Federal Signal Visibar 1st & 2nd generation
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Hello fellow collectors and fans of vintage lights!
Today I made a video of my 2 restored Federal Signal Visibar.
The one with clear domes is the 1st generation (I guess...) of the Visibar.There is 1 independant motor in each side.
The 2nd with red\blue dome and the CP25 speaker is the 2nd version of the Visibar and the most popular.There is only one motor,and this motor is mounted on the drivers side like the Twinsonic.There is a chain in the frame.
It's an fantastic light from 60's and 70's!!!
I hope you will enjoy the video and the music ;-)
PS : Personal collection.Not for sale!Thanks.
I'm still a Texas peace officer, however when I began in 83, I was assigned a Plymouth Fury, with those exact gumballs, however wig wag headlamps were not out yet in Texas, thus our technician, wired the swith to enable both high beams turn off & on while activating overhead lamps, my Dad was a Captain with a municipal dept, and he drove a LTD II slick top with the same headlamp setup, but with halogen red & blue grull/deck ligh5s, with a Unity that was white on one side and steady burning red on the other side. At the time this was high tech, young/new public servant's don't realize why red always mounts on driver's side. I learned from my mother's dad ,who was a WW I veteran, and began his career in the early thirties, at that time only 1 rear view was required on the driver's side, thus a large siren integrated with a huge steady burning red light was mounted on the driver's side front fender of the police car, it was even taught in Texas & multiple states, that use red, to yield to emergency vehicles by pulling over to righ th hand, and stopping, this included fire & ambulance vehicles, so that emergency service vehicles could respond with adequate space on particularly narrow roadways.
Sorry, for the police history lesson, but I still have the leather slapper I was issued at the academy in 1983.
Back in the day ,when I began my career, the siren did not have the electrical toggle for air horn, only wail, it came out about 1987, when the airhorn was integrated into the nostalgic Adam 12 Hollywood sirens, however I came in when we actually used a 2 way Motorola radio, like on the TV series Adam 12, we didn't get Motorola mobile data terminals ,till 1985.
Appreciate your commentary 👍...been a warning lite buff since 1949to2023...1comment...wig wag headlights are thee best warning lites,cheap switch,blinding from 1,2,3,blocks away, LED's are 🤯,if you look,wig wags are what I see 1st,and...some wigwag headlights/dwell time better than super fast w.w. just old man's 2 cents👋
I was issued a LTD II with precisely that gum ball machine, only with a second 100watt speaker in the grill, and wig wag headlights & taillights in 1983. The Ford 1979 LTD 2 was a sedan with a Unity post 150 watt spotlight steady burning red. I had 150watt KC lights mounted in between & another pair behind each gum ball for alley lights. I remember the dual tone FS siren & Motorola low band radio & our 800htz mounted on top of the Adam-12 low band with a big whip antenna mounted on the driver’s side rear quarter panel. I just retired on September 1, 2021. I never promoted beyond a senior corporal patrol division, so I stayed pushing a black & white for 37 years. But I do like your overheads w/sealed beams better than reflective rotators, thanx for your video, my father continued as a cop until he passed in 2015 @ 81 years old, he was a chief at a different department & my brothers are about to retire from the dept I retired from in about 3 years. The young cops started calling me “saddle bum” after my 20 years, I never liked it but it meant old school, because I never promoted, yet I only wanted to work the streets “To Protect and Serve”.
Knew more than a few “ old dogs” riding a patrol car long after they should have moved up. It’s a rotten job but someone’s got to do it
I have a fondest for this light bar. It was my 1st light bar that I used when I was 19 and a Volunteer Firefighter and a Soldier Stationed in Houston back in '85. Then I upgraded to the StreetHawk about 2 months later.
We used these bars back in the 1970's and they were called "chain-drive" lightbars because of the chain that ran between both beacons. The chain was concealed inside the square support tube both beacons are mounted on, and the chain kept them in perfect synchronization. Most people synced them to alternate an even flash from side-to-side, while some opted for a slightly "offset" flash effect, which provided an irregular flash rate, which was good for capturing more attention.
Love the clear domes with the amber filters👍😁
Folks in the fire department today don't know what they are missing by not getting to see the beacon rays cut thru smoke. We called it a "Hollywood Helicopter".
Love the old school look
All of them from Twinsonic to Aerodynic they would cast a beam
My first patrol car had the twin beacon lights on it and Dodge diplomat patrol car back in the 80s brings back memories
100 times better than anything they use today. One thing I remember from the 1970s, is that if an emergency vehicle was coming from a side street, even if they weren't using a siren, you could spot the revolving light beams, before the EV was even in sight. I always saw the lights way before I heard the siren. Today I generally hear the siren first.
We are agree!
Really cool. music 🎶 is awesome 👌
Love these bars! Had one my Sheriff's Unit
The song is off the Miami Vice soundtrack by Jan Hammer called " Crockett's Theme " .
Now thats a beacon light!
Hell yes!Thes best! ;-)
Absolutely awesome
Memories
I have both of those BUT yours are nicer!
Truly Magnificent video!
I lament that this type of light bar is no longer used on our police cars.
MUCH BETTER MUSIC THAN WHAT HE POSTED WITH THE TWINSONIC VIDEO...
No and fuck off
Both bars together would make a good CHP setup...nice!
Crocketts Theme! 👍👍👍🎵🎧🎹🎛️🎸
These are more properly named the Twin Beacon Ray or Model 11. I'm fairly certain that the chain driven model was the first generation. Because of the problems with the chain, Federal switched to two independent light rotators.
The same thing happened with the Federal Jetsonic 20 or so years later. The first generation had a single motor that drove four independent rotators, two on each side. They too were driven by a chain and also suffered from problems. The next generation Jetsonic, just the the "Visabar", went to individual rotators. Hope this helps.
One of my old security patrol vehicles had that same rotating yellow/white setup. As the owner/ road commander I still drive that old crown Vic occasionally to sites to check on my guards. I enjoy flipping it on and rolling up on them. My CVPI is an ex cop car with a rebuilt 351 Cleveland in it ( 1989/1990 vintage). Caught a guard who was supposed to be driving site to site making rounds at 4 different locations in one spot for over an hour. Rolled up on him and lit him up. Never heard so many excuses from a person, I decided to be nice and just warn him. He’s now the supervisor and hasn’t messed up since. I still love showing up unannounced with the Vic though. Keeps my guards on their toes
I just got one a few month back,It is the first gen, I stole it for $30.00...Was missing the domes,Domes were broken up ,had clear domes at one time. one is bent going to try and bend it back in reg, shape...I got three use domes,plus model 14 with three domes,one red,blue, yellow ones for $114.00.....Im going to use red & blue domes..
Thanks!
Have you change the + - connection in the blue red ligthbar ??
Love this video!
The song is Jan Hammer (Miami Vice ;-) )
So Guessing the red and blue is earlier version as they create a X flash pattern and the Clear 1s are rotating same direction ?!!! Thanks for video and a answer to this please.
interesting that the lamps on the 1st gen. rotated in the same direction, indiacateing they were chain driven by one motor. but the the 2nd gen lamps spin opposite of each other
Working on my own
The song is Jan Hammer (Miami Vice)
Hello, I used to have a couple of these lights and I used them as part of a lighting set up when I would be the DJ at local dances. That was many years ago, but now I am a school teacher and I am the one that ends up running the dances at my school. I would love to get my hands on a couple of these to use for atmosphere. How do you find them?
Hey Willis, that's a cool way to utilize these units. Unless you've found it out already and can live without the connecting bar, you can try to get ahold of some Federal Signal model 14 beacons.Except from the bar assy they look the same and were in production over a LONG span up to late 90s.You can still get decent examples and even NOS domes and parts for these at fair prices by googling a bit around
Merci beaucoup ;-).La musique fait peut-être un peu kitch mais je trouve que ça va bien ensemble.
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I just picked one of these up for a steal. What would you say these are worth?
You forgot the tennis balls....
I meant like a combination of both bars together
East-bound and down.
I am curious what the difference is between 1st and 2nd generation? How can you tell?
2nd generation have a chain in the frame.So it's synchro.
After making that post a year ago I did some research and found it may be just the opposite. All Model 11 Visibars were chain driven with one motorized 11 and one slave non-motorized 11. The serial number on the Model 11's, should match both lights. In order to have a non chain driven Visibar it would require either a Model 14 or two motor driven Model 11's. If two model 11's were used the serial number probably will not match as it had to come from another bar. Either way it would be an after market change and not a stock Model 11 Twin. I have the original 1964 patent application and the it shows a chain driven bar.
I do enjoy your video's, your music choices are always perfect for the video. Thank you !
Thanks for your answer and your comment ;-).
UA-cam remove my videos all the time because of the music...boring!
i am looking for a set up like this, do you find, sell these?
Not for sale sorry.
what is the name of music?
80s.....
very unneffective lightbars but very cool