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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Red Light Changers ? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1299382006 Message started by RC on 03/05/11 at 19:26:46 |
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Title: Red Light Changers ? Post by RC on 03/05/11 at 19:26:46 Does anyone here know anything about those magnet you put under the bike so the sensors in the road know your there. I'm real tired of sitting at red lights waiting for a car to come along and bail me out so I can go. I plan to buy one just wondering if any of you know which ones work ? |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by sluggo on 03/05/11 at 19:58:08 7D7D6C6E7D62666C676E6A630F0 wrote:
a fool ANd his money are soon parted. this being one for use as an example |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/05/11 at 21:00:53 Some states have a "Broken light" rule. You sit there X minutes & it doesnt change, & then, ya treat it like a stop sign. Hafta call someone or go online.. good luck. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Serowbot on 03/05/11 at 21:45:49 ...don't know if they work... if I go through a full light cycle and don't get a green,.. I just (...check for cops),... then go.... I heard putting your kickstand down can help, but you better be in neutral.... :-?... |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by verslagen1 on 03/05/11 at 22:33:05 Those things don't work all of the time. But if you're gonna do it, man really do it... http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=tech;action=display;num=1165622378 |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by ls650v on 03/06/11 at 02:36:49 Can you see a cut in the pavement where the sensor loop is installed? Sometimes you can see the liquid tar they use to seal the cut. Positioning my bike on top of one sensor cut leg seems to help a little. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by kimchris1 on 03/06/11 at 07:00:21 Myself have never used one. I haven't had that problem with the S-40. Now when I had my Rebel, that was a problem I ran into alot. Guys used to talk about these light changers on the Rebel forum. Some said they worked great. Like the person above me mentioned, the sensor for the lights are usually visible by looking at the pavement. You have to be kind of centered in the space. Well at least that is how I find it works for me. If you don't want to run the light, take a right if possible and come back thru the light from a different direction. :) kim |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by MotoBuddha on 03/06/11 at 07:28:59 Depending on the traffic philosophy of the folks setting the signals, sometimes it's not a matter of whether you trip the sensors. The system could be thinking, "Yeah, I see you there, but you're just one vehicle, and I'm not stopping all the other trafic just for you. At least not right now. I don't care that no cross traffic is within miles, I'm in the middle of a cycle and you'll just have to wait." |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by drums1 on 03/06/11 at 15:59:59 Oh man, those lights piss me right off. There are a couple in town here that I know of. I try to avoid going that way. If I do get stuck at one somewhere, I usually use the "turn right and come back" method. My luck, I would get a ticket if I just went through it. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by 2whlthrpy on 03/06/11 at 17:30:58 Man, I did not know they could (did) set them like that. Thats just asking for a problem. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by verslagen1 on 03/06/11 at 17:36:08 If the cops want to give you a ticket, they will. Changing lanes w/in 100 feet of an intersection is also an infraction. Although the safer one. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by ALfromN.H. on 03/06/11 at 17:37:53 and cutting through the gas station on the corner is also an infraction. Don't ask me how i know. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Chicagobob on 03/07/11 at 07:57:29 A stack of rare-earth magnets from a hardware store (I saw a package a Jo-Ann Fabrics for $1.99) is a lot cheaper. Stick them to the bottom of your frame somewhere. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by John_D FSO on 03/07/11 at 20:40:41 I don't know about those dinky little magnets they sell for that purpose, but I know the Harbor Freight 250# rated bar magnets work. [smiley=laugh.gif] I bolted it down where the California smog thingy goes, and it worked pretty good on a lot of lights. There were still a couple that wouldn't change, and still wouldn't even after adding a second one. And still won't with my newer bigger bike... ::) Anywho, here's some pics: http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/redneck72102/Bike%20Pics/Bike%20Mods/IM000241.jpg http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/redneck72102/Bike%20Pics/Bike%20Mods/IM000240.jpg Put the zip-ties on 'cause I was worried about it spinning since there's only one bolt, but it didn't seem to be a problem. And nails in the back tire should be a thing of the past! ;D |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Southpaw on 03/07/11 at 20:51:16 What about hitting the kill switch and restarting it? Wouldn't the starter energizing be more likely to trigger it than that little magnet? |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by verslagen1 on 03/07/11 at 21:24:37 I've been thinking of making the kickstand into a electromagnet. With a push of the button you could pull the wire out of the ground. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Savage_Amusement on 03/08/11 at 16:54:38 After having moved my rectifier down to where the muffler bracket is, I've had a lot better luck. Some lights hardly change in a car though. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Gyrobob on 03/09/11 at 12:54:54 Who has lights in a car? ;D |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by JohnBoy on 03/10/11 at 09:37:10 Cops and firetrucks use a radio frequency control device to force the light to give them a GREEN. Hang a ladder off your bike and have it registered as a firetruck. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Gyrobob on 03/10/11 at 17:29:45 One thing that helps a little bit is to be traveling faster when you drive over (into) the loop of wire that generates the signal for the light. It's the same principle that generates electricity in a generator -- a piece of metal traveling through an electric field will disturb that field by changing the voltage. If you hit the field (drive into the loop) faster, you have a better chance of triggering the light. I know that if you are the first or only one to a light, you can't travel very fast very long or you'll be skidding into the intersection. But,... if you go comfortably fast up until you absolutely have to stop, you'll have a better chance of triggering the light. IOW, if you creep up to the light, dragging your feet at 1 mph, you'll have less of a chance of triggering the light. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by T Mack 1 - FSO on 03/11/11 at 07:41:43 So, they sort of work. I say sort of because some of the ones they sell do not. I did some experimenting and found a magnet in my stash that worked on the Savage and it works on the Sportster (which has aluminum wheels and was worse at lights than the Savage) What's the idea of how they work? Well, the sensor wire in the ground has a signal (frequency) being passed thru it. As steel goes over the loop it acts as a larger "center core" and that in turn changes what is called "inductance" (basically a fancy term for how magnetic fields affect wires , voltage, frequency etc etc).. The change in inductance affects the time delays in the frequency circuits and the system senses the vehicle. What the magnet does is have it's "field" affect the sensed inductance ever so slightly and causes the system to "see" you. Works best if you rock the bike a tiny bit. So, why do some not work. It has to do with the magnetic field they put out. (remember your school science class where they put iron filligs on paper with a magnet under it) Some of the magnets do not have a flied that extends far enough. The Field has to go a few inches into the ground. So, if you mount it on the bracket that the Calf. models would have the canister, it has to go somewhere around a foot or more out from the magnet. What I did to find the right magnet..... I got a cheapo compass. Then I set the magnets I selected on a wooden board on my concrete garage floor. I checked each (one at a time) to see which magnet affected the compass the furthest out. I found that a long skinny magnet (8 in x 1/4 in x 1/16 in) with the N & S poles on each end had the best field. About 18 inches out. The funny thing was it didn't have the strongest pull. I have seen some of the magnets they sell, and I have one from another project I did. Well, they only go out maybe 6 to 8 inches since the N & S poles are on the flat sides, not the ends. One thing I was thinking of trying, tear apart my son's old "connectx" (spelling) magentic toy and take the little magnets and stack then together and put them in a stray and see how far the field goes out. |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by Pannonia on 03/11/11 at 08:22:09 As a bicyclist, I know that tilting the bicycle so that the most heavily-metalled area the crank/chainring combo - so that it is closer to the sensor - - is enough to set off the red light changer, at least the changers that are made to sense bicycles (see link below). At least in Bellevue, WA and parts of Seattle, the sensor is always on the circumference of the tar-sealed circle that is bysected by another tar-sealed line. Although I have not tried with my Savage, I would guess that the huge increase in iron and mass (from a 18 lb carbon fiber/alloy bike to a 350lb mostly steel bike) would be enough to set off the same sensor... Of course, this would work only for the sensors that are made to work for bicycles...not the hidden ones made for cars. (I have no idea where those are/ how they work.) Here is a site with a photo of what the sensors look like near me: http://www.inside-lane.com/2009/09/03/seattle-suburban-cities-try-new-pavement-markings-to-help-bicycles-trigger-traffic-signals/ |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by youzguyz on 03/11/11 at 10:13:25 This can be almost as bad as an oil thread. We should all just use Klotz oil and that will eliminate any problem with sticky red lights. :P OK. Those traffic sensors are "inductive loop sensors". There is an oscillating signal going on in them all the time. What a large metal object (I.E. CAR) goes into the oscillating magnetic field generated by that oscillation, it changes the inductance of the loop, and that changes the frequency of the oscillation and that is what triggers the light to change. It is, really, just a big ol' metal detector that is buried under the road. Magnets don't have much of an impact on those. It is the mass of metal that is a car. And not really just the mass, but how it is "seen" by the loop. If you get a piece of sheet metal and lie it flat on the loop, it will likely trigger. If you stand it straight up, it might not. I know many of you will say I am wrong.. that's OK. You say a magnet will induce a current in the loop. So what? You need to change the frequency of the oscillation, not induce a current. The key word here is oscillating. If you insist that the magnet is the thing to use, then take your magnet, get a metal detector, and see how well the detector senses your magnet. If it picks it up better than a similar piece of metal, use it. Best thing to do is call the local authority that fixes the stoopid traffic light thangs and have them come out and adjust it!!! http://marshproducts.com/pdf/Inductive%20Loop%20Write%20up.pdf |
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Title: Re: Red Light Changers ? Post by JohnBoy on 03/11/11 at 12:25:59 756379766B7975760C0 wrote:
With my local government's attitide on spending tax money, I don't see much relief there. :) Maybe the Banks will spend some of "OUR" money fixing the roads...they sure aint refinancing our homes with it. In the mean time, drag your steel toe boots over the sensors till they spark! |
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