Federal Signal Corporation Vision demo video from early 1990s

Yes I know this is already on KZbin, but I wanted to upload a higher quality version now that they offer HD. This was pulled from the original VHS tape and was up converted to 480P for better quality. I do not own any rights to this video, this was produced and may be Federal Signal Corporation.

[@jamesbraun9842]

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.

[@johnkern7075]

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

[@Imm_Maddix]

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

[@ericeckler8445]

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!!!

[@benmeyer2916]

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]

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]

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]

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]

@@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.

[@Zaltic]

still such a good lightbar

[@itsameman]

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]

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

[@NoJustice.NoPeace]

LMAO 😂​@@madtrucker0983

[@beakfish7319]

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

[@Hubjeep]

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

[@CJWJR]

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]

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]

And now 8 years later. 😂

[@nmtay]

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

[@tomatosoupwoo]

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

[@sub222marathon]

Great clip. Thanks for sharing.

[@DreamOf944]

thx very much, great quality :)

[@robertgift]

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]

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

[@blainenodes8182]

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]

@@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]

​@@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]

@@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?

[@ramonsmediablog]

Pretty educational video!

[@captainredneck0683]

I remember seeing those on NYC police cars.

[@nosubject4890]

Steve Pratt you are right

[@danielletripkoff4199]

Me also

[@nosubject4890]

And Las Vegas police

[@benmeyer2916]

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

[@germandude5181]

@@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).

[@joelanderson_t]

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

[@RoyanGreenwood23]

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

[@kmla2449]

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

[@juliogonzo2718]

Last kick at the cat for rotators.

[@signalstatstevedouglas1387]

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

[@Hubjeep]

NYPD makes sense as there are so many intersections.

[@policejimmy]

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) ??

[@Christopher-hx6xm]

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"

[@infinitecanadian]

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

[@retiredk9copper726]

These were great but ate up alternators on our cars.

[@joelanderson_t]

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

[@chpman2013]

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

[@blauwblauwlightbars6198]

i love that time

[@truckertae9725]

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

[@danf432]

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

[@BlackieFoxxless]

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

[@nerdlydood]

@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.

[@nightwolf883]

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

[@emergencystuff]

washing with captions

[@vacexpert2020]

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]

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

[@vacexpert2020]

@@PremiumFuelOnly They get on average 3 calls a week

[@WilleJamesHuff]

Keep the rotator lights

[@vacexpert2020]

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

[@WilleJamesHuff]

@@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.

[@alanphillips4734]

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]

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]

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

[@HX56Music]

@@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.

[@danielferstendig]

I wounder if the ghostbusters ever used that lightbar?

[@crusinclassicslucas6218]

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

[@jimmyfair3806]

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

[@paulspain4142]

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]

+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

[@CSILCPD]

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

[@YupItsThatFronty]

I believe it's a Motorola spectra

[@Thunderbolt_7026]

6:00 ?

[@alexandersalarms5380]

Federal signal

[@alexandersalarms5380]

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

[@Josh-le6lu]

God bless the fire brigade!

[@alexandersalarms5380]

Fire department

[@alexandersalarms5380]

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

[@znovosad555]

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]

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]

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.

[@shaneharrisnj3484]

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

[@LouisSirens]

I just love the music at 3:05

[@Thunderbolt_7026]

3:05 ?

[@LouisSirens]

@@Thunderbolt_7026 yes, there

[@nosubject4890]

Las vegas police department has tat light bar

[@Aisthetes24]

👍🏼

[@danielferstendig]

Makes me think about ghostbusters.

[@Focusonbehind]

That's why NYC use them.

[@paulmorley1225]

"space-age microprocessor"

[@jakeorr7355]

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

[@vintagesimplexfirealarmsof6440]

they made fire alarms too

[@ruthrosales1021]

Rumbler Siren Was Founded In 1990.

[@barricade-wb3wu6ws2u]

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

[@ShortArmStrongArm]

Phone in automobiles? It'll never catch on.

[@NoJustice.NoPeace]

LMAO 😂

[@M_B_80]

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

[@schnuurtchke]

Zazur smoke 💨

[@MinecraftPro97k]

Now thats my type of history!

[@jimbobcramden]

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

[@cnguy3948Official]

Seems like American live action fireman Sam to me tbh

[@49Interceptor]

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

[@Thunderbolt_7026]

0:41 ?

[@wyomingresponsevideos8382]

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

[@Macintoshiba]

And Then the police used it

[@marlonvasquez6531]

Federal model Q

[@schnuurtchke]

Zazur vhs 📼

[@buzman1985]

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

[@stephenhanneken3041]

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

[@PlatinumEagleStudios]

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]

Exactly what I was thinking lol

[@grimatronicpl7163]

Its neen made in 90s what did you expect?

[@PlatinumEagleStudios]

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

[@jamesf9540]

6:06

[@madtrucker0983]

Space age microprocessor 🤣