I was a cop in the 80s and 90s. When these came out I wanted one bad! If you think this isn't better than all that LED blinding crap today, just look at any video of NYPD or NYFD today. They still use it!! Why? Because its was attention getting without blowing your eyeballs into the back seat!! Federal has an LED version now and its OK, but this thing is timeless!! I used wig wags, dash rotator and rear flashers on my Sheriff car, but used the smith and wesson on my FT BRAGG MP car in the late 80s, which at the time, was top notch. I liked them, but the vision was so much better. Nice vid! Thanks for putting that up here!!!

@AlexMcC-qm2tg

Ай бұрын

I was a big Advocate petitioning against LEDs being primarily lighting I still think that today the main light bar should be halogen or strobe

My uncle is a former cop. I remember him driving with one of these lights on the police cruisers. Half blue half red. Middle was white so it could double for a search light. Hard to believe this was considered the most effective light at one time.

sold! i still want one almost 30 years later!!

I love that aerodynic. I have one out in my carport storage room. It came off of a fire truck. Still fully functional.

This is pretty crazy to see what was popular then compared to the bright LED’s we have now, I also wonder if FSC had any idea the Federal q would still be the most popular siren used today

@gillespriod5509

2 жыл бұрын

the one they publicize here is still effective even compared to LED, the older ones not so much, but it will be always the sirens who clears the intersections

@kirbyellis4337

Жыл бұрын

The drawback with most of the vector and vision bars was their intensity. I know may agencies resorted to adding halogen flashers to the deck to offset the lower intensity of these bars. Todays led lights are so intense and compact you light a car up at every angle and still drawl less amps then these bars did.

@blainenodes8182

Жыл бұрын

We both love the Q2b,even the eq2b is better than pa100,however at 74 yrs, my memory of best federal siren is the C6/doubletone just before the 1950 Q2b,had an oscillating light,best siren in my 74 yrs 🔊👍

@robertgift

10 ай бұрын

@@blainenodes8182 The problem with theQ2 is that electrical energy is expended reproducing harmonics thathe Q2 naturally emits. (B means brake, I recall) Best for an electronic siren is to create a simple square wave which slams the speaker driver diaphragm from onextreme to the other. No other harmonics added. The other problem witheQ2 is its box does not efficiently couple the sound energy to air as an exponentiahorn speaker does. Also the [ _F_ ] cover blocksound. When I screwed long cones to our TS100 speakers, it seems thathey are noticeably louder. Wish that we had the old Federal Signal CP100 speakers. They were most efficient of all. The chrome shell did nothing.

still such a good lightbar

Wow, she has no regard for her conversation with Marilyn @ 1:43 she just cranked up the radio when she answered that snazzy car phone.

@madtrucker0983

Жыл бұрын

Thinking the same thing. Because that's always what I do when my wife calls.

@NoJustice.NoPeace

Ай бұрын

LMAO 😂​@@madtrucker0983

Great video!! I never knew those light bars were so "smart".

Very cool! I love little pieces or history like this.

Wow! 1:49 I remember my parents getting a car phone like that when I was just a boy back the early 90s, and my sister and I thought we were so cool because our family had a car phone. What an old relic, LOL!

@welshwidgetman2o1o76

9 жыл бұрын

Yeah, those old phones were permanently mounted in the car and could not be removed when getting out. They also had a full 3-watt transmitter and a rear glass-mounted antenna (typically a 3dB gain type antenna) unlike today's handheld phones that have a .600mW maximum output (basically a HALF-WATT) with NO antenna to speak of. These old phones did one thing and ONE thing ONLY but they worked great and had plenty of RF power to reach the tower.

@madtrucker0983

Жыл бұрын

And now 8 years later. 😂

Made in IL!!! woot woot.... The Vector and Vision are the only two FS products I like. More of a Whelen guy. :)

@tomatosoupwoo

3 жыл бұрын

Gir, I’m a fed sig guy, I have never liked whelen annoyingly :p

Great clip. Thanks for sharing.

In the 1970's I complained to Federal Signal that they had only one light shining outhend of their light bar. And it wasometimes obscured by an alley light. With wigwagging headlights we did not need more light facing forward. On our ambulance I added additional lights facing 90-degrees right and left. Vision should have been developed years earlier. The Q siren should have half the ports to sound an octave lower. Lower frequencies penetrate vehicles better and travel further in air.

@kirbyellis4337

Жыл бұрын

That amazed me about earlier bars. Many agencies put alleys on and blocked the side warning lights.

@blainenodes8182

Жыл бұрын

We had a heavy rescue squad in 1968-1985 ports were damaged,no other Q2b in St Paul fd had as distinct lower sound range,u r correct👍🔥rumbler siren makes your point 100%

@robertgift

Жыл бұрын

@@blainenodes8182 Rumbler is a worthless gimmick. But a Q siren with half the ports would be very powerful and an octave lower. Maybe a quarter of the ports would be.tter. Powerful and two octaves lower.

@adafrances9800

10 ай бұрын

​@@robertgiftFD's don't use rumblers, police mostly use it because they dont have the Q2B on police cars anymore, and even if they did it would make the police have to do more durring a pursuit, ect, manually winding the Q. I've felt rumblers before, and its not a gimmick, they work, I genuinely 'felt' the siren, and it made me look around and see the police car, knowing how to pull over. I personally think rumblers are great for police cars,

@robertgift

10 ай бұрын

@@adafrances9800 Rumblers are a worthless gimmick to get more money from municipalities talked into buying suchonsense. Rumbler sounds only twoctaves lower If closenough to "feel" it, you can hear the normal siren. I play the pipe organ. There are low pedal notes one really feels. The Q should have half the ports. Years agon our fire apparatus I counted them but forgot. 15?

thx very much, great quality :)

I believe to be the ordinal uploader ( youtube: 9QL_5rq3lfs ) with poor quality at the time. I'm glad to find you've digitized a better version, thanks for making the effort. Do you also have the police version of this video (there are 2 versions of it) ??

I remember seeing those on NYC police cars.

@nosubject4890

6 жыл бұрын

Steve Pratt you are right

@danielletripkoff4199

5 жыл бұрын

Me also

@nosubject4890

5 жыл бұрын

And Las Vegas police

@benmeyer2916

5 жыл бұрын

Steve Pratt I wouldn’t be surprised if some still use them

@germandude5181

4 жыл бұрын

@@benmeyer2916 Of course they do. Every NYPD patrol vehicle was outfitted with them since they bought the new Caprices. Around 2010/2011 the vehicles got the new Vision SLR (at that time: Crown Victoria (last major purchase of the CVPI, due to the stop of production in 2011) and the Chevrolet Impala).

Is it bad that my local FD still uses gear and trucks as old as the ones shown in this video? we don't have any Visions or Valors, just Firehawks, MX-3000s and an Excalibur as well as some Star Signal LEDs scattered about

@PremiumFuelOnly

2 жыл бұрын

If they only get 1 call a month, its not bad.

@vacexpert2020

2 жыл бұрын

@@PremiumFuelOnly They get on average 3 calls a week

@WilleJamesHuff

Жыл бұрын

Keep the rotator lights

@vacexpert2020

Жыл бұрын

@@WilleJamesHuff they're wearing out and parts are NLA so they have to be replaced

@WilleJamesHuff

Жыл бұрын

@@vacexpert2020 yea I’m in the same boat. I just went through my mx7000 before putting it on a 2021 service truck. I have two sets of spare lenses and no other parts. Actually talked to Code 3 tech and they were actually kind of jerks about it when I asked anything about the older stuff. He said completely obsolete. They made parts for them up to 2016 so to me that’s not that old.

Woodbridge and Edison NJ police nounted these lights on most of their 1998-2012 Ford Crown Victorias

@ArmyRescue1 any lightbar put way up high like that looks really bad IMO, just stick it on the roof of the cab and then put 2 or 3 surface-mount lights up high.

We had the V on our fire trucks when I was a firefighter

Was this back around 1990-1991 when they first came out?

Pretty educational video!

Gotta love that pierce arrow! Also, aren't the operators supposed to stay on the line until the fire department gets there?

@aaronhadley3750

2 жыл бұрын

Not for a fire call...the main thing is telling everyone to get out. We do stay on the line on medical calls depending on what is going on.

Last kick at the cat for rotators.

you should check out the new FS vision slr....imo, it's the best v-bar available

Hands down the Vision Vector and smart Vector will always be my lifetime favorite light bar I don't care if it took 1,200 amps to run it😂

Federal Vectors were fitted to some fire appliances here in South Australia, the police vehicles in the early 2000's onwards used a custom single piece lightbar assembly which from memory was made by Britax with Hella internal components fitted?

@HX56Music

2 жыл бұрын

Most of our stuff in Australia is Hazards Systems from Tasmania, all produced locally. I do know there are occasionally Code 3 lightbars used.

@allen480

Жыл бұрын

@@HX56Music Are there any Federal Q sirens in use in Australia?

@HX56Music

Жыл бұрын

@@allen480 Nope, Hazards Systems 1000 Series sirens and then now newer Code3 sirens. We have nothing mechanical. My friend owns a Federal Signal 66G and I own a RVB 6600 siren, so that's the closest we have to mechanical sirens for fire trucks over here, though neither are in service obviously.

I am confused the old light has how much power as a head light on a car....so why the need for change"if its not broke why fix it"

Is it just me, or does the narrator sound like the narrator for the UAC from Doom 3?

Currently in 2023, These are still used today by the NYPD and Los Vegas police department as well as fire, medical, and other P.D’s around North America

the military police and nypd went wild buying these.nice light bar but way over priced. 💲💲💲💲

@Hubjeep

Жыл бұрын

NYPD makes sense as there are so many intersections.

These were great but ate up alternators on our cars.

i love that time

guys if you really want to see this video in a more funny way read the subtitiles and please reply back what you thought of the subtititles

The Twinsonic is my number 1 favorite The Aerodynic is my 2nd favorite

I wonder if the ghostbusters ever used a lightbar like that.

@BlackieFoxxless

2 жыл бұрын

Nope, it was made by code 3 and called the force 4 XL

I know Federal Signal is in North Illinois but are they actually a government owned company or under some government contract? Hence the name Federal Signal.

@hvymtal8566

8 жыл бұрын

+Paul Spain Nope, just a name they came up with back in the day. The word federal is not restricted in company names so long as they do not attempt to pass themselves off as USG

washing with captions

I wounder if the ghostbusters ever used that lightbar?

great video what is that for a siren on the ambulance at 6:00 ist it made by whelen?

@YupItsThatFronty

4 жыл бұрын

I believe it's a Motorola spectra

@Thunderbolt_7026

3 жыл бұрын

6:00 ?

@alexandersalarms5380

3 жыл бұрын

Federal signal

@alexandersalarms5380

3 жыл бұрын

@@YupItsThatFronty pretty sure it’s a federal interceptor those sound identical to a spectra.

What was the name of the light bar at 6:54

@jimmyfair3806

2 жыл бұрын

Thats an mx7000. My first police car had that bar on it.

Makes me think about ghostbusters.

I just love the music at 3:05

@Thunderbolt_7026

3 жыл бұрын

3:05 ?

@LouisSirens

3 жыл бұрын

@@Thunderbolt_7026 yes, there

Ah yes.. Ocala, Florida... E-One's home city. And they're gonna be 50 in 2024...

they made fire alarms too

"Latest technology" ... A lightbulb, a motor, a mirror, a horn, a case ... yeah .... technology ....

Pretty sure Whelen was the first with the revolving emergency light far before federal signal. Way back when. Made in Connecticut. Before Whelen was even a true company and federal signal was only making sirens and steady/single flash lights.

@cvpiDOTnet

7 жыл бұрын

Federal Signal states as far back as 1948 in their video and web page. Whelen on their web page claim George W. Whelen developed a rotating aircraft "anti-collision beacon." in 1952 later converted for vehicle use. So it would be accurate that Federal Signal created the first revolving light for a vehicle as Whelen were originally designed for aircraft a few years later.

@PlatinumEagleStudios

3 жыл бұрын

You're getting mixed up. Whelen was the first to design a rotating light for an AIRCRAFT, but Federal were the first to make them for anything.

God bless the fire brigade!

@alexandersalarms5380

4 жыл бұрын

Fire department

@alexandersalarms5380

4 жыл бұрын

@reverse thrust yes I know.. this is a us video.

Rumbler Siren Was Founded In 1990.

*Pushes button* *Thunderbolt goes off*

@alexandersalarms5380

3 жыл бұрын

no

That's why NYC use them.

Las vegas police department has tat light bar

They switched the old beacons to rotating bars the led light bars

Found the fire station on google earth it’s station 3🤗

"space-age microprocessor"

Phone in automobiles? It'll never catch on.

@NoJustice.NoPeace

Ай бұрын

LMAO 😂

Now thats my type of history!

Seems like American live action fireman Sam to me tbh

👍🏼

Zazur smoke 💨

my city's department has arrow dining on there order trucks

LMAO who the hell puts on their helmet to drive 0:41 ???

@Thunderbolt_7026

3 жыл бұрын

0:41 ?

@wyomingresponsevideos8382

3 жыл бұрын

They are just trying to get the audience fired up i guess

6:06

Federal model Q

And Then the police used it

Zazur vhs 📼

Space age microprocessor 🤣

The beginning is SO cringy. With the fake smoke and the girl being REALLY calm about it and the fact that she's still inside the house and it hasn't even burned down yet shows you this is very scripted. Like all old infomercials this one was very cheesy lol. But cool to watch at the same time.

@garystar2398

6 жыл бұрын

Exactly what I was thinking lol

@grimatronicpl7163

3 жыл бұрын

Its neen made in 90s what did you expect?

@PlatinumEagleStudios

3 жыл бұрын

@@grimatronicpl7163 I've seen a lot of other 90's commercials/infomercials with better acting then this LMFAO

Why’s an ambulance going and why’s it going Code 3?

@stephenhanneken3041

Ай бұрын

Well, buzman, as far as I can recall civilians and firefighters can get hurt in fires.