DCCommuter,

Thanks for the reply.

HOUSINGS:

Well my Optronics QH-7CC arrived today. $22.92 including S&H.

Housings are chrome plated steel. Weight is less than 1# for the 2 units, as it doesn't move my digital scale even 0.5#. I will get a more accurate weight later when I take all the parts to work for assembly.

There is no secondary lens covering, just the glass on the MR-16 bulb.

BULBS:

OK. So it looks like I'm down to choosing between harringtonlights.com 10W narrow flood MR-16 halogen ($15.84 total for 2), or the 10W sailboatstuff.com Xenon ($16.67 total for 2).

Cost is essentially the same, however, I would prefer the narrow flood and am not sure what the Xenon's are. However, Xenon should be a tad more efficient since they are cooler, and I like the statement on the website that the glass is "heavy-duty", but what is heavy-duty anyway?

No choice yet. Any comments?

SWITCH:

I found a 3-way (+ horn switch) motorcycle handlebar switch for a reasonable price available for local pickup. http://tinyurl.com/dduh5 $12.95+tax. So I can switch between 1x10W, and 2X10W. Not sure what I could use the horn switch for that's not too geeky.

BATTERY:

I've decided on the NiMH 12V 4500mAh w/charger from batteryspace.com for $49.99+S&H.

TAILLIGHT:

The Velleman amber strobe mentioned by DCCommuter on this forum looks appealing . I think I'll go with it. It will accompany my alkaline powered Cateye 5LED rear blinky.


SharpT

Regarding the 3W luxeon bulbs... I use a dual 3W luxeon setup, and I can tell you that these are very good for being seen, but will not light your path in the way you're expecting. Maybe my optics just aren't focused properly (too wide?) but the beam these two produce together can't even wash out the yellow glow of a streetlight. Without the streetlights on my commute to help with the lighting, I don't think I'd feel safe riding at full speed.

They are very good at illuminating street signs and pointing into driver's eyes, however.

I'm actually thinking of adding a high-beam to my light array for my morning commutes. I now leave my house long before the sun is up, so I need a bit more light. I'm considering a 10W halogen for this setup....

I rode the other morning with a guy who has the Luxeon 3 Watt "Vega" from Light and Motion. (@ $170)
I was impressed by it's ability to be seen and to see by. I wonder how to replicate this in a DIY light especially the flasher feature. I think I would use this flasher year round not only the winter season.

Maybe for real world darkness this type of light with a second 3 watt Luxeon or a Halogen would be a complete solution. What does a DIY guy use to regulate wattage and a timer for the flash in something like this? I am guessing some sort of board with a microprocessor. What are some resources for a budding DIY Electronics person?

Vega
LIGHT SPECIFICATIONS

Width: 1.5” Height: 1.5”Length: 3.75”
Weight: 220g including bar mount
LED: 3 watt Luxeon™ Star Power Light Source 10,000 hours

Burn Times:

Light Output (lumens)/ Burn time (hrs.)
4 Watts- 85/ 2.0 hrs
2 Watts- 55/ 4.0 hrs
1 Watts- 35/ 8.0 hrs
2 Watts- 35/ 24:00 hrs (Flash setting)

http://www.bikelights.com/Products/P...s/vega_bar.jpg
http://www.bikelights.com/Products/P...beam_image.jpg

Google "AVR Butterfly." Also look at this page: http://www.lasertagparts.com/lightbr..._regulator.htm

I'm having great fun programming my own light controller. I'll post pictures when I'm done. I am the geekiest light-geek ever!

You can get Luxeons from Future Electronics http://www.futureelectronics.com/promos/lumileds/ and Luxdrives from LED Supply http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers.html. The BuckPuck 3021-D-E series have a control pin that enables you to control the output from zero to full brightness with just a 5K pot. It also has a 5V reference output so you can add a simple multivibrator or 555 oscillator circuit to provide flashing with no external power supply needed. It can also power a PIC microcontroller.

Other good sources are Quickar http://www.quickar.com/index.php and Batteryspace http://www.batteryspace.com/. HTH

I saw the Vega at the Bentride in August and it looks well made. The specs say they use a 3 Watt Luxeon Star, but the burn chart shows 2 hours at 4 Watts. I wonder if they really are driving a 3 Watt Star at 4 Watts. Doesn't look like much of a heat sink in there. Hmmm.

If you want to build a light like this yourself, the main components are the Luxeon Star III LED at $8.75, a 5° x 20° optic with holder at $2.69, a 3021-D-E-1000 BuckPuck at $19.99, and four 2300 maH AA NiMH cells at $2.50 each, which comes to $41.43 plus shipping. You still need to buy a switch, a case and clamp, and a charger for the batteries. You will also need a 1/4 Watt resistor for each power level except maximum. If you used 6° collimating optics this would make an excellent helmet light. A simple oscillator (a couple of dollars for parts) will provide the flashing feature. I have one running on my bench right now.

Well, I finished my homemade light system based on the Optronics MR16 fog lights and everything is working fine but wanted to share some information that may be useful to others.
1) System designs, specs, and construction: I basically followed the advice give in this thread and here: http://nordicgroup.us/s78/
2) Battery pack/holder: The best packs I could find were small digital video camera packs. I found one at Walmart that was precisely the size I needed to hold my 5HA battery. The battery goes in the large compartment and the switch and fuse go in the smaller one. The pack hangs from the handlebar with three Velcro straps that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot.
3) Clamps: I ordered the Minoura bottle holder clamps to attach the lights to the handlebar. These clamps are great as they allow you to direct the beam not only vertically but also laterally. Well worth their $3 price.
4) Bulbs: I ordered 10W (narrow flood), 20W (spot), and 35W (spot) bulbs. Of these, I ended up liking the 20W and the 35W and will use one or the other as needed. I did not see much value from turning on the 10W bulb even as a second light. I will only use the 10W if I need more run time from my battery.

anyone see a problem with running the velleman xenon strobe (12v 150mA) off of a 9v battery? when I got my strobe, I was dying to see it work and since I didnt have my 12v battery pack yet, I just wired it to a 9v battery. works great and is very bright. will I burn anything up by doign this?

It shouldn't be a problem. You might only get a few hours of runtime though.

cool. when I get my system wired up properly (12v 5aH battery with 30watts of MR16s) it won't be an issue. I will use it for my ride home tonight and I think I'll keep a 9v as a backup so I have my strobe in an emergency!

I am currently running the Velman strobe with a 9v. It does work well but you get about 4 hours run time.

Just finished making the brackets on 2 Vellmans. If I run 2 of those in a series on an 18V 3amp (I think). battery do I need to do anything to step down the juice?

I wouldn't do it. The strobes aren't light bulbs, they are electronic oscillators, and even if they work for a while you'll probably fry one or both of them. Run them in parallel powered by a 7812 regulator chip connected to your battery. You can get a 7812 for a buck or two at just about any electronic supplier. http://tinyurl.com/ask7t

How about some pictures of the system?

Forgive my nubee-ness. But Beyond straight wiring, I don't know what to do with it. Looks like there are 3 leads that should be soldered on a small circuit board. Another source says the 7812 needs a heat sync for any draw above 50ma (these draw 150ma)

How does it all actually hook up to the battery leads?

You're excused VR! And you're right, there are only 3 leads that need to be hooked up. Looking at the 7812 in the Radio Shack photo, the left lead goes to the positive terminal of your battery, the centre lead goes to the negative terminal of your battery AND the negative terminals of your strobes, and the right hand lead goes to the positive terminals of your strobes. For convenience you might consider putting a switch in the wire going to your positive battery terminal.

A small piece of thin aluminum or copper, maybe 2 or 3 square inches, will do for a heat sink. Attach it to the back of the 7812 with a screw or pop rivet. Note that the metal back surface of the 7812 is internally connected to its centre lead, which is connected to your negative battery terminal. So don't let it contact anything connected to the positive battery lead.

You can mount the 7812 on a circuit board, or you can just solder wires to its leads, but make sure that there won't be any pull or strain on the wires. The whole thing will easily fit into a plastic 35mm film can if you bend the heat sink. The 7812 is a regulator so it will provide exactly 12 volts to your strobes and will protect them from surges and overvoltage.

I've been following this thread with interest. Is there anyone using both the amber strobe *and* turn signals? Seems they wouldn't be good with each other, visually speaking. Or, could you use the strobe *as* a turn signal? Hmm...

To follow up on MultiBiker's comments, voltage regulation is an excellent advanced-geek technique for all battery-powered lights. Here's an interesting article that tells more: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~willie/lvr.html . If you don't need multiple power levels I think a simple regulator would work as well as the fancy microprocessor system in the article, at a cost of less than $2.

I'm hoping to get a regulated system geeked up before daylight savings time ends, although it appears less likely with every passing day...

Same here....I'm beating cheeks. Hoping my home-mades will correct vibration problems seen on the Chinese-made LEDs. Those do not stay on for the duration of the ride...or worse they flash intermittently and confuse drivers.

Yesterday, I made 2 brackets from CD spindles (bottom of a box of 50). The flat part is the backing of the light. The spindle goes into a 1/2" T with the wiring running through the spindle. Excellent and solid but TOO big. When I tried to cut the flat part down the whole thing cracked...

Back to the drawing board. I Just bolted the front strobe to the bottom of the front light and mounted the back strobe to a 1/2" piece of plywood - the rear rack.

I'm not sure that the rubber liner supplied will correct the vibration problem...Any suggestions for a bigger biscuit?

If your strobe is adjustable and you can slow the flashing to about 1.5 flashes/second the strobe may work. But strobes plus turn signals may be confusing to drivers.

OK the strobes are running well on the front and back. I put a switch and the heat sync on also. We walked the bike out to the corner and while my husband held the bike, I walked away.

Although it flashed brightly, at any distance, you could not tell that the vehicle was bicycle. The flash did not illuminate the red 3M diamond on the fenders or white reflectant pinstripe on the wheels.

Definately visible, but I'll bet on coming traffic will have trouble determining my speed.
Any suggestions on how to make it recognizable as a bike?

Edited: I fixed the bracket on have a Performance Flare so it will stay lit for the duration of the ride. But the back strobe washes out the Flare.

Howdy! I found a Malibu 12v outdoor light as dicussed at various times throughout this thread. It was $8 at Home Depot. I now have the light, battery, wire, some connectors, but have a few questions, concerns stopping me from proceeding with installation:

1. Could anyone post some photos of how they attached the malibu to their handlebars? I have a few ideas on how I want to proceed but they involve considerable fabrication and a heavy, bulky reflector bracket jabbing out a ways from the bar. Photos are best since I'm a visual guy. It's not that I only read magazines for the pictures, it's just easier for me to copy your ideas! Ha! there I said it. It's out in the open.

2. Regarding battery chargers... The local Radio Shack didn't have any lead acid chargers with the "charging" and "charged" lights which will switch to trickle charge mode when the battery is fully charged. One of the guys said to just buy a 12v 500mA AC adapter. Claimed that it would charge the battery safely and then work as a trickle charger afterwards with no need to time the charge and disconnect the battery from the charger. I'm skeptical.

I know people are very involved in this thread, I've been following it for some time. But please don't try and convince me to ditch my current plans and start over from scratch with a different light setup. Got the battery on sale, adapter was on sale (hope it's suitable :( ) , point of no return need light for commuting at 6am! :D Oh, if this is to be found somewhere in this, what, 36 page thread, please understand. I have an 8 month old and dial up. My computer time is stretched and my Search the Forums attempts have been fruitless.

I have been very happy with these chargers from Zbattery. They are truly plug and forget chargers. I tried the simple wall-wart transformer and cooked a battery. You might try a Batteries Plus if you have one close to you.

That's what I needed to know. Figured that I would forget to unplug it and fry the battery. I'll hit up Fry's Electronics and then go mail order.

Having just finished my lights I would actually recommed you to take the Malibu back to Home Depot for a refund and order the Optronics' housings. They will look much nicer and the small price difference makes it worth it. You can still use all the other parts you bought so it is not like you are starting from scratch. I will try post a few pictures of my system later today.