New FDNY Seagraves

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
Hey guys. I’m sure many of you have seen that FDNY went back to Seagrave for their engines and now are sporting a fully FedSig lighting package with Navigators up top.

I’ve noticed that the outer minibars on the front of the cab appear to be tilted downwards. I initially thought that the guys hit their new lightbars against something the first time I saw it, but it appears all their new engines and tower ladders have brackets intentionally tilting the outer lightbars slightly downwards.

Does anybody have a clue why that is?
 

firebuff17

Member
Mar 28, 2011
774
CT
I saw that.
My guess is that it brings the light beam down to hit the cars, or pedestrians, that are closer to the rig. We all know, at least on this forum, that LEDs are pretty directional. So having the light bars up high, they never really hit any cars. Putting the tilt on them brings it down more.
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
Interesting point; I never thought of that. It makes sense, but I also think it’s a waste on their part since the angled 45 degree reflectors on the rotators would do that naturally when they’re positioned normally.

Has anybody else heard anything or have any thoughts about the decision to custom mount them tilted downwards?
 

firebuff17

Member
Mar 28, 2011
774
CT
I agree. I spent some time spit balling wondering myself. That’s the best I came up with.
I would be interested to know what the reason is also.
Hopefully somebody on here sees this thread and replies.
 

Nolines

Member
Apr 5, 2018
1,678
Margate, FL
Seriously, contact FDNY find out who they purchased them from and contact them to see why they did it, everything is built to the clients specs but they might not be the only ones that are having them done that way and the outfitters would know why.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio

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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I'm going to guess that the downward mounting is because most traffic in NYC is close/intersection, not down the road. The traffic clearing style in NYC isn't like standard roads. Also, if we are being honest, the LED rotators from federal are pretty narrow in their light spread, and not really effective if you aren't looking at the right angle. I'm thinking that in order to get max effect at intersections aiming them down is required.
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
Seriously, contact FDNY find out who they purchased them from and contact them to see why they did it, everything is built to the clients specs but they might not be the only ones that are having them done that way and the outfitters would know why.
I’m not going to waste my time calling around to Seagrave or FDNY and getting transferred endlessly for something that nobody is dying to know the answer to. I just asked on the forum, because I was curious if anybody here had any direct knowledge, & the 2 cents put forward by some of the members here seem to be logical rationales.

Also, there is no outfitter here. The Seagrave factory directly handles large customers like FDNY who have awarded them massive multi-year contracts. Most of their employees don’t know the reasoning for each customers’ specs (they just follow the spec sheet provided to them), and FDNY HQ isn’t gonna just have the apparatus committee members on speed dial.
 
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pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
if we are being honest, the LED rotators from federal are pretty narrow in their light spread, and not really effective if you aren't looking at the right angle.
Sooooo true! They’re really disappointing, & I wish FDNY went with the Freedoms (that they use on their Ferrara Ladders) on all their new Seagraves
 
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firebuff17

Member
Mar 28, 2011
774
CT
Sooooo true! They’re really disappointing, & I wish FDNY went with the Freedoms (that they use on their Ferrara Ladders) on all their new Seagraves

OOOHhh…. Love me some freedoms!!!

Throw some Rot-A-Beams in the corner modules on the 45 degree bars and man oh man that’s would be sweet if I say so myself.
 
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pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
OOOHhh…. Love me some freedoms!!!

Throw some Rot-A-Beams in the corner modules on the 45 degree bars and man oh man that’s would be sweet if I say so myself.
I love their spec mini freedoms for the Ferrara RM ladders (they look like R/C dual color inboards with rapid pattern rotating corners)…they’re brighter and no moving parts, so I think they’re a win for FDNY over FedSig navigators
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I wish people would use Whelen rotabeam technology if they absolutely have to have a rotator look. The Federal LED rotators are disappointing and add back the mechanical failure point for no reason. I would love to see a custom Freedom approach with rotabeam outboard and regular heads inboard like the idea with the mini aerodynics they used with one outboard rotator. I sometimes wonder if the Federal rotating LED heads would even still exist if not for NYC.
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
I sometimes wonder if the Federal rotating LED heads would even still exist if not for NYC.

Probably not. Vision SLR demand in the USA dropped by 50% when the FDNY scrapped them lol, so now NYPD RMPs & traffic units are gonna be the only ones left with vision SLRs.

Sadly, I also think we’re gonna see a lot of FDNY rigs with burnt out lightheads or lightheads stuck on steadyburn now that they’re going with FedSig for perimeter warning….I gotta say, I see wayyy more problems with FireRays alone than all other surface mounts combined. I lost track of which products FedSig is outsourcing overseas, but (irregardless) their testing/quality control with the FireRays is god awful
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I believe metro Dade fire rescue uses vision SLR units on their rescues err Miami Dade..
Yeah, there are others, but I think NYC is the major one. I see them pop up here and there like Miami Dade etc.
 

cabunty

Member
Sep 21, 2014
135
New England
LVMPD uses SLR's...Clark County (which Vega$ is in) out there does also...but those are drops in the ocean compared to NYPD...and...CHP...
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida

Just saw this new video. It’s hard to see the lightheads up close while they’re flashing at night, but it appears this newest seagrave engine has a Whelen package…it looks like M6’s, T-ion duos, & Mini freedoms with rotabeam corners up top. Couldn’t see what the rear minibars were, though. They also added lower grill lights, just like the HMTUs and Rescues.

I hope FDNY just goes to all Whelen lighting, instead of Ferraras having Whelen and Seagraves having FedSig. Never been a big fan of fedsig’s rotators, and they seem to have terrible QC on their quadraflares/fire rays (more often than not, if I see a newer rig with a burnt out lighthead or a lighthead stuck on steadyburn, it’s a FedSig light).

Also, to comment on the mentions above, Miami Dade dropped FedSig a little while back and went to Tomar. I believe it’s because their Sutphen dealer (South Florida EV) nudged them towards Tomar
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio

Just saw this new video. It’s hard to see the lightheads up close while they’re flashing at night, but it appears this newest seagrave engine has a Whelen package…it looks like M6’s, T-ion duos, & Mini freedoms with rotabeam corners up top. Couldn’t see what the rear minibars were, though. They also added lower grill lights, just like the HMTUs and Rescues.

I hope FDNY just goes to all Whelen lighting, instead of Ferraras having Whelen and Seagraves having FedSig. Never been a big fan of fedsig’s rotators, and they seem to have terrible QC on their quadraflares/fire rays (more often than not, if I see a newer rig with a burnt out lighthead or a lighthead stuck on steadyburn, it’s a FedSig light).

Also, to comment on the mentions above, Miami Dade dropped FedSig a little while back and went to Tomar. I believe it’s because their Sutphen dealer (South Florida EV) nudged them towards Tomar
Whelen rotabeams are the far better way to accomplish the FDNY "rotator at the end of the bar concept". I dislike SLR rotators, why add a motor to LEDs? Also they just aren't that effective IMHO. I would love to see rotabeam LEDs replace SLR where and when ever possible, but I'm a Whelen fan boy.
 
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Nolines

Member
Apr 5, 2018
1,678
Margate, FL
Alot of metro Dades units are rebuilds, station 19 has an aerial that has been changed from its original body and setup a few times, tomar bars, mars light on the grill ( spinner I forget the type ) and rotabeams 4, 2 left 2 right and tail as well, the rescue has full tomar bar up front and led modules around the box and grille that I'm not sure who they are yet ( busiest station in the county ) but the siren sucks( new siren lousy tone, even the driver will flip till he hits the old piercer and wail like whelen sounds and roll down the road ).
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
Alot of metro Dades units are rebuilds, station 19 has an aerial that has been changed from its original body and setup a few times, tomar bars, mars light on the grill ( spinner I forget the type ) and rotabeams 4, 2 left 2 right and tail as well, the rescue has full tomar bar up front and led modules around the box and grille that I'm not sure who they are yet ( busiest station in the county ) but the siren sucks( new siren lousy tone, even the driver will flip till he hits the old piercer and wail like whelen sounds and roll down the road ).
Yes, they did a lot of remounts for their old rescues (they were using FedSig lighting at the time) and sent their few old ALF aerials to get refurbed by Spartan LTC. Aerial 19 has a roto-Ray, with mixed code 3 and Whelen lighting, and Rescue 19 has the new all-tomar package (with the awful electronic mechanical siren)

Unfortunately, the growing trend is Sutphen down here, because of their large dealer presence here, so Miami Dade hopped on that wagon instead of sticking with E-One (once they ditched Rosenbauer) and they’re ordering a shitload of Sutphen.

Whelen rotabeams are the far better way to accomplish the FDNY "rotator at the end of the bar concept". I dislike SLR rotators, why add a motor to LEDs? Also they just aren't that effective IMHO. I would love to see rotabeam LEDs replace SLR where and when ever possible, but I'm a Whelen fan boy.
FedSig can say goodbye to their 2 big customers now that Dade isn’t buying Rosenbauers with Vision SLRs and FDNY (hopefully!) isn’t gonna continue wasting money on overpriced LED rotator bars that aren’t very noticeable half the time.

Like John, I’m a Whelen fanboy too. While a flashing M-series is my preference over a rotabeam, I 100% agree that Whelen rotabeams are better than any FedSig, powerarc, etc rotator/sweeper pattern
 

RL1

Member
May 20, 2010
1,649
Ga

Just saw this new video. It’s hard to see the lightheads up close while they’re flashing at night, but it appears this newest seagrave engine has a Whelen package…it looks like M6’s, T-ion duos, & Mini freedoms with rotabeam corners up top. Couldn’t see what the rear minibars were, though. They also added lower grill lights, just like the HMTUs and Rescues.

I hope FDNY just goes to all Whelen lighting, instead of Ferraras having Whelen and Seagraves having FedSig. Never been a big fan of fedsig’s rotators, and they seem to have terrible QC on their quadraflares/fire rays (more often than not, if I see a newer rig with a burnt out lighthead or a lighthead stuck on steadyburn, it’s a FedSig light).

Also, to comment on the mentions above, Miami Dade dropped FedSig a little while back and went to Tomar. I believe it’s because their Sutphen dealer (South Florida EV) nudged them towards Tomar
The patterns on the new truck are so much better than the old single flash
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
I honestly don’t mind the slow single flash. While Signal alert is probably my all around favorite, I think the single flash for perimeter warning on all the 2020’s and 2021’s looks better than the rapid flickering pattern.

I just wish there wasn’t such a push toward smaller impaxx/ion-sized lightheads everywhere on the body (I prefer having 6x4 lightheads on the sides of the cab & body whenever there’s enough room)
 
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