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#111
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On Fri, 11 May 2018 08:39:16 -0700, sms
wrote: On 5/11/2018 7:36 AM, Joerg wrote: Flashing rear lights are great and I use them. They make a cyclist more noticeable than a car at the same distance. There are some that turn into flash mode when power comes on (without pressing the button) so with some simple electronics up front they could also be useful for dynamo-only situations. Though then they will go out when stopped which is not good. For front lights I'd like to see the same law for bicycles as we have in most states for motorcycles, daytime running lights are mandatory. Modulated or flashing is better, but even solid is okay. The problem with legislated solutions is that they tend to demand more than what was originally required. For example, such a law might require that the flashing rate change in some manner to indicate an almost dead battery. For rear lights, most riders already use flashing rear lights. Yep, except that you can't see the rear light from the side on cheap rear bicycle lights. Some required side-spill should be added to the law. That would also make tolerable turn signal indicators. I think we can dispense with adding backup lights. Most rear bicycle lights are used as flashers, not to improve visibility, but to reduce battery drain. This is good because when an automobile driver sees a flashing red light, they know it's either a bicycle, hazard marker, or the local red light district. This ambiguity could easily be solved by assigning a distinctive color to bicycle lighting. Red, green, blue, yellow, and white are all taken. It should be something that could be easily produced by an LED. https://www.lumex.com/article/led-color-guide I guess all that's left are orange, amber, and pink, none of which are available in high brightness. I gotta think about his some more... I find it difficult to judge speed when something is coming directly at me or directly away from me. For dynamo operated lighting, it might be useful to have the color change with the speed. At high speeds, the light is bluish. At low speeds, more reddish. All it would require are a few added LEDs in RGB colors in addition to the usual white headlight and red tail light. (I should probably patent this idea). There have also been come comments in R.B.T. on riders being blinded by oncoming bicycle headlights. This is easily fixed by a law requiring that all bicycle eyeglasses be vertically polarized, while bicycle headlights be horizontally polarized. The vertically polarized glasses are also useful at eliminating glare from the sun, which is mostly horizontally polarized when reflected off of the road or water. -- Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 |
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#112
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On Friday, May 11, 2018 at 8:39:19 AM UTC-7, sms wrote:
On 5/11/2018 7:36 AM, Joerg wrote: Flashing rear lights are great and I use them. They make a cyclist more noticeable than a car at the same distance. There are some that turn into flash mode when power comes on (without pressing the button) so with some simple electronics up front they could also be useful for dynamo-only situations. Though then they will go out when stopped which is not good. For front lights I'd like to see the same law for bicycles as we have in most states for motorcycles, daytime running lights are mandatory. Modulated or flashing is better, but even solid is okay. For rear lights, most riders already use flashing rear lights. That's a lot of infractions. https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/...nMxzsKV8Q.jpeg (regular summer commute traffic on N. Williams). Interestingly, most people are perfectly fine without DRLs. I can see DRLs and flashers in low light conditions, but actually requiring them for all conditions is dopey. I know you like to poke the ant-hill on this issues, so go for it, but equipment requirements will just turn into selective enforcement tools for cops who dislike certain riders. You're batteries run out, and some cop busts you because he doesn't like some ordinance you passed. -- Jay Beattie. |
#113
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote: :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote: : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be called a sensible rider. : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have time to dodge the : door if necessary. :Um... no, that's not sensible. :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph and a driver pops his :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no way to stop in time. :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and crumple beneath it. If :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with your right handlebar, the :bike will steer to the right, your body will be thrown down to the left, :and the motor vehicle you were worried about will run over you. :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a danger. Most states :don't record it as a car-bike collision, because they record those only :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track, and found that :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings. And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by dooring -- and the cops write the tickets. on't ride in the door zone. Just don't. Yeah, you live in smallsville. If I don't ride in the door zone, it takes me three times as long to get to work. Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What happens if you move a few feet left? -- - Frank Krygowski |
#114
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/11/2018 10:36 AM, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-05-10 06:28, Frank Krygowski wrote: I just don't think all those devices are necessary. Joerg talks with horror about his near misses, and about hearing from friends who heard from friends about other friends who nearly died. The usual nonsense because you don't read carefully. These were friends. People I hung out with all the time. And yes, they were hit by cars while cycling. Then there is the wife of a guy I regularly met on our dog walks. She was on a road bike and run over (literally) by a large pickup truck. It took years of medical attention and special training before she could even sit on a road bike again. Joerg, in one of your past horror story rants, you talked about all the cyclists killed "around here." I asked for links and got one article talking about a cyclist killed something like 50 miles away from you. Cycling deaths are well recorded and documented, yet you couldn't provide evidence of your local killing fields. I strongly suspect the same is true of the terrible number of near-deaths among cyclists you know. Or for that matter, of the mountain lion attacks barely avoided, the bike frames reduced to shrapnel by tire blowouts, the rides survived only by use of glaring lights... I do believe you drink a hell of a lot of beer, though. So manly! -- - Frank Krygowski |
#115
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/11/2018 11:39 AM, sms wrote:
On 5/11/2018 7:36 AM, Joerg wrote: Flashing rear lights are great and I use them. They make a cyclist more noticeable than a car at the same distance. There are some that turn into flash mode when power comes on (without pressing the button) so with some simple electronics up front they could also be useful for dynamo-only situations. Though then they will go out when stopped which is not good. For front lights I'd like to see the same law for bicycles as we have in most states for motorcycles, daytime running lights are mandatory. Modulated or flashing is better, but even solid is okay. For rear lights, most riders already use flashing rear lights. There you go! A California politician wanting to enact an idiotic law to protect people from imaginary risks by mandating unproven products he has sold for commission by "guerilla marketing." (His own words.) Nice example, Scharf. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#116
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/11/2018 12:43 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, May 11, 2018 at 8:39:19 AM UTC-7, sms wrote: For front lights I'd like to see the same law for bicycles as we have in most states for motorcycles, daytime running lights are mandatory. Modulated or flashing is better, but even solid is okay. For rear lights, most riders already use flashing rear lights. That's a lot of infractions. https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/...nMxzsKV8Q.jpeg (regular summer commute traffic on N. Williams). Wait, did that photo have something to do with bicycling? I couldn't spot any bicyclists. Maybe they were there, but didn't have DRLs? I just can't tell! -- - Frank Krygowski |
#117
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/11/2018 9:38 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
snip Yep, except that you can't see the rear light from the side on cheap rear bicycle lights. Some required side-spill should be added to the law. That would also make tolerable turn signal indicators. I think we can dispense with adding backup lights. True. Very few have sufficient side spill. https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20180511090131& SearchText=Cateye+TL-LD1100 is the best one I've found. Not cheap. But AA instead of AAA batteries. I recall buying several when they had a sale for about $20 each. My wife has one of those hockey puck rechargeable LED lights on top of her rear rack pack https://www.aliexpress.com/item/16-LED-Flashing-Car-Warning-Light-Rechargeable-Safety-Emergency-Road-Magnetic-Base-Car-Boat-Flare-1/32858656694.html. But it has to be placed horizontally and there's not really a good way to mount it to a bicycle without a rear rack or a rack bag. But it's extremely visible from all sides. |
#118
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 11/05/2018 12:43 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, May 11, 2018 at 8:39:19 AM UTC-7, sms wrote: On 5/11/2018 7:36 AM, Joerg wrote: Flashing rear lights are great and I use them. They make a cyclist more noticeable than a car at the same distance. There are some that turn into flash mode when power comes on (without pressing the button) so with some simple electronics up front they could also be useful for dynamo-only situations. Though then they will go out when stopped which is not good. For front lights I'd like to see the same law for bicycles as we have in most states for motorcycles, daytime running lights are mandatory. Modulated or flashing is better, but even solid is okay. For rear lights, most riders already use flashing rear lights. That's a lot of infractions. https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/...nMxzsKV8Q.jpeg (regular summer commute traffic on N. Williams). Interestingly, most people are perfectly fine without DRLs. I can see DRLs and flashers in low light conditions, but actually requiring them for all conditions is dopey. I know you like to poke the ant-hill on this issues, so go for it, but equipment requirements will just turn into selective enforcement tools for cops who dislike certain riders. You're batteries run out, and some cop busts you because he doesn't like some ordinance you passed. Exactly. Quebec just quadrupled the fines for missing reflectors. In the daytime. It's now possible to pay more for a missing set of reflectors than a speeding ticket in a car. After the initial crackdown it will be just what you say, some weapon for the cops to use when they get annoyed at you. |
#119
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/11/2018 11:44 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote: Frank Krygowski wrote: :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote: : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be called a sensible rider. : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have time to dodge the : door if necessary. :Um... no, that's not sensible. :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph and a driver pops his :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no way to stop in time. :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and crumple beneath it. If :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with your right handlebar, the :bike will steer to the right, your body will be thrown down to the left, :and the motor vehicle you were worried about will run over you. :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a danger. Most states :don't record it as a car-bike collision, because they record those only :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track, and found that :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings. And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by dooring -- and the cops write the tickets. on't ride in the door zone. Just don't. Yeah, you live in smallsville. If I don't ride in the door zone, it takes me three times as long to get to work. Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What happens if you move a few feet left? You mean under the bus? Urban riding s a game of inches, literally. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#120
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Dynamo/LED power conditioning
On 5/11/2018 9:43 AM, jbeattie wrote:
snip Interestingly, most people are perfectly fine without DRLs. I can see DRLs and flashers in low light conditions, but actually requiring them for all conditions is dopey. I know you like to poke the ant-hill on this issues, so go for it, but equipment requirements will just turn into selective enforcement tools for cops who dislike certain riders. You're batteries run out, and some cop busts you because he doesn't like some ordinance you passed. We need to pass more laws to make everything safe for everybody. Actually I'm the only one on our council that's voted against some ridiculous new ordinances that try to do that. On one vote the City Clerk was so shocked that she reported the vote as unanimous and I had to interrupt her to correct her. Passing meaningless, unenforceable laws that are already duplicated at the state level is ridiculous. We have no real way to even prosecute violators of some ordinances because the county DA won't do it. OTOH, for some things, it's not that enforcement is expected, it's about getting people to understand what behavior is a good idea, and knowing that most people have the sense to do what the law says (seat belt laws, etc.). In my area, there's no need for laws regarding bicycle DRLs or rear flashers, since usage is already very high for transportational cycling. Some areas of the country could use this law. For example, in some counties in Ohio, such as Mahoning County, there appears to be a need for such a DRL law. |
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