jacostrydom Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 Brightness? - On bright I use 2 Lucen 1W LED - do not know the bin so I would guess 160 lumens MAX The mount is a Aluminium flatbar, bent and two holes drilled and "clamped" in the bottom of the stem / handlebar interface (clamp) 2 holes and 2 x m4 nuts and bolts secure it very solidly. Battery pack is velcro strapped to the bottom. I starp my Garmin mount with cableties to the top of the light and can just see it over my map board. The freedom challenge is at least a three week trek and is unsupported appart from a 2 litre container every 120 odd Km. So battery charging is not really a option for a big part of the race, and since it is non stop quite a bit of night riding is done during the three weeks. so AA batteries is place in each container and used to drive the light, charge cellphone (camera, notes, emergency) and garmin (edge 305, no throw away battery option).A few AAA batteries for the Petzl also (needed for map reading in the dark)
jacostrydom Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 Battery life will have to be seen - 8 AA everedy pushing out 350 mA - should last quite long - hope it will get me to the next 2 litre box. I have not done the sums but 8 neveredies start off with 12 V I need 6-7V to light up the LEDs, should get most of the batteries life on bright, then I can switch to 1 LED, only need 3.5 volts, by then the batteries should be so flat they will start to go soft The race starts 16 June (Monday) www.freedomchallenge.org.za
Brighter-Lights Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 Good luck Jaco! That's something I would love to do one day when I can afford to escape for a month! Brighter-Lights2008-06-12 05:56:11
jacostrydom Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 A privilege (spelling?) indeed BL. With lights like yours maybe you will have the factory up and running in no time and you can write a race like this off to marketing. Although I think out on your own inbetween willowmore and prince albert somewhere in the Karoo 02h00 in the morning at -2C even a kerocene lamp will be amazingly bright!Will report back on my experience and my light's performance in July sometime when i get back.
mountain_lion Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 garmin (edge 305' date=' no throw away battery option).[/quote'] Perhaps a bit late now for this year's freedom challenge, but there are solutions to this problem: http://www.boxwave.com/products/batteryadapter/ or since you are the DIY typehttp://www.instructables.com/id/MintyBoost!---Small-battery-powered-USB-charger/
jacostrydom Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I had a look at the mintyboost gadget. Would have built it but struggled to get hold of all the parts. Rabtron doent stock the specific parts he is using, and time is running out, so I opted for the simpler solution. 6xAA batteries regulated through a 7805 chip and with two cable options, small Nokia charger for the N95 and mini USB for the garmin. I get 2 and a half cellphone charges from this and with 3G switched off my N95 wil take beautifull photos for 2-3 days between charges. The Edge 305 will run for 27 hours with GPS switched off, and since I cannot record the complete route in any case and no waypoints can be preloaded (no GPS assitance allowed in the race) I use the garmin for heartrate and the cadence/wheel sensor for distance markers to follow the map and narrative. So, we will see... Looking forward to the adveture of a lifetime!
mountain_lion Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 OK, so you have a solution. (no GPS assitance allowed in the race) If this is the case, it sounds like a bad idea to have a GPS on your bar.You say GPS is switched off, but it can easily be switched on. Very useful to do a quick position check... (I suppose only a problem if you are a top contender for the podium).The Edge 305 is a bit peculiar in that it cannot output your current position directly. You need to take a waypoint to get your current position. Good luck and enjoy!
jacostrydom Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I think we are busy with a hujack, but I will report back on this tread wrt the light (built mainly on your recipe mountain lion) and how it performed. taking a waypoint is one thing, finding it on the 1:50000 map is another. I made a full set of 1:50000 maps and will mainly use those to navigate. Originally planned to race it, but I broke my colarbone in Sani2C nonstop 6 weeks ago and will now be happy to survive it.Thanks for the good wishes - I am gonna need it all.
sampie Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 6xAA batteries regulated through a 7805 chip and with two cable options' date=' small Nokia charger for the N95 and mini USB for the garmin. [/quote'] Can you maybe give more info on this, if possible maybe a diagram. I also need to get one for my 305 doing the baviaans. Currently i'm only getting about 8 hours, the gps needs to be on because i would like to look back at the route afterwards, HR ect. on certain points in the race.Thank you
mountain_lion Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 Plotting a waypoint on a 1:50k map is no problem. I do it often in the mountains. If you are on a known track or road it is even easier. But you are correct. Lets talk lights on this thread.
jacostrydom Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 [quote name=sampie Can you maybe give more info on this' date=' ... Thank you[/quote] Connect your battery to the left 2 legs and your output goes to the garmin. see also:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#USB_signalling
sampie Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 So it's something like this.Thinking of using a old female usb cable. Thank You Enjoy your race!!!sampie2008-06-13 01:52:17
jacostrydom Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 Correct. I see Rabtron now has the female part in stock (the part normally in the computer where your USB cable plug in) Then you don't have to cut the cable. I used an old motherboard extension USB card and hacksawed one of the female plugs out. This left a nice piece of board to glue the 7805 to.
mountain_lion Posted June 28, 2008 Posted June 28, 2008 Here is my latest DIY creation to complement my bar light.2 Luxeon III LEDs, one spot and one medium lens in 22mm copper end caps attached with velcro to my helmet peak + toggle switch for control. Close up: Battery pack (8x AA) and driver is carried in camelback or shirt pocket. I used some plumbers tape around the lens holders to get a tight fit in the end caps. 3 position toggle switch selects high, low or off.The copper end caps work reasonably well as heat sink and on a cold evening I think driving the LEDs at 1A will be OK, but to start I have set the high beam at 0.75A to be safe. The LEDs are more efficient at this current and I do not like a very bright helmet light. I use a helmet light mostly for tight single track corners and for seeing on the bar. Also useful when forced to do a trail side repair.I have the low beam set at 0.2A, which still gives plenty light, but much longer run time (and might not blind riding partners as much when talking to them ). The helmet peak provides easy mounting, but does limit vertical aiming of the light. My typical riding position aims the light relatively close to the bike which is a problem at higher speed.However since this is not my primary light, it works fine for me. The bar light takes care of lighting up the road ahead. I did a short test ride earlier this evening; works very well when swerving through the trees.I still need to take the light for a proper single track test ride... mountain_lion2008-06-28 14:59:46
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