Stuff I Like

Cateye TL-LD1100
One of the better red blinky lights on the market. It has two rows of  LEDs. Each row has three in the middle and one at each end for a total of ten LEDs. There are two push buttons in one end, one button per row and each row can be independently set for flash, solid, "knightrider" sequential flash and random flash. It is one of a very few rear lights that run on two AA cells which have more mAH per dollar than AAA cells and are therefore cheaper in the long run. It's not perfect. You must click through each mode to get to the one you want or to get back to "off" again and it does not remember the last mode you were using at the next switch on. And the battery compartment cap on the opposite end to the buttons is held on by a short twist bayonet arrangement  which can allow the cap to jump off and be lost, rendering the lamp useless.

A genuine Cateye TL-LD1100

 Alas, Cateye no longer list the LD1100 though at the time of writing Chain Reaction Cycles and a few others still have stock at around AUD49.00 a go.
However, since my one and only LD1100 was lost some months ago, I have been using a lookalike I espied at the local store of Jaycar Electronics, an Australian firm whose international web portal can be found at www.jaycar.com
The Jaycar product code is ST3083.
The price is AUD 9.95, UKP 3.50, USD 6.25

An identical unbranded replica.

It does not have the belt clip that came with the Cateye, only the seatpost mount with a couple of rubbers to accommodate different diameters. Apart from that, I can't tell the difference between this lamp and the Cateye branded one. Is it possible that the Chinese firm who manufactured the LD1100 continued to make the lamp after Cateye head office in Osaka dropped it from the range? I always did feel that Cateye products had a price premium added for JHAM (japanese heritage and mystique).
I have no complaints about the quality. It's made of thick, and heavy plastic moldings, the o-ring battery cap seal keeps the rain out and my first one still works after five months.

Trickery with wire and Krazy Glue

 I have several of these lamps now and I recently decided to do something about the battery cap issue other than wrapping it with zip ties or a strip of duct tape. First of all, I used long-nose pliers, bench-vise and small hammer to bend up some little hooks out of 2mm galvanized wire. With the battery cap off, I could see exactly where a 2mm drill bit would go when I made some holes in top and bottom of the lamp housing. The idea is to stay away from the edge of the PCB. After scuffing up the plastic to make a key for a later blob of JB Weld, the hooks were easily pushed into the holes with a drop of cyanoacrylate glue.

 The completed job

The hooks were very firm on their own but as planned, I added a tiny blob of JB Weld to buttress  each one. When it was set, the grey epoxy and scuffed plastic were painted with a little matt black model enamel to make it look less like a kludge. A rubber o-ring crossed over the end cap between the hooks completed the job.