Confusion/questions regarding light heads

[bluestinger90]

I decided to research some Whelen, Soundoff, and FS light heads, however I have a few questions.


What is the difference between a 500 series lin6, a raider, an avenger, and a linz6 light head?


I know the avenger has 9 leds, and the linz6 is smaller, but what light heads use newer or brighter leds than the other? "Super led" is used to describe all of them, but searching hasn't yielded much more besides them using luxeon or other brands 1 watt emitters of various designs. What about the optics and off axis? Whelen claims they are all linear, but there is definitely a notable difference between the linz6 and the 500/raider.


Does anyone know what type of leds are used in the following products? ie 1 watt, 3 watt, luxeon, cree, etc?


Whelen avenger


Whelen 500 series lin6


Whelen raider


Whelen linz6


Soundoff predator 2


Soundoff ghost


FS EXT


FS Viper s2


I am trying to find the light head with the newest, and subjectively "brightest" linear design.


Thank you in advance for you help :?

 

[unlisted]

Brightest from the list above would be fedsig viper s2 in my opinion.

 

[Klein]

Brightest from the list above would be fedsig viper s2 in my opinion.

+1. Has best off axis as well. Predator 2 is bright as well.

 

[RL1]

Brightest from the list above would be fedsig viper s2 in my opinion.

+2. I have a Whelen bar with a viper dash light and it blows the bar away, esp off axis.

 

[mike]

all of the whelen items you mentioned have the same led emitters in them


linear (means the lights use a oval reflector that produces a wide and full footprint, best used for off axis angles): Can see the led emitter in the light


tir (means a machines optic or lens that produces a narrow and far beam) (cant see the led emitter in the light)


surface mount lightheads:mounts to any flush surface with screws


lin3 3 led emitters in lighthead


linz6 6 leds in the same size as lin 3


lin 6 6 leds in a 500 size lighthead


sos ghost, thin 3.4" tall 6 leds


fs ext: 6 linear and 6 tir in same head


tir3 3 led emitters in lighthead


tir 6 6 leds in a 500 size lighthead twice the size as tir 3


sos predator 8 tir leds


raiders are lin6 in a rectangular housing that can be mounted where there is no flat surface to attach the lights to


dash lights, made to mount or suctioncup to windshield


talon- 8 leds almost tir 6 size


avenger-9 leds little bigger than lin3


fs viper, 6 linear heads tir 6 size


all of the leds you asked about will be plenty bright for your needs

 

[VolEms]

The brighest LED today is the Tomar 200s High Power. The avenger has 8 LED's .

 

[JohnMarcson]

The terms are defined correctly by the people above. As far as brightness, well they are all plenty bright. All modern major manufacturer's LEDs are. Linears have wide angle optics, TIR style have more focused head on. Other than that go by size and price.

 

[NPS Ranger]

The Avenger has 9 LED's if it's single color, 8 LED's if it's split color.

 

[SBFD-E-9]

The brighest LED today is the Tomar 200s High Power. The avenger has 8 LED's .

I'll second the TOMAR. Brightest dashlight I ever had. I could see it reflecting off of street signs during the day. Moved traffic like crazy, and all I had was that on the dash.


Dan


Ps: I have owned a dual Talon, Dual Avenger, and a Dual viper-The Tomar was the brightest IMO.

 

[Pimp]

TOMAR. Brightest dashlight I ever had. I could see it reflecting off of street signs during the day.

Funny that you would use that comparison. I have a Tomar 200-S and a Whelen Dual Avenger. I have used both on my dash. The flashback-from-signs is greater with my Avenger than my 200-S. I don't know why, just my observation. Which I find odd because I think with my eye, that the Tomar is brighter.

 

[theroofable]

Its not really how bright the leds are, its the reflector/magnifiers. For example, a lighthouse has a huge lense which creates a beam of light that can be seen frm very far away. Now if it just had the bulb in it, it would not be noticable. Its the same with leds. All the companies have different ways of making their lenses create the brightest light. Regarding watts and lumens, it would be better if they listed how many lumes they are, so we could get a good idea of which is really the brightest. I wish I could tell you which was rhe brightest in my opinion, but Whelen is everything around here. I have never even seen a code 3 or fed sig light in person. I did however get the sound off intersectors, and they have a cool reflector in them, its like a parabolic waterfall, with a channel for each of the 9 leds. It spreads the light very well. I also like the pinnacles prizm design, because in my opinion it loses the least amount of light off axis compared to my avenger. Just my cents

 

[dcb]

fs ext: 6 linear and 6 tir in same head


fs viper, 6 linear heads tir 6 size

The Viper EXT and Viper S2 models both have 8 diodes per light head:


http://www.fedsig.com/products/index.php?id=281


http://www.fedsig.com/products/index.php?id=257


The Solaris reflector just does an amazing job with "managing" the light from each diode.

 

[bluestinger90]

The Viper EXT and Viper S2 models both have 8 diodes per light head:

http://www.fedsig.com/products/index.php?id=281


http://www.fedsig.com/products/index.php?id=257


The Solaris reflector just does an amazing job with "managing" the light from each diode.

I've seen Pimp's comparison between the S2 and talon, and the S2 beam pattern is what I am looking for.


Would you say that the beam pattern from the EXT is similar to the S2? I've been looking specifically at these two, however only the EXT is offered as a surface mount. The EXT is shallower, and seems to rely on the lens to disperse the light, whereas the S2 is a straight reflector with a clear lens.