salcedo

I want a loud car horn to prevent acccidents while riding in city traffic.

After seeing what is on the market and what I could set up myself given my limited skills, this is the best I've found:

Loud Bicycle | Car horn for bikes

It is somewhat expensive, but I'm ok with that. It is everything I would want, except that it is big and clunky and it is operated by a button that attaches to the horn via a cable.

I don't like clutter on my handlebar. So, I want to mount the horn on the back of my seat post, and control it wirelessly using a remote control mounted on the handlebar.

I figured out I might buy a remote like this one:

Model RC-100 WIRELESS WIZARD? Universal Wireless Remote Control System - Horn Accessories - Horns

and adapt it to operate the loud horn. I haven't worked with electronics since high school. So, I am not sure I know what I am doing. My plan is to take the original cable that comes with the horn, cut it and interrupt it using the wireless remote receiver.

Here is the manual from the remote I found https://wolo-mfg.com/media/wysiwyg/pd..._Install_1.pdf


Do you think that would work?

Do you have any tips or suggestions?

Can you think of any better solutions?

Thanks for any advice!

noglider 

Why wireless? If you mount the horn on your seatpost, what's wrong with the wired button? Don't invest too much before you know you even like the setup.

salcedo

I want to minimize clutter, that includes cables. I don’t want to have one more cable on my bike if I can avoid it

fietsbob

OK, So how much you gonna pay ppl to do this for you?



Air Zounds Air horns are popular, use compressed air you pump..





....

salcedo

I would gladly pay someone to do it if I knew someone cabaple and willing.

I think I can do it myself. I do have some experience working with electronics, it’s just been a long time...

The button that comes with the horn must a simple interruptor switch. I should replace it with the remote receptor. This should work and be fairly easy to do, no?

As for mounting, the horn already is waterproof and has a go pro mount. I would put the receptor inside a plastic box for water resistance and glue it to the horn.

My main concern is that I’m not sure whether this specific remote seortch is compatible with the specific horn I want to Buy.

angerdan

That doesn't fit, if you mount it on the rear end of your bicycle it will be much less louder to vehicles in front of you.
Mounting on the front of the bicycle is the only way to avoid it getting less loud.

There are enough other options than the handelbar:
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1126857-minoura-spacer-light-gadget-mount-di-light-fender-hole-mount.html
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1127030-cygolite-metro-mount-won-t-fit-drop-bars.html

And using a cable is the safest, cheapest and most secure solution for a horn. Where would you get the energy for the remote transmitter otherwise?

salcedo

Thanks for the links angerdan

I don't wand the loudest possible horn. I want a horn that is loud enough for a distracted driver to hear it. I am hoping that mounting it in the back instead of the front won't make such a big difference.

I am thinking that a transmitter can have an integrated battery, like the transmitter that you use to lock/unlock a car. The transmitter itself consumes so little energy that a standard battery should outlast my bicycle. There are already other cycling gadgets with remotes like the Bontrager Ion light TR), or some gimmicky things that you can control with your phone using bluetooth, or ANT+ remotes.

I understand that cables are much easier and probably more reliable and safer too. Maybe I'll end up using cables. But I'm not ready to give up just yet.

2manybikes

Try this 115db. It works I had one.

https://deltacycle.com/airzound-horn

trailangel

Go to car junkyard and get the horns from an old Cadillac. I can't stand the Loud Bicycle type car horn.
Forgetabout the wireless. Always remember, 'When Able Use A Cable"

wschruba

This is it. No batteries, loud, etc.

ridelikeaturtle

I have my doubts this will work. Every car has a horn, and that hasn't stopped them from crashing into each other.

I'd suggest cameras front and rear. Any driver noticing the camera is much more likely to behave better once they realize they are being documented.

Don Buska

Did I miss something. A car horn runs off 12VDC at around 2-6 AMPS (depending on type)! You don't get that loud sound without an energy source Even if you don't use it often where will you mount the motorcycle size battery to power it??

2manybikes

This is the reason you need to get the air zound.

salcedo

There are smaller 12V DC batteries (I don't know about AMPs) that are powerful enough to power a car horn. I've seen some home-made setups that work with a bunch of AA piled up together.

The horn I linked to (the brand is Loud Bicycle) has a battery included. From what I understand it is just a car horn and a battery inside a waterproof case. What I would be paying for is that it is small and light. The horn itself is not as loud a the loudest car horn, but it is pretty loud. The only thing missing for my personal taste is a wireless remote, because I don't like cables.

I wrote to the bike loud people with my idea, they told me they might try to incorporate a remote in their future models, but they can't help me right now. I decided instead of doing it on my own I'm going to go to the local radio-repair guy and get some help.

salcedo

I think before the bike loud was released the AirZound was the best product in the market. I like it a lot more than the Hornit, because the Hornit makes a weird sound that confuses people. What I don't like about the AirZound is that it is not exactly small, and I still have to carry the air tank.

2manybikes

The air zound tank is almost weightless, it's a sealed soda bottle.

The best thing is to scream as loud as possible
Screaming is..
Free
Weightless
No reason to add the time it takes to hit the horn button in a panic stop
You can keep your hands on both bakes
You can give information if very short, like "bike on your right" or whatever...
You don't need to remember to recharge a battery or pump up an air tank.
It goes inside with you, nothing left on the bike locked out side.
It's super waterproof.

Cyclist0084

But being distracted, there'd be less chance of them noticing it in time to correct their bad driving behavior.

salcedo

It is als wireless

ridelikeaturtle

A loud horn is only noticed after they've done something to warrant getting a horn blasted at them; also, the likelihood of you honking a horn instead of, or while, avoiding whatever bad driving is happening to you, is small.

Finally, how do you feel when someone honks their horn at you? Does it make you happy, or angry? A loud horn is more likely to escalate tension, than to alleviate it.

For a cyclist, a loud horn might make you feel better. But it won't save you in an accident, and it's extremely unlikely to change a bad driver's behavior, or prevent an accident.

On the other hand... a camera, if seen in advance, is likely to change a driver's behavior. If not seen in advance, at least then you have evidence of their bad behavior.

u235

Horn frequency and volume naturally and sub consciously relates to the size of the vehicle. People associate a lower frequency and louder the horn, the larger the vehicle. You blow a car horn on a bike and everyone will be looking around for a car. You blow a large dual horn from a caddy, someone will be looking for a big car and so on. A horn or any alert type noise will only be effective in the context of the overall situation where it is used.
You can also strap on one of the those compressed air blast horns with some velcro used at sporting events and use that instead. Very simple and cheap, no wiring or batteries to worry about. Yes those cans have a limited lifespan but in reality.. if your blowing that thing enough to to empty one of those more than once a year.. your risk of getting in a physical altercation with someone will outweigh any increase in bike safety and your desire to "educate" and reform random distracted drivers.

Big picture, I am struggling to see how your intent to prevent accidents would actually be achieved this way. As a bike rider I can't think of any time a loud horn would help as opposed to just moving over or using your brakes. If you see it coming you can react. If you don't see it the horn won't help either. Even in a car, the only time a horn remotely helps in prevention is someone SLOWLY drifting over in your lane which you could have slowed down but a quick horn blast might be enough that they stop coming or someone backing up towards you in a parking lot. Yes, people blow it all the time when someone cuts out in front of them but guess what, they already cut in front of you, the act happened, the small window of time to give preventative countermeasures via lasers, horns, bells, yells, strobe lights, kicking the side mirror etc is already long gone. Any use of those after the fact is just for personal satisfaction and venting frustration, not prevention.

Totally unrelated to bike but I'll tell it anyway
I live on an intersection on a kind of blind corner. People pulling out of my road just don't stop to look and pull out in front of people all the time, it doesn't help that most people drive 50-60 MPH on that crossing road either. It is a generally crappy situation for both directions. Old man comes around the corner as someone was pulling out. He laid on his horn and instead of continuing on as the car cleared he unnecessarily came to a complete stop about 50 feet before the intersection to continue to yell out his window at the person that pulled in front of him as they drove by him in the opposite direction, another car came around the blind corner and rear ended the man. His desire to go to the extremes to prove a point about safety and educate someone put himself in a much larger unsafe position. He is not legally at fault that he got rear-ended but regardless of the law, he helped create that situation. I may be unfairly relating your desire for a car horn on a bike similar to that.

Car horns are not efficient and probably use 12V @2-5 amps with a large initial spike. I would say a good power source would be portable li-ion 12v car jump start pack. They are small and efficient and can provide enough power for a horn. Most bike related packs for headlights are only 3-5 volt and not enough for a 12V car horn. You can get cheap universal 6V motorcycle horns and they may work at 3-5volts. The more current the horn uses, the larger switch you will need unless you wire in a relay which not hard but ads complication.

2manybikes

Also, the drivers can hear you inside a car, with the windows up.

angerdan

Battery packs up capable up to 48W load are really small:
enerprof.de/shop/batteries/enerpower-tiergarten-plus-battery-7-4v-7000mah-with-round-plug/

In combination with an 6V horn this is an possible solution.
Mini-HUPE [sonette/HORN/klaxon] schwarz/black, 6V | eBay

Battery pack can be stored in an saddle bag.
topeak.com/global/en/products/saddle-bags/129-aero-wedge-pack

Daniel4

Did you purchase the Loud Bicycle (car) horn?

I'm thinking purchasing it too.

I already have an AirZound and the Hornit 140db horn. The Hornit is only loud when it's inside - like at home, in the store or in your garage doing a demo. Outside, it gets drowned out by the ambient traffic noise. And drivers don't pay attention to it because it's the wrong frequency.

The AirZound is loud but just like the Hornit, drivers don't pay attention.

I've played around with the Fiamm horns from Canadian Tire, but can't get them to sound. Must be some complicated circuitry involving a relay. Not sure why because I googled the circuit diagrams and looked in youtube where a lot of the circuits didn't require a relay. Anyways, I couldn't find any Canadian Tire store that carried the relay.

ItsJustMe

Car horn, 14.4 volt RC car battery, button and a horn relay and you're done.

njkayaker

You want it pointed at the target. It's going to be much less loud behind it than in front of it.

If it's directed behind you and you want somebody in front to pay attention, they might think you aren't honking at them (and might just ignore it).