27 replies to this topic

[gunswat]

Yea only thing that gives them away is the lightbars or a uniformed cop

[randomperson139]

Yea only thing that gives them away is the lightbars or a uniformed cop

Unmarked police vehicles won't have light bars. An unmarked vehicle with a light bar will be either fire service or an ambulance service officer.

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[gunswat]

I mean like in the back windshield

[Fred03]

I think gunswat means the directional bars/rear lights a lot of unmarked units have and I agree that they are a bit of a giveaway. However they are hard to see from a distance on the road and that's when it really matters.

[Xplorer4x4]

Knowing spotlights and how they are.. My guess is that eventually someone will create one internal to the lightbar it's self so that you don't have the hole in the car where water usually starts leaking into them after a while, every spotlight I've ever seen after 4-5 years starts taking on a drip unfortunately.  I'd look to an adjustable LED head on the bars for the future, if that happens then the spotlight will be a thing of the past.  For now it is the best method of putting light where you need it, sometimes you need lighting in a place a bar generally isnt set to light up

 

The thing is I am amazed this hasn't already been thought of/created.

 

Our trucks with spots we have mounted either on the hood, or on the lightbar itself and they're remote controlled from the cab, similar to this http://policecanada..../rnc/RNC059.jpg

 

That's ugly imo.

 

I've seen some patrol units with very bright white lights in the center of the LED lightbar that they use as spot lights on traffic stops, however these units are still equipped with the mirror spotlights. As for the RC spotlights that seems like quite the luxury, however remote control front bumper monitors have been common on ARFF trucks for a while and you are starting to see more of them on brush trucks, opinions on them vary wildly however.

This lightbar I saw the other night which may have been a valor was able to go 100% white LEDs in 360*. He was trying to light up a dark street and was parked in the intersection using the side of the lightbar to illuminate the street.

[Newfoundking]

I know at least one of our trucks has the takedowns you're talking about on our lightbar. It's two layers, so there's the top red and white and blue parts that flash regularly, but it also has to ability to light up white on all four sides, plus our spotlight on it, similar to the one I posted on the TRU truck

[MikeyPI]

Sad reality is that there is such a thing as too much light output, the ones that can put out light like you describe can "overlight" a scene, resulting in the obnoxious corona glow effect where there is so much light projected that you really can't see what you're doing anymore because you're half blind.. Spotlights permit targeted lighting with a very bright light but in a smaller cone of projection, lightbars tend to be light the world in their lighting, even the takedown lights tend to flood a scene with light.. Sometimes you don't need to bathe the scene you just need light in a specific location.. For EX if my car is chromed out the ass on the rear and and you light me up with takedowns, alot of that light is gna end up right back in your eyes just like in the mirror on the car, spotlights can let you target away from such things to prevent blinding yourself.

[gunswat]

Your car is probably gold:P