Hi,
Just wondering if anyone could post vehicles they have seen which they think has the perfect lighting package.
Just wondering if anyone could post vehicles they have seen which they think has the perfect lighting package.
Have you seen the perfect set-up?
- Thread starter Brazen
- Start date
While I do love the view from the front and back I don't know how I feel about intersection warning.
Welcome to ELB Brazen. It'll be almost impossible to get all of us to agree on a perfect set-up. That being said, if you're looking for ideas on a certain type of vehicle, use the search to type in the vehicle of your choice. We have a lot of really talented installers on here that make amazing installs using different and sometimes challenging techniques. There is a lot of install threads that I'm sure you'll like. Also, feel free to make a post in the introductions forum telling us a little about yourself and what you expect to get out of ELB. Again, welcome to the board.
tsquale said:
I agree with it being a great set up, except... The white to the rear and lack of intersection warning on the front.
Swap that white to the rear with yellow, add a single M6 to the front quarter panel on each side for intersections, and you have my idea of a perfect set up.
Pimp said:
I literally backed it up and played it three times to see if it was a different pattern or if it just looked different because of the camera angle, lol.
Brazen said:
Out of all the excessive big purple blob setups that I've seen, this is pretty high up there on the extreme suck-o-meter.
There is no perfect setup. Lighting depends on the environment in which the vehicle is used, so a vehicle with the perfect setup for a suburban area wouldn't be ideal in an urban setting, and the perfect setup for an urban setting might be flat-out awful in a rural setting, etc.
Perfect setup? Of course....See the link in my auto signature. 
(Well, maybe once I finish up my side warning upgrade)
(Well, maybe once I finish up my side warning upgrade)
RobK said:Perfect setup? Of course....See the link in my auto signature.
(Well, maybe once I finish up my side warning upgrade)
Now that's more like it. More sync, slower flash patterns, and no blob BS.
I consider this to be the best setup I've seen.
http://elightbars.org/forums/f79/2012-nps-dodge-charger-42250/
http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/ajp3jeh/2012%20Vehicles/Charger/?action=view¤t=NATR_Charger_Draft.mp4
http://elightbars.org/forums/f79/2012-nps-dodge-charger-42250/
http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/ajp3jeh/2012%20Vehicles/Charger/?action=view¤t=NATR_Charger_Draft.mp4
So does everything (for the most part) being synced make the set up the best? What do you think the best pattern is? Whelen ComAlert? Or?
THIS!!!!!
Had 360* Lighting, also has a dash light for lower level warning, and a 100 watt siren!
No blob of lights, no crazy flash patterns, just a slow and steady and bright flash of warning!
(I hope you all know this is comic relief, right?)
Had 360* Lighting, also has a dash light for lower level warning, and a 100 watt siren!
No blob of lights, no crazy flash patterns, just a slow and steady and bright flash of warning!
(I hope you all know this is comic relief, right?)
Eric1249 said:
Yes, location, flash pattern and sync are what makes a good setup. As far as pattern, it depends on the location of the light. I like a slower single flash best on front and rear lights, with a little faster pattern to the sides, something like Whelen's action flash.
acala91 said:
One of the reasons I ask is because I have most of my lights synced with a flasher. So most of the lights are on the same pattern. I know there are cool looking patterns, but that does not mean they are effective.
acala91 said:
I used to be a fan of Action Flash, I ran some variation of action flash on the cars I drove and setup for years. I liked that it as it alternated a solid flash with something "more attention getting." Recently I saw one of our earlier cars with the SOS equivalent - several quad flashes then solid flashes. The issue I had was that at distance, the quad flashes were mere flickers. It almost looked like someone was cycling the bar on and off as you could only see the lightbar during the solid flashes.
In theory, I like the idea of some form of specialized intersection warning to really get attention. It falls short on two fronts. If we are making scientific based decisions, there doesn't seem to be much support for something faster than 120 or maybe 180 fpm. You are left with the problem of having their attention but not being able to convey any particular message.
There are some practical issues with a larger fleet. On our cars, we only need four wires into the engine compartment - 2 for speakers and 2 for the 2 groups of lights. It is very easy to tie the forward facing light on the pushbar together with light on the side and flash them together. You aren't using as many wires and you only need one flasher. Every time you add a different flash pattern, you increase the number of wires you need and the number of flasher you need. This isn't a big deal for you POV but can become an issue as the number of vehicles increases.
Edited to add: Part of this quest for "ideal" or "perfect" also comes down to environment. I work on a two-lane road and often have long (30+ mile) responses to incidents. Our area isn't particularly curvy so being able to see the vehicle over a long distance with enough time to get out of the way is important. Our need for intersection warning is limited to getting on and off of the two-lane road and some time, making U-turns and running the lights while making those turns. If I worked in a purely urban setting, my "ideal" would change and I'd probably pile on the intersection warning and buying some form or Rumbler or equivalent.
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There is no such thing as a perfect setup... I have seen setups that I consider to be the most effective for the usage and budget.... welcome... very few things or people are perfect... remember that here lol
John Hearne said:
The only time where I think that action flash is really the best is in a *fully* populated bar (ie strobes going all across the entire thing) so that it's not just one or two strobes doing the single flashes at a time. Then it still has the output with the fast "urgency" added to it. I do agree that in more conventional bars with fewer flashing heads, more solid flash patterns are the way to go.
Brazen said:
One of the best lighting packages we ever used dates back to the mid-70s. Our volunteer ambulance co. bought a 1965 Superior Pontiac Consort ambulance from a private ambulance service that had quit using the car. It had no lights or siren on it when we got it, so here's what we did. We mounted a Q siren on the front center of the roof with a pair of Federal "hill light" beacons on the front corners and a pair of red DoRay lollipops between the Q and the front beacons, and it also had a blue Dietz beacon behind the Q. Remember, this was long before strobes or LEDs!
Another one that really got everyone's attention was a 1961 long-wheel-based lowtop Pontiac ambulance that belonged to a black ambulance service in Lubbock. The car came with a roof-mounted Q flanked by a pair of Dietz two lamp beacons on the front corners and a Dietz hill-light beacon in the rear. Not to be outdone, here's what else the guy did! He added a pair of blue Dietz lollipops between the Q and the front beacons and a pair of Federal Fireballs: one red, one blue, over the rear door. Then he mounted a chrome Federal doubletone siren on the rt. fender and a Federal SA24 speaker on the left fender which was powered by a Federal Director. Talk about being seen and heard! At that time we were working the local racetracks with our 1963 Pontiac Consort, and this guy would bring his Pontiac out to back us up. I thought our Pontiac looked nice, but that big rig of his all lit up put everyone to shame. One night he was on an emergency out in the SW part of Lubbock, and must've been running all three sirens. I heard over the scanner from one of the P.D. units: "Where's the fire dept. running out south?" Dispatch advised that the fire dept. wasn't running on anything, and the guy replied that he could hear all sorts of sirens. Then another unit responded that a "big old ambulance" was headed in towards Methodist Hospital. So another guy just had to say, "Oh, that's just Skip's friend! I think he was on a medical run out south and now headed towards the hospital." Go figure!
Of course, none of that compares to some of the neat LED setups I've seen of late. Odessa Fire/Rescue bought some of the big Horton SuperDuty ambulances about three years ago. They feature LED bars front and rear along with LED tunnel lights front and rear, LEDs on the front mirrors and bumpers. They all flash randomly and in red/blue configurations. Quite a light show. Plus they're using Whelen electronics and the Screamin' Eagle sirens. Good sounds, too!
Storm4200 said:
This rocks. If it were me though, I'd do a Signal Alert pattern or a quad flash, just to add a little flavor.