Bicyignals "Indicators" Review

[Ernst]

Bicygnals are a wireless combination light kit for front and back of our bikes.

Standard features are (wireless) Turn signals with manual settings for front white light and rear red light which can be set to steady, flashing or off while the turn signals still function.

Bicyignals "Indicators" Review


Here is a link to the Bicygnals page BICYCLE LIGHTS :: LED Torch :: Cycle Helmets :: Bike Safety :: High Visibility :: Online Shop :: Special Offers :: Competitions :: Bicygnals They have more products than the "Indicators" that I have.

First off this is not cheap. At around $70 U.S. plus shipping I ordered one.

The easy description is that they look cool as cool can be and I have not seen nicer looking turn signals so far.
The hard description is that theft is a constant worry since they do look cool and cost $70 plus shipping.

From what I read on the comments of others including a young girl reviewing for her friends on a bike site I don't remember the name of is that mounting may be a creative act. She attached hers to her book rack with cord. I drilled and mounted mine with a bracket I bought at a hardware store.
Some will be able to use the seat post mount and in that case the provided rear mount is quality and well thought out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX6zw5_ph3s&NR=1
Front mount requires some bar space and I added a Top Peak bar extender Amazon.com: The Topeak Bar Extender: Sports & Outdoors

The "Indicators" is a slick looking unit and has it's own bag that looks cool as well with the Bicygnals logo on it. Just be careful with the zipper since it can come undone from it's track so don't force or rush zipping it up or unzipping it to keep the bag nice. It looks better with the bag intact in my opinion and stays together in a back pack for example.

Once you have mounted, as you see fit, the two ends to your bicycle you will see that they "snap" in place on a tab which you can depress to remove them. However, additional security can be obtained with carefully drilling a small hole in the tab for a "hitch pin" which I picked up at my local hardware store. Add a chain to that hitch pin and it can dangle free when not in use and stay on the bike. I added the hitch pins with chains.

Now The unit is wireless for the turn signals and manual when selecting the front and rear light functions but the turn signals are a bit different. The way we get the front and back to work together is a bit awkward. We have to put the batteries in at the (relative) same time so the front and back units will synchronize. When I see this happen I think of robot love or some such android thing. These two do a light dance and must be deciding on how they will talk to each other.
So getting the 4 AA's in the front unit and 4 AAA's in the back unit and "snapping" them in place is a bit of an awkward thing. More than once I have had batteries flying out or have failed to get one or the other to snap in.
So what happens if they are not synchronized?
They fail to communicate for one and also will turn off or go into "emergency flash mode" (rear) where all LEDs flash at once.
Basically the front will work for a few minutes and then turn itself off and the rear will flash all LEDs and turn itself off.
While I admire the non-functioning for those who may steal bicygnals and who do not know how they work it is a pain in the butt to worry if the signals are working and they sometimes stop communicating from what I can tell.

Now I cannot see easy if the rear turn signals are working in the daylight but I can see the front easy enough.
I have synced these only to find the rear has stopped signalling a turn. Why the failure? I don't know but it concerns me enough that I find I need to stop and check at times.

What could be the issue? Well perhaps some sort of radio interference has caused problems or even the light has jiggled enough to cause a disconnect in the battery case?

Well in an ideal situation the "Indicators" are excellent and classy. I have no complaints on the looks and the functionality.
There are some concerns with the behaviour and like I would expect of an intelligent device th behaviour is like coming to understand the ways of a new friend. An electronic friend.

I give this unit "Indicators" 5 out of 5 stars even though I have some issues with the rear turn signals failing to signal at times. It seems it is not a failure of the unit but some environmental aspect of things.

On the issues of synchronization I give this unit three stars out of five because manipulating eight batteries is not easy to do at times. I may seek to power both externally as a modification so that synchronization will happen when I turn the power on for both but I admit I am not sure if that is such a good idea since I am unsure about the rear power indicator working properly. I'll have to think about it.
Something other than having to open the battery case and remove and insert all 8 batteries at the same time needs to be done. I envision some momentary contact switch handling the electric disconnect rather than having to remove a battery every time I need to resync these two.
I am open to suggestions.

All in all these "Indicators" are classy. Combined with a modified Maxxon brake light I have a fully functional "highway" bike.




Other than still learning the behaviour of these I recommend them for those considering turn and running lights.
The synchronization and failure to communicate are things that bother me but I am certain it is not a flaw in the engineering. I feel it is a mater of coming to understand why and how these things happen and coming up with a coping solution.

If anything could be improved the need to open the battery case and pull the batteries then reinsert them together with the front and back at the same time could easy be replaced with some sort of button. Perhaps a dumb thief will find their new "lights" worthless not knowing they need to resync nearly each use but the smart thief will just look it up on the internet.
All in all the battery manipulation thing isn't protection from theft just a hindrance for those too dumb to read up on things. I hate playing "fumble fumble"each time I want to use my lights. Having to open the battery case each time also concerns me since at some point I will brake some part of them I am sure.

So if you are looking for a cool turn signal /front and rear light unit Bicygnals "Indicators" unit is a fancy solution. One that adds more cool on top of a cool build for sure as well as functionality in traffic. If we can just count on the rear unit to keep in communication at all times.
I'll be giving these things some thought and I will share what modification I make if I make them.


So, Thumbs up for this company.. Have a look for yourself and feel free to follow up with your own review.

Video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SwdCvPPO0NM

 

[Ernst]

I am delaying a video shoot for some reason but I need to get that done while I have free time.

I do have an issue with the Rear Unit..

It fails to communicate or function at times.. Other times it works fine..

It does work fine as far as I can tell so the mystery is why, for example, in the cool of the morning it functioned fine for the 12 mile ride to work.
Then in the afternoon sun on the way home it didn't.

So I am troubleshooting.

My first act has been to order an external battery box with switch. I will see if using AAs' and making them external since the rear unit holds AAAs' makes a difference.

Maybe the issue is battery function.. I mean I get a flashing LED on the rear unit I assume is low battery warning and it happens too soon in my opinion on a fresh set.
The design is cool but it is too small for AAs' so they may have had to settle on design over power supply. I can see that happening. I can also see them not thinking anyone would depend on them in traffic @ 25 mph every day.

If this is the problem then I will modify the rear unit to plug into power. If not then I have to consider the heat and or RF interference from the engine but I can't relate the sometimes works with the sometimes doesn't and engine interference.

So I am really rooting for these lights.. They are way cool and they just have to work or I will be really sad.


There is one mod I can really see as well.. Tapping into the LED power of the rear unit to power a small LED up front. I want to see the rear flashing up front so i know I am signalling and they are working.

I am thinking Green LED's Not sure yet.. I will need a cable with 6 wires.. 2 for power and 4 for the two separate Turn signals.

I want to depend on these Bicygnals. I need to know they are signalling back there because that is where it really counts.

Okay.. It takes a good week to get a package from china.. The same company that made the 3V for the Maxxon brake light makes a 6V 4 AA so I expect to be satisfied with the case when it gets here.
I bid on a 5 pack also so I have some to play with..

 

[Ernst]

I now have 6 3v (4 AAs) battery cases.

So I need to design some sort of modification so that the rear unit stays working.

My first thoughts are to boost the battery current potential and thus the AA's rather than the AAAs that fit in the rear unit.

Now the second issue will be RF interference. Since these units depend on a "On Power" sync system only disabling both units will resync the two and that means that while riding @25 mph it's impossible to get done except if I make the power remote for both so I can just flip a switch on the two and they will resync as I ride.
That leaves the selection of rear function of blinking red, solid red or off to default "off" when it resyncs. and that sucks. so jumpering it on when the power is on is what is needed so there is a soldering job.
If it requires a unary count to determine function since one push is on with no red light function and two pushes is solid red and three is blinking red I will have to think about that as well.
Maybe I should remote the selector switch as well?

All this points to some surgery on the rear unit.

If I do get in there I would like to tap the LED power and run power forward to power small LEDs so that I will know the turn signals are working without having to struggle to get a look if that is possible.

Now the other thing is to some how boost the RF. Either on the receiver or the transmitter and since I see 9V receiver boosters in the $40 range that looks reasonable.
But how do I find a place to solder to on the circuit board?

I don't know but it is true that once the rear unit fails to listen then only the red light function will work.
True that the rear unit will not default to not synced and go into full flash mode ( think emergency blinkers only slower ) but what to do to get it all to work..
Maybe I should gut the electronics and mount them up front and leave the LEDs back there?

That might work if I tale my sweet time with the dremal tool.

What this suggests is that I must open the rear unit and investigate.

I think that is a fair thing.

all this because the Bicygnals looks way cool or as the younger crowd says "it's sick" also I get people taking pictures when I stop at costco for a hotdog as I do lately since I am on a low budget until I get money in.

Now what about running a cable and a RF amplifier on the receiver end?
Would the cable act as an antenna and boost a signal from the sender unit?

What I mean is say I have some coax cable. I place on end in the battery compartment stripped of insulation and run that aft to the rear unit. Now in between I add an amplifier to boost the 2.4 ghz signal..
I wonder if the coax would be able to pipe the 2.4 ghz signal aft ??

I am open to suggestions on this.

They do indeed look cool and people think I bought it from a factory because it looks very professional.
The brake light is bright as it can be and is easily seen in the day time so having turn signals is the next step.

This is a link to the kind of amplifier I googled. SMALL HIGH GAIN AMPLIFIERS

I am open to suggestions. Willing to do some hardware hacking and do realize that by law this unit is supposed to accept interference and not create it.
So piping the signal back seems the right thing. It's a little out of my realm of experience so again.. I welcome input.

 

[Vistaman73]

I have these too, they work great on a pedal bike. But with mine, if I ride my bike with the motor, the vibs instantly shut off the front light. I don't know if its a loose connection or not. Other than that, its a wonderful design, although I have a big framed bike and even though I'm 6' I still need the seat all the way down which makes mounting the rear light difficult to say the least. I love the blinkers, I'll try to use them again hopefully I can make them work. Also, I broke the front mount in a crash so I need to work on that too. I'm thinking a rubber mount will help and keep everything tight. I'll keep y'all updated.

 

[Ernst]

They do look good but they should make a "wired" unit.

It is possible that the rear unit doesn't like vibration. My Kiddy kart broke apart from just two weeks of 20+ mph road use as I commute to work and back 7 days a week.

On the front unit I have a metal bracket support under the unit so it is free to waggle but still has more support than without the support bracket.

They do look good so I want to keep them.

I am still hoping for advice on RF so if anyone has input please share.

 

[Ernst]

Okay it is ON!

I am hacking the Bicygnals units..

Let me summarize what many already know. They don't like vibration in excess. Combine that with engine and other electronic noise like lights and these units fail to function.

Now I believe it is possible to get these to work providing the front unit is mounted to allow "waggle" room and in such a way as vibration is not so bad.
Turns out that I have such a front mount ( I'll shoot that tomorrow in the day light ) but my rear mount is a hard mount and is the unit that is failing to function after a short time on my MaB.
Oh it works fine but fails once there is motion under power.


Now the two things that bother me about these units besides that they fail to function is that I cannot see if the rear unit is working in the daylight.
So one of the modifications has to be an LED status light up front where I can see it.
Simple enough to do.

The second thing is to separate the electronics from the rear unit and mount them up front.
There is a possibility that they will fit in the battery compartment of the front unit. By they I mean the two circuit boards I see now that I cracked open the case.

WARNING. The Case will open and the jumper that connects the batteries in series to provide 6V will break real easy!!! I was careful and I took out that jumper...
May be deliberate design... I don't know.

I have very limited time to work on this so I will be taking an hour every few days to move forward on it.
Today I cracked the case. 6 screws and slicing the sticker in the battery holder area and it came apart.

Here is what I see today.

I will continue to disassemble the rear unit tomorrow. I am truly pressed for time but I want to get these signals working dependable.
If they made a wired unit they would sell a few to MaB'ers for sure.

lets see if I can pull it off.. Other wise I will have to consider something else and I do so like the looks of this unit.

 

[Ernst]

DSC06974 1024

Project Update. Parts shopping.
Radio Shock had 5-6V blue LEDs and holders so signal indicators are a go! Also from Radio Shack is the project box.
The 4AAs are in a battery case I ordered from China. I have six and will use two in parallel so that it is still 6V but enough current will be available to power both units and additional LEDs .
Now considering how expensive small parts are at Radio Shack I went to my local $0.99 store and picked up 40 feet of 24 gauge speaker wire and 5 1/8th inch audio "spliters" @ $0.99 each so for less than $6 I picked up all the wiring and connectors I need to wire this up.


So I have on hand the parts to do this.

I will run three strands of 12 gauge from the output of the LED cable and mount the LEDs as a "dumb" unit.
The actual rear LEDs will stay in the case and mount on the rear of the bike above the brake light.
There are 5 wires connecting the circuit boards to the LED unit. They are marked L, 6v, M, GND, and R.
My simple mind expects that L,R and M are left right and middle.
But why then is there a 6V ? I get the GND

Maybe the Middle LEDs are complex and they blink and need the extra 6V source to either flash or stay steady?
I am open to suggestions..

Needless to say that I will wire one to one and it should all work. if the resistance isn't too much. That is a risk I am taking.

So the idea is this. I will mount the project box ( see photo below ) to the front unit and allow them both to waggle and bobble around. They will be battery-less.

The power will come from two Velcro mounted battery holder-cases. Each 6v
The rear electronics will be mounted in a electronics project case attached to the front unit so I trust they can talk to each other being that close to each other.
I have two blue LEDs and holders I will mount in the project case so I will know the rear blinkers are working.
How to activate the "Mode" button is a concern. Both units require to be turned on with the mode button. One click and the unit is on with no middle light activation and two the middle light is on and three the middle light flashes. 4 clicks and it is off again.
I have to provide for water tight activation for the rear unit's button.
Syncing these two units now will not require removing the batteries it will require flipping two switches.

I'll be working this modification in the next week or so as I have time after work. I am working 7 days a week until November I understand.

 

[oldtimer54]

So any updates? Did yo get it working?

 

[Ernst]

So any updates? Did yo get it working?

Hey, I had a priority of transportation and replacing the rear wheel so I have had my focus on that.
Today is the first day with free time to start working once again on this modification.

I am working 7 days a week for a winery as the grapes are harvested so I am hopeful to get back to work on this in the coming days.

The first thing is to verify that the LED's will power up at a distance.
The second is to mount the rear's electronics in a project box.

I did have to order a replacement Top Peak bar extender because I failed to notice the mount screw for the light had vibrated loose and then out along the road some place. I have the replacement as of yesterday so i can go ahead with the remount.

The only concern I am taking time to think about is how to reduce shock and vibration. The Top Peak bar extender may provide the answer.

So if this new wheel holds and I have more time in the evenings as I assume look for more progress.

Do you have these or are you interested in this modification yourself?

 

[oldtimer54]

If they can be made to work I would buy and mod them.

 

[Ernst]

Well I will endeavour to find the solder iron this evening.

I see that I need to change out the power wires from the battery cases. This will by-pass the power switch but the supplied power wires are too small a gauge and break off the solder points too easy.

I have the 24 gauge wire so that will work.

I'll make an update with pictures tonight. Honestly I am often wanting to rest when I get home so I have to "will' myself to get motivated.

 

[Ernst]

Hey Oldtimer54, I have a basic need to repair the engine mount. I must fabricate a replacement mount and I will be delayed on this mod.
I work 7 days a week for another 40 or so days so I must focus on transportation.
I will get back to this mod as soon as I can.

Respect friend!

Hang in there!

 

[oldtimer54]

Well ya got to do what ya got to do. Let me know how it goes. Thanks

 

[Ernst]

Well, having you waiting adds some weight to getting it done..
Got a crude part made to get the engine mounted and then break-in and back to riding to work.

I have to dig out the soldering iron so that is half the hold up..

I expect to be riding Friday.

 

[oldtimer54]

Get that bike going and ride. I can wait no prob.

 

[Ernst]

Well I have an hour or two right now..

I also have energy and willingness.. Since these three things don't always come together at the same time I will start in.

Next post I will cover the soldering of the battery cases and the cutting of the circuit board.

If the bike stays running good , as it has been and so sweetly, then I will have respite enough to push through.. Now where did I put that camera...

The lap top took a turn for the "no display" (worse) so I am back at the desk top. Soon I will ship off my lap top (sniff sniff "tears") I will miss my friend.. My entertainment center and communications station but we shall see each other again I trust.

Alright time for tools and parts.

 

[Ernst]

I have been looking at the "ribbon cable" that connects the LED unit to the Electronics and I feel that this is a place to beef up things and not stress out that cable.

I picked up a "project board" from Radio Shack

which I will cut with the Dremel sporting the miniature cut off wheel

But what size? This brings me to the major point of that this is essentially a "hand crafted" effort and you may opt for variations and may use different tools and or parts.

My concern with the ribbon cable is that it will have vibration stress and will have wires that break so my effort here is to isolate the 16 gauge wire from the thin ribbon cable by using a project board.

One side has copper for soldering to and the other side doesn't and is where the wires go into.

Now my project box is the big factor in how I cut this and what size it will be so I need to get a rough idea on how the components will go.

Naturally I intend to have silicone to absorb some of the vibration but having a secure physical connection between the "project board" and the electronics board is essential in minimizing flexing of that cable.

By the way all the tools I have are basically collected through the years.

The first thing I notice is that with some slotting of the project board it will screw to the inside bottom of the project box so my planned cut has just become a length cut.
This may also allow for some precision drilling on the electronics circuit boards as well and mounting to this project board.

This post is limited to 5 images so continued next post.

 

[Ernst]

There is the issue of pushing the selector switch to set the mode of the rear unit.
On the actual unit a nice rubber pad allows me to select the mode the light will work in.
The switch

I am going about this with faith it will all work out and also deciding what I will do as I go. Also I'm a bit random on what I will do and in what order. This however will allow us to begin to exp[lore making these "indicators more dependable and is short of some kit build type of look since these indicators do look nice

This is the multi-function switch and I am not going to try and splice in an external switch. I will have to come up with a plunger type way to push this. So mounting this board solid and fixed is a must.

Okay, Looking at the two electronics parts they have a nice ribbon cable between them so I can get them in the project box with some twisting.
Going on faith I will now cut the project board. Always wear eye protection friends!
Scoring is the act of causing a groove in material and then we can snap it apart. No need to cut all the way through. Cutting the H row is half.

I will use a carbide cutter that is handy for slotting the holes and trimming the board nicer .

Time to eat and fade to sleep but here is the structural foundation I will work off of.

I have to find some screws of the right size since the ones I thought would work are too small.

I have to stop here and I welcome feedback and or suggestions.

This will be a slow thread since I am working 7 days a week for a while longer.

I trust tomorrow will find me able to put in some time.

I have the "waggle" front end to show you all.. The main idea is to allow for the electronics to waggle and not take a pounding by being hard mounted to the frame but that is another post.

 

[Ernst]

Hello all!

I am so guilty of Hot and Cold interests. This project has sat in a box ignored all this time.

I think I realized that the wireless adaptation is Useless so what is the point of merging the two electronics together in one "box" so they can function?
What do their electronics do for us motorized bicycle riders except cause problems and fail when we hit a bump.

So if anything the solution is hard wiring and a "flasher" unit.

But how do I do that?

know a little about electronics so I may have luck searching for and finding parts that will do the job of flashing a turn left or right with a thumb switch.
Perhaps you know how and can advise?

I assume I am not the only one who spent for this expensive and complex turn signal system only to read they do not guarantee they they will always work.

Well, I will search this site for threads. Perhaps someone has already posted a flasher design.

I would like to get these working since they do look good!
Nice motorized bicycle Bling-Bling for sure!

 

[Ernst]

I just Googled and found these..

Whatcha-think?

http://www.electronicspoint.com/bicycle-turn-signal-t229473.html
http://www.electronicspoint.com/astable-555-turn-signal-flasher-t230291.html
http://easy-electronic-circuits.blogspot.com/2012/04/bicycle-turn-signal-flasher-circuit.html
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/htm/signals.htm

I have some reading to do..


Edit: I just Emailed a guy that seems able. I asked for help with a circuit we can all build. We shall see.

Here is a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AropVJktHqE&feature=related

Looks like that video is closer to simple! I'll try and get the details on that. a 9V battery sounds good!