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Comment by Matt M. 18.5KM on June 11, 2019 at 2:23pm

Soooo....shortwave, emergency, and just some low key not too loud entertainment on the road - any thoughts?   I'm thinking about throwing it into the handlebar bag or map case.

Comment by Andrew Bedno on May 11, 2015 at 4:54am

Having explored pico (these things are frickin amazing and cheap but just too quiet) I'm currently in love with a small bluetooth speaker that gets blasting loud, has an actual volume knob, uSD slot and lovely British male voice for just $17.

amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNPR596

I've attached it with a hair band and heavy duty velcro and it has so far endured my fairly intense riding.  Certainly paying more could get me an actual bike mount, but this is also an experiment in cheapassery.

Comment by Andrew Bedno on April 22, 2015 at 3:45pm

Bike commuting with sound a year or more now, I've found my existing stereo (handlebar units shown in earlier posts) adds just enough slight additional bit of drag to be annoying, and it's over-kill volume-wise.

Exploring going smaller I found a spectrum of handlebar mounted devices available these days that combine headlight and bluetooth in a flashlight sized rechargeable device by biggies like Schwinn. But they seemed clumsy and I'm already very happy with my headlights.

Smaller still some wild options appear. Watch, keychain and stickup sized devices are available, most with mic, many with uSD and/or FM, some under $10!?!

So I bought one (a $17 watch w/ mic) and after one night out can report its wonderfully unobtrusive and more than loud enough for personal music and voice directions :)

I can still bring the big sound as needed, but this is a great quick/commuter setup for when even a phone mount is too much.  Or so it stands on day 1 ;)

Comment by Andrew Bedno on July 31, 2014 at 5:04am

I'm happy enough with the current incarnation of my long history of personal / small group sound systems on bike, to share.
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B00JDN86EM

Pros: Small, loud, rechargeable, bluetooth, FM, <$40.  Cons: FF/RW don't work. Stock battery only 800ma.
Goes way louder than an individual rider needs and has space for spare power and shades etc. This and some good playlists has radically improved my bikemute.

Comment by rik on July 7, 2014 at 5:09am

Sarah:
I can do it.
my rig loud
I am going to: Tour De Fat anyway

Comment by Sarah D. on July 6, 2014 at 2:35pm

HEY Mobile Sound system peeps! I am looking for one of you to power amplify three vocalists really loudly in a samba parade next Saturday July 12 from 6-7:30pm (after Tour De Fat!). There is money, a shirt, and possibly beer involved. It's in Chicago. Please friend/message me for details. Thanks!

Comment by rik on August 8, 2013 at 6:01pm

at 6.8 ampH it would be just ok for mobile sound; but not for anything loud.

My experience  with car amplifiers  (240 watts) is that you need over 20 ampH to get any good volume.

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 26, 2012 at 2:35am

Some really great systems out there last night.  

The mass was very well run (up until the end) and those running the sound-systems did a very good job of being polite and I even saw one spot where two guys came into sound conflict at a mass-up and one guy turned his off until the mass started moving again.

Classy!

The only negative thing I saw is the dude with the black sound backpack was being a huge douchenozzle when he threw his empty beer can into the median on Ashland.  Dude, that's not a perennial flower bulb, it doesn't belong in the planters!  Litter bugs STAY HOME!  

Pack your shit out, don't be a douche.   A bunch of guys riding around me made a huge boo when they saw that crappy action just in front of us.  Some started saying rude things about the "music dudes" being jerks.   So yes, you are hurting everyone with a sound system when you act like a nozzle like that. 

Comment by Todd Allen on May 26, 2012 at 1:00am

Load testing will help with batteries that show good voltage without a load but can't hold their voltage with one.   You can use your sound system as the load.  If you want to save your ears or your neighbors ears a car headlight ought to suffice.

If your charger and meter work ok with another battery, then your 4.9 volt battery is toast.  At least if it is supposed to be a 12 volt.  If it's a 6 there's a chance for recovery by zapping it alternately with very high charging and load current pulses which can break up sulfation crystals if they have not grown large enough to physically damage the plates.

Sulfation occurs much more rapidly when a battery is discharged, immediate recharging after use, limiting discharge down to 11 volts for standard batteries and 10.5 volts for deep discharge and topping up charges every 2 or 3 months while in storage will extend battery life.

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 25, 2012 at 1:50am

It sounds like there is a problem Howard -either with the charger or the battery itself.  Do you have access to a battery load-tester?  Really, the only way to tell if a battery is good or not is under load.  I've got one of those cheap 100A harbor-freight carbon-pile load testers and it does a pretty good job on both 12v and 6v nominal batteries.  

I got mine on sale for $9.99 as HF is crazy with the sales sometimes but at $25 right now it is a handy thing to have around the shop if you ever work on batteries or equipment like this that has batteries.  

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