Low Pro speaker for Mini Edge/Freedom

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
Ok so this could go in both the visual and audible threads. Would you be able to run a 100w speaker and a mini Edge/Freedom off of a cig plug, assuming that you could mount the speaker to it in the first place?
 
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Zapp Brannigan

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 23, 2010
3,580
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Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Yea i wouldn't push my luck. Most 100 watt sirens run at about 8 amps alone.
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
Hmm damn. We are using leased vehicles so no holes no permanent mounting. All cig plug stuff and I'm really not a fan of the 2100 mini bar that was provided. Only corners and they aren't sync'd. Makin the blinkee freak in me twitch. Looking for a bar/siren combo that won't melt the cig plug. Not above making one. Anyone got any ideas?
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,295
NW Indiana
Hoff said:
Hmm damn. We are using leased vehicles so no holes no permanent mounting. All cig plug stuff and I'm really not a fan of the 2100 mini bar that was provided. Only corners and they aren't sync'd. Makin the blinkee freak in me twitch. Looking for a bar/siren combo that won't melt the cig plug. Not above making one. Anyone got any ideas?

Many newer vehicles have one or more more auxiliary power ports in addition to the actual cigar lighter. You could use one for the mini bar, and a second for the siren.
 

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
shues said:
Many newer vehicles have one or more more auxiliary power ports in addition to the actual cigar lighter. You could use one for the mini bar, and a second for the siren.

I've ran a 100 watt vcon siren off of a cig plug before. Can you attatch the edge speaker to a mini freedom???
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,295
NW Indiana
Fast LT1 said:
I've ran a 100 watt vcon siren off of a cig plug before. Can you attatch the edge speaker to a mini freedom???

If you drilled your own holes, it might. But I think one would look goofy on the wider Ultra frame, the platform upon which most Freedoms are build.
 

Wheels

Member
May 23, 2010
400
El Paso, Texas
shues said:
Many newer vehicles have one or more more auxiliary power ports in addition to the actual cigar lighter. You could use one for the mini bar, and a second for the siren.


Shues is right, many newer vehicles will have more than one power port available. If the vehicle has one auxiliary port in the rear, you can use a "lighter plug extension" and route it to the console/dash to power up the siren. Then power the mini bar using the auxiliary port on the dash.
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
shues said:
Many newer vehicles have one or more more auxiliary power ports in addition to the actual cigar lighter. You could use one for the mini bar, and a second for the siren.

That's what I was thinking.

shues said:
If you drilled your own holes, it might. But I think one would look goofy on the wider Ultra frame, the platform upon which most Freedoms are build.

Goofy is ok... as long as it's not outright ugly.

MichaelR said:
Redtronic do an LED bar with integrated 100w siren/speaker with magmount guaranteed up to 100mph, any colour combo. Bearing in mind you guys over the pond don't drive as fast as us I think that should do you :)
REDTRONIC - UK Manufacturers of Emergency Equipment - Specialists in LED Lightbars for Police, Fire, Ambulance and Recovery Vehicles.

Saw this on another post. Will have to look at pricing at home. Might be a viable option over the Bull Blaster.


Starting to get the urge to make one off of an Edge or Freedom. Would be a sweet thing to have the next go around. Thanks all for the responses so far.
 

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Hoff said:
That's what I was thinking.



Goofy is ok... as long as it's not outright ugly.


Saw this on another post. Will have to look at pricing at home. Might be a viable option over the Bull Blaster.


Starting to get the urge to make one off of an Edge or Freedom. Would be a sweet thing to have the next go around. Thanks all for the responses so far.

I think you're better off with the freedom and low pro edge speaker.
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
Fast LT1 said:
I think you're better off with the freedom and low pro edge speaker.

So how to do the siren, keeping it portable? Or would it be easier to put the siren in the bar and have the switches in the car with the lights on/off switch?


(Prolly gonna build this when I get home lol, wife is gonna do this -> :rolleyes: )
 

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Hoff said:
So how to do the siren, keeping it portable? Or would it be easier to put the siren in the bar and have the switches in the car with the lights on/off switch?

(Prolly gonna build this when I get home lol, wife is gonna do this -> :rolleyes: )


Put a siren amplifier inside the freedom, whelen makes a compact, water proof, 100 watt siren. Sirennet.com has them.
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
This is true they do. I would have to do an in line switch. Would a small box with three rockers work? One for lights on/off, one wail/off/yelp, one man/off/horn.
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
Fast LT1 said:
Put a siren amplifier inside the freedom, whelen makes a compact, water proof, 100 watt siren. Sirennet.com has them.

This one right? That could work. I don't know how much space I'd have to play with inside the mini freedom. Still conceptual right now.


I was also thinking something like this would make the inline box easier to do. Would be cool if I could use a remote siren as it would have a PA integrated into the control head, but I'm not sure if/how you could separate the power for the lights and siren.


Edit: So I was looking at the Whelen Alpha with the Alpha4 switch. Would the On/off switch be able to cover the siren and lights amp wise? Could run the power for the lights to that switch and keep it all in one control box. Thinking out loud.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
There is a reason why you can't buy lightbar mounted speakers anymore. Sirens are no longer mounted on the roof or in lightbars due to noise and hearing damage issues. Is it really a big deal... probably not, but I find roof mounted speakers distracting (especially Qs lol)...


You simply need to compare the amperage rating at any/all cig plugs and find the lowest amp draw siren you can. Most go around 10 amps...
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,295
NW Indiana
Hoff said:
I]Edit: So I was looking at the Whelen Alpha with the Alpha4 switch. Would the On/off switch be able to cover the siren and lights amp wise? Could run the power for the lights to that switch and keep it all in one control box. Thinking out loud.

The on/off switch on the Alpha4 doesn't do any heavy-lifting. It's a DPDT switch that serves two purposes:

  • connect the horn ring either to the siren or to the vehicle's stock horn relay
  • connect the control power wire coming out of the siren amp either to the tone switch or open the circuit
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
JohnMarcson said:
There is a reason why you can't buy lightbar mounted speakers anymore. Sirens are no longer mounted on the roof or in lightbars due to noise and hearing damage issues. Is it really a big deal... probably not, but I find roof mounted speakers distracting (especially Qs lol)...

You simply need to compare the amperage rating at any/all cig plugs and find the lowest amp draw siren you can. Most go around 10 amps...

Hmm. I can see the annoyance of running miles with a roof mounted siren, but this wouldn't be used for very long distances. At least that isn't the intent. So the weak link is going to be the cig plugs. I figured as much. Are Carson or SVP vollie type sirens amp vampires? Was leaning towards that platform. Hell if nothing else I kinda just want to build it to do it. Thanks for the info. :thumbsup:
 

Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
shues said:
The on/off switch on the Alpha4 doesn't do any heavy-lifting. It's a DPDT switch that serves two purposes:
  • connect the horn ring either to the siren or to the vehicle's stock horn relay
  • connect the control power wire coming out of the siren amp either to the tone switch or open the circuit

Crapola. Well looks like I'll have to make my own. I guess if it was easy it wouldn't be as fun huh? Thank you Shues for the info!
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,295
NW Indiana
Hoff said:
Crapola. Well looks like I'll have to make my own. I guess if it was easy it wouldn't be as fun huh? Thank you Shues for the info!

I think you misunderstood what I wrote. The switch isn't doing very much to begin with. It might have a good deal of excess capacity available. With a call to Whelen might be able to ascertain the switch's rating. In any case, there should be enough capacity for that switch to actuate a relay to do the heavy lifting.
 

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