Cheap bright tail light

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/30/2014 1:33 PM, Joerg wrote:


Some of the better front lights have that. But the problem is with tail
lights. You can always see when a front light dims away. Happened to me
twice and is very annoying but at least I can adjust my riding to it or
stop riding. When the tail light goes out this will be unnoticed by the
riders and unless you get warnings by honking car drivers you run the
risk of being rear-ended or side-swiped.

On my road bike I often bend down and look under the seat. On my MTB I
can't see the tail light because it's aluminum-encapsulated against rock
hits and stuff. So I have two tail lights. That is only necessary
because they failed to put in a low-bat warning.

I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me
confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was
worth the trouble.


Cadillac had that once upon a time. Works.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Phil W Lee wrote:
Joerg considered Sat, 30 Aug 2014
09:39:24 -0700 the perfect time to write:

Sir Ridesalot wrote:

[...]

Many AA or AAA tail lights are quite bright especially on trails and
some are too bright for a following rider.

But you never know when they run out of juice because the manufacturer's
engineers can't get it into their heads that there should be a charge
level indicator. Technically a piece of cake, you measure the voltage
sag upon pulsing and when that exceeds the 80% or whatever discharge
mark let the light flash a bit more irregular than usual. Then the rider
would still have time to get homes safely but would know that a fresh
set of batteries or a Li-Ion recharge is required soon. When do they
wake up?

They have.
Bettery level indicators are so common that they've made them a
mandatory requirement (on those few bikes where it's legal to not have
a dynamo system) in Germany.


For the rear light? So why are all those sold over here in the US sans
low-batt warning? Including expensive ones.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 31/08/14 12:52, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/30/2014 1:33 PM, Joerg wrote:


Some of the better front lights have that. But the problem is with tail
lights. You can always see when a front light dims away. Happened to me
twice and is very annoying but at least I can adjust my riding to it or
stop riding. When the tail light goes out this will be unnoticed by the
riders and unless you get warnings by honking car drivers you run the
risk of being rear-ended or side-swiped.

On my road bike I often bend down and look under the seat. On my MTB I
can't see the tail light because it's aluminum-encapsulated against rock
hits and stuff. So I have two tail lights. That is only necessary
because they failed to put in a low-bat warning.

I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me
confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was
worth the trouble.


My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can
easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my
hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991

--
JS

James wrote:
On 31/08/14 12:52, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/30/2014 1:33 PM, Joerg wrote:


Some of the better front lights have that. But the problem is with tail
lights. You can always see when a front light dims away. Happened to me
twice and is very annoying but at least I can adjust my riding to it or
stop riding. When the tail light goes out this will be unnoticed by the
riders and unless you get warnings by honking car drivers you run the
risk of being rear-ended or side-swiped.

On my road bike I often bend down and look under the seat. On my MTB I
can't see the tail light because it's aluminum-encapsulated against rock
hits and stuff. So I have two tail lights. That is only necessary
because they failed to put in a low-bat warning.

I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me
confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was
worth the trouble.


My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can
easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my
hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991


I had one like that on my MTB. It lasted about half a ride. I heard the
impact after it flew off but could not find it in the bush. Now I have
this kind but two of them because there is no low-batt warning and you
can't see them by bending over:

http://www.amazon.com/LIFETIME-GUARA...nus+Innovation

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 01/09/14 08:34, Joerg wrote:
James wrote:


My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can
easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my
hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/14948765991


I had one like that on my MTB. It lasted about half a ride.

Someone gave me that tail light well over 15 years ago, and it has
_never_ failed. I use it at least 3 nights a week for 2 hour rides.
It's been on my MTB as well.

Now I have
this kind but two of them because there is no low-batt warning and you
can't see them by bending over:

http://www.amazon.com/LIFETIME-GUARA...nus+Innovation


I can turn mine on and off while riding. It's not difficult to put my
hand behind and look to see the light flashing on my hand.

I usually check the light before I go out and keep a stock of cheap AA
batteries at home. I think just once I bought a couple of AA batteries
from a service station because the light was getting a bit weak after
the first hour of riding.

--
JS

On 8/31/2014 5:00 PM, Joerg wrote:
wrote:
$13 ?

eheheyayayyaya.....awcomon Dude $13


http://goo.gl/F09v8p

the Canadian has the answer: facing a headlamp backwards with red lens coloration.

I'm this after lunch with a small Hella for backup with yellow bulb.

beep beep beep beep

with a voice sez:

atención atención el camión se está moviendo hacia atrás


Works with bulbs but LEDs have very narrow spectral bands. I've tried a
red filter in front of my fairly powerful LED front light and it made it
rather dim.

And red is, in a sense, the easiest color to get directly out of an LED.
White is actually tricky; white LEDs were a problem that took decades
to solve.

It's sort of a waste to take all that white light sophistication, then
throw most of the wavelengths away by filtering. Just use red LEDs.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 8/31/2014 6:13 PM, James wrote:
On 31/08/14 12:52, Frank Krygowski wrote:
g.

I've thought about running a bit of fiber-optic cable to give me
confirmation of my lights working. So far, I haven't decided it was
worth the trouble.


My rear light is on the seat post and not far above the frame. I can
easily see the light is flashing at night. During twilight I put my
hand behind the light and see the light on my hand while I'm riding.

Yep, that's exactly what I've been doing.

The fiber optic idea might be better if I were doing another long tour
with camping gear. Then my taillight is mounted much further back -
e.g. on the rear end of the rack - because the sleeping bag and tent
would obscure the seatpost mounted light.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sunday, August 31, 2014 5:00:38 PM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
wrote:

$13 ?



eheheyayayyaya.....awcomon Dude $13





http://goo.gl/F09v8p



the Canadian has the answer: facing a headlamp backwards with red lens coloration.



I'm this after lunch with a small Hella for backup with yellow bulb.



beep beep beep beep



with a voice sez:



atenci�n atenci�n el cami�n se est� moviendo hacia atr�s





Works with bulbs but LEDs have very narrow spectral bands. I've tried a

red filter in front of my fairly powerful LED front light and it made it

rather dim.



--

Regards, Joerg



http://www.analogconsultants.com/

ccccccccccccccc


no ! back to the drawing board

the red paint fogging is droplets spaced by clear lexan

who has a can of candy apple red lacquer ?

On 9/1/2014 3:28 AM, Phil W Lee wrote:
Remember that all of the
light a red LED produces is already red, so it doesn't have it's light
output reduced to between 25 and 40% of what comes out of the filament
bulb by putting it straight through a filter. So you are already 250
to 400% up on a filament, even without any efficiency gain at all.
Multiply that by the efficiency gain, and you can have something very
bright for a power budget that is very low.

To vouch for that:

I was given some very high output LEDs by an engineer friend who works
for a company producing architectural LED products. I used two of the
red LEDs to upgrade incandescent taillights on two bikes.

After observing them in the dark, I decided to point both taillights
downward a bit, below horizontal. I was afraid that otherwise, the
glare would be too much for oncoming motorists - not to mention any
bicyclists that might be following me.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 9/1/2014 3:28 AM, Phil W Lee wrote:
: Remember that all of the
: light a red LED produces is already red, so it doesn't have it's light
: output reduced to between 25 and 40% of what comes out of the filament
: bulb by putting it straight through a filter. So you are already 250
: to 400% up on a filament, even without any efficiency gain at all.
: Multiply that by the efficiency gain, and you can have something very
: bright for a power budget that is very low.

:To vouch for that:

:I was given some very high output LEDs by an engineer friend who works
:for a company producing architectural LED products. I used two of the
:red LEDs to upgrade incandescent taillights on two bikes.

:After observing them in the dark, I decided to point both taillights
:downward a bit, below horizontal. I was afraid that otherwise, the
:glare would be too much for oncoming motorists - not to mention any
:bicyclists that might be following me.

Which is a big clue you don't have the optics right.

--
sig 96