Roadwolf's Blog

So I finally purchased an Axixtech Torrent lightbar, and it arrived last week.  The bar is as clean and sleek looking in person as it looks on the web.  The bar is built in a solid manner. It is not easy to open up to gain access to the inside, and I do not recommend trying. Everything is very well sealed and enclosed.

The bar mounted up nicely on my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.  The support plates for the feet were all I needed in order to mount the bar to the rails of my roof rack.

My bar is a fairly standard configuration, full blue bar with dual color blue/amber LED modules at the back for the arrow bar.

The video above is very telling.  In direct sun, you can still make out the led modules.  And they are bright enough to cause lens flare, even in the same frame as the sun.

In the manner which I have mounted this bar, when it is not activated, it looks just like a luggage rack.  You can not tell it is a lightbar until you get right up behind my vehicle.  This is good, as it limits the number of people who ’shadow’ me on the highway, sitting in my blind spot, because they are too afraid of passing me.  I hate when that happens – but since I installed the Torrent, it hasn’t happened very often.

I have already had the chance to use this lightbar twice while responding to a call.  Both times I have had no issues or problems with people in my way.  On both sides of the road, everyone pulled over.  Cars, trucks, semi-trucks, and buses.  A huge improvement to just having a dash light.

In terms of brightness, this lightbar is bright.  Some of the guys at my hall were joking that it could be used as an airport landing strip light.  At night time, I think I need to activate the Dim mode so I don’t blind people.

In the day time this bar is easily visible from at least a mile away – if not more.  At night I imagine this bar would be visible from upwards of 10 miles away at full brightness.

I have dual halogen take downs in my bar.  In terms of lighting up a scene, they work more like floodlights (as opposed to spotlights) which is nice.  That being said, they are still brighter then the headlights when you look at the front of the vehicle.  The alley lights are nice as well.  They do work, but again they are not spotlights, so it is more of a flood light effect.   It is useful for lighting up a dark street or looking for an address.

In Warning Mode 3, the Takedown lights and Alley lights alternate.  There is nothing you can do to really avoid that.  That being said, I think they flash at half power, so they give you the flashing halogen effect from the front and side, but they are not overly blinding at night.  Also of note in Mode 3, you can not turn the Takedowns on fully, nor can you turn on the Arrow Bar.

‘Cruise Mode’ is also very useful.  Who needs scene lights?  Just give yourself White or Amber corner modules and activate cruise mode.  All of the corner lights light up, and stay on.  This is useful at events where you need to be visible for people to approach you through a crowd – or even for when your sitting waiting for calls,  flip it on, and it lights up the area around your vehicle.  I will likely be using this for camping and off roading, where I need to see around the vehicle, to save on flashlight batteries and such.

The lightbar has 3 main warning modes. We have already spoken a bit about Mode 3. Mode 3 is the ‘pursuit mode’ which is to be used while responding to a call, or chasing someone. Each LED module (pair) in Mode 3 is fully programmable as to what flash pattern it will use. In program mode, you can cycle through each set of modules and select various flash patterns. The same holds true in Mode 2.

In Mode 2, the takedown lights and alley lights do not flash automatically. The Arrow bar also functions in Mode 2.  I have set the light heads to alternate is a slower pattern in Mode 2, then I have them set at in mode 3.

In Mode 1, the whole bar alternates as if it was one single light module. You can select various flash patterns, but you have no control over which light heads are selected. I have set my Mode 1 up with Dim, and Front Cutoff, so it acts as a rear warning light. It works well.

You can view the wiring diagram and flash pattern diagram in the User Manual located here: http://www.lightningxproducts.com/pdfs/TORRENT.pdf

So long as the corner modules are all activated, this bar does meet and exceed SAE J845 specs. With the Amber Arrow Bar, this bar also meets and exceeds SAE J595 specs. And when configured properly, this bar can meet part of the SAE J2498 spec.

Buffalo Police Department uses Axixtech Torrents on their newer police cars.  They are very effective and after speaking to a few officers about the bars, I haven’t heard any complaints. Rightfully so, this bar is excellent.  Honestly, the Axixtech line of emergency lighting is easily on par with the big names.  In some cases Axixtech blows the competition out of the water. When I first was getting into LEDs, I was warned to stay away from any LED brand other then Axixtech. And I can totally see why. For the price, and affordability of these products, compared to the effectiveness and dependability of these products, Axixtech are by far the best out there.  I have owned various Axixtech lights over the past few years, and I must say they have never let me down.

I want to thank http://www.lightningxproducts.com for their help in making this project become a reality.  I highly recommend checking them out, as they have been very helpful. In conclusion, this is an amazing lightbar and I would highly recommend it to anyone who does emergency service work. You will not regret it.

Tags: General, Hobbies, Roadwolf's Rants, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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Well another year has rolled around.  The votes are in, and all I can say is that it will be interesting to see how this years officers handle a real call.  I am now on the Beer and Pop committee, the Bylaws committee, and of course the website committee.  All in all, I am still enjoying things there.  Although lately training has been less common due to the holidays.  Hopefully we get back to doing some interesting stuff soon.

Tags: Buffalo Life, Uncategorized, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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I was thinking about the old group I used to run called COVERT.  Basically we did Fire Police duties.  Road Closures, Traffic Control, First Response, etc…   We were quite successful for a privately funded and operated volunteer response group.  At the time we were by no means official.  But to the police on scene, it did not really matter.  We knew what we were doing, and in some cases we even taught the officers various things about traffic control that they did not know previously.

What I mean by us being successful, is that we generally always had work.  In 2004 alone, between the months of January and June, we had a total of 58 calls.  30 of which were traffic accidents, 13 of which were structure fires.  We generally maintained a steady pace of calls every year.  Sadly however we did not record a call list prior to 2004.

View COVERT in a larger map

The above is a map of our general coverage area. Generally from the Aurora or Vandorf staging areas we could get anywhere within the square in about 10 to 20 minutes. If it would take us longer then 10 minutes to get somewhere, we usually didn’t bother responding unless there was a special request for ‘traffic control’. We would only respond to Structure Fires or Fatal MVC’s outside of the 10 minute mark, because it is very likely that the road will need closing for extended periods of time. Often units already on scene are more then happy to turn over an extended Road Closure over to us.

This 12 Mile by 14 Mile area was the area we were most familiar with. Within this area there was a population of about 200,000 residents. On average there would be 12 to 16 regular (not including Detectives, and Traffic units) Police units within our area on any given night split between 4 Districts. 1 District, 2 District, 4 District and 5 District. We also had a total of 10 firehalls within our area, 2 of which were volunteer. Stations 3-4, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 5-2, 7-7, 8-1, 8-2, 8-4.

A good local Buffalo/Niagara example of the area we covered would be basically central Niagara County. As shown on the map below.

View COVERT in a larger map

We earned a hearty respect within the police service. If we arrived on a scene first we were mostly always kept in place until the scene was cleared. If we arrived on scene, and officers were already on scene, most of the time, if there was a need for traffic control, they would pass that off to us. It was rare that an officer would refuse our help, if indeed our help would of made things easier.

It is often a lot harder here in WNY. Most of the time, even as an official volunteer, the police will not accept your assistance – even if there is a need for help. That being said, I have had luck with Buffalo Police. They seem to be fairly receptive. Suburban town police departments however, I suppose see many volunteers, as most of the towns around Buffalo are volunteer. And of course I imagine the Police Departments impression of volunteers has been jaded by volunteer firefighters who really do not know that their doing.

Having been away from ‘the action’ for so long, I will have to admit that I am a bit rusty. But hopefully some more training and exposure to various scenes will get me back in the swing of things.

Tags: Buffalo Life, Roadwolf's Rants, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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So I have been with the department now for almost 3 months now.  Elections are coming up soon for the officers to shuffle their positions.  So the hall has been busy with a lot of politics lately, which is not surprising – but for someone like me who is trying to learn new stuff at drills, and not stand around while the others talk politics – that is kind of irritating.  That being said, I have been informed that I can request drills outside of the regular weekly drills if I want the extra time and training.  All I have to do is ask an officer if they have time to come out and drill with me.

Lately I have been doing a lot of driver training.  Honestly, driving the truck is just like driving Studio 1010 when I used to work for CFRB in Toronto.  Therefore I am completely comfortable driving it.  It does not intimidate me.  While yes it is heavier then Studio 1010, and it has air breaks which are completely new to me – these are things I have quickly adapted to.  Heck, I have piloted a twin engine prop plane for upwards of 2 hours straight (a real plane), have driven a subway and streetcar, and operated some heavy equipment.   A firetruck is really pretty easy.

Gettin’ the handline ready…

Wednesday at regular drill I was shown how the pump works, and then took the truck onto the I-190 for a mile or so – got it up to about 60.  Then drove around for a bit.  Thursday, my Captain took me out for some more driver training.  I wanted to play with the pump some more and see the deck gun in action.  So I took the truck to a parking lot and proceeded to apply a LOT of water to a small park.  I also wanted to get some more experience with a hand line in, so I pulled a hand line off the truck and charged it up.  I then went and sat on it (being it was only me on the line) and we pushed the pressure up fairly high.  I opened the nozzle all the way and tried to compete with the deck gun in a kind of gigantic version of a piss sword fight…  LOL

Not quite sure how much pressure I was handling right there, but the nozzle was fully opened and Bernie was sending me a lot of water.

Afterward we went for coffee and then returned to the station.  I was told that I am quite skilled as a driver so far and that we should hurry up and work me towards my firefighter 1 classification.  So that was very cool.  Honestly, a lot of people tend to think being a driver is boring because you stand around by the pumper at fires.  But to me, that is more interesting then going in and seeing / fighting a fire.  I love working with machines or systems.  I challenge myself to try to get the most out of a system as possible within normal operating boundries.  So the challenge for me as a driver / pump operator is really what attracts me to that position – being able to tweak the system to get enough water out of it for a extra hand line for example would be awesome – and also a very useful talent at a fire scene.  I have photos of Thursdays action, as both my Captain and my friend were there taking photos.  So I should have some posted in the next few days.

I think in the next few driver training drills I do, I would like to focus on accident avoidance and various other similar type stuff.  I know how the truck handles normally, but what if I had to slam on the breaks at 45mph…  I need to feel the truck and learn how it will respond in such circumstances.  That way when I do need to stop or whatever, I know what to expect.  I would like to be able to avert a scenario where a car pulls out about 100 or so feet in front of me while I am doing 45.  I have an idea how we could set up that scenario with cones too in a large parking lot.  I also want to test the truck on ice when things start to get cold.  A nice big parking lot would be good for that as well.

Rollin’ up the hose…

As far as pumping stuff I would like to learn – I want to be able to run a pumper with a monitor, deck gun, and as many hand lines as possible.  I want to see how much I can squeeze out of one pumper.   Of course something like that would likely have to take place on a normal drill night when enough people are around to man all those hoses….  Sadly knowing how things work, only 4 or so people would actually be on a hose at a drill…  So I guess I would be limited to maybe 2 or 3 hand lines – 4 If I am lucky.  Any more then that, and I wont have enough people to man them.

All in all, I am enjoying the gig.  It will be interesting to see how the elections are going to go.  I have decided that I am only going to be voting for people who have taken the time to help me as a probie and answer my questions – or at least direct me to people who can.  People who just shrug whenever I ask them something, are likely not getting my vote for anything.

That being said – Apparently I am Sergeant at Arms.  Sergeant at Arms is a ’social’ Officer position which is basically responsible for keeping order at meetings.  The position is also responsible for bringing each meeting to session.  I was mainly appointed this position in jest in order for me to learn the Pledge of Allegiance (since I am Canadian).  But apparently the position is mine…  So gee… I wonder what they would say if I try to claim to want to be part of the ‘officer’ meetings now? (not that I would want to be).   Anyhow,  yeah,  good old politics.   I mainly just want to learn…  I am TRYING to stay out of that political stuff,  but sometimes it is very hard to keep my mouth shut when I have an opinion on something.

In an unrelated note, things have been going well lately.  I have made a few bucks here and there lately – mainly selling things – so things have been alright.  But I still do need to find a job.  Obviously something that does not interfere with the firehall at all would be excellent.  Finally got the jeep into the garage, and passed my inspection.  I had been putting it off for a while based on my wheel bearings, but I was told that they are apparently alright.  Its my differental which is making all the noise.  But apparently that is not as serious.

Thanks Unlisted for the photos.

Tags: Hobbies, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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This Axixtech Torrent Lightbar is a lightbar which keeps on catching my eye time after time. From reviewing the documentation on this lightbar (found here: http://www.lightningxproducts.com/pdfs/TORRENT.pdf) one can easily see that this lightbar is very adaptable and customizable.

I hope to soon be able to showcase and write a first hand review on this lightbar, but from doing my homework on it, I really like what I see. First of all, is the price. Sure $1000 is a bit steep for a Volunteer like myself, but compared to other lightbars, and taking into account the many options this bar has, which many other bars do not have, this is a very reasonable price indeed.

From the look of some of the close up photos I have seen on a specific retailers website, I have noticed that the LED modules are all XL6’s XL9’s, and/or DXL9’s – which is laymans terms, are Axixtech’s Linear LED Light modules (and Dual Color Light Modules). These modules are very bright and have become the standard LED light which everyone tries to copy. Even Whelen, Code 3 and Federal Signal are left in the dust with these lights.

The Torrent features the option for up to 6 forward facing Halogen Take Down lights at 35watts each. These are the MR-11 style lamps. They are also used for the Alley lights on each side (limit 1 per side). Being that I am personally trying to cut back on power draw, I am really considering either ordering the bar with White LX4 LED’s in place of the Halogen modules, or somehow jerry rigging some white LX4’s into the bar in place of the take down lights. However I would like to compare the 2 setups personally. While Take Down lights are not very important to me, it would be interesting to see which one is more effective and compare that with the amount of power used.

One of the main selling points is the integrated directional capability of this bar. The rear facing colored LED modules (i.e. Blue, Red, Green…) are all dual color modules mixed with Amber, so when you activate the traffic director, the colored light turns off, and is replaced with amber light for the traffic director module. While this is a great feature, it might be too late for this implementation. Noticing a lot of police departments switching to full RED, or full BLUE or even mixed RED/BLUE traffic directors – a practice which is becoming more common place, and widely accepted.

That being said, RED/BLUE traffic directors are often more difficult to read from a distance then pure AMBER traffic directors. The only problem with amber is that on a highway, Amber lights are not seen as a ‘warning light’ anymore by most motorists. Where as Red or Blue tends to make people slow down. That being said, if Axixtech made the bar capable of having another color other then amber as the secondary traffic director color, then perhaps that would make the bar that much better!

The bar has 4 modes of operation.

Mode 1:

Mode 1 is still a tad confusing to me. Normal operation just describes a list of flash patterns which are selectable. However another operation method describes the ability to alternate and sync the front left light head with the rear right light head, and likewise the rear left light head with the front right light head. So this makes me think that this mode is similar to your ‘Alternating lights’ mode – i.e something like this, minus all the other lights, only the topmost lights (and minus the stingray) where only 2 modules are lit up and alternate per side. Used mainly when parked at a scene and out of the way of traffic. If this is indeed the case, then that is pretty sweet.

Mode 2:

Mode 2 is fully programmable in pairs. I.e. you start off in programming mode with the inner middle front set of lights and work your way out.

Mode 3:

Mode 3 is also fully programmable in the same fashion, however the Take Down lights, and the Alley Lights are also programmable to flash. The Traffic Director, and Steady on Alleys / Take Downs will not override Mode 3 (but they will override Modes 1 and 2).

Cruise:

Cruise mode turns on the corner modules at half power in a steady state setting which keeps all the corner lights on. Some police departments are using this now to identify police cars when they are just driving around, and not on any emergency calls. In my case, I would likely use this function in combination with my parking lights for when I am sitting idling somewhere and hanging out.

The bar also has the ability to shut off the front, and rear facing lights in any mode, as well as dim all lights for night time use. One of the features I find most attractive about the bar however, is the bar itself. The clear outer lenses are very nicely molded and feature some nice diffusers at the top and bottom, which help redirect light which is directed upwards and downwards, back out towards traffic. Also with 2 modules (a total of 12 LED’s) facing on a 45 degree angle on each corner, this bar provides excellent corner protection when you compare it to other bars.

The only disadvantage of having such a bar with so many excellent features is the need for a control panel. My current setup of a single button for Primary lights and another button for Secondary lights will not do this bar justice. Sadly I will likely have to source out a used Smart Siren somewhere for this sucker. That being said, this bar does more then any other bar I have seen on the market so far, and all for about $1000 new. If you are looking for an LED bar, the Torrent should be on your list of bars to consider.

Note: This is NOT a paid advertisement. This is my own personal review of the light bar based on what I have read about it. I do hope to get a discount on a light bar due to this favorable review, and thusly provide another review of the light bar and my thoughts of it after installation.

Tags: General, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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No, I am not speaking about the tons and tons of illegally dumped uranium and other radioactive wastes from the Manhattan Project.  However this story does involve the Military.

I have gotten wind of a training excercise which will be happening in the area over the next few weeks.  Basically the Military will be taking over many locations in the area to do a mock disaster relief / rescue operation.  Several locations will be involved in this massive search and rescue operation.  Some such sites will be the Spalding Fiber location, where bodies (unknown if their alive volunteers or training dummies) will be buried in piles of rubble.  Search dogs and military search and rescue teams will work to find the bodies, and recover them.  Other sites will range from the Tonawanda Fire Towers to various other abandoned sites located in North Tonawanda, Niagara Falls, and Lewiston.

The general storyline is that on November 1st, 2009, a earthquake will occur in the area, destroying the City of Tonawanda’s only (non existing) hospital.  1,200 Military Troops, and approximately 400 civilian responders will be called in in large convoys to preform search and rescue of other sites which were destroyed by the mock earthquake.

Sadly however, while apparently local agencies are welcomed to be involved, so far there has been no word from the military as to if such agencies will be involved or not.

The Military will be setting up a command post, and will be using military vehicles and helicopters in this drill.

Tags: Buffalo Life, News, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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