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I always hated those early LED traffic signal modules that are made into many dots, these are commonly found in retrofits of even older installs or installations from the late-'90s/early-2000s when many cities switched to LEDs. I always hated them they made an ugly look to the traffic signal, they'd look odd when they burn out one by one, I'm glad these have been getting retrofitted by full LEDs.
The technology behind them has advanced, but I personally like the early inserts.
My favorite is the now defunct CooperLED/AtLite Inc. insert. Both for vehicular and pedestrian signals. New York City had them installed after 1999, and a lot of them are still in use, even though most have reached the end. On the other hand, others have been working perfectly fine since the get-go.
I know when LED pedestrian signals were new on the market, many cities went with outline-style symbols (rather than solid symbols) as a cheaper alternative, since they used fewer LEDs. However, the 2009 MUTCD now requires all pedestrian signals to use solid symbols. The current trend is for "incandescent look" signals, which places a diffuser over the LEDs to give the symbols a more uniform appearance.
some of the first LED inserts that INDOT experimented with were the GE "honeycomb" LED's, and the GE Rx-11's. Today, everything installed is either Leotek or Dialight incandescent look LED's.
GE Rx-11's: These were installed around 2003.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.537471,-87.4710841,3a,31y,89.39h,103.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXKa1tcMDOzeDfP8xgvpMUQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
GE 'Honeycomb': Again, installed around 2003.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5484462,-87.4711391,3a,15y,349.28h,103.55t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sccuqwEmYXagUL3cDaPT1zQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Sometimes they used both, GE 'honeycomb LED's for the red, and GE RX-11's for the greens. These were installed in September of 2003. I now own these two signals, which had the LED's marked with the installation date.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4602129,-87.0366594,3a,15y,10.26h,99.32t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sXk6wCin4pjmcxHApuLMYlg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DXk6wCin4pjmcxHApuLMYlg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D68.563271%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
I actually prefer the older LED's. I really like the way they have a delay between indications, and that's probably because I'm so used to it.
While I like the look of the newer "incandescent look" LED modules, I still enjoy seeing the failing older modules--how the LEDs assembled in series would fail together, creating interesting patterns (clock hands, smiley faces, etc.).
Yeah, I'm easily amused :biggrin:
Quote from: DaBigE on October 08, 2015, 10:32:27 PM
While I like the look of the newer "incandescent look" LED modules, I still enjoy seeing the failing older modules--how the LEDs assembled in series would fail together, creating interesting patterns (clock hands, smiley faces, etc.).
Yeah, I'm easily amused
I thought it was pretty funny last time I was in New Orleans. A lot of their LED signals are failing, I assume from water damage. Basically every signal had a different pattern. I don't remember seeing a single signal that had all the LEDs lit up.
Cincinnati has a lot of the GE RX-11 types around, which were the first LEDs used here. I've seen a few with pretty ugly failures that have since been replaced, but most seem to work fine. I do like the idea that even if there's a failure the whole face doesn't go dark. It may not be pretty, but it's safer and more functional.
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When the city started an aggressive LED replacement program that has eliminated most of the city's historic signals (lots of Crouse-Hinds, Eagleluxes, and old Marbelites from the 30s and 40s are now gone), they switched to an incandescent-look which I think is fine too, except for the crappy McCain bodies. Cincinnati's color scheme looks so much nicer on the Durasigs.
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