LED Equipped (LEDQ) Avian Eye "Linear LED Light bar"

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Product Name: Avian Eye LED Lightbar


Manufacturer: LEDQ, LED Equipped


Model Number: A-1034


Link to manufacturer: LED Equipped


Review Type: Lab based function and form only


Product Description: LED full-sized lightbar


Intended Usage or Market: Volunteer








Item Description:
LEDQ describes their lightbar as an “Emergency LED/Linear Light bar”. The bar features their six diode “linear” Heads mounted inside a frame with clear lenses. There are takedowns and alleys which also flash. The bar requires a proprietary controller which indicates the lights can either be “bright”, “off” or “Coruscate”. What they mean is you can either steady burn or flash the alleys and takedowns. The rear of the bar is an arrow except of the corner heads. The lenses look vaguely liberty inspired, as do takedowns and alleys. It should be noted that the bar looks almost identical to the Axixtech Torrent. The external contour of the bar follows the angle of the corner heads, making the ends of the bar itself angled.

  • Durability/Feel/Appearance: First and foremost, the quality, or lack thereof rather, of this bar made me shorten this review and turn it from a featured site review, into a regular user review. I simply cannot devote site resources to items I do not personally believe are up to the standards demanded for emergency response. The workmanship was rushed and or sloppy. Sheet-metal type screws driven in crooked was the rule, not the exception. There was silicone stuck to various places nowhere near the sealed portions of the lenses. The power and the control wires felt floppy and the insulation was thin and of a very odd gummy consistency. The poor translation of the word flash to coruscate (a medical term for pulsating visual disturbances), was an instant red flag. The controller felt more like a plastic drug store toy than a piece of warning equipment in weight. I have the sad picture in my mind of these mounted to the back of someone's other controller with tape in a youtube video in the future. The bottom line is that this bar isn't up to my standards, or SAE standards apparently (not certified). - 3




    Performance: The bar was tested in shade and full sun. I consider it's brightness average for linear heads of their size. The output of the warning LEDs was bright enough to worry me that people will be attracted to the bar. By that I mean it isn't overly dim or obviously deficient from first glance. The light output is passable for sure. The basic warning functions work and are not obviously grossly underpowered by any means. The front and rear of the bar are not synched, making for poor corner synch too. The traffic arrow doesn't have enough dwell time and/or the heads aren't defined enough for that purpose, because the arrow is imperceptible. The takedowns and alleys are clearly not well reverse engineered. Illumination wise they are basically worthless. As flashers, they are acceptable. Ironically the literature I got with them describes them as halogen, which would be far brighter. In summary, the bar performs well enough to spark the non-discerning customer's interest. - 5




    Features: One of the things that is always a red flag is when an economy version of a product comes loaded with features. If you tell me you have a simplified version of something for less money, I am much less apt to be suspicious. This bar has is fully populated from end to end with LEDs. It has an arrow, takedowns and alleys. The features are loaded in there, but vollies need less features and higher durability, not more features and less solid construction. - 5





    Innovation: When you reverse engineer an existing product and you make it worse, I can't score you on innovation at all. - 0





  • Price: There was no price provided, but similar bars are listed on the LEDQ website for $499. A fully loaded LED lightbar for under $500 new. Sounds great right? Maybe a little too great. A loaded LED lightbar new should be $600 minimum during a sale or promotion. Anything much cheaper and quantity has been gained by a loss of quality. The used market is much wider and is saturated with last generation bars loaded to the gills for $450, or basic build-a-bars can be $350 projects. If you can't list me five was to better spend $500 on lights right off the top of your head, you haven't been reading this site enough. I'd rather have a solid basic bar than a poorly made loaded one. I think there is a trade off of features for quality here in order to lower the price. - 5

  • Overall: This bar looks just good enough and packs in some key features well enough to lure in the uneducated buyer. - 3 1/2


    If you drop the zero (if innovation isn't important to you) and simply remove it from the average, the score goes up to 4 1/2, which is almost acceptable in some circumstances. Still, there are better lightbars for similar or less money. If you did get such a bar I'd skip the arrow, takedowns and alleys (except as a flasher). Were the bar mine I'd find a way to wire around the controller and lock in the simple alternating pattern with flashing takedowns/alleys.


    Rating (1-Unusable 5-Usable but flawed 10-Perfect)

  • Durability/Feel/Appearance: 3

  • Performance: 5

  • Features: 5

  • Innovation: 0

  • Price: 5

  • Overall 3.5 / 4.5


    Suggestions--- Do not require the controller. Use higher quality wire. Reexamine the alley/takedowns. Pay more attention to quality control. Double check translations.


    unlit.jpg


    litbar.jpg


    barcls.jpg


    barcontrlr.jpg


    defect2.jpg


    defect3.jpg

    defect1.jpg
 

emtanderson51

Member
Apr 9, 2011
3,795
USA Massachusetts
Isn't that the Axitech Torrent?? I thought Lewis at SNM gave it a pretty good review on their site. Too bad though as I tend to believe you more as you are not trying to sell them. Disappointed once again..
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
emtanderson51 said:
Isn't that the Axitech Torrent?? I thought Lewis at SNM gave it a pretty good review on their site. Too bad though as I tend to believe you more as you are not trying to sell them. Disappointed once again..


I didn't want to speculate as to how this bar was related to the torrent but I guess it's unavoidable. It looks like the same basic bar, but the example of the torrent I saw was put together much better, had halogen takedowns/alleys, and didn't require the controller. And those just happen to be the thing about this bar I disliked the most. I have no idea if this is just a re-branding or a copy.
 

Ledequipped

Member
Jun 11, 2013
91
NY
JohnMarcson said:
I didn't want to speculate as to how this bar was related to the torrent but I guess it's unavoidable. It looks like the same basic bar, but the example of the torrent I saw was put together much better, had halogen takedowns/alleys, and didn't require the controller. And those just happen to be the thing about this bar I disliked the most. I have no idea if this is just a re-branding or a copy.

This light, like all the other lights i carry, has an option to be directly wired.


You just have to ask for that when you are purchasing the lights.
 

smsales

Member
May 21, 2010
479
West Michigan
So i guess from reading the review, this bar would fall inline with the speedtech bars? Quality wise? just trying to get a comparison that guys/gals will be able to relate too. That's what i picture in my head at least. Will do the job but.. Not saying anything about customer service because i don't know, haven't dealt with the company.


.02
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
code60a said:
John, any chance you can take pictures inside of the bar and the boards? It does look a lot like a Torrent but they aren't sloppily assembled; also our take downs do not look like that.

It's not a torrent fully I don't think, at least not assembled as one.


I was initially told not to take this bar apart. Any chance of it at all LEDQ? Any info as to how this is related to a torrent from Axixtech?
 

Ledequipped

Member
Jun 11, 2013
91
NY
JohnMarcson said:
It's not a torrent fully I don't think, at least not assembled as one.



I was initially told not to take this bar apart. Any chance of it at all LEDQ? Any info as to how this is related to a torrent from Axixtech?

HI John,


I don't have any connection to the torrent from Axixtech
 

DalmatProd

Member
Dec 26, 2011
285
USA - FL
JohnMarcson said:
Product Name: Avian Eye LED Lightbar
Manufacturer: LEDQ, LED Equipped


Model Number: A-1034


Link to manufacturer: LED Equipped


Review Type: Lab based function and form only


Product Description: LED full-sized lightbar


Intended Usage or Market: Volunteer








Item Description:
LEDQ describes their lightbar as an “Emergency LED/Linear Light bar”. The bar features their six diode “linear” Heads mounted inside a frame with clear lenses. There are takedowns and alleys which also flash. The bar requires a proprietary controller which indicates the lights can either be “bright”, “off” or “Coruscate”. What they mean is you can either steady burn or flash the alleys and takedowns. The rear of the bar is an arrow except of the corner heads. The lenses look vaguely liberty inspired, as do takedowns and alleys. It should be noted that the bar looks almost identical to the Axixtech Torrent. The external contour of the bar follows the angle of the corner heads, making the ends of the bar itself angled.

  • Durability/Feel/Appearance: First and foremost, the quality, or lack thereof rather, of this bar made me shorten this review and turn it from a featured site review, into a regular user review. I simply cannot devote site resources to items I do not personally believe are up to the standards demanded for emergency response. The workmanship was rushed and or sloppy. Sheet-metal type screws driven in crooked was the rule, not the exception. There was silicone stuck to various places nowhere near the sealed portions of the lenses. The power and the control wires felt floppy and the insulation was thin and of a very odd gummy consistency. The poor translation of the word flash to coruscate (a medical term for pulsating visual disturbances), was an instant red flag. The controller felt more like a plastic drug store toy than a piece of warning equipment in weight. I have the sad picture in my mind of these mounted to the back of someone's other controller with tape in a youtube video in the future. The bottom line is that this bar isn't up to my standards, or SAE standards apparently (not certified). - 3




    Performance: The bar was tested in shade and full sun. I consider it's brightness average for linear heads of their size. The output of the warning LEDs was bright enough to worry me that people will be attracted to the bar. By that I mean it isn't overly dim or obviously deficient from first glance. The light output is passable for sure. The basic warning functions work and are not obviously grossly underpowered by any means. The front and rear of the bar are not synched, making for poor corner synch too. The traffic arrow doesn't have enough dwell time and/or the heads aren't defined enough for that purpose, because the arrow is imperceptible. The takedowns and alleys are clearly not well reverse engineered. Illumination wise they are basically worthless. As flashers, they are acceptable. Ironically the literature I got with them describes them as halogen, which would be far brighter. In summary, the bar performs well enough to spark the non-discerning customer's interest. - 5




    Features: One of the things that is always a red flag is when an economy version of a product comes loaded with features. If you tell me you have a simplified version of something for less money, I am much less apt to be suspicious. This bar has is fully populated from end to end with LEDs. It has an arrow, takedowns and alleys. The features are loaded in there, but vollies need less features and higher durability, not more features and less solid construction. - 5




    Innovation: When you reverse engineer an existing product and you make it worse, I can't score you on innovation at all. - 0





[*]Price: There was no price provided, but similar bars are listed on the LEDQ website for $499. A fully loaded LED lightbar for under $500 new. Sounds great right? Maybe a little too great. A loaded LED lightbar new should be $600 minimum during a sale or promotion. Anything much cheaper and quantity has been gained by a loss of quality. The used market is much wider and is saturated with last generation bars loaded to the gills for $450, or basic build-a-bars can be $350 projects. If you can't list me five was to better spend $500 on lights right off the top of your head, you haven't been reading this site enough. I'd rather have a solid basic bar than a poorly made loaded one. I think there is a trade off of features for quality here in order to lower the price. - 5


[*]Overall: This bar looks just good enough and packs in some key features well enough to lure in the uneducated buyer. - 3 1/2


If you drop the zero (if innovation isn't important to you) and simply remove it from the average, the score goes up to 4 1/2, which is almost acceptable in some circumstances. Still, there are better lightbars for similar or less money. If you did get such a bar I'd skip the arrow, takedowns and alleys (except as a flasher). Were the bar mine I'd find a way to wire around the controller and lock in the simple alternating pattern with flashing takedowns/alleys.


Rating (1-Unusable 5-Usable but flawed 10-Perfect)


[*]Durability/Feel/Appearance: 3


[*]Performance: 5


[*]Features: 5


[*]Innovation: 0


[*]Price: 5


[*]Overall 3.5 / 4.5


Suggestions--- Do not require the controller. Use higher quality wire. Reexamine the alley/takedowns. Pay more attention to quality control. Double check translations.


View attachment 54737


View attachment 54738


View attachment 54739


View attachment 54740


View attachment 54742


View attachment 54743


===============================================


I looked at the pictures first, then read your review. The first red flag for me was the word "Program" spelled in European/Asian English of "Programme." I've found numerous products over the years, both in and out of the emergency services genre, that, for whatever reason, when labels, directions, etc. are spelled in a non-U.S. English standard, were of lower quality; often knock-offs, imitations, etc. Right now, on eBay, one can purchase 3,000 (sic) LED lights from China for $50 and your vehicle can lead Santa's sleigh! John, a lot of what you said at the beginning of your review exactly matches what I've mentioned above. The pictures were the nail in the coffin.


Excellent attention to detail. Thank you for a great review.


Steve G.
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
It's a shame about the quality, because (like the Libby & torrent) it's a good looking bar from the exterior, and it is nice to get a break from the standard china verve-style lightbar design that everyone uses. If Tom got with his manufacturers to produce a lightbar that looks like this but meets his quality standards, I think we'd have a true winner!
 

Jordan_TCFD

Member
May 22, 2010
407
Chattanooga,TN, Bryant,
If the takedowns are of decent brightness, then I would love to have some of them to change out some of my halogen stuff, and add them to the dead spaces that I have on my lightbars. If nothing else, just to play around with.


Jordan,TCFD
 

Ledequipped

Member
Jun 11, 2013
91
NY
Jordan said:
If the takedowns are of decent brightness, then I would love to have some of them to change out some of my halogen stuff, and add them to the dead spaces that I have on my lightbars. If nothing else, just to play around with.

Jordan,TCFD

SireLite said:
Did you ever get to see what the inside looks like John?

Dodgemaster21 said:
The lenses and takedowns and frame look like a whelen liberty

pdk9 said:
It's a shame about the quality, because (like the Libby & torrent) it's a good looking bar from the exterior, and it is nice to get a break from the standard china verve-style lightbar design that everyone uses. If Tom got with his manufacturers to produce a lightbar that looks like this but meets his quality standards, I think we'd have a true winner!

I am glad to let you know we upgraded our models based on John's Review.


We have sold many with all positive feedback.


We had made 3 versions 1 in Linear and 2 in TIR.


Check out the picsA-1149.jpg

A-1066 1.jpg

A-1142.jpg

A-1142 3.jpg

A-1142 4.jpg

A-1142 5.jpg
 

FSEP

Member
Nov 11, 2012
844
DE
I am glad to see that you took the advice of the customers and made changes per their request. That is a rarity. However, this now requires the bar to be retested by Jman, ELB or whoever to validate this claim.
 

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