New delta based LED rotator bar?
- Thread starter firedude
- Start date
Travelin Man
Member
With a company like Whelen producing this bar, I believe that it will be as effective as far as the "pop" goes as halogen. They have the R&D money to make this work, especially since it appears to have been designed from the ground up for the application. Star with their old system of LED "rotators" weren't bright even as directional lightheads, and they had a habit of throwing whatever product they were working into a beacon and expecting it to work well.
Retired1
Member
I see the word "expensive" applied to this bar, but I don't see any actual price tag, yet. What is the anticipated street price going to be (not MSRP)?
tsquale
Lifetime VIP Donor
While I have no doubt that this will be an excellent product, and I love the Delta as a foundation for lighting, this just doesn't excite me the way the Vision SLR does. This is certainly a great improvement over existing rotator patterns, pretty poor as is, but to me it is still another simulated rotator.
RyanZ71
Member
I like the idea of a rotator bar coming back and this certainly looks worthy of the Whelen high standard, but I'll still prefer the strobes over rotators and LEDs.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
RyanZ71 said:
Good luck there...... I doubt strobes will be made that much longer honestly. High voltage, thick wiring and bulb replacement costs have pretty much landed strobes a place on most companies discontinue list.
RyanZ71
Member
Actually the replacement tube prices have come down. Instead of $75.00 for a replacement tube on my 9000, I only had to pay $30.00.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
RyanZ71 said:
Right...... down to $30 per bulb..... so instead of being half the cost of the bar (used) they are one fourth... no company is going to be putting much time or effort into strobe designs. There are other threads debating how long until strobes are totally obsolete.....
The liking strobes statement seemed like an oddly juxtaposed comment..... like saying blue ray is nice but I like VHS.....
PJD642
New Member
PursuitElectronics
Member
Jman423
Administrator
I'm beginning to think a video of this bar will never get posted. I mean... something better than that crappy indoor video we first saw.
Travelin Man
Member
tsquale
Lifetime VIP Donor
I am not impressed... Sure the night video looks good, but I think that it would be hard to see it on a bright sunny day. Not worth it IMO.
Jman423
Administrator
I have to agree, that is not very impressive at all during the day. Sure, if you turn on the 500 series (?) lower level it looks great, but then you might as well just buy a Freedom or Liberty.
Thank you for the good quality video though, it is appreciated.
Thank you for the good quality video though, it is appreciated.
Looks like the rotator-pods are significantly brighter than the 500-series LEDs, but as the others are saying, there's no pop. But I'm a big fan of flash patterns with lots of off-time for forward and intersection warning, so if you think of it as a normal LED lightbar that has flash patterns with lots of off-time and brief on-time, and that's its only real point, it's still better than a boring Liberty. It still can't beat an LP6000 though.
tsquale said:
Having seen a demo in the day I can tell you that it is brighter in direct sunlight than any other light bar I have seen. These videos do not do it justice.
factorone33
Member
We have one in our shop here. It's Bad. Ass. Pure and simple.
Basically, take a Liberty (or a Duo Liberty, if you please), and stack the 5 "rotators" on top. The rotators consist of 14 TIR3-style diode stacks (mounted vertically), and the patterns and optics are setup to mimic a rotator, and they do a pretty damn good job of it.
The bar is only a WeCan bar, and is only compatible with CanTrol and CenCom Sapphire systems (so far).
To me, this is Whelen's answer to the FS SLR Vision, but without the moving parts. Each "rotator" has the ability to go both directions, and at multiple speeds (based on programming), and can be setup to rotate, sweep, or steady burn in a specific direction (e.g. "alleys" or "takedowns"), though that's what the lower level is for. Rotators can be setup in split colors much like the MX7000s could be setup with split color cylinder filters, and optics from ANY angle are ridiculously outstanding.
If I had to say anything about it, it's a downright bonafide whacker-bar.
Basically, take a Liberty (or a Duo Liberty, if you please), and stack the 5 "rotators" on top. The rotators consist of 14 TIR3-style diode stacks (mounted vertically), and the patterns and optics are setup to mimic a rotator, and they do a pretty damn good job of it.
The bar is only a WeCan bar, and is only compatible with CanTrol and CenCom Sapphire systems (so far).
To me, this is Whelen's answer to the FS SLR Vision, but without the moving parts. Each "rotator" has the ability to go both directions, and at multiple speeds (based on programming), and can be setup to rotate, sweep, or steady burn in a specific direction (e.g. "alleys" or "takedowns"), though that's what the lower level is for. Rotators can be setup in split colors much like the MX7000s could be setup with split color cylinder filters, and optics from ANY angle are ridiculously outstanding.
If I had to say anything about it, it's a downright bonafide whacker-bar.
JGG
Member
The rotating pattern is definitely better than other stationary LED beacons, but it still doesn't come close to a real rotator.
Obviously, I can't really comment on the brightness based only on videos, so I will reserve my judgement until I see it in person.
I think I will stick with my Vision SLR.
Obviously, I can't really comment on the brightness based only on videos, so I will reserve my judgement until I see it in person.
I think I will stick with my Vision SLR.
Sigma Safety
Member
JGG said:
I saw the bar at CopsWest a couple weeks ago. My first impression inside the trade show was "wow, that's impressive!", far more impressive than any other simulated rotating pattern than I've seen before, and even at 45 degrees you could see a couple "rotators" and it looked really good. Still no "snap" to the beam though, and it doesn't reflect off surrounding structures like a true, focused rotator does.
However, on Thursday it was out at the test track and Whelen had it on a display vehicle there - in bright California sunlight at mid-day. The "rotators" were ok, but the 500 series modules on the lower section of the bar were far brighter and basically drowned out the "rotators" at 100' or more. Overall the bar puts out a lot of light, but in reality I thought that 80% of the light was from the 500 series modules, so is the extra expense and amp draw (and bar height) worth it for a relatively small increase in overall light output? Maybe, maybe not - but that's your decision.