Seeing your wheel in the dark

[Jan Larsen]

Hi guys,

Somebody said I should my idea so here it is, it may serve as an inspiration to people with the same issue.

Once the room got dark in long stints, I couldnt see the buttons. Of course, I could just learn the layout but since I'm still experimenting, this will have to do for now. Parts included are a super small usb light, usb extension cord 20cm long and a 2600mah powerbank which was the smallest and cheapest I could find. All mounted with double sided tape. 16 dollars used in total. Right side picture is with the room fully dark. May need to tweak the output a little, the sucker is super bright for its size.

 

[DrRob]

Good idea! I was thinking along these lines as well. Do you actually feel the increased weight of the powerbank as increased inertia of the wheel?

Personally I went the HUE route and installed a hue play light above my head to illuminate my rig according to the action on screen.

 

[Jan Larsen]

No, I dont feel the powerbank weight at all, it weighs less than 60g. Would have liked to go even lighter but the options I had required me to buy at least 100 of them at once...
I thought about the HUE route but found it too expensive for my current needs.

 

[DrRob]

No, I dont feel the powerbank weight at all, it weighs less than 60g. Would have liked to go even lighter but the options I had required me to buy at least 100 of them at once...
I thought about the HUE route but found it too expensive for my current needs.

Thank you for the feedback! I just thought that having the small light weight you might feel the difference in weight, but then again the added weight is at the center of the wheel near the hub.

[EDIT] Do you have the product links to e.g. Amazon, Ebay? This would be helpful! Cheers.

 

[Jan Larsen]

They were all bought locally, but I found something on ebay that may help. They may not be the same model exactly, but the intent of purpose should be the same. Do some digging in your local ebay area (.uk/.com etc) and shipping will be much cheaper I guess.

Light: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184863126086?var=692644032280&hash=item2b0ab37246:g:KC8AAOSwtPlbVaAo

USB exstension cord: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284426988092?hash=item42392b6a3c:g:fD8AAOSwUDNhKPOX (this is just a basic usb extension cable located nearly everywhere. Key is getting the length right for your application, in my case 20cm)

Powerbank: https://www.ebay.com/itm/312683113505?hash=item48cd5dac21:g:oiwAAOSwnoJgZtcG (I dont think its the exact same, it may be, but its damn close)

 

[Jan Larsen]

I'm still working on dimming/distributing the light a little as its very bright. It'll be a McGyver solution of some sort, but havent found the sweet spot yet. Tried tracing paper as recommended on FB, but that made near zero change, its that bright time to get creative....