Who makes these lightbars?

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:05 pm

It's got alley lights, three strobes on each side, and an electronic message display on the rear. Heaps of companies here sell them. Looks a bit like a modified Whelen IMO, but I'm not sure.

Anyone?

(For those who may be interested, this is a '02 or '03 GM Holden Commodore SS highway patrol car, "Tumut 207", with an LS1 V8, 66-88MHz Philips PRM8030 VHF, GME Electrophone UHFCB, Nokia GSM cellphone handsfree, Silver Eagle radar, and either a Motorola Astro Spectra W3 or Tait 2020 UHF radio)

You can see the LED message display here:

ANB_Medic · Post by **ANB_Medic** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:53 pm

Damned thing looks more like a rolling fly-swatter judging by the front bumper...

Todd

nmfire10 · Post by **nmfire10** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:43 pm

Probably one these Asian $hit-box companies that rip-off the designs of real products and make them with a different name. Probably not legal for sale in the United States due to that if this is the case.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 3:04 am

I've seen them in pictures of Canadian police cars (can't remember which force).

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 7:56 am

hell it look like a edge 9000 to me. i will ask with aussi contacts i have

also that is a rear wheel drive V8 impalla there folks that car can kick as serius but

Post by Pj » Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:54 pm

London has some of these as well, made by Whelen. There are a lot of US stuff that is heavily modified for use in Europe with little fancy things on them.

Israil (sp) and Denmark? has started to buy quite a bit of Whelen/strobe stuff.

n1pj · Post by **n1pj** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:26 am

The lightbar is whelen smart arrow lightbar. It is just an edge 9000 lightbar with a smart arrow led display panel. The lightbar can store 128 messages that are 256 characters long. The site I think has a typo in it, it says for 48 inch lightbar but when ordering it says only available on 52 and 60 inch lightbars. I do a lot of work for the National Weather Service, I am planning on getting one of these lightbars to display weather watches and warnings to the general public when I am out in storms.
The price of the lightbar is about 2000 dollars then if you want to do your own messages you need the cable to connect to the lightbar and the lightbar message software which is another 400 dollars.

http://www.mega-technical.com/html/prod ... enger.html

PJ

Post by **alex** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:44 am

I can't remember who off hand on the board - but the person with the minivan with all the cool equipment in it has one. He'd be a good person to ask questions of (probably!)

-Alex

Post by Pj » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:37 pm

Yeah...off hand I can't think of his name, (Bluefethertech is his business I think) has a 9600 series bar with the messenger. The messenger is available in the 48 inch length.

In order to program up the messenger, you would have to preload messages into the controlhead for it. You cannot just type in a message and display it. The messages come out of pre-programmed files, or a custom file.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:34 pm

kc7gr

http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan.html

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:32 pm

KitN1MCC wrote:hell it look like a edge 9000 to me. i will ask with aussi contacts i have

also that is a rear wheel drive V8 impalla there folks that car can kick as serius but

Nope, it's a Commodore

Totally different beast manufacturered by GM Holden in Australia, who happen to also make the Pontiac GTO (rebadged Monaro).

Those things kick arse. One of the HWP guys I know has had an identical machine up to almost 170mph in a pursuit. The Ford Falcon XR8s (also RWD V8) are just as quick.

The thing I really hate is that it's almost impossible to mount more than one radio, and even then, only if it's a small one. All Commodores and Falcons come with a factory centre console with the parking brake, gear shifter (no column shift avaliable), electric window controls etc. As a result, the cops have a funny little arrangement where they mount the controls for their lights/siren, LED display, one or two radios and Silver Eagle radar right on top of the dash.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:36 pm

I found out yesterday that the lightbar is a Whelen Edge 9000, with a bolt-on message display (that isn't nearly as good as the Whelen unit) from a company called Hazard Systems (http://www.hazard.com.au)

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:34 pm

being down there in aussi land you ever hear of a company called MCkay associats who make head phone and spekaer mikes

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:46 pm

Yep, I tried to buy a "surveillance kit" from them. They don't reply to e-mails

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:19 pm

PM me here i will help you out

digger_69 · Post by **digger_69** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 8:40 pm

They are made by Hazard Systems, http://www.hazard.com.au/. They are based in Launceston, Tasmania. The NSWPOL had a contract with a company called Central Coast Sirens who fitted and supplied them to the cars. Don't know who it's with now.

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 3:15 pm

n1pj wrote: the lightbar message software which is another 400 dollars.
PJ

Wonder who mentored them on the software price ?

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 4:15 pm

You can't outrun a...

Post by Pj » Sat Aug 07, 2004 9:46 pm

The MPC01/02 software and box runs around $3xx list, but includes the box/cables, so its not that bad of a deal.

chipjumper · Post by **chipjumper** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:26 am

Commadore = Caprice

Visit GM Australia. Last year (i'm pretty damn sure) was 2000 for the Caprice name for GM worldwide. One of the most favorite American cars in the middle east is/was the Caprice. Stopped making the B-Bodies in 1996 and came back with the commadore based "Caprice" in 2000. I believe they dropped the name thereafter.

I wonder how much it would cost to have one of these babies shipped over from the Land of the Sand. LS1 'vette engine, no emissions crap,.....

GM did make a LS1 'vette powered Impala

http://www.9c1.com/gallery/features/ls1 ... /index.htm

Nickdap · Post by **Nickdap** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 5:28 pm

Central Coast Sirens moved to TAS a few years ago. I don't think they are Hazard now as I remember Hazard back when CCS was still around. But you never know.

Mckay are ok, give them a call over the phone.

Nick

P.S. The Caprice is one thing, check out the Statesman/Caprice(australian version)...same diff...but that seems to be the un official motto of GM.

Better still the HSV Grange
http://www.hsv.com.au

Mike in CT · Post by **Mike in CT** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 5:25 pm

what are those little circles in front (bottom ) of the headlights? some kind or running or fog lamp?? or what? !!

I like the "Police" spread out across the rear bumper...

Mike in CT
KM1R

Nickdap · Post by **Nickdap** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 5:48 pm

If you mean the really small circles part of the headlight assembly...then I don't know. They were not there in the last series so I would guess it's just a design thing. That said, it looks like the left one is dead.

If you mean the small...yet slightly larger lights on the lower down, they are driving lights.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 11:04 pm

They large ones below are (not very good) fog lights.

The small ones in the headlights are parking lights.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 11:12 pm

chipjumper wrote:Commadore = Caprice

Visit GM Australia. Last year (i'm pretty damn sure) was 2000 for the Caprice name for GM worldwide. One of the most favorite American cars in the middle east is/was the Caprice. Stopped making the B-Bodies in 1996 and came back with the commadore based "Caprice" in 2000. I believe they dropped the name thereafter.

I wonder how much it would cost to have one of these babies shipped over from the Land of the Sand. LS1 'vette engine, no emissions crap,.....

GM did make a LS1 'vette powered Impala

http://www.9c1.com/gallery/features/ls1 ... /index.htm

The US Caprice is actually based on the Statesman, which is larger than the Commodore, although similar-ish in appearance and sharing most of the same drivetrain.

The new Pontiac GTO is based on the Monaro, which is essentially a two-door Commodore.

Left hand drive Commodores are sold as police cars etc to the middle east, with Chevy badges on them.

Heterodyne · Post by **Heterodyne** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:18 am

Matt wrote:kc7gr

http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan.html

Good Lord.... Just as an aside, a civilan using such a lightbar to display "please go around" and "please stop tailgating" (complete with arrows to show the way) has to quite possibily be the nerdiest thing I have ever seen on the internet in quite a long time.

EMS12 · Post by **EMS12** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:12 am

Heterodyne wrote:
Matt wrote:kc7gr

http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan.html
Good Lord.... Just as an aside, a civilan using such a lightbar to display "please go around" and "please stop tailgating" (complete with arrows to show the way) has to quite possibily be the nerdiest thing I have ever seen on the internet in quite a long time.

Oh I couldn't agree more lol

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 1:38 pm

alex wrote:I can't remember who off hand on the board - but the person with the minivan with all the cool equipment in it has one. He'd be a good person to ask questions of (probably!)

-Alex

I think my ears are burning.

Yes, that's me. I have a Whelen 9642 'Edge' series with the MGM02 Smart Arrow Messenger board on the backside. The cop-car in the photos at the top of this thread has, as others have already pointed out, a non-Whelen display that was bolted on as a separate accessory.

Back to the 'Edge' and Messenger: I paid about $327 for my programming kit from the local Whelen rep. This included the 'Transporter,' which is essentially a combination of an RS232/RS485 adapter and memory unit, the software, all the necessary cables, and instructions. My understanding is that the 'Transporter' can also be used to load patterns into the later model Whelen programmable LED bars.

Nice thing about the Transporter is that you can design your message file on a regular PC, load it into the box, then take it out to the vehicle and transfer that identical file to as many Messengers as you want. The box retains the file until you replace it with another (probably in EEPROM).

The bar itself cost just about $900 with shipping, and was the result of an Ebay purchase. The seller was the maintenance guy for a fire department in Georgia, and he was selling off their old equipment 'cause the department had just changed over to LED bars.

I've not seen another Messenger on the used market since then (though I haven't really looked).

Keep the peace(es).

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 1:43 pm

EMS12 wrote:
Heterodyne wrote:
Matt wrote:kc7gr

http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan.html
Good Lord.... Just as an aside, a civilan using such a lightbar to display "please go around" and "please stop tailgating" (complete with arrows to show the way) has to quite possibily be the nerdiest thing I have ever seen on the internet in quite a long time.
Oh I couldn't agree more lol

And I'm bloody proud of it, thank you!

I would also point out that I'm not exactly a "civilian." I work for the WA State Patrol (Dist. 2 radio shop tech), and I've been trained in emergency medical and disaster-assistance procedures thanks to the City of Kent fire department. I also keep a full trauma kit and other assorted emergency necessities in the van at all times.

Despite this, and the fact that I really do believe in the motto 'Be Prepared," I really do pray that I never have to find out how well my training took.

In any case, I only used that particular legend as a demonstration. For practical use, I tend to stick pretty much to the generic 'DoT' library that was included with the Whelen software.

You might be surprised at how very effective the "Please Don't Tailgate" message is. I don't think a lot of the local drivers that I've felt compelled to flash that at are really aware that they're tailgating. I usually only use it when someone, for whatever reason, glues themselves to my back bumper (and no, I do not go out of my way to make that happen! Drivers Ed taught me better than that...)

I will say this much: The strobes and left-scrolling arrow symbols came in mighty handy not too long ago, when I ended up directly behind a stalled car who was blocking one lane of a city street during rush hour. His hazard lights were barely visible for some reason, so I sat behind him with the bar going until the local cops could show up to push him out of the way (I don't have, nor do I want to get, a push-bar).

Keep the peace(es).

AZScanner · Post by **AZScanner** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 2:28 pm

kc7gr wrote: I think my ears are burning.

Yes, that's me. I have a Whelen 9642 'Edge' series with the MGM02 Smart Arrow Messenger board on the backside. The cop-car in the photos at the top of this thread has, as others have already pointed out, a non-Whelen display that was bolted on as a separate accessory.

Keep the peace(es).

All I can say about that van is that I'm scared and I wanna go home now...

Your wife must be VERY understanding.

My wife would kill me, revive me, and then kill me AGAIN if I did that to our vehicle, then she'd look at the total cost of the rolling technobeast from hell and revive me again to scream at me for a few hours then kill me a third and final time in a fit of blind rage. She'd then bury what little remained of me AND the van in an unmarked grave and tell the kids I ran off with some bimbo.

-AZ

Heterodyne · Post by **Heterodyne** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 2:38 pm

If I had a van like that, I'm sure a wife wouldn't be anywhere in the equation...

Sorry man... it's just too much for me.

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 1:26 pm

AZScanner wrote:
kc7gr wrote: I think my ears are burning.

Yes, that's me. I have a Whelen 9642 'Edge' series with the MGM02 Smart Arrow Messenger board on the backside. The cop-car in the photos at the top of this thread has, as others have already pointed out, a non-Whelen display that was bolted on as a separate accessory.

Keep the peace(es).
All I can say about that van is that I'm scared and I wanna go home now... Your wife must be VERY understanding.

Very much so. She knew what she was getting into when she married a techie, especially one who has a white-knight complex the size of Portland.

AZScanner wrote:My wife would kill me, revive me, and then kill me AGAIN if I did that to our vehicle, then she'd look at the total cost of the rolling technobeast from hell and revive me again to scream at me for a few hours then kill me a third and final time in a fit of blind rage. She'd then bury what little remained of me AND the van in an unmarked grave and tell the kids I ran off with some bimbo.

-AZ

Don't think of it as a "Rolling technobeast from hell." Think of it as a "rolling resume."

I can't prove it, but I think the sight of that beastie, along with the detailed description I gave to one of my interviewers who expressed curiousity, did help me land my current job.

Who makes these lightbars?

Who makes these lightbars?

headlights on VK PD car