What elb'er made this clone bar?

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
I've dug, searched, scoured, pillaged, even bribed to find this and I can't....

Someone on here made a FS visibar clone using whelen led rota-beam beacons and L31 beacons. They posted a video and I cannot find it here or YouTube. And I've tried every combo you can think of...whelen, beacon, rotabeam, visibar clone, led visibar, etc.

My search has led me to the C3 arch bars and a FS model 100 clone but not the mock up whelen headed one someone made.....any one help me out?
 

upnorth896

Member
Dec 13, 2011
148
MI
Not to be off track from what you're looking for, but this was done back a few years ago in Saginaw County Michigan. Interesting mounting system and lighting setup.
 
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Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
Yup, already aware of those. The model 100 bar on the left and the C3 arch on the right.
 

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
@gtpts27 Aha, yes! I've seen about half of your vids, impressive. Lots of euro and unique stuff. Would you be willing to reload them if you still have the files?
 

gtpts27

Member
Jul 1, 2017
579
Virginia
@gtpts27 Aha, yes! I've seen about half of your vids, impressive. Lots of euro and unique stuff. Would you be willing to reload them if you still have the files?
I always delete the original file after I upload a video to YouTube. To really put the nail in the coffin, I've also sold all the parts that I used for those particular concept bars. Otherwise I'd gladly make another video for you.
 

gtpts27

Member
Jul 1, 2017
579
Virginia
Ok Darth gtpts27, what made you make it and why?? Wish I could have seen that myself..
I had the parts and was curious what it would look like. I didn't actually build anything permanent. I just set a pair of R316s and a pair of L31s on top of a Whelen Crossbar and recorded a variety of pattern and sync combinations.

I had a number of different "just to see what it looks like" videos on my channel but deleted them all in favor of only having "real" bars on my main channel. For better or for worse, I've become much more of a purist in my collecting focus and preferences. I do wish I'd kept those videos, though, and uploaded them to a separate channel.
 
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unityrv26

Member
Mar 4, 2012
391
Michigan
Not to be off track from what you're looking for, but this was done back a few years ago in Saginaw County Michigan. Interesting mounting system and lighting setup.
This is my county. They no longer rotate. They (finally) realized how horrible they were rotating. Dimmer and less flash. Now they are set up on a strobing alternating pattern, which is better.

They were never intended for their power, the Sheriff just wanted the retro look. Pretty irresponsible spending in my eyes since they don't even have cameras yet.

They rely mostly on their interior and hideaway LEDs.
 
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gtpts27

Member
Jul 1, 2017
579
Virginia
This is my county. They no longer rotate. They (finally) realized how horrible they were rotating. Dimmer and less flash. Now they are set up on a strobing alternating pattern, which is better.

They were never intended for their power, the Sheriff just wanted the retro look. Pretty irresponsible spending in my eyes since they don't even have cameras yet.

They rely mostly on their interior and hideaway LEDs.

Here's a video showing both the rotating pattern (which is terrible) and the full flash (much better). While it does appear the Sheriff appreciates the retro look, based on the above interview, it also sounds like he feels that having 50 flashing modules plastered around a car does not necessarily make it safer. From what I understand, there's some science to back that up.

 

unityrv26

Member
Mar 4, 2012
391
Michigan
i like the rotating look :shrug
While I like the rotating look, when approaching their cars, at night especially, they appear as just a blob of light, purplish light. This makes it very hard to tell exactly where the cars are. Quite a few of us have noticed this.
 
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AJ3814

Member
Mar 13, 2015
689
Central Louisiana
While I like the rotating look, when approaching their cars, at night especially, they appear as just a blob of light, purplish light. This makes it very hard to tell exactly where the cars are. Quite a few of us have noticed this.
Actually Rotating light is easier for the human eye to "track the source" especially in bad weather.... this is why lighthouses have never strayed from the rotating beacon. While it cannot be argued the flashing pattern is "brighter", brighter is not always better.

I'll take rotating, especially good halogen, any day over anything else.

Texas Highway Patrol stuck with rotators until they quit making them for a reason.... drunks went for the flashing lights (strobes/neobes/LED's), but almost never hit a parol unit with rotators.

I'll admit, I do also like the flash.... but I'd still take rotators any day.
 

AJ3814

Member
Mar 13, 2015
689
Central Louisiana
While I like the rotating look, when approaching their cars, at night especially, they appear as just a blob of light, purplish light. This makes it very hard to tell exactly where the cars are. Quite a few of us have noticed this.
To solve the problem, have one rotating pattern swirl opposite the other...... if they rotate "together", red and blue at the same time looks purple. Time the pattern to have one of them offset in the rotation by 90 degrees and you'll have separate red and blue flashes.

But then again, I'm obsessed with rotators. HAH
 

unityrv26

Member
Mar 4, 2012
391
Michigan
Actually Rotating light is easier for the human eye to "track the source" especially in bad weather.... this is why lighthouses have never strayed from the rotating beacon. While it cannot be argued the flashing pattern is "brighter", brighter is not always better.

I'll take rotating, especially good halogen, any day over anything else.

Texas Highway Patrol stuck with rotators until they quit making them for a reason.... drunks went for the flashing lights (strobes/neobes/LED's), but almost never hit a parol unit with rotators.

I'll admit, I do also like the flash.... but I'd still take rotators any day.
I'll take rotators over LED any day.
 

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