.9718@beaver.cs.washington.edu>, Sender: news@ugle.unit.no (NetNews Administrator) Reply-To: dahls@delab.sintef.no (Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes) Organization: The University of Trondheim, Norway Lines: 25 Thus spoke the keyboard of Scott Herzinger: >Anybody know the difference between krypton- and halogen-filled bulbs? > >Nightsun claims that they're about equal for producing light and that >krypton dissipates heat better (or something like that). Others claim >that halogen is 50% brighter than krypton for a given power level. The main difference is that the krypton bulbs get dark wery quick compared to halogen filled bulbs. I've got a Nightsun Team Issue witch use a 10W krypton and a 20W halogen bulb. After about 20 to 25 hours use, I had to change the krypton lamp because it was so black that the amount of light >from it was very reduced compared with a new krypton bulb. The new krypton bulb will soon need to be changed again. The unit is not a year old yet. My warning is: Don't use krypton bulbs! My opinion is that halogen bubls are brighter than krypton. I've just sendt my old krypton bulb to my brother in the US, and he will try to get a halogen replacement for the krypton bulb. Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes, The University of Trondheim, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, Division of Physical Electronics Please note: The address in the header is incorrect. My correct e-mail is "dahl-stamnes@delab.sintef.no" or "dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no" * "Let chaos storm! Let cloud shapes swarm! I wait for form." * - - - - o o o o - - - - From arnie@col.hp.com Sun Oct 6 22:22:46 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!sdd.hp.com!hp-col!col!arnie From: arnie@col.hp.com (Arnie Berger) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: charging lead-acid batteries Message-ID: <46170014@col.hp.com> Date: 4 Oct 91 15:36:00 GMT References: Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division Lines: 58 In, / col:rec.bicycles / owens@tartarus.uchicago.edu (Christopher Owens) / 1:30 pm Oct 3, 1991 / Christopher Owens writes, >All this talk in rec.bicycles about headlights and wintertime >commuting raises the question of how to charge sealed lead-acid >batteries. The battery I want to use (a DRYFIT) says on the box: >"Charge, also continuous charge, only with constant DC voltage of 2.3 >V +/- 30mv per cell at 20deg C" Now it's easy enough to put together a >13.8V regulated power supply, but they can't possibly intend me to >sink infinite current into the battery. There must be some limit, >possibly a function of the capacity of the battery? > >So, what is the right way to charge a lead-acid battery? Easiest >thing would be to supply 13.8V through a resistor chosen such that a >fully-discharged battery would draw no more than the max current. On >the other hand, a smarter regulator could supply the full rated >charging current to the battery at any time the cell voltage measured >less than the fully-charged level. Is that OK, too? When I built my night light for winter commuting, I got an applications note from Gates Batteries, a maker of sealed lead-acid batteries. There are two ways to charge and maintain them, the right way, and the easy way ( which works just as well ). The right way is a current charging profile for each portion of the battery's discharge profile. The other way is a current limited power supply (resistor) and a charging voltage of around 7.2V for a 6V cell. It turns out that 7.2 (I think that's the voltage) is a good choice for charging when the cell voltage is down and for maintaining full charge (called float voltage) when the cell isn't being used. Unlike Ni-Cads, which periodically should be fully discharged, Gel-Cells like to stay fully charged. You don't sink infinite current into the battery because the excess charge is dissipated due to leakage when the battery is at full charge. I built a simple charger using a LM319 (317?) variable voltage regulator that I have current limited at 1 Amp. I used the circuit that was published in the National Semiconductor Linear Data Book (Anyone out there remember Linear ?). The system works quite well and I've used it for several years. Since I have a very bright headlight (6V @ 2A) I take the battery down to 1/2 charge every time I ride home at night. Even with this relatively deep discharge, I still get 2 years out of 3 "D" Cell Lead-Acid batteries. Arnie ---------- Arnie Berger arnie@hplsdvt Telnet 590-5642 From dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM Sun Oct 6 22:22:51 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!uw-beaver!zephyr.ens.tek.com!uunet!sun-barr!cronkite.Central.Sun.COM!male!zule!dlp From: dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM (Dan Pritchett) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.bicycles Subject: Re: charging lead-acid batteries Message-ID: <8602@male.EBay.Sun.COM> Date: 3 Oct 91 20:53:34 GMT References: Sender: news@male.EBay.Sun.COM Followup-To: sci.electronics Lines: 33 Xref: ai-lab sci.electronics:19437 rec.bicycles:33461 In article , owens@tartarus.uchicago.edu (Christopher Owens) writes: |> All this talk in rec.bicycles about headlights and wintertime |> commuting raises the question of how to charge sealed lead-acid |> batteries. The battery I want to use (a DRYFIT) says on the box: |> "Charge, also continuous charge, only with constant DC voltage of 2.3 |> V +/- 30mv per cell at 20deg C" Now it's easy enough to put together a |> 13.8V regulated power supply, but they can't possibly intend me to |> sink infinite current into the battery. There must be some limit, |> possibly a function of the capacity of the battery? |> Yes, the standard limit for charge rate is C/20 where C is the amp-hour rating of the battery. |> So, what is the right way to charge a lead-acid battery? Easiest |> thing would be to supply 13.8V through a resistor chosen such that a |> fully-discharged battery would draw no more than the max current. On |> the other hand, a smarter regulator could supply the full rated |> charging current to the battery at any time the cell voltage measured |> less than the fully-charged level. Is that OK, too? |> Your second approach is the safest. There are several commercially available chargers that will do this for <$30. I bought mine from Power Sonics. You can also buy a regulator chip from Radio Shack that will do what you need after you add a couple of resistors, caps, and a transistor. The cost for a charger built up this way is probably about $15. Dan Pritchett | ARPA/Internet: dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM Sun Federal System Engineer | GEnie: D.PRITCHET3 | Air Waves: KC6TXZ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can't achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd. -- Howard Hughes From grande@cbnewsd.att.com Sun Oct 6 22:23:35 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!att!cbnewsd!grande From: grande@cbnewsd.att.com (brad.l.grande) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.bicycles Subject: Re: charging lead-acid batteries Message-ID: <1991Oct4.130135.1308@cbnewsd.att.com> Date: 4 Oct 91 13:01:35 GMT References: Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 258 Xref: ai-lab sci.electronics:19470 rec.bicycles:33490 In article , owens@tartarus.uchicago.edu (Christopher Owens) writes: > All this talk in rec.bicycles about headlights and wintertime > commuting raises the question of how to charge sealed lead-acid > batteries. The battery I want to use (a DRYFIT) says on the box: > "Charge, also continuous charge, only with constant DC voltage of 2.3 > V +/- 30mv per cell at 20deg C" Now it's easy enough to put together a > 13.8V regulated power supply, but they can't possibly intend me to > sink infinite current into the battery. There must be some limit, > possibly a function of the capacity of the battery? > > So, what is the right way to charge a lead-acid battery? Easiest > thing would be to supply 13.8V through a resistor chosen such that a > fully-discharged battery would draw no more than the max current. On > the other hand, a smarter regulator could supply the full rated > charging current to the battery at any time the cell voltage measured > less than the fully-charged level. Is that OK, too? > > Thanks for any information you might have. > > > Christopher Owens Charging is the one area that seems mysterious, but it really is simple. Below are two articles from last year that deals with charging. They should provide enough info to achieve some form a charging system that you are comfortable with. About the cheapest charger you can build is a 12volt cigarette lighter plug and plug it into, yes you guessed it, the cigarette lighter in you car when you drive (HEY, a use for this thing). You would need to experiment as to how long you would need to charge your specific battery, but the investment is small. Brad Grande WB0OYX Another bike riding beer brewing kite flying amateur radio operator who still likes CD's! AT&T Bell Labs Naperville Illinausea att!iwtil!grande (708)-979-7853 ----------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Charging Gell Cells? Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Summary: not an expert, but I have read the application notes from the vendor References: <5638@tahoe.unr.edu> <1510278@hpsad.HP.COM> In article , dvp@sequent.com (Dan Vander Ploeg) writes: > > There has been a lot of conflicting advice posted on this subject. The latest > advice came from Frank Ball, who writes, "I recharge my 12volt gel cells at > 14.3 volts, but .2 volts either way would be acceptable." But David Wittenberg > quotes Panasonic specs for 6 volt batteries as "Cycle: Voltage 7.25 ~ 7.45" and > "initial charging current less than 1.6A" which would seem to imply 14.9 volts > and 3.2 amperes for a 12 volt battery. > > Well, I'd like to use my 6 ampere automotive battery charger, which is voltage, > not current, regulated, and I read 15 volts when it's charging a car battery. > Is 14.5 really the limit? Is it or is it not necessary to regulate the > amperage? Who's the expert on this subject? > I have spent a lot of time studying the application notes from Gates and from Yasua. There are several different ways to charge a gel-cell. They are: 1-Constant voltage 2-Constant current 3-Taper current 4-Float cycle 5-Step cycle I will now attempt to briefly describe each and their pros and cons: 1. This is considered to best method in terms of cycle life of the battery. If the initial charge is low, the battery will require a large amount of current initially until the charge is restored. As the charge is restored the current will lower. In order to constant voltage charge, you need a good high current regulated supply capable of the initial currents. This can be expensive. You must also follow the manufacturers spec. sheets for the voltage range required, and adjust for temperature. Gates and Yasua both give slightly higher voltages for cyclic (i.e. NOT FLOAT) charging. I don't have the specs. in front of me, but I do recall that it was about 2.4 volts per cell plus or minus about 0.1 Volt for the battery. This gives a charging range of 13.8-15V for a 12V (6 cells) and 6.9-7.5V for a 6V (3 cells). The numbers given above are good. The thing to realize is that this method assumes that the charge voltage is removed, or at least reduced to a float charge voltage when the battery reaches full charge. Leaving it on longer can cause the out gasing of hydrogen and shorted the cycle life of the battery. 2. This is not prefered, but is useful if you have several cells in series that have different levels of charge. If too much current is applied for to long, damage to the cells can occur. Constant current regulated supplies are not very common and can be expensive. You also need to adjust for temp. 3. Taper current is the least desirable from the cycle life of the battery, however, it is the easiest, will give good results for the amateur (such as our applications where we have just one cell, and not trying the maximize the use of each cell over thousands of units where the $ savings add up). In this case, a supply, that is not neccesarily regulated, is connected to the battery. If the initial current is more than the supply can handle, a current limiting resistor is placed in series. As the initial current is high, the charging voltage is low, as charge is restored, the current lowers, and the voltage raises. If the voltage raises too high, the battery can outgas hydrogen which lessens the life of the battery. If you attempt the constant voltage charge, and your supply cannot maintain the voltage at the initial high current, the voltage will lower and the charging behavior will become a taper current model, which is ok, it just costs more than it needs to. Most automotive chargers are for the most part taper current models and will support your needs just fine. Realize that at 15V, you are at the very high end of the range, and must pay attention not to leave the charger on too long. The charge current will initially be high and remain high, then fall off quickly. When it falls off quickly the battery is close to being recharged. Allow the charger to remain on a little longer, then remove it. In terms of cycle life, maybe you will get 2000 charge/discharge cycles from your batter instead of 10000. Clearly acceptible for the needs of a bike light IMHO. 4. Float cycle is for applications where the batteries are present only for times that the main power source is absent, such as an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) for a computer system. Float cycle assumes that you have a very carefully regulated voltage at a low current. The voltage of the battery is maintained such that a full charge is maintained all the time. If you have a float charger and the cells are low, if the charger cannot handle the initial current, once again the model degrades to a taper current, although if the charger cannot supply much current, the recharge time will be longer, which is acceptible for these types of applications. Float charge voltages are lower than cyclic values, therefore, they can be present on the battery for long periods of time. 5. A step cycle charger is one that starts the charge as a constant voltage charger until full charge is restored, then swithes to a float cycle. It is in a sense a specialized charger. It is more expensive than a float charger. This type of charger is popular in applications such as camcorders where the cycling of the battery is uneven, and the consumer wants a fast recharge, but also is apt to leave the battery in the charger for very long periods of time. A float charger can be thought of as behaving as a step cycle charger for discharged cells, however, you will not receive the fast recharge characteristics. In all of this, I have come to the conclusion that taper current charging is the easiest, cheapest, and very acceptible for the application of our bike lighting systems. If you have an automotive charger, USE IT! The only thing you don't want to do is to leave a charger, that is not well engineered as a float cycle charger, connected to the battery for long periods of time as this will shorten the life of battery. If you have access to the specs of your particular cell, and have access to the types of regulated supplies to achieve constant voltage, and/or step cycle charging, (and you want to carefully monitor the charging process to absolutly positively maximize the life of the battery), go for it, I would rather be out riding! :-) Otherwise, it would not be worth the expense, or the time, when you can build a taper current charger for under $10, or use your automotive charger, and receive good results. Some more notes: -Any over voltage charging will cause the out gasing of hydrogen. The gel-cells are engineered such that most of this hydrogen is internally recombined. The manufacturers reccomend against prolonged or severe over voltage conditions. In other words, if you don't have a float cycle charger, don't over charge for long periods of time. -The time to recharge is dependant on the initial state of charge, the charge current, and the size of the battery. The more current you can deliver, the faster you will charge. An automotive charger can help you here, however, I have homebrew taper charger that can only supply about 1Amp, and my 12V 5AHour battery will fully recharge in about 6 hours. I have also used my auto battery charger with excellent results, however, my charger puts out 15V also, and I have detected that the battery gets warm and outgases hydrogen, so I won't leave it on the charger for much longer than it takes the current to fall. A reasonable indication that you are abusing the battery is if it gets real warm while you charge. You can add a current limiting resistor in series to lower the voltage a bit, this will give you a taper current charger and will lengthen the charge time a bit, but might be easier on your battery. -If the battery is sufficiently depleted such that the battery voltage is low, after it is removed from the load, there can be some recombination of the chemistry at the poles of the cells and the voltage measured will appear back at the fully charged state. The internal resistance is still high and when a load is reconnected, the voltage will drop again. If you are not sure if you battery is charged, connect it to your lights and measure the voltage. I would highly recommend, for those who are so inclined, to contact the vendor of your battery and see if they can send you a set of application notes. I hope this cleared things up for you. I had the same questions and turned to the application notes for the answers. Good Luck! Brad Grande WB0OYX Another bike riding beer brewing kite flying amateur radio operator who still likes CD's! AT&T Bell Labs Naperville Illinausea att!iwtil!grande (708)-979-7853 --------------------------------------- >From att-mt!milton.u.washington.edu!ernest Sat Mar 2 06:07:56 1991 Path: cbnewsd!cbfsb!att!emory!ogicse!cs.uoregon.edu!milton!ernest From: ernest@milton.u.washington.edu (Theodore Deffenbaugh) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Charging Gell Cells? Message-ID: <17522@milton.u.washington.edu> Date: 2 Mar 91 11:07:56 GMT References: <5638@tahoe.unr.edu> <1510278@hpsad.HP.COM> Distribution: rec Organization: University of Washington, Seattle Lines: 45 dvp@sequent.com (Dan Vander Ploeg) writes: >There has been a lot of conflicting advice posted on this subject. The latest >advice came from Frank Ball, who writes, "I recharge my 12volt gel cells at >14.3 volts, but .2 volts either way would be acceptable." But David Wittenberg >quotes Panasonic specs for 6 volt batteries as "Cycle: Voltage 7.25 ~ 7.45" and >"initial charging current less than 1.6A" which would seem to imply 14.9 volts >and 3.2 amperes for a 12 volt battery. >Well, I'd like to use my 6 ampere automotive battery charger, which is voltage, >not current, regulated, and I read 15 volts when it's charging a car battery. >Is 14.5 really the limit? Is it or is it not necessary to regulate the >amperage? Who's the expert on this subject? I've had some experience with the gel cells made by Power Sonic. They've produced some excellent literature on the characteristics of their batteries which should be applicable to most competing products. (My thoughts not their's.) According to their literature, "constant potential charging is preferable" to constant current charging. Again quoting, "Limit initial current to .25C (C is the rated AH capacity of the battery)". They continue, "Hold at 2.45 volt per cel until current drops to appr. .01C ampere. Battery is fully charged under these conditions, and charger should be switched to float." Float charging is 2.25-2.30 volt per cell. Power Sonic makes a nice little charger that has an automatic switching mode on the charger. I bought mine here in Seattle, but the US distributor is in CA, USA (415-364-5001). The scoop is, speaking as a authoritative EE student :), if you over charge your battery or charge it too fast, the battery starts gassing off H2 and O. (This is why we add water to older acid batteries.) The gel cel has a problem if you constantly undercharge it, sulfite builds up on the plates and reduces the effectiveness of the battery. Overcharge = quick aging. Undercharge = reduced effectiveness. My suggestion is to charge your battery to approx. 13.4 volt or so any way you can, but make sure your current at any point doesn't go past 25 percent of your amp-hour rating. One more word to the wise, if you discharge your battery close to 100 percent, you can expect less than 200 charge cycles before the battery can only hold 60 percent of it's original rating in AH. If you only discharge it 30 percent the recharge cycles go up to around 1200. -theodore ernest deffenbaugh "a proud ex-MAXone user" (test products before marketing them) From doconnor@srg.UUCP Sun Oct 6 23:07:07 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!think.com!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!srg!doconnor From: doconnor@srg.UUCP (Dennis O'Connor x4982) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Taillights (was: time to talk about lights) Message-ID: Date: 4 Oct 91 14:32:21 GMT References: <1991Oct3.101259.5082@waikato.ac.nz> <1991Oct3.082404.2664@ohm.york.ac.uk> <1991Oct3.182348.28442@kestrel.edu> <1991Oct4.012031.10330@ssd.kodak.com> Sender: news@srg.uucp (Usenet news user) Reply-To: uunet!srg!titania!doconnor Organization: Some Lines: 80 In-Reply-To: bilbo@bisco.kodak.com's message of 4 Oct 91 01:20:31 GMT -- Well, this is another "perennial" subject. I think I can briefly summaraize : Vistalites : upside: visible and long-lasting, attracts attention. downside: hard to determine distance, attracts attention A good idea? : Maybe not. Studies have shown that fatigued drivers and drunk drivers tend to steer towards flashing lights. non-flashing LED tailights : upside: visible, high-efficient, don't burn out downside: no commercially available units A good idea? : I think so, I made two ( one for each bike ) and they are great. One is in built inside an old taillight shell, the other inside a old reflector, and they run off generators. They are bright, and the headlights are brighter since they draw 1/5th the power of the old conventional lamps. Details of generator-powered LED taillights : LEDs used : Radio Shack p.n. 276-087 2000mcd hi-brite LEDs Experimentally, I determined these could be modelled as a 10 ohm resistor in series with a 1.67V drop. 75mw maximum power dissipation, maximum reverse voltage 4V. The 2000mcd rating is for 20ma current. Max continous current is 30ma. Other parts : 2 ea. 6.3V 1 Watt Zener diodes 2 ea. 10 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistors Circuit diagram: Resistor Wire from gen ---[====]---+-------+--------+ | | | | LED v LED - - - ^ Zener ^ | LED | | +--->|---+ Zener v | | - - v | LED ^ LED - | | | Wire to frame ---[====]---+-------+--------+ Resistor Four of the LEDs form a bridge rectifier. 3 out of 5 of the LEDs will be on at any time there is voltage. The generator puts out (nominally) 6V AC RMS, so current draw is under 30 ma for the center LED and half that, averaged, for the LEDs in the bridge. The Zener diodes provide some over-voltage protection. Alternative : this circuit doesn't light at all at low generator voltaes ( i.e. low speed, like 6mph ) or when my wife's 4.5V battery-backup for the generator cuts in at stops. This is the price of efficiency at nominal voltages. Replacing the LED at the center of the bridge with a 60 ohm resistor would reduce these problems at the cost of some loss of efficency. A 6V battery-powered light : plus_terminal ---->|--->|--->|-----[===]---- ground LED LED LED resistor A 30 ohm resistor here provides 30ma current from a fully charged gel-cell (6.9V), and 16ma at 6V (reasonable). For 4 regular cells ( at 1.5V each ) or 5 Ni-Cads ( NiCads only produce 1.2V ) use a 10 ohm resistor instead. For each amp-hour of battery capacity, this circuit will run for 30+ hours. This is a pretty simple circuit, but since the minimum voltage drop across any IC voltage or current regulator I've seen is 1.2V, it doesn't gain you much to add one to a 6V system : the regulator will suck off at least 1/4 of your power ( more when it's actually regulating ). -- -- Dennis O'Connor, uunet!srg!titania!doconnor non-representative. You are responsible for the values you hold. From spmenzel@hpdtczb.dtc.hp.com Tue Oct 8 23:33:05 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!unixhub!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hp-cv!hplabs!hpl-opus!hpcc05!hpsciz!hpdtczb!spmenzel From: spmenzel@hpdtczb.dtc.hp.com (Steven Menzel) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Taillights (was: time to talk about lights) Message-ID: <2970104@hpdtczb.dtc.hp.com> Date: 7 Oct 91 21:23:16 GMT References: <1991Oct2.080802@eklektix.com> Organization: HP Design Tech Center - Santa Clara, CA Lines: 35 Pamela Wybieracki (pamela@camex.com) writes: >I purchased a Vista Light this summer to use as a backup light for PBP. >Due to the rough roads, it bacame my primary light at times. Lots of >other riders used them also and I certainly found them to be quite >reasonable and visible - and maybe most importantly - NOT annoying to >cyclist behind. > >I have used and ridden with people who have used strobes - and believe >me - no one wants to ride behind a strobe. The Vista does not have this >BAD feature. It really is NOT a strobe. Vista Lights are becoming quite common around here and, personally, I hate being stuck behind them for any distance. The high-intensity flashing is distracting---as bad as following a car with its 4-way flashers on for no good reason. There are better ways to make yourself more visible to the other traffic: a bright steady taillamp, reflectors, reflective tape, bright clothing, etc. Flashing lights should be reserved for signalling turns, emergency vehicles, and road hazards. >I did find a light very similar to the Vista, except it did not flash, >while I was in France. It is called a GlinLight and I wish I had bought >several. I have not seen it available here yet. It's too bad that this product is not on the market here. However, it's easy to build a non-flashing LED taillamp that is as bright as the Vista Light and much less annoying to your fellow bicyclists. I've converted my incandescent taillamps to high-intensity LEDs, and can send details to anyone who is interested. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Peter Menzel spmenzel@hpdtc.hp.com Hewlett-Packard Design Technology Centre (408)553-2955 Mailstop 53U88, PO Box 58059, Santa Clara, CA USA 95052-8059 From tom@ocf.berkeley.edu Tue Oct 15 12:56:49 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!agate!usenet From: tom@ocf.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Lighting systems Message-ID: <1991Oct14.032347.25406@agate.berkeley.edu> Date: 14 Oct 91 03:23:47 GMT Sender: usenet@agate.berkeley.edu (USENET Administrator) Organization: ucb Lines: 59 I recently spent some time shopping around for a new lighting system to replace my (gaddurned piece of garbage) Brite Lite, and I'd like to share my findings with y'all. For the front light, I got a Night Sun for $180. This is pretty steep, but comparing it to $150 for the Brite Lite it seems like a real bargain. It's *BRIGHT*, for one thing (even the low beam is brighter than the Brite Lite ever was), and it's built really solidly. The front headlight attaches to the handlebars with two rubber-lined metal clamps; it'd be a real pain to rip off, and it doesn't have the slightest tendency to move or vibrate. I like the water bottle battery, too, although I have an extra set of brazes I wasn't using (underneath the down tube). To someone with a non-touring bike, losing a water bottle cage might be annoying. The good thing about it, to me, is that I can take the battery with me without having to take the whole system with me. This way I can recharge it when I'm working in the computer room, and I don't have to worry about it getting ripped off. The beam pattern is much nicer than the Brite Lite; a standard cone with no dark spots, and a bright spot where you need it most. With the high beam on, I can ride downhill at night with confidence. There is an optional tail light, but I decided not to get it, because of my other recent purchase... A Vistalite, $15. This is an awesome light; it can clip to a large variety of things (that's the problem with normal tail lights for me; sometimes I have panniers, and other times I have a rack bag--it's difficult to find a place to mount a light that isn't obscured by one of these), it's extremely noticable, and it doesn't look at all like a car's tail light. This last point is important to me; I'm much more worried when 3 or 4 cars are passing me than when it's just one, because I never know if the second guy is going to notice that there's something other than the tail lights from the car in front of him. The flashing gets attention. A couple days ago, a trucker who was going to the same supermarket I was got out of his truck and told me that I had a great light. The battery life is incredible, too; blows any other battery-powered light right out of the water. It has been said (many times) that drunks tend to steer towards flashing lights, but I've never seen anybody come up with numbers to back this claim up. Until I do, I'm filing that under "Urban Legend" and not worrying about getting a solid tail light to back up the Vistalite. I certainly haven't had anyone come close to me when I've been riding with it. I'm very satisfied with both systems. I haven't had them long enough to report on long-term reliability, but my feel for quality tells me that both are well-constructed and will last a long time. The Vistalite has already taken a couple nasty knocks from one time when I didn't have a solid place to hook it and it fell off onto the roadway; the lens isn't even scratched, as far as I can tell. Buy light! -Tom From ehouse@Apple.COM Wed Oct 16 23:35:21 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!agate!apple!ehouse From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Lighting systems Message-ID: <58616@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 15 Oct 91 15:47:26 GMT References: <1991Oct14.032347.25406@agate.berkeley.edu> Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 85 In article <1991Oct14.032347.25406@agate.berkeley.edu> tom@ocf.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) writes: > > I recently spent some time shopping around for a new lighting system >to replace my (gaddurned piece of garbage) Brite Lite, and I'd like to >share my findings with y'all. > > For the front light, I got a Night Sun for $180. This is pretty steep, >but comparing it to $150 for the Brite Lite it seems like a real bargain. >It's *BRIGHT*, for one thing (even the low beam is brighter than the >Brite Lite ever was), and it's built really solidly. The front headlight >attaches to the handlebars with two rubber-lined metal clamps; it'd >be a real pain to rip off, and it doesn't have the slightest tendency >to move or vibrate. > > The beam pattern is much nicer than the Brite Lite; a standard cone with >no dark spots, and a bright spot where you need it most. With the high >beam on, I can ride downhill at night with confidence. > > A Vistalite, $15. This is an awesome light; it can clip to a large variety >of things (that's the problem with normal tail lights for me; sometimes I >have panniers, and other times I have a rack bag--it's difficult to find >a place to mount a light that isn't obscured by one of these), it's >extremely noticable, and it doesn't look at all like a car's tail light. >This last point is important to me; I'm much more worried when 3 or 4 >cars are passing me than when it's just one, because I never know if the >second guy is going to notice that there's something other than the >tail lights from the car in front of him. The flashing gets attention. >A couple days ago, a trucker who was going to the same supermarket I was >got out of his truck and told me that I had a great light. > [some stuff deleted above] I'll second what Tom says about the Vista-light. I just got the same comment >from a guy in a truck while stopped at a light. Tom's comments about the NightSun ring true too, though I haven't used one yet. But there's another light out there that deserves consideration, and that isn't sold in most bike shops because it doesn't look aerodynamic enough. I just bought a light from VeloLux. When I called the company with a bunch of questions I got the answers I wanted to all of them, and finally the suggestion that I try the thing for a month and send it back if I wasn't happy. I'm halfway through the month, and am happy so far. The VeloLux light has the following good points: * 4-watt bulb, with a lens and reflector so well designed that I can't tell it from the NightSun's 10w low beam. * I've timed mine lasting 2:26 on a single charge * It's a single unit, which detatches from its mounting bracket in 5 seconds and makes one hell of a flashlight. * There is a generator available, which can be used either to charge the light during the day or to power it at night. This makes VeloLux function as a generator light with battery backup (so you don't disappear when stopped at stop signs.) * Costs $100, including a tail light I may never use. I really like the 3rd and 4th features, neither of which NightSun has, because they mean I can use this light for touring without worrying about where to charge it and even without carrying a flashlight. It is also considerably lighter than the NightSun. But I may still wind up returning it and buying the more expensive and powerful system. The VeloLux system is more than enough for touring and commuting, but one of my criteria is that I be able to descend a steep, twisty and familiar road (Page Mill) on a dark night without slowing to a crawl. I'll try this with the VeloLux some time this week, and then with a borrowed NightSun if the VeloLux doesn't cut it. Still, I recommend that those of you too lazy or busy to build your own systems (like me) consider VeloLux, particularly if you are into touring or night rides that exceed the NightSun's 4-hour battery life. It's an excellent system, and the guy who makes it is exceptionally cool (unlike NightSun, from what I've read here.) I don't work for VeloLux. But their number is 800-552-1523. Those of you near Cupertino can see *both* systems at CycleCraft. Al prefers NightSun for the brightness, but he doesn't need the generator and flashlight features. -- **************************************************************************** Eric House "My employer doesn't share its opinions with me, so I can share only mine with you" From yarvin-norman@cs.yale.edu Wed Oct 16 23:46:19 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!hri.com!ukma!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!cs.yale.edu!cs.yale.edu!yarvin-norman From: yarvin-norman@cs.yale.edu (Norman Yarvin) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Light Question Message-ID: <1991Oct14.225703.9385@cs.yale.edu> Date: 14 Oct 91 22:57:03 GMT References: Sender: news@cs.yale.edu (Usenet News) Organization: Yale Computer Science Department Lines: 25 Originator: yarvin@turquoise.CS.Yale.Edu Nntp-Posting-Host: turquoise.systemsx.cs.yale.edu davevh@microsoft.UUCP (Dave VAN HORN) writes: >More properly, a battery question for all you EE and Chem types out there. >I have a home-brew lighting system using a 12v lead-acid battery. I'm >thinking of going to NiCad. Can I use the same automobile battery charger >I already have with a 12v NiCad battery? I'm pretty sure it's a constant >voltage charger, since the current flow tapers off as the battery charges, >down to 0 at full charge, although I don't know just what the voltage is. I don't think you can use a constant voltage charger with NiCads. The batteries in my bike light have written on them "100 ma, 14 hours", so that is what I give them. This comes from a constant current supply. I am planning to upgrade it to be switchable to also give 10 ma -- a level at which I can keep the batteries plugged in with no fear of overcharging. It is possible to charge some varieties much faster, but that requires some fancy monitoring (e.g. a temperature sensor) to keep from overcharging. Why would you want to use NiCads, though? They are no smaller than lead-acid, and are more quirky. If I were doing my bike light system again I'd use lead-acid. -- Norman Yarvin yarvin-norman@cs.yale.edu "Why was the human race created? Or why wasn't something creditable created in place of it? God had His opportunity; He could have made a reputation." -- Mark Twain From 85p8379@csdvax.csd.unsw.oz.au Sun Oct 27 22:16:00 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!olivea!spool.mu.edu!munnari.oz.au!metro!usage.csd.unsw.oz.au!csdvax.csd.unsw.oz.au!85p8379 From: 85p8379@csdvax.csd.unsw.oz.au Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Night Cycling! Message-ID: <1991Oct27.023622.802@csdvax.csd.unsw.oz.au> Date: 26 Oct 91 16:36:22 GMT References: <1991Oct22.175419.4992@fmsrl7.srl.ford.com> Organization: University of New South Wales Lines: 58 In article , varvel@cs.utexas.edu (Donald A. Varvel) writes: > > My point? Ride at night. It's fun. But be *real* careful. > Have adequate lights. Don't take anything for granted. There > are drunks at the wheels of lethal weapons on the streets. If > something goes wrong offroad, it may be a long time before > anyone finds you. > > -- Don Varvel (varvel@cs.utexas.edu) Yeah Don, I agree that riding at night is fun- it's a great way to get around. I've been very impressed recently with some improvements in bike lighting technology. I don't know how popular 'Vistalites' are in America (where they're made), but they're fantastic things. They're little nicely finished units that mount on standard reflector brackets- completely waterproof, run on two AA cells for 300 - 500 hours !! They have three hi-intensity LEDs flashing in unison at around 5 Hz, and a nicely designed reflectorised lens. I use a red-lens Vistalite on the rear of the bike, and a Sanyo Dynapowered IKU halogen (pretty damn good for 3 Watts !) on the front. I could praise the Dynapower for hours, but I'll spare your ears. Riding in Sydney around the city at night on weekends is asking for trouble. I do it all the time because I hate using a car if I can use a bike, but I've had some interesting adventures. Although the state I live in (New South Wales in Australia) has very strictly enforced drink-driving laws, there are invariably drunk yahoos on the roads on Friday and Saturday nights. Even if the driver of a vehicle is sober, a cargo of sozzled passengers can be dangerous to a cyclist. They shout, throw beer cans when passing, hang out the windows, behave like morons in general. I've got a bit of a long-ish ponytail hanging out of my helmet when I ride, and this seems to cause drunk scuzzheads to think I'm female- judging by some of the obnoxious behaviour I've seen exhibited by people holding this belief I would definately advise all cycling females to be very wary on a bike at night. So much for a free world. Long live the bicycle, -Cosmic Cadence. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| * Barry Manor, Naturist, Neuroscientist, Bicycle-lover * * .%%%%. * * Postgraduate Student in Biomedical Engineering %% oo %% * * University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia %%\ ][ /%% * * %%% (~~) %%% * * Email: 85p8379@csdvax.csd.unsw.OZ.AU %% * * * * "Love your hair, love your life..." -hippie woman up north. * * * * "I am too much of a skeptic to deny the possibility of anything." * * -A. Huxley * ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| From ehouse@Apple.COM Fri Nov 1 16:17:41 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!ames!apple!ehouse From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: VeloLux vs. Page Mill road test Keywords: light, VeloLux Message-ID: <59322@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 31 Oct 91 22:02:17 GMT Distribution: na Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 123 This post is a report of a long-promised road test of my new bike light. Read on for information about VeloLux lights and my experience using one for moderate off-road and mountain road riding at night. For those not familiar with the roads in question, there is a course profile near the end of this thing. ____________________________________ I finally got around to taking my new VeloLux light on its final test- ride: descending Page Mill at night. It did well, I think -- well enough that I'll keep it. Complaints I had would not be fixed by additional wattage, but might be addressed by helmet-mount lights that would let me look ahead around corners. Also, I think that the fact that I am quite familiar with Page Mill, having come down it six or eight times in the last two months, helped quite a bit. I'd have had to go much more slowly if I hadn't known where the sharp turns were and where I could go full out without braking. The details: last night at about 8:15 pm I left work in Cupertino and headed up Montebello Rd. I got to the top at 9:00 without incident. Climbing at 9 or 10 mph doesn't ask much of a light, but is a very different experience from climbing in daylight. This is only the second time I'd climbed that road in the last two years, so I didn't know how long a given steep section would last, and so tended to sit down and grind rather than stand up as I did the previous time I climbed it. (I used my road low of 42x23 in both cases. I don't know how long it took when I did it before.) The trip along the dirt road from Montebello to Page Mill took me 30 minutes; the one time I did it in daylight took 20. (Mt bikers: don't laugh. I'm on a road bike with less than 100 off-road miles on it so far.) This is a very twisty road in places, and so my inability to see around unfamiliar curves hurt me. The light was excellent for allowing me to pick a course among ruts and other obstacles. It is diffuse enough to indicate not only the presence of ruts but also their depth. Having been on the road before was helpful in that I *did* remember the gate at the bottom of the final steep downhill. It is painted black, and comes up pretty damn fast if you're not expecting it. It took me just under 20 minutes to drop from that black gate to where Page Mill passes under I-280. I don't know how long the descent takes me in daylight, but I doubt I was more than 10-20% slower. The light was more than adequate in most cases, as all I really had to do was get a bit of reflection off of the center line in order to know where to go. Even in cases where the road was going around a turn I could usually go at full speed as long as there was some indication of where the road was going. Again, I *know* this road. On an unfamiliar but otherwise similar road I'd have had to cut way back on my speed. I had trouble on switchbacks, though, because the light tended to be off in the weeds rather than on the road over to my extreme left or right. I had to slow down to the point that I could stay within the little bit of light thrown to the sides. At on intersection on the dirt portion of my trip I actually made a wrong turn: I was unable to see that my chosen path ended a hundred yards further on. I got home shortly after 10:00. The light was on the entire time, just shy of two hours. I've only timed it from a full charge twice, once for 2:15 and the other for 2:28. (I timed it by starting and stopping my AV 30 timer at the same time as the light.) _____________________________________ My criterion for my light was that I be able to descend Page Mill at night. It is more than adequate for that purpose; that is, for allowing me to continue to do my favorite rides after dark. If I were planning to ride unfamiliar mountain roads for the first time at night I would look at other lights. I don't think, however, that the NightSun's Team Issue model would be much better; instead, I'd look at helmet-mount lights by NightSun and others. It might even be possible to rig a 6v helmet light to run off of the VeloLux's auxilliary jack that is meant to power the taillight. A light of sufficient power would drain the battery pretty quickly, but you could supplement the built-in batteries with either an external battery a la NightSun or a generator. The VeloLux has an input jack for just this purpose. In short (though it's been rather long in getting there) I'd recommend this light to those whose needs are similar to mine: its compactness, brightness, and flexibility (the generator option in particular) leave it without competition for tourists. For commuting over well-maintained and familiar roads it is more than enough. It is every bit as good as the NightSun unless you need extremely bright light or (but not _and_) more than 2 hours between charges. It's also about half the price and weight, and can be removed from the bike and set somewhere to provide light for fixing flats. It stands up to rain better, as there's no water bottle battery to fill up. The fact that the whole on-bike system consists of a single removable unit is the one thing this light has over homebrew systems. One feature that I do like about the NightSun is that, with two light units, you are not stuck in the dark if a bulb burns out. I'll need to start carrying a spare *and* a screwdriver to open the case. Course profile (for those outside the area): Montebello road climbs about 2000 feet in maybe 5 miles; from my office to the top is about 11 or 12 miles. It is a dead end road for vehicles that can't handle dirt and that can't be lifted over gates, and so the only traffic is that bound for the 100 or so houses there or for the various (unofficial) scenic overlooks. The dirt road is maybe 5 miles long; it first climbs maybe 200 feet to the top of Black Mountain and then drops about 300' to Page Mill Rd. There's nothing up there but a couple of microwave repeater stations, and in the daytime, a few mt. bikers enjoying the solitude and views of Smog (aka Silicon) Valley. Page Mill Rd. is one of the major routes between the valley (Palo Alto) and Skyline Blvd. on top of the ridge that separates south SF Bay from the Pacific Ocean. It is, IMHO, the most difficult climb up and the most demanding descent; twisty and steep in places, it drops perhaps 1800 ft. in about 6 miles -- not counting the rolling stuff at the top which is beyond where the dirt road meets it anyway. A final note: This ride was an absolute blast, except for the cold, but I don't think I'll do it again -- at least not as unprepared as I was. Being miles from nowhere on a cold night with nothing to walk on if anything should go wrong but cleated road shoes was pretty scary when I thought about it. If I do it again I'll carry a spare light and some walking shoes, and tell someone where I'm going. Or maybe I'll take along a friend with a NightSun so we can compare them. I don't, of course, have anything to do with VeloLux Corp. You can reach them at 800-552-1523. -- **************************************************************************** Eric House "My employer doesn't share its opinions with me, so I can share only mine with you" From mly@ai.mit.edu Sat Nov 2 19:34:28 1991 Path: ai-lab!life.ai.mit.edu!mly From: mly@ai.mit.edu (Richard Mlynarik) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: VeloLux vs. Page Mill road test Message-ID: Date: 1 Nov 91 21:17:28 GMT References: <59322@apple.Apple.COM> Sender: news@ai.mit.edu Organization: ITS Preservation Society Lines: 30 In-reply-to: ehouse@Apple.COM's message of 31 Oct 91 22:02:17 GMT I'd like to also put in a few good word for the VeloLux company. I made a mistake and did not buy from them when I bought a new set of bicycle lights last year. (Hint: DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM BRITE-LITE (now owned by Specialized) Boycott Kute Kommercial mis-spelling and overpriced, underdesigned, unrobust products.) The VeloLux people were pleasant to deal with when I wanted information about their product (quite in contrast to Nightsun). The unit itself is much better engineered than anything else I have seen. The light beam pattern is very well-designed -- it has a bright central "beam" with enough side light both to see street signs and be seen by. It may not have been quite good enough for bombing down switchbacks in the dark, but what would be? The housing for the lamp-cum-battery unit is reported to be very durable and weatherproof. A generator is available for charging/backup. I can't say I find the circa $US110 price tag exactly "resonable" but it is certainly better value-for-money than the alternatives I examined (Britelite, Nightsun, Union rechargable) The only "problem" there seems to be is that the bulky housing doesn't appeal much to jersey-pro aero-heads. My impressions are based on inspection and discussion of two friends' VeloLux lights. BTW has anybody had a chance to look at the house-brand lighting system in the Performance catalogue? I'm curious as to whether it has all the same bugs as Britelite, which it seems to clone. (eg Cheesy plastic mounts, unbaffled glare-y lamp, awful unreliable non-soldered "friction" electrical connections, lack of strain relievers on wires, cheesy on-off switch which turns light off when one goes over bumpy road, etc.) From pardo@cs.washington.edu Sat Nov 2 19:34:35 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!xn.ll.mit.edu!ames!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!uw-beaver!pardo From: pardo@cs.washington.edu (David Keppel) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: VeloLux vs. Page Mill road test Keywords: light, VeloLux Message-ID: <1991Nov1.232043.24021@beaver.cs.washington.edu> Date: 1 Nov 91 23:20:43 GMT References: <59322@apple.Apple.COM> Sender: news@beaver.cs.washington.edu (USENET News System) Distribution: na Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle Lines: 19 In article <59322@apple.Apple.COM> ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) writes: >[Velo-Lux: mostly as bright as the Night Sun, cheaper, easy removal.] Bicycling magazine tested a bunch of lights a couple years ago. The Velo-Lux had the same ``how fast can I go down the hill'' rating as the Night Sun, cost half as much, weighed half as much, consumed 1/3 the power (10W instead of 30W for the Night Sun), etc., etc. I sorta wish I'd gotten the Velo-Lux instead of the Night Sun, though I've been generally happy w/ the Night Sun. My complaints about the Night Sun are: the QR is difficult to use and especially awkward when you use it on bikes w/ different sizes of handlebars. Also, the unit doesn't pack as well, if, say, you only want to pull it out at night or take it off while the bike is parked. Part of my lamp has gotten bent just from packing. The Velo-Lux also does double duty as a flashlight (one less other thing to own) and can be trickle charged from a bike generator. ;-D ON ( Night Son ) Pardo From ehouse@Apple.COM Mon Nov 4 11:20:56 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-picayune.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!bu.edu!olivea!apple!ehouse From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: VeloLux vs. Page Mill road test Message-ID: <59382@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 2 Nov 91 19:03:40 GMT References: <59322@apple.Apple.COM> Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 42 In article mly@ai.mit.edu (Richard Mlynarik) writes: >I'd like to also put in a few good word for the VeloLux company. >circa $US110 price tag Mine was $99.95 direct from VeloLux. Add tax if you're in California. Send him a check and he pays postage. That was last month. I understand that he'll also give a 20% discount for orders of 10 or more units, if you have a lot of friends. >The only "problem" there seems to be is that the >bulky housing doesn't appeal much to jersey-pro aero-heads. On the way home last night some guy on a nice bike jumped on my wheel at a light. A few blocks later he came around, and noticed that his light was lost as completely in mine as mine is when a car comes up behind. He was impressed, and asked me about the light. But his enthusiasm dampened when he *saw* the thing. It is a big box, and looks much heavier than it is because most of the box is taken up by a very large and effective reflector (is that the right name for a parabolic light-concentrator?). I figured the design was simply the product of a practical mind unencumbered with marketing savvy. But I'm beginning to appreciate it more. I thought the fact that the light is removable and can function as a flashlight would help if I ever had time to go bike touring again. But I'm going to be really thankful for this light the next time I have a flat or derailleur problem on a dark street. In five seconds the light will be off the bike and sitting on the street on its flat bottom facing whatever part I'm trying to fix. Try that with a nice aero light.... Maybe one of the things I like about this light is that I don't have to feel guilty about not having taken the time to build my own. You can duplicate all the features of the NightSun for a third the money -- yes, you can make your own water bottle battery. But the single-unit feature of the VeloLux light would be hard to do yourself. (I'm going to have to drop this subject soon lest I become the Sam Henry of lights.... :-) -- **************************************************************************** Eric House "My employer doesn't share its opinions with me, so I can share only mine with you" From rfriedel@csd4.csd.uwm.edu Mon Nov 4 11:22:00 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!rfriedel From: rfriedel@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Ronald J Friedel) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: VeloLux vs. Page Mill road test Message-ID: <1991Nov4.143244.6317@uwm.edu> Date: 4 Nov 91 14:32:44 GMT References: <59382@apple.Apple.COM> <1991Nov4.135747.3615@cbnewsd.att.com> Sender: news@uwm.edu (USENET News System) Distribution: usa Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Lines: 46 In article <1991Nov4.135747.3615@cbnewsd.att.com> jdu@cbnewsd.att.com (john.d.unruh) writes: >In article <59382@apple.Apple.COM> ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) writes: >> >>Maybe one of the things I like about this light is that I don't have to feel > >I have been looking making a water bottle battery that is the equal of >the Night Sun Team Issue battery. A Trek water bottle should be about >$5. This has a wider mouth than a Specialized bottle and should be >better. The Night Sun is a 12V system. The literature says the team >issue battery is about 35 Watt hours. At 12 V, this is about 3 Amp Hours. >Looking at NiCad batteries in the DigiKey catalog, I conclude that to >achieve this, I would spend over $100 on the batteries alone. Any ideas >for a cheaper source of NiCads or equivalent batteries? I know about the >NiCad vs. Lead Acid tradeoff and for this exercise want to stay with >NiCads. > >John Unruh I have a catalog from American Design Components 400 County Avenue Secaucus, NJ 07094 1-800-776-3700 They have 12V NiCad packs 1 at 1.65 Ah, "C" cells for $15.95 (New) the other at 2.5 Ah, "Sub D" cells for $19.95 (New) For those of you that are interested in sealed Lead Acid batteries they have: 12V@1.2 Ah - $12.95 (All New items) 12V@1.9 Ah - $14.95 12V@3.0 Ah - $15.95 12V@6.0 Ah - $19.95 12V@7.0 Ah - $20.95 12V@15 Ah - $39.95 They also have some removed from equipment but tested good batteries (used) at cheaper prices. I have just placed an order from them so I haven't experienced their service. Ron Friedel -- Ron Friedel GeoSciences UW-Milwaukee rfriedel@csd4.csd.uwm.edu From larryh@tekcae.CAX.TEK.COM Tue Nov 5 12:05:56 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tekgen!tekcae!larryh From: larryh@tekcae.CAX.TEK.COM (Larry Hedges) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: VeloLux vs. Page Mill road test Message-ID: <124@tekcae.CAX.TEK.COM> Date: 4 Nov 91 22:11:02 GMT References: <59322@apple.Apple.COM> Reply-To: larryh@tekcae.CAX.TEK.COM (Larry Hedges) Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR. Lines: 42 In article mly@ai.mit.edu (Richard Mlynarik) writes: >........stuff deleted >The VeloLux people were pleasant to deal with when I wanted >information about their product (quite in contrast to Nightsun). This will be my third winter using the VeloLux and my dealings with them have been nothing but positive. Last year my bulb burned out and when I called them, I had new bulbs mailed to me in two days. They even trusted me to send the money. Wtih anybody else, I would have had to give my VISA #. In my conversation with them, I mentioned that I had some stange problems when I tied to turn it on. (If anybody even cares what the problem was you can send me e-mail) they told me that the early models had faulty switches and to send it in and they would repair it free of charge. Well I procrastinated until this last September. I figured I'd be lucky to get it back before the days start getting shorter. A week later I received it back in the mail with a new switch and an apoligy for having the defect. >The unit itself is much better engineered than anything else >I have seen. The light beam pattern is very well-designed -- it has a >bright central "beam" with enough side light both to see street signs >and be seen by. It may not have been quite good enough for bombing >down switchbacks in the dark, but what would be? It is better than anything I've used so far. I have used union and sanyo with halogen bulbs before. > more stuff deleted.......... >The only "problem" there seems to be is that the >bulky housing doesn't appeal much to jersey-pro aero-heads. I have the light mounted on my "commuter bike" which would give the "jersey-pro aero-heads" a nightmare anyway. But jersey-pros don't ride at night anyway. I do get a lot of comments when people see it. -- Larry Hedges Tektronix, inc. larryh@bianchi.CAX.TEK.COM P.O. Box 500 CAX/Data Management 46-176 Beaverton, Oregon (503) 627-2642 97077 From dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no Tue Nov 5 12:07:58 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard!sunic!ugle.unit.no!DAHLS@FHYDRA.FYSEL.UNIT.NO From: dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no (Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Night Cycling! Message-ID: <00951152.CA4381E0@FHYDRA.FYSEL.UNIT.NO> Date: 3 Nov 91 15:44:40 GMT References: <1991Oct22.175419.4992@fmsrl7.srl.ford.com> <00950A39.63101620@FHYDRA.FYSEL.UNIT.NO> <1440@bcstec.boeing.com>,<1991Nov02.201218.18571@xcluud.sccsi.com> Sender: news@ugle.unit.no (NetNews Administrator) Reply-To: dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no (Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes) Organization: University of Trondheim, NORWAY Lines: 61 Thus spoke the keyboard of Paul Hutmacher: >In article <1440@bcstec.boeing.com> chasej@bcstec.boeing.com (James B. Chase) writes: >> >> I was reading your post on night riding and your description of the >> LED taillite with a built-in brake light. Could you send me the >> schematic and parts list for this fascinating device, it sounds >> like what I've been looking for. > >Better yet, post it please. I bought it in the local bike shop. So I didn't have to build it my self. The taillight is a LED but the brake light is normal light bulbs. It runs on two AA batteries. Here is a superb (???) ascii schematic of the unit that are connected to the rear brake: (brake wire) | ---|--- <-- part of the bike +--|--+ <-- a plastic "barrel". | | | | | | | | | electrical | |===| <-- a screw that hold the "barrel" fast to wire --> ====+--|--+ the brake wire. | | / \ / \ I'm not shure if you understand this ascii drawing, but I'll try to make a short description of it. The lower part of the plastic barrel is fasten to the brake wire while the upper part of it is loose. It [the upper part] will stop against the (whatever the name is (don't remeber it)) on the bike when I use the brake. The barrel work like the push button on your front door. When I use the rear brake, the lower part of the barrel will come closer to the upper part, and when it is close enought, there will be connection in the switch. I intend to rebuild the unit. I will remove the light bulbs and replace them by LEDs. I will also change the resistor already in the unit so that the unit will run on 6 Volt (instead of 3 Volt). I will connect the taillight to my lead-acid battery to my front light. There is a power switch on the unit, but it's not very good, so I won't use it when the unit has been rebulded. I remember when I was a kid (about 9 to 14 years old), I tried to make a brake light on my 3-speed bike. I used to wires, one fasten to the frame and one fasten to the brake wire. The plastic on the wire was removed on the outer part of it, so when I used the brake, they touched each other. I did work, but not very well, and not very long! But at least I tried. Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes, The University of Trondheim, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, Division of Physical Electronics e-mail: dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no * "Let chaos storm! Let cloud shapes swarm! I wait for form." * - - - - o o o o - - - - From dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM Sat Nov 9 14:03:33 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!convex!mic!texsun!cronkite.Central.Sun.COM!male!zule!dlp From: dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM (Dan Pritchett) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Brite lite battery problem Message-ID: <9059@male.EBay.Sun.COM> Date: 7 Nov 91 16:28:30 GMT References: <1991Oct30.171648.25413@everexn.com> <6NOV199114274984@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu> <1991Nov7.135138.18128@cbnewsd.att.com> Sender: news@male.EBay.Sun.COM Distribution: usa Lines: 38 In article <1991Nov7.135138.18128@cbnewsd.att.com>, jdu@cbnewsd.att.com (john.d.unruh) writes: |> Unless your lead-acid battery is designed for deep discharges (these are |> marked as such) it is usually not a good idea to run it deep into the |> discharge curve. It is not good for the battery. Deep discharge |> batteries are often sold for trolling motors, and I have seen them used |> for battery backup sump pumps. |> Gel-Cell batteries used in lighting applications are deep discharge. This does not mean that you can discharge the battery to zero voltage. A deep discharge lead-acid will tolerate a discharge voltage of 75-80% of its fully charged voltage. For a 6 volt gel-cell, the fully charged battery should be 6.8 volts. At full discharge it should be about 5.4 volts. If you use a good charger that brings the battery to full charge at a rate of about 1/20th the current rating of the battery and then shuts off, AND you never go beyond the 75% discharge point, you should get 200-300 recharges out of a small gel-cell. If you use a charger without proper regulation and shut off, or discharge beyond the 75% point, you can shorten the life of the battery to as many as 50 discharges. Unlike ni-cads, there is no harm in throwing your gel-cell on a good charger every night. This of course assumes that your charger shuts off after a full charge. I use a charger from PowerSonics that has a charge light. This is convienent because I know when the battery is fully charged. I throw the battery on the after every couple of hours of use, which is inside the safe margin for my lighting system. This charger allows me to leave the battery on indefinitely and will float the battery at a full charge without damage. -- Dan Pritchett | ARPA/Internet: dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM Sun Federal System Engineer | GEnie: D.PRITCHET3 | Air Waves: KC6TXZ, 147.165+ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to run cool, You've got to run on heavy, heavy fuel. --Mark Knopfler From tomas@Apple.COM Sat Nov 9 14:13:14 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!usc!apple!tomas From: tomas@Apple.COM (Tom Taylor) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: homemade lighting system Keywords: light, battery Message-ID: <59567@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 7 Nov 91 18:48:28 GMT Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 80 About a month ago I built two lighting systems (one for my bike, one for my wife's bike). Both systems have been very successful so I thought I'd describe them here. The main component of the system is a 20 watt 12 volt halogen General Electric bulb. The bulb is a sealed bulb/reflector for a track lighting system and costs about $11 at Home Depot. I made a small clamp that fits around the base of the bulb and sealed it in place with silcone sealant. I soldered some "zip" cord to the two pins at the base of the bulb. Next, I masked off the front glass of the lens and painted the whole assembly with automotive heat-resistent engine paint. The whole thing is held on the handlebars with a large nylon cable clamp. I built the battery in a normal water bottle. The actual battery is made up of ten 1.2v 2400mah nicad solder-tab "C" cells. I soldered two cells together end-to-end in series until I had five "sticks" of two cells each. Next, I soldered each of the sticks together with about 5" of wire (it looks like a string of sausages at this point). Then I put some packing "popcorn" in the bottle of the water bottle and started feeding each of the sticks in the bottle. The battery sticks fit radially around the inside of the bottle. I drilled a hole in the side of the neck of the bottle and mounted a mini on/off switch. I drilled a small hole in the cap and mounted an LED. The LED (and resistor) are wired in parallel to the outboard side of the switch. The LED glows when the switch is on. I put it there so I'd know the switch to the battery was on when I plugged the battery into the charger. I wired up the battery to the switch, LED, automotive fuse, and ran the wires out the drinking hole. The wire from the headlight and battery have quick release electrical connectors. I packed the rest of the water bottle with more popcorn. I also built a rear taillight out of Radio Shack super jumbo super bright LED ($4.99). I wanted the Vistalight strobing effect so I built a tiny circuit based on a 3909 LED flasher chip. The whole thing fits inside an empty 35mm film canister that is velcroed to the underside of my bicycle's seat. The LED protrudes from the cap of the canister and is very bright. I've also wired up our Burley trailer with taillights. There's another electrical quick-release for powering the trailer from the battery. The whole system may sound clunky, but it's not! When the battery isn't mounted in the cage, the weight penalty is insignificant. The wire, front headlight, and film canister only weigh a few ounces. The bottom line... performance. Since my officemate has a NightSun team issue, I have something to compare against. My 20w light is slightly brighter than a NightSun with both of its lights on (they cliam 27watts). My light lasts about one hour and forty-five minutes. As I mentioned above, I'm using 2400mah cells. I would guess that NightSun's team issue battery is built with 2000 or 2200mah cells. I guessed this from measuring their charging current (which is less than 200ma). Since you normally charge nicads at 10% their rated value for 14-16 hours, I assume they're using 2000mah cells. Oh, I forgot! Building an appropriate charger is probably the most difficult part of the whole system. I built mine out of an 18v Radio Shack transformer and some diodes and resistors I found in my junk box. The charger delivers 240ma to the water bottle battery. Cost: GE 12v 20w halogen sealed bulb $11 ten 1.2v 2400mah nicads @ $5.20 each $52 switch $1 transformer $10 monster LED $5 wire, charging LED, fuse, resistors, diodes, clamps, water bottle. Already had Total about $80 By the way, I bought all the batteries (I bought 20!) from Mr. Nicad at (608)643-3194. I've really enjoyed commuting home this fall compared to the past 5 years when I had been using my "strap-on" Cateye light. A couple of nights ago, my officemate and I went on a late night mountain bike ride up in the hills and both of our light systems were spectacular. Have fun! Tom Taylor AA6BR p.s. I'm not an electrical engineer... but I play one on TV. From smc@hotsc.att.com Sat Nov 9 14:38:42 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!unix!hplabs!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbfsb!hotsc!smc From: smc@hotsc.att.com (Steven M. Casagrande) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Nightsun Lights: -FLAME-! Summary: Avoid NIGHTSUN lights! Keywords: Slime, Slime, Slime Message-ID: <1991Nov8.202140.5751@cbfsb.att.com> Date: 8 Nov 91 20:21:40 GMT Sender: news@cbfsb.att.com Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ Lines: 49 Three weeks ago I bought a Nightsun Team issue light kit for my bike, complete with multi-function tail light. The lights work fine, and I was generally happy with them. I was happy enough to try to buy another kit for my recumbent. Since I already have the battery and charger, I wanted to buy another light to mount on the other bike, and use the battery and charger from the other kit. The shop I bought them from couldn't get just the light, and suggested that I call them direct. When I tried to call Nightsun at (818) 790-7749, here's what happened: Me: Hi, I just bought the lights three weeks ago, and want another light kit for my other bike. Nightsun: We don't sell just the lights. You have to buy the kit. Me: I already have a full kit, I just want another light for my other bike. NS: Get a quick release kit. Me: I don't want the lights ripped off when I park it. Why won't you sell me just a light? I already spent $230 for your best light kit. Do you normally do business like this? MS: Yeah, let me tell ya, it's our goal to piss off as many people as possible each year. At this point, he hung up! Well, they've added one to the list of people PISSED OFF. It must be a long list! If I had known what kind of company Nightsun was, I would NEVER have bought a $230 accessory from them. I like the lights so much that I want to buy more, and they say "no". The guy was a total asshole on the phone. What happens when they break due to a fall, or are ripped off? The batteries are probably 50% of the cost of the lights, and I already have them. Whatever the quality of their lights, the company is run by *assholes*. I would recommend AGAINST doing business with Nightsun, because if you ever need replacement parts, you are *screwed*! Steve Casagrande smc@hotsc.att.com From rpo@trsvax.tandy.com Sat Nov 9 14:51:56 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!convex!mips.mitek.com!utacfd.uta.edu!trsvax!trsvax!rpo From: rpo@trsvax.tandy.com Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Brite lite battery problem Message-ID: <2600002@trsvax> Date: 8 Nov 91 19:16:00 GMT References: <1545779368@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu> Lines: 41 Nf-ID: #R:ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu:1545779368:trsvax:2600002:000:2150 Nf-From: trsvax.tandy.com!rpo Nov 8 13:16:00 1991 Earlier this year, our company contacted the three biggest manufacturers of nicad batteries, and asked that they fully explain the so-called "memory effect." All three came back w/the reply "there is no such thing as a memory effect, as it has been explained" (and as your reply described). The real effect is a slight initial drop in battery terminal voltage. A plot of voltage vs. time w/constant discharge for a battery that has been deep-discharged several times shows an initial voltage drop to about 1.12 volt/cell, then a nearly flat line until the battery is completely depleted. The same plot for a battery that has been shallow- charged 20 times shows an initial voltage drop to about 1.09 volt/cell, then a nearly flat line until the battery is completely discharged. The problem arose in that many consumer products sensed battery voltage and turned off the product when the voltage dropped too low. Trouble is, many products defined "too low" as about 1.1 volt/cell. The initial voltage drop caused the product to report a low battery, even though there was still plenty of energy left in the cell. Bicycle lights typically do not have any type of voltage sensing built in. You run them until the light starts to dim, then recharge. If you are using nicads and the battery life has dropped to less than 30 minutes, the problem is probably related to overcharging or overheating. Nicads should be charged at a "room" temperature. Automotive products that have built-in chargers can really fry a nicad if the car's internal temperature gets above 90 degrees or so during charging. Gel cells are like car batteries, in that if you run them until they are completely dead, you are only going to get 20 or 30 recharges before they are wasted. Solution: For nicads, be sure the charger is appropriate. If you have a choice between fast-charging and normal or slow-charging, pick one of the latter options. And, as Dan mentioned, don't run them completely dead. This causes a condition called "cell reversal" in which one of the cells actually becomes charged in reverse polarity. For gel cells, don't ever let them go dead. Paul Opitz From koren@hpfcdc.HP.COM Tue Nov 12 21:14:34 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!unix!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdc!koren From: koren@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Steve Koren) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Yet another bicycle lighting system Message-ID: <7910173@hpfcdc.HP.COM> Date: 6 Nov 91 02:29:49 GMT Organization: HP Fort Collins, Co. Lines: 64 Here's another possibility for anyone thinking of making a home-grown light. I recently bought a low-voltage house light. It was cheap enough (under $10) that I got it just to mess with. This thing is shaped roughly the same as a rectangular configuration automobile headlamp. The case and reflector are plastic. Its not a sealed beam; the front lens can be removed and the bulb replaced. The whole unit is very light weight. The advantages of it are: * light weight * price (cheap) * configurable to 7, 11, or 18 watts by replacing bulbs * easy to change bulbs when they go out * bulbs are widely available at any home supply store The disadvantages are: * its not a sealed beam, so its probably not watertight (but you might make it so with a little work). * limited light output. the highest beam available is 18 watts and I suspect anything more would melt the plastic. I have used this for a few days now to see how it works. My "normal" light is a 35 watt halogen beam which I call the Ultra-Mega-Light, or UML. Compared to the UML, this lamp draws considerably less current, and therefore can give increased running time or permit the use of a smaller battery. The beam pattern on the lamp is a rectangle, wider than it is "tall", and the entire rectangle is illuminated with roughly even intensity. The UML has a superior pattern, IMHO, with a brightly illuminated center section for seeing what's in front if you, and a small amount of light thrown off to the sides so that other stuff can see you. The new lamp, IMHO, throws a lot of light off to the sides where its not needed as much. Also, after getting used to the 35 watts of the UML, 18 seems a bit on the meager side. However, compared to smaller units such as a Cateye, Nicelight, etc, it will be quite bright. (My backup light is a Nicelight, and there is no comparison). Perhaps something like this is a workable compromise between "small, light, but dim" lights, and "big, heavy, but bright" lights. (By "heavy" or "light" I mean the required battery, not the lamp itself. The weight of the lamp is negligible). One other bit of info: the 18 watt light "seems" to be only about 50% brighter than the 7 watt light. I don't know why. The current draw for each is as expected. (They are all 12 volt bulbs). Anyhow, this is perhaps something that might be useful to folks wanting a home-grown system but not wanting to haul around a big enough battery to power a 35 watt car headlamp for an hour. You can find these at most any home-improvement type of store. - steve "will probably go back to the UML" From rom@xor.eng.sun.com Tue Nov 12 21:15:24 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!think.com!rpi!batcomputer!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!newstop!exodus!rom From: rom@xor.eng.sun.com (Circuit Group) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: NightLights Message-ID: Date: 8 Nov 91 19:55:59 GMT References: <1991Nov4.150627.7205@cbnewse.cb.att.com> <4NOV199111491210@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov> <1991Nov5.211125.13133@colorado.edu> <4905@island.COM> Sender: news@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM Organization: Sun Microsystems, INC. Lines: 73 In-reply-to: don@island.COM's message of 7 Nov 91 17:27:27 GMT >>"Don" == Don Hermes writes: Don> I saw someone with a landscape type spot light attached to a 6V Don> battery in the water bottle cage. I want to build one of those Don> myself. What do I have to do ? I looked in the FAQ and it wasn't Don> there. I built a similar system a few days ago. I used a 12v 3Ah battery (power sonic?), and by pure luck it fits perfectly in my water bottle cage. I got this from The Battery Terminal in San Jose. The current system is a 12v 14w malibu (sp?) garden light that I bought from Orchard Supply for around eight bucks. The real trick was finding a way to attach it to my handle bar. I didn't want to spend $20 for the housing that is used to mount these lights in a garden. So I ended up using a piece of sheet metal. I had to buy it from a scrap metal place, all the stores I went to had pieces that were too small. Anyway I cut a circular hole in the sheet metal that was the same diameter at the rear part of the light face. Cutting the circular hole was a real pain, the next light I build I'll find a better way... screws and washers to keep the bulb from falling away from the sheet metal. See artistic rendering below: ### front of bulb ---+--- <- washer +-------------------------------+ | | | | <-screw +--- ---+ | --sheet metal------| |----+-------- - - | | | - - | | ------------------- | | ----+ +---- <- electrical connectors I found some clamps at Home Depot that are used to hold sheet metal signs to poles that worked very well at securing the sheet metal and buld to the handle bars. I had an old motorcyle battery charger sitting around that I used for recharging the battery. 12v 3Ah battery 29.00 12v 14w light 8.00 sheet metal 0.50 heat shrink for wires 3.00 sheet metal clamps 2.00 misc screws and stuff 2.00 toggle switch 2.00 <- I got ripped at Radio Shack... --------- 46.50 The next version will use a 12v 20w bulb for track lights...I picked up one from Home Depot for $10, and boy is it BRIGHT!!! And its small... I am very happy that I did not spend $200 for a Nite Sun, my light has approx the same brightness (I think the low beam on the nite sun is 10w) and I spent significantly less money....I think the nite sun is severly over-priced... -Ram -- --------------------------------------------------------- rom@xor.eng.sun.com or if you really like to type achyutram.bhamidipaty@Eng.Sun.Com From phil@waikato.ac.nz Sun Nov 24 18:30:52 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!agate!spool.mu.edu!mips!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!comp.vuw.ac.nz!waikato.ac.nz!phil From: phil@waikato.ac.nz (Phil Etheridge) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: dynamos & Eco-lighting Message-ID: <1991Nov18.112750.5589@waikato.ac.nz> Date: 17 Nov 91 22:27:50 GMT References: <20981@megatest.UUCP> Organization: University of Waikato, New Zealand Lines: 30 Rich Feldman writes: > I want a light bright enough to ride on a good road at 16 mph in > real darkness, and would like to seriously consider a generator system > before buying or making a battery system. > Are any commercial generators compatible with 10-to-20 watt halogen lamps? > And where can I find the kind that mount near the bottom bracket, with > the generator spindle parallel to the wheel axle? (no, I have not yet > tried Palo Alto Bikes). > I would prefer a generator because in my irregular routine I might > forget to charge or bring the battery. But will get a battery if I can't > find a reasonable generator with enough power output. I use a Sanyo BB generator system, although I made a simple steel bracket so that I can mount the generator from the brake bridge. It only has a 6W "Krypton" front bulb, but the lens is well designed, and I find the beam more than adequate, for speeds up to 50km/h (30 mph). I prefer mounting the unit at the brake bridge, where it stays cleaner, and can be easily turned on and off. However, on a commuting bike, which is likely to have guards (fenders), the unit would have to be mounted in its standard position, just behind the bottom bracket. To avoid misunderstandings which could arise due to my signature, I don't use the generator unit for off-road riding. -- Phil Etheridge (phil@waikato.ac.nz) Fax: +64 +7-838 4155 Computer Services/Mathematics & Statistics Phone: +64 +7-856 2889 x 8339 University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ. I'd rather be MTBing From yon%smltlk.cbm.dec.com@decwrl.dec.com Tue Nov 26 04:45:46 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!usenet.coe.montana.edu!decwrl!pa.dec.com!nntpd.lkg.dec.com!ryn.mro4.dec.com!smltlk.cbm.dec.com!yon From: yon%smltlk.cbm.dec.com@decwrl.dec.com (David A. Yon) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Turbocat "Secret Weapon" lighting experience Message-ID: <1991Nov19.101748@smltlk.cbm.dec.com> Date: 19 Nov 91 15:17:48 GMT Sender: news@ryn.mro4.dec.com (USENET News System) Reply-To: yon%smltlk.cbm.dec.com@decwrl.dec.com (David A. Yon) Followup-To: rec.bicycles Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 102 Hi all, Pardon me if this has been beaten to death, but I just got a new lighting system and would like to share my experience with those considering such a purchase. First off, I have a 19 mile commute from West Concord to Cambridge Mass. The first 10 miles are country road with very little in the way of street lighting (Concord and Lincoln), the next 4 are minimal lighting (Lexington, lights about every 3-4 houses), and the remaining five are well-lit city streets (Arlington and Cambridge). It takes me anywhere from 1:05 to 1:20 to do the trip. I started out with the ubiquitous Cateye HL-500, which for anything other than city streets or totally dark and empty country roads proved to be worthless. Unfortunately, route 2A is dark, but rarely empty, and I hadn't counted on the fact that oncoming headlights would render the 1.8 watt Cateye useless. In the city, the Cateye also does very little to make you visible to oncoming motorists, or even worse, motorists turning onto the road from sidestreets. The Cateye is just another white speck in a sea of lights. I've since gotten a front Vista-light (I already had the rear) and I found that made a world of difference to everyone except the obnoxious ones who are screaming into intersections without slowing down. So after 19 miles of not being able to see, and barely surviving near-misses with cars who were oblivious to my presence, I went out to find a good system. I had wanted to build the one that josh@happym had published, but time did not permit. I settled on the TurboCat "Secret Weapon", with the "Macho" battery and HL-500 modification kit. This provides a very nice setup with a high and a low beam, and was particularly attractive to me as I already had the HL-500. The battery weighs over two pounds, and uses two velcro straps to hang from the top tube, with a third strap attaching it to the seat tube. This was surprisingly stable, even with my frame pump sandwiched between the battery and the frame. It's a 6-volt 4-amp/hour lead-acid battery with leads for two lamps. It comes with a 300ma trickle charger (basically a wall transformer). The HL-500 modification kit is a really cool idea. They have you replace the 3-volt 1.8-watt lamp that comes with the Cateye with a 6-volt 4.2-watt lamp, then attach a wiring harness to the battery clips which then runs to the main battery. You still use the internal switch. The difference in brightness is tremendous, and found that in most cases the modified Cateye alone was sufficient light. The "Secret Weapon" is a handlebar-mounted 15-watt halogen lamp. It's deceptively wimpy-looking (the reflector is smaller than the Cateye), but puts out a bright, nicely focused pattern of light. It mounts to the handlebars by hanging below, and using a heavy cloth strap as opposed to a plastic clip mount. I was happy with how stable it was, and provides the advantage of being able to easily aim the light vertically while riding, and allows you to mount it even over handlebar tape. The latter was a big concern for me as my Cateye and speedometer had eaten all of my bare-metal handlebar real estate. It has a small pushbutton switch attached to a short length of stiff wire, which is affixed using a small velcro patch. I put mine on the handlebar stem, in easy reach. They give you small velcro straps to run the wiring from the handlebars to the battery. Setting up and removing the system is something of a bother, with all those velcro straps to remove and wiring to connect, but I'll probably get quicker with practice. The extra 2.6 pounds is also a bit annoying when compounded by my full panniers and water bottle. The running times with the "Macho" battery claim to be 6-7 hours with just the modified Cateye, 2 hours with just the 15-watt lamp, and 1.2 hours with both. They claim that if you kick in the high-beam 30% of the time, the system will last 4 hours between charges. They also sell a lighter, cheaper "Endurance" battery which has about 60% the duration of the "Macho", but will fit in a bottle cage. In use, I found the system to be wonderful. I was skeptical about their statistic of "30% usage of high-beam", but I now agree with that. In the city, I only need to kick in the high-beam when there are a lot of headlights glaring in my eyes and I'm in a confusing situation, which is rarely. Out in the country, I only needed it for downhills and when a long line of oncoming headlights were impairing my vision. What's real nice is aiming the low beam fairly close, then aiming the high beam further out such that the two hot-spots barely overlap. This provides a good long column of light out in front of you. I finally felt that I could see where I was going, and that the motorists could see me coming. After all, cycling is supposed to be stress-*relief*, not the other way around. :-) The only complaints I have is weight, but I wanted lots of power for a long time, and ease of setup/removal. Otherwise I would recommend this system to anyone who needs a really bright light for a long duration. I picked one up a Belmont WheelWorks for about $152 + tax ($150 for the battery, charger, and 15watt lamp. $12 for the 4.2watt HL-500 mod kit). I *might* consider stepping down to the "Endurance" battery when my "Macho" runs out, since it would be nice to take a pound off my bike, and I actually now believe their high/low-beam usage statistics. Be careful out there... David Yon PS: Yes I know $150 is steep, and that you can definitely put one together yourself for less money (it's just a battery and lamp after all). On the other hand, the extra ~$75 was worth it to me to have the system *now* so that I could continue my riding. Your mileage may vary. From bm@bike2work.Eng.Sun.COM Fri Nov 29 12:18:04 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!think.com!ames!sun-barr!cronkite.Central.Sun.COM!exodus!bike2work.Eng.Sun.COM!bm From: bm@bike2work.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill(Francis) Michel) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: How to mount flashlight on my head? Keywords: How do I do it? Message-ID: <23637@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: 22 Nov 91 22:25:41 GMT References: <1991Nov18.184255.13608@panix.com> Sender: news@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM Distribution: na Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. Lines: 13 I use a 12V, 14W system powered by 1.3 lbs. of lead-acid. This setup goes for about a max of .5 hr. The light is affixed to the helmet vi a bracket of 14 ga galvanized steel wire & velcro. If you live in the SF bay area, I can show it to you. I'm willing to put these together for people for $85.00. My cost is about $60, and if you want a parts list, I can give that too. The only part that's a little tricky is fashioning the bracket. Bill -- Bill Michel bm@eng.sun.com These views are my own, not Sun's. From ehouse@Apple.COM Sat Nov 30 23:22:05 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!think.com!mips!apple!ehouse From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Are head-lights safe? (was Re: How to mount flashlight on my head?) Keywords: How do I do it? Message-ID: <60195@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 24 Nov 91 01:23:04 GMT References: <1991Nov18.184255.13608@panix.com> <23637@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> Distribution: na Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 38 In article <23637@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> bm@bike2work.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill(Francis) Michel) writes: >I use a 12V, 14W system powered by 1.3 lbs. of lead-acid. This >setup goes for about a max of .5 hr. The light is affixed to >the helmet vi a bracket of 14 ga galvanized steel wire & velcro. > After getting my handlebar-mount VeloLux light a few months ago and testing it coming down Page Mill Rd at night, I concluded that its extremely effecient 4 watts of light was more than enough to see the road ahead. And someone followed up with the comment that a _Bicycling_ test had rated VeloLux and NightSun the same for high-speed descending. Where the bar-mount light fell down was on the switchbacks. I had wanted some way to look 45 or 60 degrees to the right or left of where the front wheel was pointed at the moment -- to see where it would be pointed in the very near future if I managed to stay on the road. So I concluded that a head-mount spotlight, of 10 watts or so, that was turned on only for fast travel on extremely windy roads, would be the best solution. I mentioned this to the guy who runs VeloLux, as I'd been thinking of powering the head-light off of the external jack in the headlamp. His response was to caution me against it, on two grounds. First, he felt that attaching anything to your helmet was a very bad idea, as that object is only waiting for impact with some hard flat surface to be punched through the helmet and beyond. Second, he thought that any headlight I was foolish enough to use ought to be connected only to my body. Wires running from my head to the bike could get tangled in unfortunate ways in an accident. VeloLux's Fred Chapman (sp) is more cautious than I am -- when I first asked him if his light system could handle a 45 mph nighttime descent he suggested that 35 was fast enough in daylight -- but I was sufficiently convinced to put my head-lamp plans on permanent hold. What do other people think about this idea? Has anyone ever heard of head injuries being exascerbated by something that was attached to the victim's helmet? -- **************************************************************************** Eric House "My employer doesn't share its opinions with me, so I can share only mine with you" From gooch@leland.Stanford.EDU Sat Nov 30 23:22:13 1991 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!agate!stanford.edu!leland.Stanford.EDU!gooch From: gooch@leland.Stanford.EDU (Carl Gooch) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Are head-lights safe? (was Re: How to mount flashlight on my head?) Keywords: How do I do it? Message-ID: <1991Nov27.043326.4505@leland.Stanford.EDU> Date: 27 Nov 91 04:33:26 GMT References: <1991Nov18.184255.13608@panix.com> <23637@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> <60195@apple.Apple.COM> Distribution: na Organization: DSG, Stanford University Lines: 31 In article <60195@apple.Apple.COM> ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) writes: > >After getting my handlebar-mount VeloLux light a few months ago and testing >it coming down Page Mill Rd at night, I concluded that its extremely effecient >4 watts of light was more than enough to see the road ahead. And someone >followed up with the comment that a _Bicycling_ test had rated VeloLux and >NightSun the same for high-speed descending. [Other comments deleted] >**************************************************************************** >Eric House "My employer doesn't share its opinions with > me, so I can share only mine with you" I happened recently to catch up to a VeloLux owner at night. Actually, I saw her taillight and was so impressed I hammered a couple of blocks so I could ask her about it. The tail light was easily visible from a couple hundred yards away. The headlight, as Eric as said on severl occasions, is pretty bright and has an excellent beam pattern, including a trailing stripe that leads up to the front wheel. The woman who owned the thing was also very pleased about being able to recharge from a generator, which I can see would clearly be an advantage. Carl -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Carl Gooch | Why am I inside at a keyboard when gooch@leland.stanford.edu | I could be outside riding bike? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From rich@boreas.whoi.edu Sat Nov 30 23:24:07 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!mips!swrinde!gatech!ncar!netnews.whoi.edu!news From: rich@boreas.whoi.edu Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Cyclo-cross equipment Message-ID: <1991Nov24.161525.17636@netnews.whoi.edu> Date: 24 Nov 91 16:15:25 GMT References: <3660@m1.cs.man.ac.uk> Sender: news@netnews.whoi.edu Organization: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Lines: 54 In article <3660@m1.cs.man.ac.uk> jk@cs.man.ac.uk (John Kewley) writes: >Any hints for keeping gear cables / brake cables out of the waywhen >using bar-end shifters - under the tape, on the outside, through the bars, ... > Route the cables under the tape if possible (it isn't possible if you have non-aero brake levers). Bar-end shifter cables can go under the tape all the way to the center of the bars (this looks tidy but makes removing the stem more of a pain since you will probably have to loosen all the cables), or they can emerge from the tape just below the levers. If you are a small person, you can decided instead to route one set of cables through the bars after drilling holes. *If* you do this, make sure the exit hole is in the reinforced section of the bars near the center. (Drilling holes can drastically weaken the bars because you are destroying the integral strength of the tube and because you have made a place for cracks to start from). >What type of gears to people use for 'cross - indexed, compact or wide ratio ? > I use indexed shifters with a wide range (13-28, 42 front). If you can't ride something with this set-up you are better off running. The closely spaced gear ranges you need on the road are not so important when riding offroad. Oh yes, don't use a narrow 6 or 7 speed set-up - it will get clogged up with mud and stop working much faster. >Any other thoughts about equipment for cross. The most important thing is correct pedal set-up. You have to get into your pedals first time every time. Lots of practice helps, but you can also make things easier by - spacing your clips away from the pedal cage so that the back end can't jam when you accidentally step on the clip - make some kind of guide to stop your foot from jamming against the front cross-bar of the pedal cage when you are putting your feet in. You can improvise something by bending old spokes or by using sheet metal. - Use MTB toestraps (they are longer than road straps). This gives you a bigger opening. ALternatively you can cut the strap and bolt each section to the side of the pedal (This makes it easier for the pedal to rotate freely). - Put buttons on the end of the straps to stop them coming undone, -- Rich Pawlowicz (rich@boreas.whoi.edu) Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution From phil@waikato.ac.nz Mon Dec 2 20:00:05 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bu.edu!news.bbn.com!apple!agate!spool.mu.edu!mips!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!comp.vuw.ac.nz!waikato.ac.nz!phil From: phil@waikato.ac.nz (Phil Etheridge) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: dynamos & Eco-lighting Message-ID: <1991Nov18.112750.5589@waikato.ac.nz> Date: 17 Nov 91 22:27:50 GMT References: <20981@megatest.UUCP> Organization: University of Waikato, New Zealand Lines: 30 Rich Feldman writes: > I want a light bright enough to ride on a good road at 16 mph in > real darkness, and would like to seriously consider a generator system > before buying or making a battery system. > Are any commercial generators compatible with 10-to-20 watt halogen lamps? > And where can I find the kind that mount near the bottom bracket, with > the generator spindle parallel to the wheel axle? (no, I have not yet > tried Palo Alto Bikes). > I would prefer a generator because in my irregular routine I might > forget to charge or bring the battery. But will get a battery if I can't > find a reasonable generator with enough power output. I use a Sanyo BB generator system, although I made a simple steel bracket so that I can mount the generator from the brake bridge. It only has a 6W "Krypton" front bulb, but the lens is well designed, and I find the beam more than adequate, for speeds up to 50km/h (30 mph). I prefer mounting the unit at the brake bridge, where it stays cleaner, and can be easily turned on and off. However, on a commuting bike, which is likely to have guards (fenders), the unit would have to be mounted in its standard position, just behind the bottom bracket. To avoid misunderstandings which could arise due to my signature, I don't use the generator unit for off-road riding. -- Phil Etheridge (phil@waikato.ac.nz) Fax: +64 +7-838 4155 Computer Services/Mathematics & Statistics Phone: +64 +7-856 2889 x 8339 University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ. I'd rather be MTBing From manne@a25.ima.umn.edu Sun Dec 8 15:58:45 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!ames!agate!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!src.honeywell.com!umn.edu!ux.acs.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!manne From: manne@a25.ima.umn.edu (Fredrick Manne) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: How to mount a Maglite on a bike Message-ID: <1991Dec6.155425.862@cs.umn.edu> Date: 6 Dec 91 15:54:25 GMT Sender: Fredrik Manne Organization: ima, U of Minnesota Lines: 11 Nntp-Posting-Host: a25.ima.umn.edu A while ago I posted a request on how to mount a flashlight (Maglite) on a bike. It turns out that there is a company called DKG in St. Rafael, CA which makes clamps to mount a Maglite on the handle bars. They make two kinds of clamps, one for the mini Maglite (16$) and one for the c-cell Maglite (23$). If anyone is interested in getting in touch with them their phone number is (510) 479-5482. (Area code changes to 415 as of Jan 1st.(or the other way around)) Fredrik From skk@wsl.dec.com Thu Dec 12 16:05:43 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!think.com!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zazen!decwrl!pa.dec.com!wsl.dec.com!skk From: skk@wsl.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: How to mount a Maglite on a bike Message-ID: <1991Dec10.200005@wsl.dec.com> Date: 11 Dec 91 04:00:05 GMT References: <1991Dec6.155425.862@cs.umn.edu> Sender: news@PA.dec.com (News) Reply-To: skk@wsl.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman) Organization: DEC Western Software Lab Lines: 29 In article <1991Dec6.155425.862@cs.umn.edu>, manne@a25.ima.umn.edu (Fredrick Manne) writes: |> A while ago I posted a request on how to mount a flashlight |> (Maglite) on a bike. It turns out that there is a company |> called DKG in St. Rafael, CA which makes clamps to mount a Maglite |> on the handle bars. |> They make two kinds of clamps, one for the mini Maglite (16$) |> and one for the c-cell Maglite (23$). I just got a thingi from Palo Alto Bike shop for $1.95. It holds my D cell maglite fine. I use an old toestrap to hold it on. If you can't mail order it, I'll see what I can do (its one block over from work) ... Still looking for a hardware store carrying the Toro vari-focus 20watt halogen patio light. A recommended place for batteries for your homebrew automobile-spooker is Energy Supply in Mt. View 415-969-0800 Please send all homebrew light clues to me, I'm compiling a FAQ. -- Stuart Kreitman (415) 493-6912 Faster Raster Software Engineering 4216 Los Palos Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94306 _______________ __o _________________ -\<, ......O/ O From chandler@kinetics.com Thu Dec 12 16:05:56 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!linus!agate!ames!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!npd.novell.com!newsun!chandler From: chandler@kinetics.com (Mark Chandler) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: How to mount a Maglite on a bike Message-ID: <1991Dec11.165323.6688@novell.com> Date: 11 Dec 91 16:53:23 GMT References: <1991Dec6.155425.862@cs.umn.edu> <1991Dec10.200005@wsl.dec.com> Sender: usenet@novell.com (The Netnews Manager) Reply-To: chandler@plasma.kinetics.com (Mark Chandler) Organization: Novell Corp., Walnut Creek, CA. Lines: 37 Nntp-Posting-Host: plasma In article <1991Dec10.200005@wsl.dec.com> skk@wsl.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman) writes: >In article <1991Dec6.155425.862@cs.umn.edu>, manne@a25.ima.umn.edu (Fredrick Manne) writes: >|> A while ago I posted a request on how to mount a flashlight >|> (Maglite) on a bike. It turns out that there is a company >|> called DKG in St. Rafael, CA which makes clamps to mount a Maglite >|> on the handle bars. >|> They make two kinds of clamps, one for the mini Maglite (16$) >|> and one for the c-cell Maglite (23$). > >I just got a thingi from Palo Alto Bike shop for $1.95. It holds my >D cell maglite fine. I use an old toestrap to hold it on. >If you can't mail order it, I'll see what I can do (its one block over from work) Another method for mounting small flashlights is to use one of the Blackburn-style clamps that are used to attach racks. These are available in several different diameters to fin lots of different lights. They're also rubber coated so they reduce some of the vibration. They cost about $1-2. You can mount them to fender eyelets, roack bosses, etc. >Please send all homebrew light clues to me, I'm compiling a FAQ. >-- > > Stuart Kreitman (415) 493-6912 > Faster Raster Software Engineering > 4216 Los Palos Ave. > Palo Alto, CA 94306 > _______________ __o > _________________ -\<, > ......O/ O Mark Chandler "We do not do this thing because it is permitted. chandler@wc.novell.com We do it because we have to." -Rorschach, WATCHMEN =========================================================================== The opinions expressed above are mine, not my employer's. From rich@tous.uucp Thu Dec 12 16:20:25 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bu2.bu.edu!bu.edu!news.bbn.com!olivea!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!masscomp!peora!tarpit!tous!rich From: rich@tous.uucp (Rich Sias) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: How to mount flashlight on bike? Message-ID: <1991Nov27.173845.27565@tous.uucp> Date: 27 Nov 91 17:38:45 GMT Organization: Privately Owned System - Altamonte Springs, Fl. Lines: 46 In article <1991Oct29.222009.12975@cs.umn.edu> manne@a25.ima.umn.edu (Fredrick M anne) writes: > >I have a flashlight which I would like to be able to >mount on my (mtb)bike. It is an ordinary cylindrical shaped >d-cell flashlight. I have been looking in the local >bike stores for something which I could use >and the only thing I have been able to come up During the last 30 years of riding I have on and off used a flashlight clip made by Wald manufacturing (uSA). This is 6 fingered clip, 3 on each side with a handlebar curved piece to clamp it to with screws. works quite well in holding a flashlight except in riogh road riding. I have used from a 2-cell to 5 sell flashlights in this. My biggest complaint is with all the flashlights I used, they're all spotlights with lousy lighting patterns. Wald makes most of the wire bicycle baskets I have seen in the US. I purchased it in wards 30 years ago, and also several Westrn Auto stores, and a couple of small town bike shops aka key shops, lawnmowers, etc. I used to pay about 39 cents probably about $1 or so by now. Now my opinion on lights: I use a modified Ed Kearney's Bicysle Lighting Systems headlight mounted in a aluminum 2.5x5x4.5" shaped chassis also with 5 "D" size industrial nicads. With 10w seald bulb shouldlast 3 hrs whith good new cells. I use surplus cells and end up with 2-2.5 hrs usually. This appratus quick realeases to the top of a fron Blackburn stype rack. It lights us 8-10 ft wide swath >from 4 foot from tire to 20-30 foot down road. There was an article in either Bicycling or Bicycle Rider reviewing several lightings systems. The Bicycle Lighting Sys came out on top with their even road lighting using their 35w bulb & 12 v battery system. They offer 6w,10,12,18,&35w bulb brightnesses. Night sun came in second in brightness, but at that time the lit road was irregular lighting (too bright close up and too dark far out). In addition there were light & darker areas on the road. Since this was a model form their early years, it has undoubtedly been improved. The Night Sun was highly complemented for its helment mount option. Also was comment that bulbs burnt out faster when not moving, i.e. they weren't recommending for campsite use. The velo-lux came high in the ratings too, except it was not as bright at 4w, but as I recall it had a smoother road lighting pattern. When I take a bike with out a generator (emergency only) and suspect that I may run out of daylight before home, I pack a cat-eye two tone gray "D" size light with hbar clip. I rarely use it except for time miscalculations. If I KNOW I'll be in the dark I take the Ed Kearney system Rich sias. From tr@samadams.princeton.edu Fri Dec 13 11:40:02 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!ames!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!princeton!newross!samadams!tr From: tr@samadams.princeton.edu (Tom Reingold) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Archive of homemade light systems articles is available! Message-ID: Date: 12 Dec 91 20:27:27 GMT Sender: news@newross.Princeton.EDU (USENET News System) Organization: Noo Joizy, USA Lines: 14 This posting is redundant. It states what has been stated in Mike Iglesias' FAQ postings, but they are so large that some people didn't notice what they needed. I have edited many articles on homemade bike light systems and made them available for anonymous ftp. The file is /pub/rec.bicycles/lights and the site is draco.acs.uci.edu. If you cannot ftp from this site for any reason, see the FAQ listing to see what other access methods are available. -- Tom Reingold tr@samadams.princeton.edu OR ...!princeton!samadams!tr "Warning: Do not drive with Auto-Shade in place. Remove from windshield before starting ignition." From pae@netwise.com Mon Dec 30 19:57:53 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sample.eng.ohio-state.edu!purdue!yuma!csn!netwise!pae From: pae@netwise.com (Phil Earnhardt) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Nightsun Info Wanted Summary: Look in the latest MBA for NightSun alternatives. Message-ID: <1991Dec28.181821.1266@netwise.com> Date: 28 Dec 91 18:18:21 GMT References: <20964.295AE6EE@urchin.fidonet.org> Reply-To: pae@netwise.UUCP (Phil Earnhardt) Organization: Netwise, Inc. Boulder, CO Lines: 24 In article tom@ocf.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) writes: >I agree that the NightSun is an excellent product, but the company is >run by an asshole. As has been stated here in the past, NightSun won't >sell just the headlight unit (apparently they enjoy price-gouging on the >battery packs). [...] > >In short, I can recommend the light, but I can't recommend the company. The latest issue of MBA has a brief summary of bicycle light manufacturers. There's a brief profile of each company's product and a picture of their stuff. There are no product comparisons. MBA has a picture of a rider decked out with ALL of the systems on his bike, helmet and elsewhere. Pretty amusing. It appears that Night Rider ("Remember the Night Rider!" --Mad Max) now has an under-the-handlebar mount for their light. These lights are a tad more efficient than NightSun's; they're available in a several different wattages and four different beam widths. I don't know if the dual-beam bulb assembly is available separately, but I do know that Tom from Night Rider is a sincerely nice guy. > -Tom Phil Earnhardt pae@netwise.com Netwise, Inc. Boulder, CO (303) 442-8280 From pardo@cs.washington.edu Mon Dec 30 19:58:03 1991 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!olivea!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!uw-beaver!pardo From: pardo@cs.washington.edu (David Keppel) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Nightsun Info Wanted Message-ID: <1991Dec27.204427.6099@beaver.cs.washington.edu> Date: 27 Dec 91 20:44:27 GMT References: <20964.295AE6EE@urchin.fidonet.org> Sender: news@beaver.cs.washington.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle Lines: 19 >[Shall I buy a NightSun?] I've got the Team Issue and it works -- but I suggest getting something else. The NightSun quick-release is a bit of a pain to use (especially if you want to use it on bikes w/ different bar diameters), and I've heard a few horror stories about dealing with the home shop. I've heard good things about the VeloLux, that it's all the light and half the price and less weight and convenient to install and remove. VeloLux (lighting) 801 Northport Dr. Unit #1 West Sacramento, CA 95691 800-552-1523 Does it work? I don't know, I don't own a VeloLux. But I've heard good things... ;-D oN ( Making light of the situation ) Pardo From bruce@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu Thu Jan 2 21:42:11 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!olivea!samsung!think.com!mips!news.cs.indiana.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!bruce From: bruce@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (Bruce Krueger) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Dynamo Message-ID: <1991Dec26.194423.7322@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Date: 26 Dec 91 19:44:23 GMT References: <16183@castle.ed.ac.uk> Sender: usenet@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News) Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Lines: 28 biegler@castle.ed.ac.uk (R Biegler) writes: >I have recently bought a Specialized Crossroads and would like to put a >dynamo on it. I am not sure a conventional one would work. A bottom >bracket dynamo probably would, but the one I have seen was so expensive, >it would have to last for at least four years to be worth the money. >Does anyone know how reliable these things are? What are the >alternatives? ******* hmmmm, don't know what you have available, or what you pay for it, on that side of the ditch, but sanyo dynapower generator sets can be had for on the order of $25-30 over in this part of the world, and they're quite durable, and have a krypton headlamp that's about 50% brighter than a standard incandescent bulb, with the added bonus of being so smooth/low- torque/-drag that they're almost completely innocuous -- that is, you won't even know they're on by the resistance created, which is quite a switch from the "boat anchor effect" of an old schwinn/union side-drive generator. there's also the possibility, should you be interested in doing so, of mounting the generator behind the front fork, driving off the front wheel rather than the rear, making it possible to just reach down and flick the lever to actuate the unit, rather than having to stop and reach under the bottom bracket or resort to fiddly machinations with your foot. if you decide to try this (usually only possible on MTB's or hybrids), you'll prolly have to re-set the angle of the actuating lever so it doesn't interfere with your steering, but it's a neat set-up. bruce From oexmann@convex.com Thu Jan 2 21:42:27 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!convex!oexmann From: oexmann@convex.com (Carla Oexmann) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: What to do in an accident? Message-ID: <1991Dec31.012318.3780@convex.com> Date: 31 Dec 91 01:23:18 GMT References: <61168@netnews.upenn.edu> Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account) Distribution: usa Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA Lines: 48 Nntp-Posting-Host: mozart.convex.com In article <61168@netnews.upenn.edu> siu@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Kelly K Siu) writes: >I read something disturbing recently in Bicycling. An article tells how >jury will often take the side of the motorist in an accident. I realized >I haven't gave accidents much thought. > >But since I ride in the city, there is a pretty good chance that I will >someday be involved in an auto-related accident. I am wondering what I >can do to improve my chance in court in the event of an accident. What >steps should I take after an accident has occured? Is there any bicycle >organization out there who may help me? There was an article in Bicycling some time ago on what to do if you were in an accident : things that were recommended were : 1 : Get names and addresses of all witnesses ( in writing, if possible. I carry a ball point pen in my repair kit, and figure that if there's no paper, that I can write on my forearm if need be. ) 2 : Get name/address/vehicle registration number/insurance information on driver 3 : Call police and insist that an officer respond ( and ambulance if needed ) 4 : Draw diagram of scene, noting time, weather, and specific details. 5 : Resist temptation to chat with motorist : a line like "let's hope the cops get here soon, because I'm going to be late" could be used in court against you : that you were in a hurry and riding recklessly, and thus it's your fault. 6 : If the police don't come, go to the station. Verify the accuracy of the report. 7 : If it's hit and run, get as much information on the offending driver and vehcle as you can. ( I know, it's hard to do when you're going tail over teakettle after slamming into the curb, but try. ) 8 : If you're hurt, go to the doctor/hospital : this will legitimize your injuries. The League of American Wheelmen maintains a list of expert witnesses and cyclist sympathetic lawyers who can help you assertain if you have grounds for legal action. Keep all bills, and don't fix the bike ( if you absolutely have to, keep the damaged ones for show-and-tell ). Get estimates from 2 shops for repairs. Take pictures of your injuries and your bike's injuries. On the day of the trial, make sure that your witnesses will show. Bring a folder with the police report, bills, etc. Try not to be bitter. Ritual disclaimer : My opinion and mine alone ! Convex, as best I can tell, doesn't have opinions, being a corporate entity... Carla Oexmann {allegra, sun, harvard, uiucdcs, ctvax}!convex!oexmann Convex Computer Corp. 3000 Waterview Parkway P.O. Box 833851 Richardson, TX From gilesm@bird.uucp Thu Jan 2 21:43:32 1992 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!uunet!viusys!gilesm From: gilesm@bird.uucp (Giles Morris) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Nightsun Info Wanted Message-ID: Date: 31 Dec 91 15:44:15 GMT References: <20964.295AE6EE@urchin.fidonet.org> <1991Dec28.181821.1266@netwise.com> Sender: @viusys.uucp Organization: Unisys GSD Lines: 59 prichard@devon.larc.nasa.gov writes: > >>I agree that the NightSun is an excellent product > On the other hand, it turned out just as easy to build a home-brew system > (thanks to some of the contributors here) as it was to assemble & mount a > NightSun. The home-brew works just as well and cost a grand total of $65. >could you elaborate on the system you built? what parts used, where obtained >etc? Wasn't there somebody putting this into the winter version of the FAQ? Anyway... I cannot take credit for much of the ideas involved in this - my contribution was the hose clamps. Whatcha do is: - The front lamp assembly is a standard 12V reflector bulb. Made by GE (and others) for track lighting. It is available in 20W and 50W versions, each of which is available as either spot or flood beam. I use a 20W spot beam version. Because the silvering on the reflector is not entirely opaque it should be painted - I used several coats of spray enamel, but suspect that matt black engine spray paint would be better. - The bulb is held in place by two hose clamps. One passes around the widest part of the bulb (2" in diameter). The other passes around the handlebar and between the bulb and the bigger hose clamp. I use epoxy resin around the bulb to ensure that it stays in place within the clamp. - Wiring in my version is a very simple setup. The conducters are soldered to the two pins on the back of the bulb and there are simple spade connecters on the other end to match the connecters on the battery. - I have two alternative batteries. Both are 12V sealed lead acid, bought from a local (Falls Church VA) battery specialist. One will eventually live in a water bottle and is a 1.9AH battery. The other one is a little more difficult to mount because it is a larger 4AH version. I have it strapped in the space frame of a Moulton. - The rear light is a Vista Light. Where to get the stuff: The bulb should be in any home supplies/lighting/hardware store. I paid $12. The hose clips are obtainable from, well... lots of places. Small $. The battery was easy for me to find locally, but I have seen many mail order sources. I think I paid about $18 for the small and $30 for the large one. The rear light is available in most bike shops. Summary: I am _very_ happy with the result. Thanks to all here who contributed. It seems to work about as well as my wife's NightSun for a _lot_ less money. Giles Morris ...uunet!viusys!gilesm From ron@felix.metaphor.com Mon Jan 6 18:04:06 1992 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!munnari.oz.au!uunet!fernwood!cronos!felix!ron From: ron@felix.metaphor.com (Eine Ron) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Nightsun Info Wanted Keywords: Velo-Lux Message-ID: <1770@cronos.metaphor.com> Date: 6 Jan 92 06:04:58 GMT References: <20964.295AE6EE@urchin.fidonet.org> <1991Dec27.204427.6099@beaver.cs.washington.edu> Sender: news@cronos.metaphor.com Organization: Metaphor Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA Lines: 8 I've been using Velo Lux for a year an d a half. It's great - light weight and cleverly focused light. The battery lasts for two hours, but you can get a bottom bracket generator for it that can keep you going forever. I've messed with all kinds of do it yourself systems, but this one is elegant and effective. Ron From koren@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com Mon Jan 27 16:32:02 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdc!koren From: koren@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com (Steve Koren) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Bright helmet mounted lights (was: Re: lights) Message-ID: <7910194@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com> Date: 24 Jan 92 08:50:41 GMT References: <1992Jan16.182020.14375@milton.u.washington.edu> Organization: HP Fort Collins, Co. Lines: 52 nollert@nova.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de (Hans-Peter Nollert) writes: > My goodness - 55W ?? That's as much as the headlight of a car. So I > Considering that a bicycle isn't going as fast as a car, there is no > reason why a lamp with so much power would be required. I think a well > focussed halogen lamp around 10W should be plenty. (Around here, until > last year bike lights were not allowed to have more than 2.4W, and I disagree that 10 watts is plenty. I tried going down to 14 watts >from my current 35 watt setup, and 14 watts (in a suitably shaped beam) seems woefully inadequate for many purposes. It was OK for travelling along on a fully dark road, but it was not adequate for: 1) Roads with patches lit by streetlamps and patches in the dark - the illumination from the 14 watt lamp was so small compared to the streetlamp light, that it failed to fill in the shadows enough to see what was in them. 2) Getting you noticed in high traffic situations when the lamp was basically pointed down at the ground in front of you. When there are a zillion other car headlamps and streelamps and neon signs and such, 10 watts gets completely lost. (Unless you angle it up, which is rude and does not allow you to see the road anyway). 3) High speed descents at night. Also, the illumination at a particular point depends not only on the wattage of your lamp, but also on the beam pattern and the distance between you and the point. I have seen 4 and 8 watt lamps with tight beam patters in which the illumination was the same as from my 35 watt light. However, these lights threw almost no light outside of this small area. A car even a little to the side does not see this light very well. I have noticed this a lot when driving. The light will be bright if it pans across your face, but when it is pointing elsewhere, its gone. To get the same amount of illumination while also throwing some light to the sides, you need more than 10 watts I think. Bicycles are not very visible at night, particularly as many drivers are partially blinded by the glare from their windshields. You don't want to shine 35 to 55 watts up into their faces, but it doesn't hurt to be as visible as an oncoming motorcycle, which I am. Tail lights are equally as important, since you will have more opportunities for interaction with cars going the same way. (Ie, most of the cars going the other way are on the other side of the road and will stay there. They won't have to move to accomodate you. On a narrow road, however, cars going the same direction must move over a bit, and so it is important that every last one of them be able to see you clearly). - steve From koren@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com Mon Jan 27 16:32:15 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdc!koren From: koren@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com (Steve Koren) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Bright helmet mounted lights (was: Re: lights) Message-ID: <7910193@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com> Date: 24 Jan 92 08:37:58 GMT References: <1992Jan16.182020.14375@milton.u.washington.edu> Organization: HP Fort Collins, Co. Lines: 13 praetzel@sunee.waterloo.edu (Eric Praetzel) writes: > the light. This should be more visable. There is no way on earth I can > power a 55W bulb continously in the winter. It is hard enough to flash the A while back I posted the address and phone # of a company which carries high capacity (8 to 20 amp-hour) rechargable batteries. I have two of their 10 AH ones on my bike. If anyone wants this address and missed it before, feel free to send me email. They have batteries which will power a 35 to 55 watt bulb for quite a while. (I get 2.5 hours using my 35 watt headlamp + 6 watt tail lamp). - steve From howard@urchin.fidonet.org Tue Jan 28 22:48:38 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!europa.asd.contel.com!uunet!nuchat!hrnowl!urchin!howard From: howard@urchin.fidonet.org (Howard Gerber) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: lights Message-ID: <23031.29849762@urchin.fidonet.org> Date: 27 Jan 92 21:10:10 GMT Organization: Urchin (Two Wheelers) - Unix <--> Fido gateway, Houston,TX Lines: 27 John Hwang (ks5y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu) writes: > > power a 55W bulb continously in the winter. JH> Any thoughts on where I might be able to get JH> such a bulb (and reflector)? John, try a large hardware store. It appears that the bulbs that NightSun is using are the ones used by 12V track lights. I have seen then at Builder's Square (a major chain hardware store) in Houston. Although NightSun only uses the 10W and 20W bulbs, they are available up to (I believe) 80W. I'm sure that the 55W bulb will fit in NightSun's 20W case, but I suspect that it would overheat. The cases for the track lights look a little too big and fragile for bicycle use. The bulbs that are 10W and bigger have builtin reflectors, so all (?!) you need is something to hold the bulb, connect to the two pins on the base and keep water out without overheating. __ o Howard Gerber . . < \ . USENET: hrnowl!urchin!howard.gerber : : > : : FIDONET: 1:106/88.0 713-682-6508 ` ` ` ` -- Howard Gerber - via FidoNet node 1:106/88 UUCP: ...!hrnowl!urchin!howard INTERNET: howard@urchin.fidonet.org From ehouse@Apple.COM Tue Jan 28 23:28:10 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!yale!yale.edu!jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!wupost!usc!apple!ehouse From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Bright helmet mounted lights (was: Re: lights) Message-ID: <62206@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 28 Jan 92 17:37:58 GMT References: <1992Jan16.182020.14375@milton.u.washington.edu> <7910194@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com> <1992Jan27.170228.18837@rtf.bt.co.uk> Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 29 In article <1992Jan27.170228.18837@rtf.bt.co.uk> ager@rtf.bt.co.uk (Ray Ager) writes: > >10W is fine most of the time, it gives a good light when on the flat and >riding uphill. When you start to go fast downhill, you need the extra light. > Or, you need a well focused light that you can point around the curves where your wheel isn't headed -- yet. 5000 watts won't help you on a road with extreme switchbacks if it is mounted on your handlebars. >With the 35W light you can go *nearly* as fast as during daylight. I have a 4-watt handlebar-mount light with which I can go nearly as fast down steep and twisty roads as I go during daylight (within 10%, say) provided I am familiar with the roads. The light is strong enough that I can't outrun its beam even at 40+ mph. The only way I could increase my speed would be to add lights all around my bike so that I could see clearly 120 degrees to each side -- or to get a second, helmet-mount beam. The really nice thing about low-wattage lights is that they can be powered by generators in a pinch, or for occasional long night rides when batteries to keep your 55-watt light going for six or eight hours would cut into your enjoyment of the ride (probably by collapsing your wheels.) A well-designed light under 10-watts is adequate for any use I can imagine -- short of trying to set a new speed record descending Sonora Pass at night when I haven't ridden it in years. -- **************************************************************************** Eric House "My employer doesn't share its opinions with me, so I can share only mine with you" From jclee@athena.mit.edu Wed Jan 29 22:09:19 1992 Path: ai-lab!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!bloom-picayune.mit.edu!athena.mit.edu!jclee From: jclee@athena.mit.edu (Joseph C Lee) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Summary of Lighting Recommendations Message-ID: <1992Jan29.202235.14868@athena.mit.edu> Date: 29 Jan 92 20:22:35 GMT Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system) Distribution: na Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lines: 39 Nntp-Posting-Host: barker-6-11.mit.edu Summary of Lighting System Recommendations ========================================== Vistalites: highly visible, incredibly long lifetime (a few years), BUT the pulsing makes it hard for other motorists to judge distance Cateye rear light: good, kinda low output, but also serves as reflector. Constant light makes it easy to judge distance for motorists Cateye halogen light: cheap, decent light, but only good to make the rider visible, does not function well to illuminate path, 2 C rechargeable batteries last 2-3 hours; the system can be upgraded with TurboCat Mod kit, which includes 2 brigter bulbs and rechargeable battery pack. Depending on which battery pack and bulbs are used, life can range from 1-1.75 hour (standard battery), or 3.75-6 hours (with more expensive endurance battery). Nice Lite: amazingly bright, good for riding up to 20mph, completely waterproof, includes xenon bulb (can also use dimmer, more energy efficient halogen bulb), battery life of 1-1.5 hour with 4 AA rechargeables, 4 hours with alkalines. Other recommendations: Reflective patches, stickers and clothing (like vest) also help immensely. Put stickers on helmet and wheels. Overall concensus: get the Nice Lite and carry at least one set of spare batteries, use Vistalight in back for visibility, maybe add a constant light so motorists can judge your distance, and finally throw some reflective material on your equipment and clothes. Happy biking in the dark! Joe MIT MECH E! Class '92 From pwybiera@keps.kodak.com Sat Feb 22 23:59:00 1992 Path: ai-lab!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-picayune.mit.edu!mintaka.lcs.mit.edu!olivea!spool.mu.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!spdcc!dirtydog.ima.isc.com!keps.kodak.com!pwybiera From: pwybiera@keps.kodak.com (Pamela Wybieracki) Newsgroups: rec.bicycles Subject: Re: Nice Lites Message-ID: <1992Feb21.221740.14364@keps.kodak.com> Date: 21 Feb 92 22:17:40 GMT References: <1992Feb15.045418.26201@athena.mit.edu> Organization: Kodak Electronic Printing Systems Lines: 28 In article <1992Feb15.045418.26201@athena.mit.edu> jclee@athena.mit.edu (Joseph C Lee) writes: >Just an interesting observation about Nice Lites. Most people already >know that they are not dedicated bike lights. I believe the light is >made in coordination by two companies. First, there is one who >manufacturing the mounting/clamping pieces. How much can that cost? >About $5-$10? Then there is the Tekna company who makes the lights. >I found the exact same light that that I bought as my $36 Nice Lite at >Eastern Mountain Sports for $13. Of course, this is the light piece >alone, sold as a flashlight. I have found the clamps sold separately (at Belmont Wheel Works) for $20. Seems kind of high - considering the light is cheaper than the clamp, but I certainly can't produce one for less! After doing your math - you may notice that buying the pieces separately is cheaper than buying together - and I have recommended this method of purchase to several people. -- Pamela Blalock Wybieracki pwybiera@keps.kodak.com Kodak Electronic Printing Systems, Inc new 1992 record on Velodyne 164 Lexington Road, Billerica, MA 01821-3984 102.6 miles (22.6 mph)