Let’s be clear, I hate disco modes. But recently I had a bit of car trouble and found myself sitting in the rain next to the interstate and wishing I had a strobe to make myself more visible to passing cars.
The question is: What frequency is best for visibility and battery life?.
It is recommended to keep it below 5hz for those with epilepsy, so I tried 50ms on, 175ms off (around 4.4hz, 21% duty cycle) but that still looks a little fast to me. I want to be visible but not blind passing drivers. Does anyone have any experience in this area?
I use toykeeper’s moon-low and low-med flasher most of the time when I’m biking. I point the light downward so that the spill won’t be directly hitting the eyes of drivers and pedestrians.
i was under impression people with epilepsy are not allowed to drive, i know 2 people with epilepsy who were denied DL, by mru.
Although extremely rare, strobe lighting can trigger seizures in photosensitive epilepsy. An infamous event took place in 1997 in Japan when an episode of the Pokémon anime, Dennō Senshi Porygon, featured a scene that depicted a huge explosion using flashing red and blue lights, causing about 685 of the viewing children to be sent to hospitals.[5] These flashes were extremely bright strobe lights. They involved multiple colors with a strobe effect at about 12 Hz. Although 95% of the 685 just complained of dizziness, some were hospitalized. Organizers later said that they did not know about the threshold of strobing.
Most strobe lights on sale to the public are factory-limited to about 10–12 Hz (Or 10-12 flashes per second) in their internal oscillators, although externally triggered strobe lights will often flash as frequently as possible. Studies have shown that the majority of people that are susceptible to the strobing effects can have symptoms at 15 Hz-70 Hz, albeit rare. Other studies have shown epileptic symptoms at the 15 Hz rate with over 90 seconds of continuous staring at a strobe light. There have been no known seizures at or below the 8 Hz (or 8 flashes per second) level. Most fire alarms in schools, hospitals, stadiums, etc. strobe at a 2 Hz rate.
i used to have yellow strobe on my work van, it was not too bright, i would not expect people to see it from far away, it did about 2-3 hz. but it was basically 360* flasher, that had very difused light, flashlight otoh has focused beam , and it can be, and should be aimed down the road.
you want to make sure people see you well in advance, (cuz if they do not, they will ran into you, and you do not want that) even if it means annoying, too bright, let them cuss you, once they pass you, but they will see you and will slow down to see wth is it blinking there.
I’m also thinking about having 2 different strobes in the flashlight. One that flashes at a lower brightness, perhaps 400-600 lumens for use at nighttime, and a higher (1200lumen) brightness for use during daytime.
The Jetbeam TCR10 Ti has a neat strobe function - red, blue and white LEDs alternate, giving a “police” look. It wouldn’t fool anyone into thinking it was the police, but might be effective in drawing attention. I’ve no idea what the frequency is.
Oh, and I hate strobe too, and, of course, never leave a Ti light in my car, so I’m pretty unhelpful all round, I’m afraid.
noooo, do not even try to turn blue or red strobe on the road, it can get you arrested, only amber strobe is allowed for none leo use and no permit needed.
I’m thinking either in the back window or on the ground behind the car. It would be nice if I could find a diffuser cone that fits, maybe an amber one.
I would put it on the floor at the back, pointed toward the roof inside. I seriously doubt any UK police would be interested in the colour of a warning light. I could be wrong, but I’d play dumb (“but why do they sell them, officer??”).
That sounds like the best idea so far. I think anywhere outside might not be good because if there’s a huge gust of wind or the wind from passing cars blow the light over, and now there’s a rolling strobing flashlight and it can blind some drivers.
