Best Rotator Bar.

Best Rotator Lightbar


  • Total voters
    177

WireKing

Member
Dec 16, 2010
523
USA Southwest
Again, another uselessly objective and unimportant poll in the grand scheme of things, but I can't help but ask what everyones view is on the best halogen rotator light bar.


For me, it's gotta be the MX7000.
 

Station 3

Member
May 21, 2010
3,395
Edinburg Texas
I like the MX7000 Halogen/Strobe mix with the rotators on the outside and the strobes on the inner part of the bar i just think it looks sweet.
 

WireKing

Member
Dec 16, 2010
523
USA Southwest
I too love the strobe /rotator combo bar. The Code 3 360 is a good example of that (just bought one).


I just realized that I left the 360 and the Excaliber off the poll! Crud! Well, I would have put them on the same line as the MX, so if one of those is your favorite, just select the MX and tell us why you think its the best!
 

CenTexPSE

Member
May 21, 2010
789
Covington, TX
MX7000 hands down. I do like the Excalibur because its a little more low profile, but in my opinion the accesories for the lower section were not as effective. Everything was half the size of the MX ( Intersection sweeps, flashers, ect.) Also, the Xcal intersection sweeps suck! You never know if they are going to work. But i would still take Xcal over an ugly Streethawk anyday!
 

WireKing

Member
Dec 16, 2010
523
USA Southwest
Yea sorry guys. The poll only let's you have up to 10 items, which necessitated making one of the choices an "other" category to cover my but for the bars I knew I'd forget.


Should have put the streethawk on there, because I know there are some diehards on here.
 

Richard P

Member
May 23, 2010
1,031
Sudbury, On
I have to saye the Turbo beam! but not turbo beam 2000, thats just streehawk rotators. The old turbo beam gets my choice, 16 square inch reflectors, alleys, multi function rotators, you got everything, including strobes in one great bar! mx7000 follows!
 

Newberry13

Member
May 21, 2010
613
SC, USA
For me it's the MX7000. I would go one step further and say it's the best bar period because of it's versatility! Though I have to admit, it's a close call between the MX and vector for me.
 
May 21, 2010
2,201
Elmira, ny
MX7000


streethawk series of bars


Vector, vision and viewpoints


vista


code 3 360


Not necessarily in that order, but the MX7000 is always my kind of emergency service bar
 

Alovebaby41

Member
May 23, 2010
354
Texas
For me it is the Fed Signal Areodynic that is my favorite rotator light bar, but for current day setups i would go with the code 3 mx7000. I like the mx7k because of how many options that are available.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
XL 5000 lightbars! Yeah, the domes may be flippin' expensive to replace (so don't severely scratch or break 'em :lol: ), but those big parabolic rotators sure throw the light around in combination with diamond mirrors or stationary flashers. A good choice for today's emergency vehicles that still uses halogen technology.


The AeroDynic is another good rotator bar in my book because of the vast patterns you can set with them for all sorts of synchronized signaling. Too bad Fed Sig couldn't stay with the original design for modern applications. They'd still work real well to move traffic!
 

Newberry13

Member
May 21, 2010
613
SC, USA
I wish Fed Sig would have stuck with the original rotators they used on the indepentent series Aeros. Not to say that the streethawk rotators are bad (we all know they're bright as hell), but the Aeros had a larger footprint.
 

Fdtruckie

Member
May 24, 2010
103
New York U.S.A.
I am a huge fan of synchronized jetsonic/jetstream. Any rotor federal signal has designed has a nice light snap to it.they put alot of science into testing the light output. Streethawk rotors hands down are the most powerful. Whelen centurion are next then code3 free form rotors.
 

WireKing

Member
Dec 16, 2010
523
USA Southwest
Fdtruckie said:
I am a huge fan of synchronized jetsonic/jetstream. Any rotor federal signal has designed has a nice light snap to it.they put alot of science into testing the light output. Streethawk rotors hands down are the most powerful. Whelen centurion are next then code3 free form rotors.

Ok I agree with everything you said except for the independent version of the jet rotators. They suck! Somebody fell asleep at the wheel when they were designing them. And what's worse, if the domes start to fade and fog over, you can forget anybody actually seeing a "flash" from any decent distance.


Now the street hawk rotors are another story. They are simply brilliant!
 

chiefolson

Member
Jul 20, 2010
49
Raleigh, NC
I specified the MX7416A on an ambulance in 1990 and still think that it's the best rotator bar I have ever seen. Red rotators with mirrors in the outboard quadrants with clear rotators and v-mirrors in the inboard quadrants. Add the intersection sweeps and four red halogen flashers underneath and it was the heat - of course it used about 1/2 the power the alternator generated, too.


Used them for a few years till I moved on and the bars were eventually replaced with an array of Whelen 900s
 

jdh

Member
May 21, 2010
1,555
Geneva, FL
I too like the MX7000 because of the unlimited options and the I-sects were way ahead of the time. But for brightness and options the LP6000 is mine. It is a very easy bar to work on. The Stingrays were a nice option, that is when they worked right. The reflectors were the right size for reflectve surface.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Best for what application?
 

WireKing

Member
Dec 16, 2010
523
USA Southwest
JohnMarcson said:
Best for what application?

Well, I guess I was asking what everyones favorite bar was. But I figured some people would have a favorite but know that it may not be the "best" as far as their application. It's all up to personal taste and like you said, the application it's used in.


That's what makes this site great!
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
WireKing said:
Well, I guess I was asking what everyones favorite bar was. But I figured some people would have a favorite but know that it may not be the "best" as far as their application. It's all up to personal taste and like you said, the application it's used in.

That's what makes this site great!

Gotcha...


There are 2 main schools of thought on rotators bars... dual level bars that allow other "stuff" in the lower section and high profile rotator only bars.


As far as dual level bars go, I like the MX7000 and the Whelen Delta. Both allow rotators up top and LEDs down below for a nice combo. MX7000s are great because you can get a nice one for $100. If a higher profile dual level bar is needed the centurion is my favorite. The centurion is an under rated bar, I think that's because it's so high profile. Most people that want a high profile rotator bar aren't worried about dual level.


If we are talking rotator only, I like Aerodynic rotators best. They are just a well designed rotator. Honorable mention goes to code 3 XL5000. Both have nice big reflectors in a decent sized housing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

lotsofbars

Member
Jul 20, 2010
1,999
NYC, New York
I'm disappointed that this poll doesn't have Streethawk as a choice… an all light streethawk is my favorite, next to the all light MX 7000 and Whelen Centurion.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
I'll have to jump on the MX7000 bandwagon. It can come in any size, from a 22-inch mini bar up to (IIRC) 96 inches, with any number of lights from a 2-rotator budget bar up to a fully-loaded street sweeper, with any amount of any kind of lights. (I'm quite partial to a rotator/strobe combination with 3 rotators and 4 strobes up top)
 

FedSigFan

Member
May 21, 2010
177
DFW
I'd go for an MX if I were to vote for the best for actual field use.


But my favorite of the moment is the Vision. That's the one I fire up first when showing off my collection anyway. Brilliant, even after replacing the 55W halogens with 1156 bayonet bulbs!
 

lightbarfanatic

New Member
Dec 29, 2010
5
Florida
code 3 maked the best mx7000 lightbar ever, they need to make an led verzion of it.
 

theolog

Member
Dec 27, 2010
731
North Carolina
Vision? Like the Vector? I'm curious why you guys would think that was the best rotator bar ever. I don't mean that as a criticism, I'm just genuinely curious why you would call that "the best." We had one on a brush truck where I was a fireman from 1995-2001 and it was pretty unimpressive in appearance when activated, in function, and in effectiveness.


They definitely look cool though as far as being an innovative design. I do like the new LED version too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
theolog said:
Vision? Like the Vector? I'm curious why you guys would think that was the best rotator bar ever. I don't mean that as a criticism, I'm just genuinely curious why you would call that "the best." We had one on a brush truck where I was a fireman from 1995-2001 and it was pretty unimpressive in looks, function, and effectiveness.

They definitely look cool though and were an innovative design. I do like the new LED version too.


I'm confused........ please explain. It's looks are unimpressive but cool?
 

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