Federal Sign and Signal Model 044 Beacon

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
Very nice condition and you don't see many of these from Federal Signal.
 

tsquale

Lifetime VIP Donor
Oct 12, 2010
10,511
Minnesota, USA
Very nice condition and you don't see many of these from Federal Signal.
Thank you, and yes, very uncommon! Searching Google doesn't yield too many results; mainly posts from eLb. I would love to see Fed Sig literature on it if anyone has a copy to scan in.  :thumbsup:
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Thank you, and yes, very uncommon! Searching Google doesn't yield too many results; mainly posts from eLb. I would love to see Fed Sig literature on it if anyone has a copy to scan in.  :thumbsup:
I have the same problem with my rare Whelen quest.... a circle of links to my posts.  :lol:

Closest catalog page I have scanned mentions the previous model of 4 flasher beacon.  I'll check my unscanned stuff.

Federal39.jpg
 
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JennyCop

Member
Jan 19, 2012
2,021
Sunny Arizona
Very nice Tony! I have seen A visibar with two of these on it. One of the beacons was mounted at an angle to achieve true 360° warning! Very neat!
 
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stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
I cannot be absolutely positive, but I think the 044 was a product of the 1970's.  Not a popular item, very limited in its applications, primarily for maintenance or service vehicles, definitely not effective for fire, ems, or law enforcement.
 

tsquale

Lifetime VIP Donor
Oct 12, 2010
10,511
Minnesota, USA
I cannot be absolutely positive, but I think the 044 was a product of the 1970's. Not a popular item, very limited in its applications, primarily for maintenance or service vehicles, definitely not effective for fire, ems, or law enforcement.
I think it is older than that. I don't believe the Federal Sign and Signal name was still used in the 70s, but I could be wrong.
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
I think it is older than that. I don't believe the Federal Sign and Signal name was still used in the 70s, but I could be wrong.
The Federal Sign and Signal name was in use from 1956 to 1975, they became Federal Signal Corporation in 1976.  I have seen a pic of a model 044 with a tag that read "Federal Signal Corporation", so they must have been produced at least through 1976.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Did anyone else read int the text,  "like the 074 it replaces..." .  So 1967 or 68 is the year it went from round top to 074 to flat top 044.  I believe the 044 ran until almost 1980 in the heavy duty line.  Also, Scat-o-ray is a crappy name for a light...  (*childish giggles*)
 
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dmathieu

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
8,766
S.W. New Hampshire, USA
The "Beehive" was originally called the "Scatter Ray" light because of the optics of the dome "scattering" the beam.

It was later named the Scat-O-Ray to fall in with their other "-O-Ray" named lights.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
The "Beehive" was originally called the "Scatter Ray" light because of the optics of the dome "scattering" the beam.

It was later named the Scat-O-Ray to fall in with their other "-O-Ray" named lights.
I figured..  heck we have a public transit named "SCAT - cab"
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
The word "scat" actually has several definitions, one being "to go away quickly", but another definition is "animal droppings".  I doubt most people know about the animal droppings part.

The 044 could well have been produced through 1980, I just don't know.
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
Very nice, Tony. First one I've seen in blue.  The small town of Wolfforth, TX, just SW of Lubbock had a homemade light bar with two Red 044s on it that could've easily been mistaken for a VisiBar; plus it had an unusual siren in the center a WGG.
 
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Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
That would be a neat set up!
I always thought so, Tony, because from a distance you couldn't tell it wasn't a VisiBar.  The only downside was running "hot" with that little WGG siren being on the only sound power on the truck. My VFD was responding with Wolfforth on mutual aid one time and their chief came up behind me, and it took me a minute to realize that he was behind me because I didn't hear that small siren.  He fussed at me once we were at the fire scene and I told him that I just didn't hear him.  I guess they replaced that bar, as I saw it up on Ebay a few years ago.
 

JFRD10925

Member
May 15, 2017
30
Jacksonville, FL
I have one of these that I picked up in Orlando from an estate sale. Florida DOT used these on the road trucks and tractor mowers that were not actually positioned on the traffic lanes. The model 044 did not put undue stress on the gear (because it doesn't have a motor) when used for cutting the land bridges (overpasses). The state eventually acquired mowers with articulating booms to keep the tractors on either the top (street level) or ground level (bottom) to mow these areas. The newer tractors came about due to the number of workers injured or killed from turnovers on the steep grades.
 
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JFRD10925

Member
May 15, 2017
30
Jacksonville, FL
Took this in on a trade from dmathieu. Originally had an amber dome and the flasher was shot. Swapped the amber for a nice blue dome and put in a new flasher and here she is!


View attachment 129063

View attachment 129064
Tony, do you still have this light? The relay that was installed is a 3-prong TRIDON EL13A-1. I actually have the FS (290C222) Aug.'81parts list and exploded view, but no wiring diagram. The TRIDON is not listed as a replacement, but the 13L should work, but isn't. I replaced it with a new 13L, but no change. All I get is buzzing and 2- lamps lighted, no cycling. Any help you could provide, would be appreciated.
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
Tony, do you still have this light? The relay that was installed is a 3-prong TRIDON EL13A-1. I actually have the FS (290C222) Aug.'81parts list and exploded view, but no wiring diagram. The TRIDON is not listed as a replacement, but the 13L should work, but isn't. I replaced it with a new 13L, but no change. All I get is buzzing and 2- lamps lighted, no cycling. Any help you could provide, would be appreciated.

Have you tried a 537 thermal flasher?
 

tsquale

Lifetime VIP Donor
Oct 12, 2010
10,511
Minnesota, USA
Tony, do you still have this light? The relay that was installed is a 3-prong TRIDON EL13A-1. I actually have the FS (290C222) Aug.'81parts list and exploded view, but no wiring diagram. The TRIDON is not listed as a replacement, but the 13L should work, but isn't. I replaced it with a new 13L, but no change. All I get is buzzing and 2- lamps lighted, no cycling. Any help you could provide, would be appreciated.
I don't still have this. If I remember correctly, @ex416 is who I traded it to for his collection.
 
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JFRD10925

Member
May 15, 2017
30
Jacksonville, FL
Both Advanced & AutoZone were out of stock on the 537. I pulled the guts out and the first electromagnetic coil(EMC) is closed when power is applied. Manually closing the second EMC switches the other two opposing lights to cycle on, and the first set to cycle off. The chance of having two faulty flashers are slim, but not impossible. The wiring from the plug to the bulbs looks original down to the white asbestos insulation on the power leads. The black from the two "L" prongs also look original. I base this on the asbestos and the way connections were wired/,looped from the factory. All four bulbs are GE 4416, date unknown. This is why I need a wiring diagram to verify wiring is actually where it's intended. It doesn't look correct based on EL'13A schematic. Any ideas?
 

JFRD10925

Member
May 15, 2017
30
Jacksonville, FL
I've attached 2 pages from Federal Signal Corp. #290C222 (8/81). This may help date this midel due name and date. I pulled this information if a university site that placed equipment orders off if the bid/purchasing plan. It has nearly every equipment vendor if emergency warning devices and includes all of the install, operation, wiring diagrams and parts list with exploded views. Please feel free to download, but there is a caviot: Do not sell these in any of public and/or private bidding sites or hobby and/or social media sites. I have a true trove of these from multiple manufacturers. It cost me nothing but some time. Share as you wish, but you now know my request. My desktop is getting serviced, or I would've scanned into a pdf doc.
 

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JFRD10925

Member
May 15, 2017
30
Jacksonville, FL
When my desktop is back. Bill Gates and Windows 11 begin to backup till the HDD was 100% full. I'll certainly take it under consideration. It's a rather large file, as it contains info from the 60-90's, most manually scanned. One of my staff positions with our agency was light vehicle coordinator. All of these vehicles were ordered through fleet management off Florida's state bid program. The spec/order process was time consuming. Jax is a large department, changing fron first to second with Miami-Dade and back back and forth. We were in the process of converting our facilities to the internet; this was 1989, so certain admin processes were paper driven. Meanwhile back at the ranch,, it was a university out in the Midwest like Nebraska, but not absolutely certain. I was looking for an obscure part(vector vc driverside tag) and it led me to that site. Hopefully this week it'll be ready and back up running. Typing on a cell keyboard sucks.
 

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