CA RARE LIGHTBARS

luckyducky

Member
May 22, 2010
262
NorCal
Show off some of your rare lightbars or just some cool pictures from online.


REMEMBER CA LIGHTBARS OR BEACONS ONLY could be mounted on vehicles.


ai583.photobucket.com_albums_ss278_fedsig_NOS_20CTS_20EBAY_DSC16f10f5735d83d174d3ad2ba2ee7df5b.jpg


ai583.photobucket.com_albums_ss278_fedsig_CTS1S_DSC02721.jpg_13dfd7516ed98a0410ba0fb7754ae72b.jpg


ai583.photobucket.com_albums_ss278_fedsig_Interested_20lights_a921ec05ecd0cdd28b1b0d964ca16595.jpg


Looks to be the RARE signal stat light


ai583.photobucket.com_albums_ss278_fedsig_Screenshot2010_09_081effe10bbbdc4c0735a8f2b5b7207288.png


Platter light on this Gov. CA fire truck


ai583.photobucket.com_albums_ss278_fedsig_Screenshot2010_09_08e76d0f13132947b5cbd68b0e8711dc36.png


Look in the corner of this picture, looks like a CTS1S.


ai583.photobucket.com_albums_ss278_fedsig_Screenshot2010_09_07dd847c195abc8243c92a161d85d3a286.png
 

CFD125

Member
May 21, 2010
487
Carver, Mass.
Looks like a Smith & Wesson, or a Dietz Omni-Chief mounted on something, behind the big green truck.


Somebody tell the guy with the ladder truck that he mounted his Signal-Stat bar backwards :lol:


Here's my short (47") Cal. Sireno Condor:


ai288.photobucket.com_albums_ll191_CFD125_visibar_sirenoCTS3006.jpg
 

03crownvic

Member
May 8, 2010
1,033
Louisiana
I still have a couple of those Signal Stat domes with the amber cutout on one side but they have a clear cutout on the other. Maybe it was for a red/white rotating signal to the front and a red/amber to the rear with the Cali steady burn facing the front between the rotators??


BTW, before anyone says the inner lighting on those bars was always a stationary light, I have seen those type of bars with dual rotators on each side, so it was a factory option. I've even rebuilt/refurbished a couple of them with dual rotators on each side and they were very effective, as long as those unreliable plastic gears held up.
 

luckyducky

Member
May 22, 2010
262
NorCal
Thats sweet I have a chance to buy a CAL signal stat but doesn't have an amber cutout and no rear flasher?? Kinda weird. the person said it was mounted in front of an ambulance, so didn't need a rear flasher.
 

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
fedsig7 said:

The blue 1970s Plymouth tank has a late 1960s Federal PA20A Interceptor siren (low-pitched wail and yelp tones).

luckyducky said:
Dietz Omni Chiefs are really rare I have not seen a CA Dietz close up before.

I've seen a Smith & Wesson Omni Chief style light bar with the California blinker and amber cutout at the back. The owner said it's a very rare and unique light bar. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me at the time.
 

dustymedic

Member
May 21, 2010
633
Columbus,OH
03crownvic said:
I still have a couple of those Signal Stat domes with the amber cutout on one side but they have a clear cutout on the other. Maybe it was for a red/white rotating signal to the front and a red/amber to the rear with the Cali steady burn facing the front between the rotators??

that would have been a take down light. CHP (who sent the standards and approved emergency for use in CA) didn't light flashing white to the front (or rear) Wig wags weren't even common in CA until CHP started using the smaller slick tops (Mustangs & Cameros)..
 

luckyducky

Member
May 22, 2010
262
NorCal
dustymedic said:
that would have been a take down light. CHP (who sent the standards and approved emergency for use in CA) didn't light flashing white to the front (or rear) Wig wags weren't even common in CA until CHP started using the smaller slick tops (Mustangs & Cameros)..

CHP didn't have takedowns on their jetsonics, but had red/blue steady burn. With rear Amber blue flashing, and a front cutoff on on all the jets. Some CC1 federal signal controllers for CHP had a blue light next to a switch, that would be mostly for Lightbar equipped vehicles, so when pulling up you could swith the front cut lights on easily.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
Good ol' CTS... but something looks out of place here...


9517.jpg
 

dustymedic

Member
May 21, 2010
633
Columbus,OH
luckyducky said:
CHP didn't have takedowns on their jetsonics, but had red/blue steady burn. With rear Amber blue flashing, and a front cutoff on on all the jets. Some CC1 federal signal controllers for CHP had a blue light next to a switch, that would be mostly for Lightbar equipped vehicles, so when pulling up you could swith the front cut lights on easily.

While CHP didn't use takedowns, they would have to approve any light bar build for sale/use in CA, and they were not a fan of flashing/rotating lights to the front back when the Signal Stat bar was built..
 
dustymedic said:
that would have been a take down light. CHP (who sent the standards and approved emergency for use in CA) didn't light flashing white to the front (or rear) Wig wags weren't even common in CA until CHP started using the smaller slick tops (Mustangs & Cameros)..

White flashing or rotating lights weren't even legal in California until sometime in the early 1990's (other than headlight flashers or Opticom systems). When I first started in California in 1986, red and amber were the only legal colors for non-law enforcement vehicles, with red/blue/amber for law units. I was out of state from 1993 to 1995. When I left white flashing lights were not legal; when I returned, they were legal and being installed. My department was upgrading from Code 3 LP6000's with no white light to MX7000's with the clear centers and intersection sweeps.


Some departments used amber inserts to the front to give a little bit more 'pop' to their front warning for traffic clearing, since the only white light available was HLF.
 

dustymedic

Member
May 21, 2010
633
Columbus,OH
Duster said:
White flashing or rotating lights weren't even legal in California until sometime in the early 1990's (other than headlight flashers or Opticom systems). When I first started in California in 1986, red and amber were the only legal colors for non-law enforcement vehicles, with red/blue/amber for law units. I was out of state from 1993 to 1995. When I left white flashing lights were not legal; when I returned, they were legal and being installed. My department was upgrading from Code 3 LP6000's with no white light to MX7000's with the clear centers and intersection sweeps.


Some departments used amber inserts to the front to give a little bit more 'pop' to their front warning for traffic clearing, since the only white light available was HLF.

LA City Fire would have amber front flashing on their ambulances to help them stand out...
 

wfd67

Member
May 25, 2010
207
San Francisco area, CA
ai1000.photobucket.com_albums_af128_sheriff77_Old_20police_20cars_MarkHathawayCrown.jpg


Hey, I know that rig, and the one standing behind it. Ripon show, of course. (And whew, dodged the camera there, but I can see you caught Mark's kid's leg on the officer side of the Crown). Nice bar on that one, of course; quite nearly had a comparable one come our way with a 1980 era engine that's currently sitting on our barn (but Mark decided he was keeping it before I got to it; stuck with a 52" Aerodynic instead...) ;)
 

Tristar

Member
May 24, 2010
899
MA
OK...I'm not a fire fighter, and I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the engine (45) in the last photo in the first post is one ugly engine! Can anyone tell me what mfg it is? I've never seen one - where they not popular on the east coast?
 
Apr 4, 2014
1
Kentucky
I have a Dietz omni-chief 48" bar with 6" sealed beams, the two outside ones rotate, and the bulbs are offset, so that you get a flash in an upward direction, and in a downwards direction, the inside beams are stationary and wig wag, they are halogen 6" sealed beams, with sort of a headlight pattern on the sealed beam, and one of the lenses has a clear cut-out, anyone ever heard of one of these before, i've had it for 27 years, but only used it for about a year, its been in my shed ever since, one of the gears broke on one of the outside rotators, and I was never able to fix it, I tried super glue, but it didn't hold, and it being such a rare bar, couldn't find another gear
 

chief1562

Member
Mar 18, 2011
5,840
Slaterville/NY
fedsig7 said:

Anybody but me notice the rust starting to form on that shotgun's barrel and receiver? :nono:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
chief1565 said:
Anybody but me notice the rust starting to form on that shotgun's barrel and receiver? :nono:

That was the first thing I noticed. Rust shows a complete lack of proper maintenance. :nono:
 

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