Patchman999
Big Police Lights
Click on the pic for a better view.
Here are some old police or fire lights. All of them have something inside that rotates. Nowadays, the newer lights are typically light emitting diode types (LEDs) with nothing that rotates.
This falls under the category, in case size matters.
At far Left is a Fire Ball teardrop style light, model FB 1, serial number 2A12. I put this here to show relative size with the bigger roof lights. This Fire Ball often had a plug to put into the cigarette lighter socket of a vehicle, to turn it on. It is small enough to fit on a dashboard and often had one or more magnets on the bottom, to put it on the roof of a vehicle. However, you couldn't drive too fast with it on the roof, or it would fall off. So the Fire Ball is both a dash light and also a (temporary) roof light. This teardrop style of light is often referred to as a Kojak light, after a popular television show from long ago.
The other 3 are way too big to be dash lights.
The blue Federal Sign and Signal Beacon Ray 176 at LEFT is over 9 1/2 inches wide at the base and just under 8 inches wide at the bottom of the lens. The lens is approx. 6 inches high. Overall height including the metal base is approx. 10 ¾ inches. It has 4 lamps inside.
I believe that the Chicago Police Department used lights like these, back in the 1960s - just one, near the center of the roof. This style with the round top is often called a gumball. The CPD used to use red lights, but switched to blue lights in the early 1960s - I believe it was Superintendent Wilson who ordered the color change, so people would know they were police vehicles instead of other emergency vehicles.
The red Federal Sign and Signal Power Light 184 A3 in the Center of the big lights is about 11 1/3 inches wide at the base and about 10 1/3 inches wide at the bottom of the lens. The lens is approx. 5 inches high. It’s almost 9 3/4 inches wide at the top of the lens. Overall height including the metal base is approx. 9 inches. It uses 4 lamps inside. One of these big lights was typically mounted on the roof center. This style of light was used by many police and fire departments.
The Mars Skybolt SW-2 at far Right is over 8 inches wide at the base and just under 7 ½ inches wide at the top of the lens. The lens is 4 ½ inches high. Overall height including the metal base is approx. 8 ¼ inches. It uses 2 lamps inside. By itself, the Mars light looks big. But pictured with the other two big guys, it’s dwarfed by comparison.
Mars lights similar to this one, were used by the Chicago Police Department for many years. Those CPD Mars lights had a taller metal housing than what is pictured here for this model. The Chicago Fire Department also used Mars lights, except they had red ones.
The picture distorts things a little bit. The red 184 looks even wider, in person, than in the pic. Speaking of pics - when you see just one of these roof lights pictured somewhere, it's tough to discern just how massive they are, even if they are mounted to a vehicle. But when you see them up close, you realize just how big they really are.
I used a cloth tape measure and the math equation, Diameter = Circumference divided by 3.14 (also known as, Pi) to get some of the measurements. Otherwise it’s a bit tough to get some of the accurate width measurements due to the curvature of the tops of the lenses on the three roof lights. Yippee for high school math. You can tell I must have had a lot of free time due to a COVID-19, 30 day Stay-at-Home order here (extended another 15 days now).
None of these are for sale or trade – just wanted to measure things for your amusement. I had been looking for a big light and I guess the red 184 qualifies. I'm happy to say that all of these still work.
Would love to know the measurements on other big emergency roof lights out there from times past, including the Dietz 7-11, Southern Vehicle Products SVP 531, North American 400, Signal Stat 374, Yankee 354, Whelen 99 and likely others!
I have a few lights in my collection, and would not mind adding a few more, so if you have something available, feel free to contact me. A link to a pic of my light collection is here on this page - click on my album called Police Lights.
Big Police Lights
Click on the pic for a better view.
Here are some old police or fire lights. All of them have something inside that rotates. Nowadays, the newer lights are typically light emitting diode types (LEDs) with nothing that rotates.
This falls under the category, in case size matters.
At far Left is a Fire Ball teardrop style light, model FB 1, serial number 2A12. I put this here to show relative size with the bigger roof lights. This Fire Ball often had a plug to put into the cigarette lighter socket of a vehicle, to turn it on. It is small enough to fit on a dashboard and often had one or more magnets on the bottom, to put it on the roof of a vehicle. However, you couldn't drive too fast with it on the roof, or it would fall off. So the Fire Ball is both a dash light and also a (temporary) roof light. This teardrop style of light is often referred to as a Kojak light, after a popular television show from long ago.
The other 3 are way too big to be dash lights.
The blue Federal Sign and Signal Beacon Ray 176 at LEFT is over 9 1/2 inches wide at the base and just under 8 inches wide at the bottom of the lens. The lens is approx. 6 inches high. Overall height including the metal base is approx. 10 ¾ inches. It has 4 lamps inside.
I believe that the Chicago Police Department used lights like these, back in the 1960s - just one, near the center of the roof. This style with the round top is often called a gumball. The CPD used to use red lights, but switched to blue lights in the early 1960s - I believe it was Superintendent Wilson who ordered the color change, so people would know they were police vehicles instead of other emergency vehicles.
The red Federal Sign and Signal Power Light 184 A3 in the Center of the big lights is about 11 1/3 inches wide at the base and about 10 1/3 inches wide at the bottom of the lens. The lens is approx. 5 inches high. It’s almost 9 3/4 inches wide at the top of the lens. Overall height including the metal base is approx. 9 inches. It uses 4 lamps inside. One of these big lights was typically mounted on the roof center. This style of light was used by many police and fire departments.
The Mars Skybolt SW-2 at far Right is over 8 inches wide at the base and just under 7 ½ inches wide at the top of the lens. The lens is 4 ½ inches high. Overall height including the metal base is approx. 8 ¼ inches. It uses 2 lamps inside. By itself, the Mars light looks big. But pictured with the other two big guys, it’s dwarfed by comparison.
Mars lights similar to this one, were used by the Chicago Police Department for many years. Those CPD Mars lights had a taller metal housing than what is pictured here for this model. The Chicago Fire Department also used Mars lights, except they had red ones.
The picture distorts things a little bit. The red 184 looks even wider, in person, than in the pic. Speaking of pics - when you see just one of these roof lights pictured somewhere, it's tough to discern just how massive they are, even if they are mounted to a vehicle. But when you see them up close, you realize just how big they really are.
I used a cloth tape measure and the math equation, Diameter = Circumference divided by 3.14 (also known as, Pi) to get some of the measurements. Otherwise it’s a bit tough to get some of the accurate width measurements due to the curvature of the tops of the lenses on the three roof lights. Yippee for high school math. You can tell I must have had a lot of free time due to a COVID-19, 30 day Stay-at-Home order here (extended another 15 days now).
None of these are for sale or trade – just wanted to measure things for your amusement. I had been looking for a big light and I guess the red 184 qualifies. I'm happy to say that all of these still work.
Would love to know the measurements on other big emergency roof lights out there from times past, including the Dietz 7-11, Southern Vehicle Products SVP 531, North American 400, Signal Stat 374, Yankee 354, Whelen 99 and likely others!
I have a few lights in my collection, and would not mind adding a few more, so if you have something available, feel free to contact me. A link to a pic of my light collection is here on this page - click on my album called Police Lights.