Jennifer Rose Towing
Member
I have wanted an operational Federal Signal Vision for quite a long time, here is the story up to today.
I like the look of the V bars and love multifunction/programmable bars. Well, I like them on my display, not a fan of the real world warning power mainly because they do not have any mirrors.
I have had a ton of Smart Vectors in the past and have had one on my display for quite some time. I have always wanted a Vision but their cost plus not having any available locally made owning one cost prohibitive. I recently found a guy from Nevada that sells and ships them. At $500 they were still out if the range I could justify. I foubd this guy because he had a post on another forum looking for parts for another bar, I had those parts (I was in the parts for about $50). I sent him a message asking if he was interested in a trade and looked him up online. He has a "company" but more of an auction buyer and reseller. He has some goigle reviews that are a mixed bag but I felt reasonably comfortable buying from him. He said if I pay for all shipping and packing he would trade my parts for a complete bar. Now I am getting a bit excited. His shipping and materials to me was $125, the parts I sent him was about $30. I figure with selling the Smart Vector I have on my display now would be around breaking even at the end of the day. He invoiced me, I paid and shipped my parts. He sent me a shipping label the next day. After a few days of it not showing up on tracking, I contacted him. He said he has been busy and would get it out soon. A week later, well after he has my parts I really start trying to get him moving. He said he was out of the Cuda TAs and had to swap it with a 5mm LED version. I was not thrilled but it was in the hands of Unhappy Package Smashers 2 days later. It actually arrived undamaged! So I start unpacking everything (feet, brain, keypad, wiring...? Ect) first thing I notice is the center pod is packed seperately. Would have been nice to know but not the end of the world. The brain box had the cover partly off and the bottom of the brain was bent in. I look inside and it has what appears to be a heat shrunk capacitor ziptied but the wires were disconnected. I also quickly noticed that none of the domes had screws in them and the Cat 5 cable was missing (with a note saying we ran out). I have a ton of dome screws but no cat 5 cables. I emailed him with the concerns of the brain, I didnt want to hook it up and mess up the bar if something was wrong with the brain. 2 days later he sent a replacement at his cost (to the wrong address). Said he would include a label to ship the other one back. In the week I waited for the brain I ordered a cable and lower wattage (93)bulbs. I also had to install the center pod. It had an opticom in it previously so no pod wiring. No way were the wires going to slide in with the connectors on them. I had to remove most of the pods to be able to lift the plate to get the wiring in. All done, waiting for the brain and cable I ordered. I get it all hooked up and heck yea, it works! Well the bar does anyway. The lights are all screwey on the keypad and a few of the 5mm arrow leds rows are out. The keypad is not showing the error, just very odd lighting behavior. All buttons press fine but the backlights are screwed. A few do not light at all, some light partially or fully when not pressed or should not or when othef buttons are pressed (even after I reprogrammed it) and most blink or flicker to the visual display when activated. Other then that, holy crap, I have a working Vision. I emailed and texted the guy a few times about the keypad and arrow. He responded once saying "its in program mode" I assured him it was not and sent a video, have not heard back from several messages in 2 weeks. I had a whole lot of bumps in the road but I have a Vision on my display now!
Programming was a bit of a pain because the button backlights do not do what they were supposed to. I figured most of it out by just counting it out as opposed to using the indicator lights. The bar display lights work as they should.
It is nice to have one more of the top 10 bars on my wanted list on my shelf. I only have a handfull of lights but very happy with what I do have. I think most collectors have sold a bar then regretted it. Hopefully I dont do that for a long time, lol. Fortunately I have a 19 and 25 amp Radioshack supply to give good clean power to the bars. I have upgraded my display shelf twice in the last year. Since I am still adding to it I have not gotten all the wiring done. That will be a project on its own.
I like the look of the V bars and love multifunction/programmable bars. Well, I like them on my display, not a fan of the real world warning power mainly because they do not have any mirrors.
I have had a ton of Smart Vectors in the past and have had one on my display for quite some time. I have always wanted a Vision but their cost plus not having any available locally made owning one cost prohibitive. I recently found a guy from Nevada that sells and ships them. At $500 they were still out if the range I could justify. I foubd this guy because he had a post on another forum looking for parts for another bar, I had those parts (I was in the parts for about $50). I sent him a message asking if he was interested in a trade and looked him up online. He has a "company" but more of an auction buyer and reseller. He has some goigle reviews that are a mixed bag but I felt reasonably comfortable buying from him. He said if I pay for all shipping and packing he would trade my parts for a complete bar. Now I am getting a bit excited. His shipping and materials to me was $125, the parts I sent him was about $30. I figure with selling the Smart Vector I have on my display now would be around breaking even at the end of the day. He invoiced me, I paid and shipped my parts. He sent me a shipping label the next day. After a few days of it not showing up on tracking, I contacted him. He said he has been busy and would get it out soon. A week later, well after he has my parts I really start trying to get him moving. He said he was out of the Cuda TAs and had to swap it with a 5mm LED version. I was not thrilled but it was in the hands of Unhappy Package Smashers 2 days later. It actually arrived undamaged! So I start unpacking everything (feet, brain, keypad, wiring...? Ect) first thing I notice is the center pod is packed seperately. Would have been nice to know but not the end of the world. The brain box had the cover partly off and the bottom of the brain was bent in. I look inside and it has what appears to be a heat shrunk capacitor ziptied but the wires were disconnected. I also quickly noticed that none of the domes had screws in them and the Cat 5 cable was missing (with a note saying we ran out). I have a ton of dome screws but no cat 5 cables. I emailed him with the concerns of the brain, I didnt want to hook it up and mess up the bar if something was wrong with the brain. 2 days later he sent a replacement at his cost (to the wrong address). Said he would include a label to ship the other one back. In the week I waited for the brain I ordered a cable and lower wattage (93)bulbs. I also had to install the center pod. It had an opticom in it previously so no pod wiring. No way were the wires going to slide in with the connectors on them. I had to remove most of the pods to be able to lift the plate to get the wiring in. All done, waiting for the brain and cable I ordered. I get it all hooked up and heck yea, it works! Well the bar does anyway. The lights are all screwey on the keypad and a few of the 5mm arrow leds rows are out. The keypad is not showing the error, just very odd lighting behavior. All buttons press fine but the backlights are screwed. A few do not light at all, some light partially or fully when not pressed or should not or when othef buttons are pressed (even after I reprogrammed it) and most blink or flicker to the visual display when activated. Other then that, holy crap, I have a working Vision. I emailed and texted the guy a few times about the keypad and arrow. He responded once saying "its in program mode" I assured him it was not and sent a video, have not heard back from several messages in 2 weeks. I had a whole lot of bumps in the road but I have a Vision on my display now!
Programming was a bit of a pain because the button backlights do not do what they were supposed to. I figured most of it out by just counting it out as opposed to using the indicator lights. The bar display lights work as they should.
It is nice to have one more of the top 10 bars on my wanted list on my shelf. I only have a handfull of lights but very happy with what I do have. I think most collectors have sold a bar then regretted it. Hopefully I dont do that for a long time, lol. Fortunately I have a 19 and 25 amp Radioshack supply to give good clean power to the bars. I have upgraded my display shelf twice in the last year. Since I am still adding to it I have not gotten all the wiring done. That will be a project on its own.
