I've previously posted accounts of my adventures building a very
bright wide-angle flashing red bikelight for my daughter who rides her
bike in NYC. Being highly visible is at least as important a safety
measure as wearing a helmet for a cyclist in traffic in NYC. She is
no engineer, but she was able to describe exactly what she wanted
and couldn't find at any price.

I had to learn some new skills and enhance older ones (TIG welding of
thin aluminum to thick) to "meet the spec". That was part of the
fun. Perhaps it was most of the fun, and why it took me so long.

This week I shipped a finished unit. I think she likes it.

Her comment:

---

Oh yeah I got it! F****NG COOL! We turned off the
lights and compared it to a paltry "civilian" bike
light MWAHAHAHAHAHA Oh my goodness I cant wait to
ride through Central Park after dark amoungst all the
techie cyclist shave-an-ounce dorks. I haven't yet
tried to mount it, will do that this weekend, but I
love the little switch!!!!
Thank you so much Dad, will get it mounted and do a
trial run this weekend for sure, and will report back,
wait till the Boyzz see it....
----
Grin grin! This petite, svelte, pretty, talented, tough as
necessary young woman is a recent graduate of "The New School" in
NYC after a few adventures along the way to 30. She's also been a
bike messenger in NYC where that is a contact sport because taxi
drivers hate bike messengers, try to dump them in traffic with
sideswipe skirmishes nobody sees. Knowing how to cave in the door of
a taxi with a heelshot without dumping in traffic is a survival
skill. NYC has standards for state-of -repair for taxis, fixing a
well-placed stretched-metal heelshot is expensive bodywork.
(Wonder where she learned that?) Word gets around. Taxis don't
bother her much anymore, go figure.
---
Flames for "proud dad" brags will be accepted as deserved. I hope I
have a few friends on this forum that might enjoy the tale. I check
in here often to learn and share, not to compete. I've found some
good friends on this NG.

BTW: Fitch's new house is now framed and closed with roof 3/4
felted before snow flurries temporarily stopped further roof work.
He is movin' out smartly on that project.

Sounds like you have a kewl kid.

There will never be enough young Ladies riding bikes seriously.

And the pix of that light are where???? Don.

Lewis. (who rides a fixie)

I've previously posted accounts of my adventures building a very
bright wide-angle flashing red bikelight for my daughter who rides her
bike in NYC. BRBR

Reminds me of my old bike light from my college days, it too was brighter than
anything else around.
It was a generator unit with a 6" florescent tube and a regular bulb and a set
of three red bulbs on the rear. When you got up to speed and pushed the
starter button for the florescent, the world lit up!
Sadly over countless moves since then, it sort of dissappeared along the way
and as your daughter found, there is very little it seems available out there
for people who want to really see and be seen at night. Oh sure, the stuff is
better than an old flashlight taped to the handle bars, but with our high tech
world, you would think that there would be more out there for Bikes.

Hey Don,

Yes, pix please of what you did, and of how LYL mounts it.

We see what we want and expect to see. And for car drivers that is
other cars, not bikes and motor-cycles. And believe it or not, we
sometimes miss big trucks and buses, although they do seem to
reference in the brain a little more quickly.

Hi to Fitch, and glad to hear he has a "roof over his head".

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 01:50:36 -0600, Don Foreman
wrote:

I've previously posted accounts of my adventures building a very
bright wide-angle flashing red bikelight for my daughter who rides her
bike in NYC. Being highly visible is at least as important a safety
measure as wearing a helmet for a cyclist in traffic in NYC. She is
no engineer, but she was able to describe exactly what she wanted
and couldn't find at any price.

I had to learn some new skills and enhance older ones (TIG welding of
thin aluminum to thick) to "meet the spec". That was part of the
fun. Perhaps it was most of the fun, and why it took me so long.

This week I shipped a finished unit. I think she likes it.

Her comment:

---

Oh yeah I got it! F****NG COOL! We turned off the
lights and compared it to a paltry "civilian" bike
light MWAHAHAHAHAHA Oh my goodness I cant wait to
ride through Central Park after dark amoungst all the
techie cyclist shave-an-ounce dorks. I haven't yet
tried to mount it, will do that this weekend, but I
love the little switch!!!!
Thank you so much Dad, will get it mounted and do a
trial run this weekend for sure, and will report back,
wait till the Boyzz see it....
----
Grin grin! This petite, svelte, pretty, talented, tough as
necessary young woman is a recent graduate of "The New School" in
NYC after a few adventures along the way to 30. She's also been a
bike messenger in NYC where that is a contact sport because taxi
drivers hate bike messengers, try to dump them in traffic with
sideswipe skirmishes nobody sees. Knowing how to cave in the door of
a taxi with a heelshot without dumping in traffic is a survival
skill. NYC has standards for state-of -repair for taxis, fixing a
well-placed stretched-metal heelshot is expensive bodywork.
(Wonder where she learned that?) Word gets around. Taxis don't
bother her much anymore, go figure.
---
Flames for "proud dad" brags will be accepted as deserved. I hope I
have a few friends on this forum that might enjoy the tale. I check
in here often to learn and share, not to compete. I've found some
good friends on this NG.

BTW: Fitch's new house is now framed and closed with roof 3/4
felted before snow flurries temporarily stopped further roof work.
He is movin' out smartly on that project.

Thanks, Don! And congratulations on raising a daughter to almost "30" in
these trying times and esp. one that survives in NYC traffic. I'm sure
Dad's special light will be a great adjunct to that survival. Pursuant to
what you said about friends on RCM, I feel honored to be in that group. You
have helped "proof" several projects of mine over the years and I have
learned a lot from reading your posts. A Don Foreman "stamp of approval" is
as good as it gets! We appreciate your news re. Fitch from time to time.
Unfortunately, newbies to RCM will probably never share posts as good as
those from earlier days when you, T-nut, Fitch and Pete Albrecht reigned
supreme. My very best wishes.

Bob (not easily impressed) Swinney

"Brian Lawson" wrote in message
...
Hey Don,

Yes, pix please of what you did, and of how LYL mounts it.

We see what we want and expect to see. And for car drivers that is
other cars, not bikes and motor-cycles. And believe it or not, we
sometimes miss big trucks and buses, although they do seem to
reference in the brain a little more quickly.

Hi to Fitch, and glad to hear he has a "roof over his head".

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 01:50:36 -0600, Don Foreman
wrote:

I've previously posted accounts of my adventures building a very
bright wide-angle flashing red bikelight for my daughter who rides her
bike in NYC. Being highly visible is at least as important a safety
measure as wearing a helmet for a cyclist in traffic in NYC. She is
no engineer, but she was able to describe exactly what she wanted
and couldn't find at any price.

I had to learn some new skills and enhance older ones (TIG welding of
thin aluminum to thick) to "meet the spec". That was part of the
fun. Perhaps it was most of the fun, and why it took me so long.

This week I shipped a finished unit. I think she likes it.

Her comment:

---

Oh yeah I got it! F****NG COOL! We turned off the
lights and compared it to a paltry "civilian" bike
light MWAHAHAHAHAHA Oh my goodness I cant wait to
ride through Central Park after dark amoungst all the
techie cyclist shave-an-ounce dorks. I haven't yet
tried to mount it, will do that this weekend, but I
love the little switch!!!!
Thank you so much Dad, will get it mounted and do a
trial run this weekend for sure, and will report back,
wait till the Boyzz see it....
----
Grin grin! This petite, svelte, pretty, talented, tough as
necessary young woman is a recent graduate of "The New School" in
NYC after a few adventures along the way to 30. She's also been a
bike messenger in NYC where that is a contact sport because taxi
drivers hate bike messengers, try to dump them in traffic with
sideswipe skirmishes nobody sees. Knowing how to cave in the door of
a taxi with a heelshot without dumping in traffic is a survival
skill. NYC has standards for state-of -repair for taxis, fixing a
well-placed stretched-metal heelshot is expensive bodywork.
(Wonder where she learned that?) Word gets around. Taxis don't
bother her much anymore, go figure.
---
Flames for "proud dad" brags will be accepted as deserved. I hope I
have a few friends on this forum that might enjoy the tale. I check
in here often to learn and share, not to compete. I've found some
good friends on this NG.

BTW: Fitch's new house is now framed and closed with roof 3/4
felted before snow flurries temporarily stopped further roof work.
He is movin' out smartly on that project.

Have you seen the little led blinkers that screw onto the tire valve
stems?
Pretty cool I think they are called "Tire Flies"

wrote:
Have you seen the little led blinkers that screw onto the tire valve
stems?
Pretty cool I think they are called "Tire Flies"

No, but yesterday I saw for the first time a loooooong stretch limo
which had those stupid huge "spoked" spinner things on the wheels. They
look sort of like someone parted off the side of the wheel and mounted
it on some kind of bearing.

They keep on slowly rotating long after the wheels have come to a stop.

My teen aged son told me a set of four costs over a grand. Go figger....

**************************

And, nice job Don, I'm sure it was a labor of love....

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

John213a wrote:
I've previously posted accounts of my adventures building a very
bright wide-angle flashing red bikelight for my daughter who rides her
bike in NYC. BRBR

Reminds me of my old bike light from my college days, it too was brighter than
anything else around.
It was a generator unit with a 6" florescent tube and a regular bulb and a set
of three red bulbs on the rear. When you got up to speed and pushed the
starter button for the florescent, the world lit up!
Sadly over countless moves since then, it sort of dissappeared along the way
and as your daughter found, there is very little it seems available out there
for people who want to really see and be seen at night. Oh sure, the stuff is
better than an old flashlight taped to the handle bars, but with our high tech
world, you would think that there would be more out there for Bikes.

Once I made a light setup of my own for riding small gravel roads
in wintertime. The forests up here in Sweden are very dark that time
of year! Power came from two motorcycle batteries of 4Ah each,
and they fed two reflectors of 55 and 100 Watts respectively.
The lights can be seen he
http://medlem.spray.se/tuben7/cykel/lights/lights.html

göran

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 10:56:31 -0500, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

wrote:
Have you seen the little led blinkers that screw onto the tire valve
stems?
Pretty cool I think they are called "Tire Flies"

No, but yesterday I saw for the first time a loooooong stretch limo
which had those stupid huge "spoked" spinner things on the wheels. They
look sort of like someone parted off the side of the wheel and mounted
it on some kind of bearing.

They keep on slowly rotating long after the wheels have come to a stop.

My teen aged son told me a set of four costs over a grand. Go figger....

And they are a heart attack waiting to happen. When you go though an
intersection and out of the corner of your eye you see spinning wheels
aimed in your direction...

Gunner




" We have all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million
typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of
Shakespeare...Thanks to AOL and WebTv, we know this is not possible."

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:44:03 +0100, tuben

Once I made a light setup of my own for riding small gravel roads
in wintertime. The forests up here in Sweden are very dark that time
of year! Power came from two motorcycle batteries of 4Ah each,
and they fed two reflectors of 55 and 100 Watts respectively.
The lights can be seen he
http://medlem.spray.se/tuben7/cykel/lights/lights.html


Wo! Those are SERIOUS bikelights!

"tuben" wrote in message
...
John213a wrote:
I've previously posted accounts of my adventures building a very
bright wide-angle flashing red bikelight for my daughter who rides her
bike in NYC. BRBR
Some deleted
Once I made a light setup of my own for riding small gravel roads
in wintertime. The forests up here in Sweden are very dark that time
of year! Power came from two motorcycle batteries of 4Ah each,
and they fed two reflectors of 55 and 100 Watts respectively.
The lights can be seen he
http://medlem.spray.se/tuben7/cykel/lights/lights.html

göran
Some power,

I have a stable of 10 and 20 watts halogen lights and various generation of
LED and Lexon that I interchange on my light/GPS bar.

I started using gel cells but I am trying NiMH packs and a fast charger
with seemly success now. http://www.billcotton.com/bicycle_electric.htm and
http://www.billcotton.com/gps.htm Most made or modified in my machine shop.

Hi Don I have followed for progress with the Lexon and was helped in my
research for Lexon head light for my bicycle.

I can relate to your daughter desire for a better rear light in New York
City. A friend of mines who regular commutes by bicycle from Connecticut to
New York City and Washington as a lawyer, asked me to make a holder so that
he could mount four of the commercial LED flasher on his bicycle. I milled a
piece of aluminum shaped like a license plate holder with holes to mount the
commercial light. Not as bright as yours with Lexon and the switching not as
convenient. Good work on your design.

I have posting space if you need it.


--
www.billcotton.com

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:44:03 +0100, tuben

Once I made a light setup of my own for riding small gravel roads
in wintertime. The forests up here in Sweden are very dark that time
of year! Power came from two motorcycle batteries of 4Ah each,
and they fed two reflectors of 55 and 100 Watts respectively.
The lights can be seen he
http://medlem.spray.se/tuben7/cykel/lights/lights.html


Wo! Those are SERIOUS bikelights!

Uh huh! Cool!

Harold

"Brian Lawson" wrote in message
...
snip----


We see what we want and expect to see. And for car drivers that is
other cars, not bikes and motor-cycles.

I learned that when, as a young guy, age of 24, I had a driver look me right
in the eye, then pull out in front of me. I was on my '63 TR6 (Triumph)
bike. He was driving a station wagon. From all indications, I wasn't
there to him. He was looking for cars.

Harold

In article , Harold and Susan Vordos says...

I learned that when, as a young guy, age of 24, I had a driver look me right
in the eye, then pull out in front of me. I was on my '63 TR6 (Triumph)
bike. He was driving a station wagon. From all indications, I wasn't
there to him. He was looking for cars.

Eye contact is not a good predictor of a driver yeilding right of way.
They look 'right through' the other vehicles often.

The best predictor is to watch the wheels on the car at the side
street. If they are turning, the hubcap/hub pattern will be moving
to your eye. Most cars have some kind of spoke pattern that provides
a higher frequency visual cue when the car is creeping.

For oncoming cars waiting to turn left in front of you, the key
is to try to visualize the tread pattern on the driver's front
tire. If you can't see the tread pattern, the car is moving
forward.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , Harold and Susan Vordos says...

I learned that when, as a young guy, age of 24, I had a driver look me
right
in the eye, then pull out in front of me. I was on my '63 TR6 (Triumph)
bike. He was driving a station wagon. From all indications, I wasn't
there to him. He was looking for cars.

Eye contact is not a good predictor of a driver yeilding right of way.
They look 'right through' the other vehicles often.

The best predictor is to watch the wheels on the car at the side
street. If they are turning, the hubcap/hub pattern will be moving
to your eye. Most cars have some kind of spoke pattern that provides
a higher frequency visual cue when the car is creeping.

and long will it take for this technique to be unlearned, given the hub
spinners now becoming popular

For oncoming cars waiting to turn left in front of you, the key
is to try to visualize the tread pattern on the driver's front
tire. If you can't see the tread pattern, the car is moving
forward.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

In article , Charles Spitzer says...

and long will it take for this technique to be unlearned, given the hub
spinners now becoming popular

No need to unlearn, around here at least the hub-spinner guys
don't bother stopping at stop signs or red lights anyway.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 10:56:31 -0500, the inscrutable Jeff Wisnia
spake:

wrote:
Have you seen the little led blinkers that screw onto the tire valve
stems?
Pretty cool I think they are called "Tire Flies"

No, but yesterday I saw for the first time a loooooong stretch limo
which had those stupid huge "spoked" spinner things on the wheels. They
look sort of like someone parted off the side of the wheel and mounted
it on some kind of bearing.

They keep on slowly rotating long after the wheels have come to a stop.

My teen aged son told me a set of four costs over a grand. Go figger....

He's DEFINITELY buying from the wrong vendor. They're $12 a pair he
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WD1V


And, nice job Don, I'm sure it was a labor of love....

Yeah, Don. Well done. Now post the final pics, please!


--
The clear and present danger of top-posting explored at:
http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote2.html
------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Premium Website Development

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:42:45 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

Now post the final pics, please!

OK.

http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/bikelite_done/

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 10:56:31 -0500, the inscrutable Jeff Wisnia
spake:


wrote:

Have you seen the little led blinkers that screw onto the tire valve
stems?
Pretty cool I think they are called "Tire Flies"


No, but yesterday I saw for the first time a loooooong stretch limo
which had those stupid huge "spoked" spinner things on the wheels. They
look sort of like someone parted off the side of the wheel and mounted
it on some kind of bearing.

They keep on slowly rotating long after the wheels have come to a stop.

My teen aged son told me a set of four costs over a grand. Go figger....


He's DEFINITELY buying from the wrong vendor. They're $12 a pair he
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WD1V



You misread the post - Over a grand for the spinner wheels, not the silly lights!





And, nice job Don, I'm sure it was a labor of love....


Yeah, Don. Well done. Now post the final pics, please!

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:12:38 -0600, the inscrutable Don Foreman
spake:

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:42:45 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

Now post the final pics, please!

OK.

http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/bikelite_done/

Very cool. The simple $1,200 (labor) light!
Your daughter is a lucky person.


--
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------------------------------------------------------
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I've visited your website several times, Bill. Neat stuff!

If you haven't tried a 3-watt Luxeon in a reflector from a 2 D-cell
Maglight, I recommend it. It makes a pretty impressive light.
Pretty narrow beam, but it lights up treetops 100 meters distant. It
compares quite favorably with a 6-volt Everready lantern.

I used a Luxeon emitter (not a star) epoxied on a 3/8" dia aluminum
post so it could reach inside the reflector to the focal point.
There's a 2" square aluminum heatsink at the back of my post, but it
could also be a disc of the same diameter as the reflector.

Don Foreman wrote:

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:44:03 +0100, tuben

Once I made a light setup of my own for riding small gravel roads
in wintertime. The forests up here in Sweden are very dark that time
of year! Power came from two motorcycle batteries of 4Ah each,
and they fed two reflectors of 55 and 100 Watts respectively.
The lights can be seen he
http://medlem.spray.se/tuben7/cykel/lights/lights.html



Wo! Those are SERIOUS bikelights!

I bet they cut the fog ice!

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Larry "the strap" sez:
" Very cool. The simple $1,200 (labor) light!
Your daughter is a lucky person."

Damn straight! If Don didn't already have kids, I'd try to get him to adopt
me!

Bob (an orphan for 30 something years) Swinney


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:12:38 -0600, the inscrutable Don Foreman
spake:

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:42:45 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

Now post the final pics, please!

OK.

http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/bikelite_done/



--
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http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote2.html
------------------------------------------------------
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Don Foreman wrote:
http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/bikelite_done/

Very nice - a job to be proud of!

A question about the lens: was it stock or hand made? Details?

When will you be going into production? When you do, here's a
free-of-charge idea: build the reed switch/magnet pair into the quick
mount. It would make the lens simpler and "automate" the power.
Wouldn't do if one wanted to have the light mounted, but off. But
that's probably not a secure state - prone to being forgotten. I know,
I'm being a Monday-morning quarterback. Sorry, I can't help it.

Thanks for sharing
Bob

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 17:48:56 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:
http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/bikelite_done/

Very nice - a job to be proud of!

A question about the lens: was it stock or hand made? Details?

When will you be going into production? When you do, here's a
free-of-charge idea: build the reed switch/magnet pair into the quick
mount. It would make the lens simpler and "automate" the power.
Wouldn't do if one wanted to have the light mounted, but off. But
that's probably not a secure state - prone to being forgotten. I know,
I'm being a Monday-morning quarterback. Sorry, I can't help it.

I molded the lens out of pourable clear urethane, Polytek 1420, in an
RTV mold. I'd wanted an excuse to play with those materials anyway.
I made the "master" for the inside cavity by milling semi-cylindrical
flutes in a piece of aluminum roundstock with a ball-end mill.
The idea was to get some dispersion, make it look "bigger" from any
angle of view. The bare LED was too bright; looked like a pinhole
into hell. From 100 feet, it would look red for only a few seconds,
then it'd start looking yellow due to retinal fatigue. When viewed
bare from 10 feet, I was seeing yellow spots for 20 minutes
afterwards. Only did that once! Spreading it out some actually
aided visibility quite a bit.

I did think about putting the switch in the mount, but it was easier
to put it where I did. No wires; the inside of the housing is
"slick". The elex, LED, switch and battery contact plate are all
within an axial space of about 1/2". No problem with suggested
improvements, though. Mark II's are always better than Mark I's!
G

Production? HAH! I seldom make more than two of anything. I
retired to fart around. :) Designing stuff to be producable and
cost-competitive is a PITA. I really enjoy making stuff as good as I
want it to be and the hell with whether it's producable or salable.

In article , Don Foreman says...

I did think about putting the switch in the mount, but it was easier
to put it where I did. No wires; the inside of the housing is
"slick". The elex, LED, switch and battery contact plate are all
within an axial space of about 1/2". No problem with suggested
improvements, though. Mark II's are always better than Mark I's!

The reed switch is a great approach. I had an inexpensive
strobe that used that approach - the lens was waterproof with
an O-ring, the magnet on the exterior of the case turned it
on.

I cannot find if you mentioned this, but there seemed to be
a single 8-pin SOIC chip on the board - what was it? I could
not see any inductors so I guess it's not a flyback circuit.

The only comment I could make about this is, you might consider
making the next one with an amber or yellow LED. Reason being
that the human eye's response peaks around that wavelength.
You get a lot more bang for the buck that way, in terms of
the number of neurons you fire in the subject's brain, vs
the number of watts you burn in the LED.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

jim rozen wrote:

The only comment I could make about this is, you might consider
making the next one with an amber or yellow LED. Reason being
that the human eye's response peaks around that wavelength.
You get a lot more bang for the buck that way, in terms of
the number of neurons you fire in the subject's brain, vs
the number of watts you burn in the LED.

Jim

Jim. Way iremember it the human eye response peaks at 550 nm
That's pretty Green.
...lew...

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 07:08:39 GMT, the inscrutable "Martin H. Eastburn"
spake:

Don Foreman wrote:

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:44:03 +0100, tuben

http://medlem.spray.se/tuben7/cykel/lights/lights.html

Wo! Those are SERIOUS bikelights!

I bet they cut the fog ice!

And if your hands get cold riding, just dangle them in front
for a few secs. Instant warmth!


--
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On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 13:34:20 -0600, "Robert Swinney"
wrote:

Damn straight! If Don didn't already have kids, I'd try to get him to adopt
me!

Fugeddaboudit, Bob. I get few enough of Mary's monster cookies as it
is. She might decide to like you. Don' need no more cookie sinks.

On 5 Feb 2005 16:57:38 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:

In article , Don Foreman says...

I did think about putting the switch in the mount, but it was easier
to put it where I did. No wires; the inside of the housing is
"slick". The elex, LED, switch and battery contact plate are all
within an axial space of about 1/2". No problem with suggested
improvements, though. Mark II's are always better than Mark I's!

The reed switch is a great approach. I had an inexpensive
strobe that used that approach - the lens was waterproof with
an O-ring, the magnet on the exterior of the case turned it
on.

I cannot find if you mentioned this, but there seemed to be
a single 8-pin SOIC chip on the board - what was it? I could
not see any inductors so I guess it's not a flyback circuit.

That's a 555 acting as a simple blinker. This is an inelegant
bruteforce approach I chose to get it done sooner than later, the
greater challenge (for me) being packaging. As you've seen, sooner
for me is still gawdawful slow. I'm a rank beginner at PC board
layout but I'm learning. Hint: don't have silkscreen over solder
pads. DUH! It's sure a good thing I don't have to make a living at
this.

This circuit just uses dropping resistors for current control, the
555 and a MOSFET for flashing. **** simple brute force. A more
elegant approach would use 1 or 2 cells with a flyback boost cct. A
"titanium wrench set" device might use a single lithium 123 cell with
suitable boost elex. Ian Sterling is working on using a uC for
driving Luxeons. Maxim and Linear Technology offer chips with
interesting potential. The Zetex boost chips work OK but don't offer
good regulation over battery life.

The only comment I could make about this is, you might consider
making the next one with an amber or yellow LED. Reason being
that the human eye's response peaks around that wavelength.
You get a lot more bang for the buck that way, in terms of
the number of neurons you fire in the subject's brain, vs
the number of watts you burn in the LED.

Roger that, though I thought highest photopic response was more
towards green.

Karen said she wanted red, roger that too. I'm disinclined to argue
with females about color choices, YMMV... G

Luminous efficacy of 1W Luxeons is best with red-orange at 55 lumens.
Red is 44 lumens, amber is 36 lumens. Red-orange might have been a
better choice, but Karen wanted red so I delivered red.

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 00:31:47 -0600, the inscrutable Don Foreman
spake:

On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 13:34:20 -0600, "Robert Swinney"
wrote:

Damn straight! If Don didn't already have kids, I'd try to get him to adopt
me!

Fugeddaboudit, Bob. I get few enough of Mary's monster cookies as it
is. She might decide to like you. Don' need no more cookie sinks.

So learn a new skill, Don. I made booberry muffins yesterday. Of
course, the first batch wasn't very good, bein' as I forgot to put
the Splenda in it. (I now call 'em boobry biscuits.) The second
batch turned out much better. Cookies are easy to make, too.

LJ--forever single, I learned how to cook well.


--
The clear and present danger of top-posting explored at:
http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote2.html
------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Premium Website Development

In article , Don Foreman says...

That's a 555 acting as a simple blinker. This is an inelegant
bruteforce approach I chose to get it done sooner than later, the
greater challenge (for me) being packaging. As you've seen, sooner
for me is still gawdawful slow. I'm a rank beginner at PC board
layout but I'm learning. Hint: don't have silkscreen over solder
pads. DUH! It's sure a good thing I don't have to make a living at
this.

I've been doing a fair amount of PCB hand fabrication at work
lately. I use single-sided copper clad, and blue it up with a
sharpie pen. Then I use a pair of dial calipers to scribe out
the cuts, and go at it with a scalpel. Simple stuff but it
works. This was a difference amplifer for some low-noise
high speed application and darned if it didn't work.

Supposedly there are now board houses that'll take gerber
files directly, and inexpensive (free) software for the
layout. By the time the other tech had showed up with the
layout I already had two of the small (3/4 x 1.5) boards done.
Tantalizing though. I may make the next ones I need that
way.

This circuit just uses dropping resistors for current control, the
555 and a MOSFET for flashing. **** simple brute force. A more
elegant approach would use 1 or 2 cells with a flyback boost cct. A
"titanium wrench set" device might use a single lithium 123 cell with
suitable boost elex. Ian Sterling is working on using a uC for
driving Luxeons. Maxim and Linear Technology offer chips with
interesting potential. The Zetex boost chips work OK but don't offer
good regulation over battery life.

I was really, really impressed when I took apart some el-cheapo
flashlights recently. It had stopped working so I cut into it.
Used a simple small white LED - the kind with the clear plastic
dome and two leads out the back - along with two SMT transistors,
a surface mount resistor and capacitor or two, and an SMT inductor.

The interesting thing was, one of the tiny transistors had a heat
sink of some sort glued on top of it. Some kind of blackish
cylindrical item.

They use a single AAA battery, so it has to be a flyback ckt to
get the 4+ volts to turn on the LED. The regulation during
battery life is *so* good the thing never gets dim. It just goes
out when the battery gets low enough.

The inductor had come adrift (the light had been dropped) because
it had never been waved on correctly. Easy fix.

...I thought highest photopic response was more
towards green.

I think it's around 600 nm-ish. I do know it's where
the sun's black-body curve peaks.

Karen said she wanted red, roger that too. I'm disinclined to argue
with females about color choices, YMMV... G

A very wise man. Anyway, nice project!

Jim


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==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

jim rozen wrote:
In article , Don Foreman says...


That's a 555 acting as a simple blinker. This is an inelegant
bruteforce approach I chose to get it done sooner than later, the
greater challenge (for me) being packaging. As you've seen, sooner
for me is still gawdawful slow. I'm a rank beginner at PC board
layout but I'm learning. Hint: don't have silkscreen over solder
pads. DUH! It's sure a good thing I don't have to make a living at
this.


I've been doing a fair amount of PCB hand fabrication at work
lately. I use single-sided copper clad, and blue it up with a
sharpie pen. Then I use a pair of dial calipers to scribe out
the cuts, and go at it with a scalpel. Simple stuff but it
works. This was a difference amplifer for some low-noise
high speed application and darned if it didn't work.

Supposedly there are now board houses that'll take gerber
files directly, and inexpensive (free) software for the
layout. By the time the other tech had showed up with the
layout I already had two of the small (3/4 x 1.5) boards done.
Tantalizing though. I may make the next ones I need that
way.

Jim, if you are interested in playing around with CAD
printed circuit board design, Protel is giving away their
DOS version:

http://www.protel.com/downloads/

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and get Autotrax.
I started my company using Autotrax and it's entirely
usable. It generates generic Gerbers and drill
tape files that any pcb shop can take.

Send the Gerbers off to http://www.4pcb.com/
They have a couple of great deals like 3 proto's
for $33 each and the "bare bones" specials. They
will do a design check for free before running
your boards and they usually ship ahead of schedule.

I wished I could find a sheet metal house that
was as good.



This circuit just uses dropping resistors for current control, the
555 and a MOSFET for flashing. **** simple brute force. A more
elegant approach would use 1 or 2 cells with a flyback boost cct. A
"titanium wrench set" device might use a single lithium 123 cell with
suitable boost elex. Ian Sterling is working on using a uC for
driving Luxeons. Maxim and Linear Technology offer chips with
interesting potential. The Zetex boost chips work OK but don't offer
good regulation over battery life.


I was really, really impressed when I took apart some el-cheapo
flashlights recently. It had stopped working so I cut into it.
Used a simple small white LED - the kind with the clear plastic
dome and two leads out the back - along with two SMT transistors,
a surface mount resistor and capacitor or two, and an SMT inductor.

The interesting thing was, one of the tiny transistors had a heat
sink of some sort glued on top of it. Some kind of blackish
cylindrical item.

They use a single AAA battery, so it has to be a flyback ckt to
get the 4+ volts to turn on the LED. The regulation during
battery life is *so* good the thing never gets dim. It just goes
out when the battery gets low enough.

The inductor had come adrift (the light had been dropped) because
it had never been waved on correctly. Easy fix.


...I thought highest photopic response was more
towards green.


I think it's around 600 nm-ish. I do know it's where
the sun's black-body curve peaks.


Karen said she wanted red, roger that too. I'm disinclined to argue
with females about color choices, YMMV... G


A very wise man. Anyway, nice project!

Jim

On 6 Feb 2005 08:25:33 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:

Supposedly there are now board houses that'll take gerber
files directly, and inexpensive (free) software for the
layout. By the time the other tech had showed up with the
layout I already had two of the small (3/4 x 1.5) boards done.
Tantalizing though. I may make the next ones I need that
way.

I make some simple boards too, but I sure like working with
commercial two-sided boards with plated-thru holes and vias.
www.barebonesPCB.com will accept gerber files, even do a free online
design rule check beforoe you order boards. The cost is about $35
plus 50 cents/square inch of board. The " barebones" boards dont have
any soldermask or silkscreen and no fancy routing, but they're
good-quality boards with down to 8-mil traces. Some of the board
houses won't let you "panelize" -- have several small circuits on one
board. These guys don't have any problem with that. Send 'em the
files, they'll make you the boards. My bikelight boards were an
addon to another board. I then sheared off the stick of flashlight
boards, sliced them up and made them round on a belt sander.

For small projects, there is free PCB layout software available that
isn't limited to one board house. It can check the layout against
the schematic, (BIG HELP!) and it can produce Gerber files rather
than one house's proprietary file format. It looks pretty good,
though I haven't used it.
http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

I was really, really impressed when I took apart some el-cheapo
flashlights recently. It had stopped working so I cut into it.
Used a simple small white LED - the kind with the clear plastic
dome and two leads out the back - along with two SMT transistors,
a surface mount resistor and capacitor or two, and an SMT inductor.

No IC? That's interesting! Might be a blocking oscillator, but I'm
surprised that it regulates well.

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 02:01:42 GMT, Lew Hartswick
wrote:

jim rozen wrote:

The only comment I could make about this is, you might consider
making the next one with an amber or yellow LED. Reason being
that the human eye's response peaks around that wavelength.
You get a lot more bang for the buck that way, in terms of
the number of neurons you fire in the subject's brain, vs
the number of watts you burn in the LED.

Jim

Jim. Way iremember it the human eye response peaks at 550 nm
That's pretty Green.

I found a couple of references citing 550 nm as the peak of the
photopic response curve. Spec center wavelengths for Luxeons are 530
nm for "green" and 590 nm for "amber".

Luxeon brightness specs are 36 lumens for amber, 30 lumens for green,
44 lumens for red and 55 lumens for red-orange. I think lumens
(unlike milliwatts) are units of perceived brightness, corrected for
photopic response.

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:42:45 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 10:56:31 -0500, the inscrutable Jeff Wisnia
spake:

wrote:
Have you seen the little led blinkers that screw onto the tire valve
stems?
Pretty cool I think they are called "Tire Flies"

No, but yesterday I saw for the first time a loooooong stretch limo
which had those stupid huge "spoked" spinner things on the wheels. They
look sort of like someone parted off the side of the wheel and mounted
it on some kind of bearing.

They keep on slowly rotating long after the wheels have come to a stop.

My teen aged son told me a set of four costs over a grand. Go figger....

He's DEFINITELY buying from the wrong vendor. They're $12 a pair he
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WD1V


The spinners, guy, not the "tire flies"

And, nice job Don, I'm sure it was a labor of love....

Yeah, Don. Well done. Now post the final pics, please!

Don Foreman wrote:

Roger that, though I thought highest photopic response was more
towards green.

Remember the yellow-green Picket & Eckel (sp?) slide rules of the late
'50s and 60's? That was the reason for the colour choice.

Karen said she wanted red, roger that too. I'm disinclined to argue
with females about color choices, YMMV... G

Wise man!! :-)

Ted