Looking at a Federal Signal Strobe Vista lightbar to buy, 8 Head stobe version. Like/Dislike any trouble with them or anything else, opinions etc. thanks
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- Thread starter car54
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WireKing
Member
They are ok. Are you buying one of the NOS ones from the guy here on the board, or are you getting a used one? If used, I would take the domes off and check the condition of the wires inside. They are prone to getting brittle and the insulation cracking off and causing shorts and arcing.
If the bar is new, go to your local decal shop and have them cut you a black (or any color) piece of 7 year vinyl that you can apply to just the top of each dome. This way the sun will never reach the wires from directly overhead, and will extend the life of the internal wires.
I have done this on several MX7000s and a jetstrobe bar. Works like a charm!
If the bar is new, go to your local decal shop and have them cut you a black (or any color) piece of 7 year vinyl that you can apply to just the top of each dome. This way the sun will never reach the wires from directly overhead, and will extend the life of the internal wires.
I have done this on several MX7000s and a jetstrobe bar. Works like a charm!
JohnMarcson
Administrator
They are not my favorite strobe bar. Any halogen or LED lower options will totally over power the strobes. I find vista strobe don't show up very well compared to other strobe lightbars. OSP has vistas with 8 strobes over 6 LEDs... the strobes can't even be seen....
All strobe vistas are on my "do not use list".
Camp safety can get you a good deal on lots of other bars though.....
All strobe vistas are on my "do not use list".
Camp safety can get you a good deal on lots of other bars though.....
backdraft51
Member
Never been a fan of a vista bar. Especially when I went with another county dept to a brush fire and the vista dome flew of and took the strobe lights with it. and the lack of brightness in the day time. I just really don't like the shape either. To me a light bar ain't supposed to be oval. but thats just me. The only other problem I know that other dept had with theres was what john said.
I didn't know that John. I will be telling them about the covering up the top of the bar..
I didn't know that John. I will be telling them about the covering up the top of the bar..
JohnMarcson
Administrator
They can be helped quite a bit by putting something inside the tops of the domes to prevent wash out.car54 said:
Like others have said, other strobe bars - even other strobe bars by the same manufacturer like the JetStrobe - are much more effective. From my experience, Whelen and Code 3 make the best strobe lightbars, although again, the JetStrobe is also very powerful.
Halogen versions rival a Code 3 MX7000 in intensity, plus the oval shape allows the inboard rotators to be placed forward of the outer ones, allowing for better visibility to the sides.
Halogen versions rival a Code 3 MX7000 in intensity, plus the oval shape allows the inboard rotators to be placed forward of the outer ones, allowing for better visibility to the sides.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
nerdly_dood said:
The halogen version is much better. If you want to go with strobes, there are much better choices than a vista.
Hi, again. Finally decide on this bar and should be on its way soon. I have an amp question now if someone could help. The bar has 8 Strobes, 2 halogen rotators, take downs, alley lights, intersection sweeps and front/rear flashers. I'm not sure if it will come with install instructions or not, but if someone here might help with at least the amp question, I'm sure I can figure the rest out. Thanks.
dustymedic
Member
The upper section strobes on Vista bars are useless. OSP has strobe Vistas and most Troopers do not even bother to turn them on, they just use the secondary lights...
JohnMarcson
Administrator
car54 said:
:duh:
Why ask opinions on these if you were just going to buy it anyway? ... we all told you strobe vistas a worthless.... you are going to be majorly disappointed in the strobe output. We tried to warn you.....
:duh:
How is this bar set up? Where are the rotators if there are 8 strobes? You won't even see the strobes next to the halogen lights anyway..... you'll basically see 2 rotators, the sweeps and the halogen flashers....
Amp wise....The takedowns and alleys will pull about 4 amps each, the sweeps about 8-10, each set of flashers 5-6, each rotator about 5. The strobe supply maybe 10...
So around 50 amps maybe total....
The bar will have a big black ground wire and a bunch of smaller colored wires. Connect the black to ground, then 12v to the other wires 1 at a time to see what each one does.
JohnMarcson said:
I'm gonna guess it's a longer one, with the strobes in the two outer sections, and one rotator in each inner section.
For the sake of aesthetic experimentation I would like to propose that you use clear outer domes on the ends, with colored filters for the strobes, and colored outer domes in the center for the rotators, as seen below.
WireKing
Member
My RadioShack 120v revolving beacon with a 15W bulb is brighter than the strobe vista.
You would be better off opening the vista when you get it, removing everything from the inside, and stuffing it full of Christmas lights. At least when it twinkles, people will have warm feelings and memories of Christmas, instead of laughing at you cause you bought a pile of crapp.
So, better make the most of it.
You would be better off opening the vista when you get it, removing everything from the inside, and stuffing it full of Christmas lights. At least when it twinkles, people will have warm feelings and memories of Christmas, instead of laughing at you cause you bought a pile of crapp.
So, better make the most of it.
Vistas can have 2 rotators in the center, a front and rear. As for the amp draw, a 50 rotator draws 3.8 amps each, a 55w draws 4.3. A set of sweep will draw 8, 1 takedown/ flasher/alley will draw 3.2 amps each. I have no idea about the strobes, 10 sounds right. I have a 4 rotator MX7000 with a 15 amp fuse for the 4 rotators and its fine. I got a 10 amp for my sweeps, and a 5 amp for my flashers.
Thanks for your opinions and help. Its a matter of using up the strobes and saving some money to replace them with leds. Maybe even turning it into a arjent style lightbar. I agree with alot of you about the strobes being a joke most strobes are but for the price and future options to be had with this bar I thought I would do as I please. Being a little different doesn't hurt, see one style bar everywhere gets to be old after a while. Thanks again.
Jarred J.
Lifetime VIP Donor
every time i see an arjent i want to jump on it till it breaks.
surfboard does NOT = warning light
surfboard does NOT = warning light
Like I said it's something different. Everyone around here has Whelen libertys or 9M's even the local pd has gone from FS Vector (crap) to the liberty bars. The fire dept. has one truck with a jetsolaris and the rest are whelen. I honestly didn't think this would cause this much of an uproar on my choice of product bad or good.
Jarred J. said:
Hey I happen to like that bar....
I have been stripping out the strobe vistas and been selling the supply and heads. When I power them up outside of the bar they did not seem that bad. I do not like the way federal designed them with the heads attched to the dome.
WireKing
Member
car54 said:
Please don't take any offense on what any of us have to say. We are just letting you know how bad the vista is. I personally think it's a large hiccup or burp in an otherwise good lineup from FedSig.
Its your decision, and we as a whole community support you and will be here when you run into issues. The brilliant thing about this board is that we can each be different! You asked for our opinions, and we delivered. heck, I have a Rontan WingLux bar on my truck and there are many members on here that could care less about it. Doesn't bother me a bit?
Take some pics of it when it shows up and we would be happy to help you get it wired up and running
Take care!
I don't much like the backward-sloping sides of the Arjent...
Perhaps you could just take out all the FedSig strobe equipment and replace it with Whelen strobes? (Or whatever LEDs you may feel like using)
Perhaps you could just take out all the FedSig strobe equipment and replace it with Whelen strobes? (Or whatever LEDs you may feel like using)