Meet the new Sheriff in flashlights

Alan B said:
Could you measure the current at the tailcap?
Click to expand...

tailcap current measurements - 2 Trustfire (2400mah) 18650 @ 4.0v

High - 3.65A
Med - 1.65A
Low - .38A

Alan B said:
That would be a good comparison - put it next to a vehicle and do comparison beam shots. How does it compare to a vehicle?
Click to expand...

see beam shots below

Control - ISO 80, Exposure 2.0 sec, Aperture 3.3
P1010905.JPG


Low Beam
2.JPG


High Beam
3.JPG


Tr-3T6
4.JPG


Skyray
5.JPG



Control - 30 sec exposure
7.JPG


Tr-3T6 - 30 sec exposure
6.JPG
 
I've been using the Skyray 3 R5, which is more than adequate for any bike use. My Skyray 3 T6 arrived today. It took a couple of weeks to come from China. I now have to pedal harder because there's so much light coming out that it pushes me backwards. It's just awesome!
 
Would it make any sense to get something like this with the widest angle lens and put it in the wide narrow height reflector I have from automotive add-on fog/head lights? Could the optics be simple like that or no? One of my halogens burned out from over-volting, but that reflector makes a great bike headlight. Riding on a road at night with other vehicles and a circular beam pattern from the light above would be plain irresponsible, but with no vehicle on the road that thing looks awesome!
 
Depends on how the beam is pointed of course. Shine a giant concentrated beam into a car suddenly and you could likely blind them or startle them. With the wide beam gradually hitting their eyes, side, or rear view mirror, they're not going to get a giant mass of concentrated light all the sudden, so it's not going to freak them out and they may just think there's a car behind them.

I've been cycling for over 10 years now. I've had giant halogen beams and never got any sort of reaction from drivers. These peaky magicshines? I get comments and painful reactions frequently from, and it it sometimes hard to try to point them away from drivers... so i keep my beams on low or middle, but then i have problems seeing the road myself so...

what really exacerbates the problem is that i like my handlebars high, and usually ride 21-22" frames, thus my beams often shine right into a car's rear/side window.

I can't wait to get those replacement lenses in.
 
newb, great comparison, thanks for the pic. Can't believe that's more powerful than a car headlight, lol

I think this is adequate for ebike use now :mrgreen:
 
neptronix said:
Depends on how the beam is pointed of course. Shine a giant concentrated beam into a car suddenly and you could likely blind them or startle them. With the wide beam gradually hitting their eyes, side, or rear view mirror, they're not going to get a giant mass of concentrated light all the sudden, so it's not going to freak them out and they may just think there's a car behind them.

I've been cycling for over 10 years now. I've had giant halogen beams and never got any sort of reaction from drivers. These peaky magicshines? I get comments and painful reactions frequently from, and it it sometimes hard to try to point them away from drivers... so i keep my beams on low or middle, but then i have problems seeing the road myself so...

what really exacerbates the problem is that i like my handlebars high, and usually ride 21-22" frames, thus my beams often shine right into a car's rear/side window.

I can't wait to get those replacement lenses in.
Click to expand...

I'm interested in the lenses you are talking about? I too am not wanting to cause a problem for anyone else on the road, but need to be able to see at the same time, I have thought of some kind of shade that goes over the top of the light or something to keep it from spilling out so much in the wrong direction.
 
neptronix said:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34376

Li-ghtcycle, here is a relevant thread.
I have some on order..
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just checked that out and ordered a wide lens from him! $18 shipped is pretty sweet for the lens with reflector & gasket. I know I could have gotten a better deal if I got the 3 lens set, but I will really only use the wide one since I am on the road 99% of the time, this will really help me see more of what I want and not blind people! 8)
 
I love this thread.
 
Sometimes it doesn't matter how bright your light is, drivers are just eff'n dumb. I was waiting at a red light, to go straight across tonight. The car on the other side was waiting to turn left, in front of me. What happens when the light turns green? We both go and he starts turning in front of me. Seriously? I have my 900 lumen Spiderfire, and a blinkie on the front of my bike.

The next thing I need is a horn comparable to a freight train. They deserve to have the shit scared out of them. That's the problem with shitty drivers, they go about without ANY repercussions to their dumb actions, day in day out.
 

Attachments

  • 810 057.jpg
    810 057.jpg
    35.6 KB · Views: 1,509
That is why we must punish them. :twisted:

I looked into truck horns and found that they punished me worse than the driver.
Maybe something fit for a motorcycle would work.. and not cause permanent hearing loss from you blasting yourself.. lol
 
BTW, you won't have this problem if you stay in the car lane and run a bicycle that can out-accelerate most cars. Time for a real battery ( lipo ) and crank up ze amps, veloman ;)

Seriously, i stopped having car-bicycle conflicts when i went up to 2.6kW ( 30-40mph ) and decided that i was a motorcycle and took the car lanes. I only do it about half the time, when the bike lane is either nonexistant, or in a high traffic area that just doesn't seem safe.

Unfortunately our roads were not meant for this weird not as a slow as a bicycle, not as fast as a motorcycle kind of vehicle. So you gotta exist in one or the other, unless you live in one of America's rare few cities that actually yields for bikes and respects them.
 
veloman said:
The next thing I need is a horn comparable to a freight train. They deserve to have the shit scared out of them. That's the problem with shitty drivers, they go about without ANY repercussions to their dumb actions, day in day out.
Click to expand...


[youtube]when3v7NVFk[/youtube]


if thats a bit to much then get yourself on of these - "airzound"

[youtube]x56igBIJHX8[/youtube]
 
neptronix said:
BTW, you won't have this problem if you stay in the car lane and run a bicycle that can out-accelerate most cars. Time for a real battery ( lipo ) and crank up ze amps, veloman ;)

Seriously, i stopped having car-bicycle conflicts when i went up to 2.6kW ( 30-40mph ) and decided that i was a motorcycle and took the car lanes. I only do it about half the time, when the bike lane is either nonexistant, or in a high traffic area that just doesn't seem safe.

Unfortunately our roads were not meant for this weird not as a slow as a bicycle, not as fast as a motorcycle kind of vehicle. So you gotta exist in one or the other, unless you live in one of America's rare few cities that actually yields for bikes and respects them.
Click to expand...
LOL yup the only conflicts I have is when they think they need to race me from a stop sign (I have not lost yeat :mrgreen: ) Other then that I just have to watch for them pulling out infront of me because they dont think im traveling that fast.
 
No, in this situation we were facing each other across the intersection. I was taking the lane, clearly going straight because I could not turn left since we were crossing a one way street. He waited soon enough that it would not have warranted blasting a horn, but a few more feet and yes it would.

You have to be going the same speeds as cars to get any respect. If you are going 28 and they want to go 35, they will still treat you like a slow bike and come up on you and merge into you trying to get around. I had an old lady in a Prius come into my lane right next to me as we entered a roundabout because she wanted to exit right. I was going 28mph, solid in my right travel lane with another lane next to me on the left, into the roundabout which you can only go about 20-23mph through. When she caught back up to me at the light I said "you better watch yourself". But it was 30 degrees and she had her window up.

I still rather deal with 2-8mph closing speed confrontations than getting buzzed at 20mph closing speed. But yeah, the lipo is getting prepared (bulk charging) and I'll be able to go that extra extremely valuable 5mph faster. Just like Greg in DC said, when he ran 25mph limited he felt unsafe, so he decided to run 35-40mph and be faster than traffic. It's too bad because 25mph is such an efficient speed, time and energy wise.

I am ordering the Airzound today. I looked it up last night before you guys posted it here and it has great reviews, which is rare. There are louder motorcycle horns, but they require 12v 30amp supplies I think. This bike one looks very light and loud enough. I've been thinking of a horn for years and it's time I get one.

I actually don't get problems with cars turning left in front of me when at speed, miraculously. Even though I'm going considerably faster than a normal cyclist, they seem to be cautious enough and gauge my speed well. This is at 23-30mph.

Yesterday it was so cold that I didn't use electric for the first few miles. It reminded me much it sucks to go slow and how many more asshole drivers will speed 35mph through a residential street with parked cars trying to pass you with another car oncoming and very little room. That's when you need the speed to avoid these confrontations all together.

I don't like it that I need to be a motorcycle at times, but it's the only good option on these roads. One day I will feel comfortable cycling normal speeds on a pedal bike with my gf, but for now the ebike is the answer and that's exactly why I have it.
 
Alan B said:
A wide lens or diffuser throws MORE light into the oncoming driver's eyes.

A mask is needed to darken the upper left quadrant where oncoming eyes are (upper right quadrant in some countries).
Click to expand...

Right, but I'm talking about putting the stock flashlight into a 120° wide 15° high lense from a car light I already have that works perfectly on a bike but the 50W halogen is a lot of juice, so I'd love to get the same beam with these high power LEDs that put out even more light. Do the optics work or no way?
 
The light emission from an LED is rather different than a hot filament. The reflector gets much less of the LED output, and the lens gets a lot more. There is nothing behind the plane of the LED. The filament emits in all directions.

Using the reflector is worth a try. It is not quite right, but would be interesting to see how it does. What might work is to make an LED bulb replacement that points the LED backwards into the reflector rather than forward (use three LEDs at a roughly 45 degree angle). Some LED lights are made this way to focus the beam better which the reflector does.

Car headlights generally have some masking and some fresnel lensing to shape the beam. So if you face the LED forward the lens will work, the reflector less so. The mask still needs to be there to reduce light from the filament headed toward oncoming driver's eyes, and is reflective to send that light back into the reflector for distribution in other directions.

One thing that is difficult is to get the heat out of the LED(s) when mounted out where the filament would normally go. A solid rod of aluminum (or copper) going rearward to a heatsink behind the light might work, if the LED power is not too high.
 
all LED's will need to be in a parallel line and depending on the emitter heat transfer may be a real issue.

here are a few pics of the skyray single emitter. used a mirror to cover half and to me appears to have slightly brightened the other half.

i wonder what chrome paint on half the lens would do - simple to get exactly the coverage needed using tape or scraping w/ a razor. might be an easy way to get the 3t6 usable in traffic. though it has essentially 3 reflectors and i'll have to do each area separately. might try that in the next few wks.

P1010922.JPG


P1010923.JPG


P1010932.JPG
 
Omg, that thing is peaky as hell. Great for identifying landmarks a few miles away, but i see how it would make for an awful road light.

IMHO, these things need some lenses desperately..
 
Great experiment with the mirror. Might try aluminum foil on the lens. We should try the foil on the MagicShine too.

The hotspot might be okay. Aim it at the pavement 30-50 feet out for low beam. Does it spread enough by then? High beam aim it further out. Really need two lights, low beam and high beam, just like a vehicle.

On most LEDs you can adjust the hotspot a bit by moving the reflector in and out. Might take a washer to do it. Or make the light from a M@gLite body and have an easy to adjust focus. Lots of nice LED upgrades for them, and can cut down the body tube to a short length and rethread as batteries would not be needed. Lots of reflectors available with various stippling to adjust the pattern as well as the focus adjustment.
 
3t6 was a short lived sheriff

here the newest, albeit obscenely big

though, running it w/ 26650's would give u a decent run time

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/tr-j12-cree-xm-l-t6-5-led-4500lm-5-mode-memory-white-light-flashlight-2-x-26650-3-x-18650-112817

sku_112817_2.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top