Fitted eBike Alarm Today

[portals]

After some looking around I got this from Santa last year, finally got around to fitting it.

It's this model or identical:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B095JNTRZ3/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=&psc=1

Quite impressed with the packaging, OKish instructions, mini screwdriver and plastic tool for opening cases, 2 dbl sided sticky pads and two cable ties for attaching.

I tried putting it in my controller bag but it was very muffled, terrible idea.

So tried under seat, result, it fits quite snugly using two cable ties and one sticky pad and I tighten my padded seat cushion draw straps for additional protection. The only part you can actually see is the siren speaker so no reduction on volume.

When the alarm goes off this thing is LOUD, it's almost comedy the racket it makes, would love to see an amateur thief freeze on the spot before bolting, guess a pro could get it off in a few secs with snippers but the thing will still be going off drawing attention...

 

[portals]

I couldn't resist, I made a video of the alarm going off....you get NO idea how loud this thing is as phone compresses and wrecks any sense of the audio but trust me 113DB is LOUD...the Ambulance siren mkaes me smile...dunno why....maybe as it's so absurd...

 

[flecc]

Neat job, I hope it is successful for you.

When I'd completed my Q bike I fitted a similar very loud alarm. One day in the bike stand by the front door of my local Sainsburys I set it off by accident. Mine had a fiddly button sequence to cancel it and I was struggling to stop the din that it was creating, very embarrassing, or so I thought.

I needn't have worried though. With people pouring in and out of the supermarket entrance, no-one even bothered to look at the source of the noise. I could have been using an angle grinder and they still wouldn't have looked.

A bit like car alarms, people just walk past and no-one ever does anything about them. I'm sure I could have ridden my bike away with the alarm still sounding and I doubt anyone would do anything. After that I never did change the battery, I just took the alarm off and thankfully never had the bike stolen.
.

 

[StuartsProjects]

They are loud, and for the price not a bad buy.

It wont stop your bike being nicked by a determined thief, but might deter an ad-hoc thief. And if your nearby, in a shop for instance then you could well hear it and you might have time to get there before the diamond cutter has got therough your lock.

 

[billyboya]

I couldn't resist, I made a video of the alarm going off....you get NO idea how loud this thing is as phone compresses and wrecks any sense of the audio but trust me 113DB is LOUD...the Ambulance siren mkaes me smile...dunno why....maybe as it's so absurd...

Hi I bought similar type from Ebay i paid £14.61 its now gone up to £16.94 a big increase But its same as yours the sound. I normally walk away from bike a few yards then when no one looking I turn on the alarm god people jump he he But mine is just below handlebars I'm wondering now if its best to fit under seat, as below handle bar a thief can just lift it off and throw away. but wont be able to stop it going off

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385319854732

 

[portals]

That link is pretty much same device as you say, your's has some additional fittings though.

I suppose it depends on what type of seat you have, I managed to get some cable ties around it pretty tight under seat metal bars but you need to make sure the speaker is not restricted.

The padded seat cover with draw strings was a fiver from Tescos, highly recommended as it protects alarm from rain, helps hide it, helps hold it in place and it is actually pretty comfy too!

 

[portals]

I normally walk away from bike a few yards then when no one looking I turn on the alarm god people jump he he

We've all done it....

They are loud, and for the price not a bad buy.

It wont stop your bike being nicked by a determined thief, but might deter an ad-hoc thief. And if your nearby, in a shop for instance then you could well hear it and you might have time to get there before the diamond cutter has got therough your lock.

For sure its another deterrent, I don't take bike out if I know I'll need to leave it out sight or earshot (now) for more than a few mins. The Kryptonite D-lock, 2 cables and the alarm gives some peace of mind, you would be very unlucky if 'Angle Grinder Joe' happened to be walking by in the window you've left it. I also have a black canvas bike cover with ties large enough for 2 bikes that folds very small for the less salubrious areas near where I live.

Also, removing the battery is probably best thing you can do, I'd love to see the villain trying to ride off on my ebike anywhere fast given it's 25kg without battery....so unless angle grinder joe has scoped you and has a van nearby don't get too paranoid...

Even then he'll need to pony up £100s for a battery....who would bother...random chav/drunk vandalism way more likely...um, any ideas how to deter that....?

 

[StuartsProjects]

I built a 'extender' for the above mentioned alarm, its described here;

https://stuartsprojects.github.io/2022/09/08/Cycle-Alarm-Extender.html

I have since produced a much easier to build transmitter board based on the Seeed XIAO SAMD21;








Must write it up one day ........

 

[guerney]

@StuartsProjects (quoting from your project page)

" The receiver stopped working when I was 750M and several streets away from the transmitter, which is not bad for an urban area and its far enough for the cycle alarm repeater.

For faceless civil servant cyclists working in gigantic buildings with extremely thick walls, is there a way to add signal repeaters if necessary?


In more open areas the range would be very much greater, many kilometres, the limiting factor here would be the curvature of the Earth which would put the transmitter and receiver out of ‘sight’ of each other."

If you added a small GPS module to the transmitter, the stolen bike could be tracked down?

 

[StuartsProjects]

If you added a small GPS module to the transmitter, the stolen bike could be tracked down?

Sure could.

Improved Tracker and Sensor Node for XIAO and LoRa

This is an upgraded version of the original Board_for_XIAO_LoRa. Its known by its part number 020123. When testing the original board as a TTN or LoRaWAN sensor it became clear that for a more reliable and compliant node which was using deep sleep functions to preserve battery power together...

stuartsprojects.github.io

That small XIAO board was specifically designed to be very easy to build, so you dont need to be a surface mount soldering expert to build it.

Just working through writing a LoRa tracker receiver program for the TTGO T-Beam, which is a ready built LoRa receiver\GPS board, 18650 battery on the back;



I have seen 3D printed cases for the board too.

Since the receiver above has a GPS too, if it receives a packet from the transmitter, you get a distance and direction to the transmitter.

 

[StuartsProjects]

For faceless civil servant cyclists working in gigantic buildings with extremely thick walls, is there a way to add signal repeaters if necessary?

Sure, or use a drone or RC plane like here;

https://stuartsprojects.github.io/2016/08/15/how-to-search-500-square-kilometres-in-10-minutes.html

 

[guerney]

That's a brilliant idea and product! One alarm to attempt scaring thieves off - if that doesn't dissuade them, or if it's torn off and discarded... a silent LoRa contract-free GPS tracker hidden deep somewhere else on the bike, with it's own power supply, for a locate and recover mission. I'd buy at least one.

 

[portals]

Some nice ideas above, a drone with a sniper attachment would also be on my list....

 

[StuartsProjects]

That's a brilliant idea and product!

I'd buy at least one.

Unforunatly, these days it cost a packet to get such stuff through the regulations and testing that RF transmitters in particular need, circa £25K. Make a change\enhancement to the design (MK2 ?) and you need to hand over another packet.

Of course a lot of manufacturers in the far East just do not bother with all the legal faff and put an approval logo on the products anyway.

 

[portals]

Took bike/alarm out for first test, to a basement bar in Kelvinbridge. We sat up the back where the bike is in the attached video however we got a better bench closer to the river when ppl left but decided to leave bike out of where it was out of the way. It was not locked and did have the battery pack on.

Here you can see the bike where two young girls had just sat down.

After they left I primed the alarm, it was bl00dy loud in that railway arch and got a few looks around however nothing much to report. Few mins later two young dudes dressed up for night out and already bit p1ssed sat down at bike table, one of them joked to his mate he was gonna nick it lol.

Maybe 15mins went by then one of the dudes got up and either knocked the bike or the ground vibration was enough for the 'primer' alarm to go off. As you can see from video I'm facing wrong way but my other half was watching bike whole time and said the boy jumped out of his skin...

They left shortly afterwards as we did, I'd say that's 1-0 for the alarm in normal situations.