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Coincidentally, I bought a 12v car horn yesterday with the intent of wiring it into my ebike's power supply with a little button on my handlebars. Not because
by michh 6mo ago
Coincidentally, I bought a 12v car horn yesterday with the intent of wiring it into my ebike's power supply with a little button on my handlebars.
Not because of other cyclists or pedestrians wearing (anc) headphones but because modern cars are so heavily sound-proofed they don't hear a bicycle bell anymore. A recent incident with an inattentive taxi driver in a brand new EV nearly flattening me prompted me to want to pursue this.
I'm still waiting for my cheap AliExpress dc-to-dc step down converter but otherwise I have everything I need and I think it should work. The horn module itself is definitely loud enough: I connected it to a 12v power supply at my desk and jumped out of my chair.
- f3d46600-b66e 6mo agoI did that, but I used battery - couldn't figure out how to hook up to the e-bike's 50v electrical system (plus the DC-DC converter with high enough current...) So I am using LiPo 3S, 2200mAh. Works like a charm. I keep it at its storage voltage (3.7-3.8v per cell), and it hardly drained the battery (there is no paracitic drain). Whole thing was like $20.
- tonyedgecombe 6mo agoI pondered doing that but thought it would agitate other road users so decided against.
- iwontberude 6mo agoSome locales are downright itching for a reason to road rage so I don’t blame you. One thing I have to say about being a motorcyclist is that our residents in California are so considerate and have never once mistreated me for beeping, lane splitting/filtering, stalling my bike at a green light, etc.
- michh 6mo agomm, if i can't get it to work with the dc-dc converter i'll definitely go that route, good idea
- natebc 6mo agoif you ever want an upgrade look into nautilus air horns. I had one on my 250cc Vespa that would clear an intersection. Needs like 18 amps if that tells you anything.
- srejk 6mo agoWhen I was commuting 60k/day on my bike in shitty suburban conditions, I used one of these instead - you get limited use per trip, but you can always fill it up with a CO2 cylinder/bike pump: https://www.hpvelotechnik.com/en/recumbent-trikes-bikes/accessories/airzound-bike-horn/ https://www.hpvelotechnik.com/en/recumbent-trikes-bikes/acce... It is loud.
- amluto 6mo agoThat’s a crappy pressure vessel holding 350ml of 80psi air, for about 100J of stored energy. I’m not entirely sure I’d be comfortable with that, especially anywhere with my face in the line of fire it it fails.
- srejk 6mo agoGood point, but I abused it pretty well and it seemed to do OK - was also in a water bottle holder so closer to the legs than anything.
- stronglikedan 6mo ago> That’s a crappy pressure vessel That's a huge assumption, and likely incorrect.
- gibspaulding 6mo agoYour bike already has two crappy 80psi pressure vessels, why not three?
- amluto 6mo agoThose two pressure vessels are highly engineered and are wrapped with materials with pretty good tensile strength. Also, they’re made out of materials (fabric and rubber) that absorb a decent amount of energy when they tear and that don’t fragment. And the whole assembly usually depressurizes slowly. Having personally blown up beverage bottles by overpressurizing them (be very very careful doing this!), when they go, they go violently.
- kfarr 6mo agoIf diy doesn’t work I’ve been using loud bicycle horn and it works great. https://loudbicycle.com/ https://loudbicycle.com/
- philips 6mo agoGah! mini usb instead of USB C. Love the concept but it is remarkable how long bike accessories have been holding out on USBC.
- vscode-rest 6mo agoAt least they’re forward about it - I’ve lost count of how many bike accessories claimed to be USB C, but they only charge when connected to their specialized cable that converts from USB A to C.
- hnuser123456 6mo agoDouble-sided USB-C connections require a handshake before sending voltage. USB-A ports can have the 5v line active at all times. Cheap USB C gadgets often don't make the handshake, they just use it as a 5V input, necessitating an A to C cable.
- vscode-rest 6mo agoInteresting. Does UsBC spec/licensing require any sort of notation for products that don’t implement handshake?
- bmicraft 6mo agoThere is no handshake, all that's needed are two 5.1 kΩ pulldown resistors. By omitting them the manufacturer saved all of about 0.1c and made their device incompatible with compliant usb-c chargers. More info: https://hackaday.com/2023/02/07/all-about-usb-c-manufacturer-sins/ https://hackaday.com/2023/02/07/all-about-usb-c-manufacturer...
- 6mo ago
- skeeter2020 6mo agoI had a digital bell from aliexpress on my winter commuter because pogies on the bars prevented a typical dinger. It was very annoying and very effective; my wife referred to it as "the friend maker".
- YesBox 6mo agofor your safety, when people hear a car horn, they’re going to be looking for a car.
- moffkalast 6mo agoIt should make a ring-ring sound but at 120 decibels?
- fifilura 6mo agoOoh, the telephones in the 80s! You should get one of those!
- kube-system 6mo agoA motorcycle horn might be a better choice
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- GJim 6mo ago> I bought a 12v car horn yesterday with the intent of wiring it into my ebike's power supply Putting an aerosol fog horn (available from boating supply shops) in the bikes water bottle holder is much simpler, louder and more effective.
- glenjamin 6mo agoon the rare occasions where I need to loudly indicate my presence to a motor vehicle I wouldn't really want to be moving my hands - if I have time to move a hand to a horn I probably have time to brake/manouvre instead. Generally in those situations I shout really loudly at the driver, and in general they seem to hear me
- dheera 6mo agoSqueeze horns are usually loud enough to be heard by cars in my experience.
- Bender 6mo agoI want to see a bike with a train horn. Cars do it all the time. [1][2][3][4] illegal and highly satisfying People have used drills+pumps to drive similar hand-held horns at football games so it is doable. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOKgg5iCw_c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOKgg5iCw_c [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enF0m6J7g2w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enF0m6J7g2w [Tiny car with train horn] [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w31s5NsoOyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w31s5NsoOyg [4] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLfD1AFsb1I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLfD1AFsb1I
- FuriouslyAdrift 6mo agoOh yeah... the good old 3 or 4 tone "train" honrs from Cadillacs https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/are-you-tired-of-your-wimpy-stock-horn-put-in-4-cadillac-horns.508390/ https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/are-you-tired-of-your-wi...
- amarant 6mo agoBe careful with your ears! (And those of others) A unexpected loud noise recently caused me to get tinnitus and hyperacusis, and trust me, you don't want either of them! You know a diagnose is bad when Wikipedia lists suicidal thoughts as a common side effect.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis
- sc__ 6mo agoMay I ask what the loud noise was? And sorry to hear that. Tinnitus and hyperacusis suck.
- amarant 6mo agoA small firework rocket that someone launched sideways instead of up exploded within a few meters of me. I say small but I mean tiny. One of those that are sound only, no visuals.(Why are those even a thing?)
- Thorrez 6mo agoBottle rockets I assume. I had a lot of fun with them as a kid. Thankfully no one involved with those got hurt. https://www.nhpyro.com/black-cat-bottle-rockets.html https://www.nhpyro.com/black-cat-bottle-rockets.html
- lancewiggs 6mo agoYeas ago I motorcycled a lot, all over the world. I escalated to an air horn and hi-viz. But I pretty quickly realized that these made no tangible difference to the behavior of larger vehicle drivers. So I ended up for later vehicles with a stock horn and hi-viz only for heavy rain. These days our family cycles a lot for commuting. It’s really easy to observe that people in vehicles treat us far better if we look like humans, wearing normal street clothes, rather than wearing high-viz or, far worse, cycling gear. The bike bell is for polite notice, not alarming. The best alarm system you have is your voice, which is variable volume and tone. For ultimate effect slap the panels of cars, as it is very loud inside the vehicle.
- Joe_Cool 6mo agoSadly I had to kick a few cars that thought they could run me off my motorcycle. Worked every time. All of them didn't look out the window or they would have looked right into my face. Yelling and horn did absolutely nothing. Most of them were extremely apologetic or even shocked (as if I appeared from thin air). None of them were angry for scratching their door. Some people are just lost in thought it seems...
- Swizec 6mo ago> or even shocked (as if I appeared from thin air) Motorcyclists are invisible. Never rely on others seeing you, ride as if they're an obstacle you have to navigate. You can hide a whole truck behind the A-pillar of modern cars, let alone a motorcycle. At certain angles, human eyes have complete blind spots that we're not aware of because our brain filters them out. Motorcycles fit perfectly into those. Never hover in people's blind spots. Pass quickly or stay back. Do not drive parallel with another vehicle. Goes for cars too. When approaching another car perpendicularly (like an intersection), remember that humans lose depth perception because their nose covers one of the eyes. A driver literally cannot tell how far you are. Our usual proxy is the distance between headlights. Motorcyles have 1 headlight so this heuristic doesn't work, but we don't realize that it doesn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x94PGgYKHQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x94PGgYKHQ0
- FireBeyond 6mo ago> because modern cars are so heavily sound-proofed they don't hear a bicycle bell anymore Agreed. I had a supercharged V8 Jaguar that I could barely hear. And my Audi has a system that actually pumps engine noise into the cabin, so you can hear that, but not the outside world. The Fire Department I was at was looking at "thumpers" - augmentations to sirens that make cars in front of them vibrate (a la those people playing too much bass too loud). Not just sound proofing, but inattentiveness. I've been behind people on semi-rural quiet roads with my 40,000lb fire engine behind them, lights, sirens, and airhorns, and they've driven for a mile or two completely oblivious.
- sc__ 6mo agoSeconding the point to please not use this on anyone not in a soundproofed car.
- burnt-resistor 6mo agoLOL. I put the loudest 12V train/air horn I could buy on my 60 mph escooter with a 72V to 12V buck converter and a motorcycle handlebar button. It was pretty easy to install. (I added a fuse too.) Stupid motorized vehicle drivers get the horn of doom.
- superbowl 6mo agoAside: folks living near bike paths where this happens are going to suffer. I don't know what the solution is, but increasing volume to defeat increasing sound-proofing seems like a recipe for noise pollution.