Crazy Idea.............

BigRedFireman · Post by **BigRedFireman** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:33 pm

Well I have a crazy but lucrative idea........I am working on a project that will allow to me to turn my red lights, wig wags and other such emergency lights off and on using a remote. I have ran the battery down in my truck many times and was thinking I can hit the remote and turn them off before I ruin my battery. But if needed I can cut them back on without ever walking to my truck. I use my POV on alot of fire scenes due to the area I live in and that would work perfect any ideas suggestions or just fun and crazy comments.

Post by **Code3Response** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 2:30 pm

Pretty simple to do via two way radio. If you carry one while on scene - and it has a DTMF pad, your set.

Blazeorange · Post by **Blazeorange** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 3:52 pm

Neat idea. What does it take besides a radio with a DTMF keypad. Are we talking UHF, VHF, any radio at any frequency with DTMF, etc.

I'm listening..............

Blaze.

werdnuts · Post by **werdnuts** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 3:54 pm

The signalling feature on most radios will allow you to do that w/ the accy port.

Why not just turn them off when you get out? When I worked EMS, we used to turn everything off (cept the engine) when we parked on scene... unless, traffic was a hazard. No sense in drawing unnecessary attention, whackers, and nosey, looky-loos to the situation...

commtek · Post by **commtek** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:23 pm

I remote start my truck and open my garage doors that way.

Not rocket science for any good technician.

grinthock · Post by **grinthock** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:50 pm

I have JUST what you need.

I have a spread spectrum keychain that using 4 buttons allows me to control 10 relays. Wish I had a picture of it. I got it at a local electronics shop

i'm trying to find a weblink now, if I do i'll post it, but it's exactly what you need.

Here is the weblink to the EXACT unit I have.

http://www.electronic-kits-and-projects ... 0/3181.pdf about $80 CDN dollars

jim · Post by **jim** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:30 pm

Any keyless entry syetem for $40.00 will allow that. You just need to do a toggle curcuit with a relay.

This might just put you on the top 10 wacker award list!

x1sspic · Post by **x1sspic** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:47 pm

jim wrote: This might just put you on the top 10 wacker award list!

I'd hate to get bumped down!

jedi_saber · Post by **jedi_saber** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 6:46 am

x1sspic wrote:
jim wrote: This might just put you on the top 10 wacker award list!
I'd hate to get bumped down!

Oh I am sure that you are still up there buddy! I think the infamous tempo with a dozen strobes and LEDs plus antenna farm is in many of our hearts.

BigRedFireman · Post by **BigRedFireman** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 7:42 am

I live in the Country and you would be suprised where leaving those lights on will slow people down. Just an example is a mans bull got out of his fence a couple of nights ago. I come up on a bull nearly the size of my truck in the middle of the road and a bunch of guys chasing it. I turned on my lights and traffic couldn't help but slow down and after two hours of threatening to shoot the bull it finally went back in the pin. They are stubborn creatures. But situations like that this could be a useful feature. Also I run alot of Mutual Aid calls and will go pov and give what ever engine is going directions to the call if needed. So remote lights could be quite useful.

jedi_saber · Post by **jedi_saber** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 8:40 am

would leaving the engine running not be an option?

SlimBob · Post by **SlimBob** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:13 am

jedi_saber wrote:Oh I am sure that you are still up there buddy! I think the infamous tempo with a dozen strobes and LEDs plus antenna farm is in many of our hearts.

PIC! PIC! PIC!

BigRedFireman · Post by **BigRedFireman** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 9:51 pm

Well, leaving the engine running in most cases is a viable option but I can't always do that if I am running in some areas. Not sure yet on how I am going to configure the reciever but I have some ideas.

SVT · Post by **SVT** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:53 pm

You could also pick up a remote starter pack for 50 and use that, just instead of running the positive wires to the starting circuts of the car, run them to the light pack....set the 15 minute timer...that would work, you can start them up and shut them off at will also....just a thought....

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:56 am

Most remote starters will shut the power off if it doesn't see a tach signal or alternator voltage increase after a few seconds. One solution is to install it as a regular functioning remote starter and use the "ignition 3" output to power everything.

What sucks is that on a cold morning, you'll have the light show in effect while your car warms up. Intersting thought.

Blitzbug2u · Post by **Blitzbug2u** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 7:57 am

Auto alarm install places usually have a retrofit module that allows remote control of existing time-delay type alarms. Buying this and using it to control a heavy-duty relay should suffice. Blitz.

nmfire10 · Post by **nmfire10** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 8:39 am

I have the external alarm on my CDM hooked up to my remote starter's aux input. They all think I am nuts at work when I start punching in numbers on the centracom and then my truck starts out in the lot.

You can setup a similar system with DTMF to control outputs either with a radio or external deocoder board.

Cam · Post by **Cam** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 10:23 am

nmfire10 wrote:I have the external alarm on my CDM hooked up to my remote starter's aux input. They all think I am nuts at work when I start punching in numbers on the centracom and then my truck starts out in the lot.

You can setup a similar system with DTMF to control outputs either with a radio or external deocoder board.

Do you leave the radio on all the time?

nmfire10 · Post by **nmfire10** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 11:24 am

I normally have it follow the ignition. If I know I am going to want to remote start it from the console, I manually turn the radio back on after I shut the truck off. I made a seperate MDC personality that has different ID's than my normal ID (so if the call alert my portable, it doesn't start the truck).

My keychain remote doesn't reach from inside so it i nice to be able to do it this way and have it warm/cool when I get out to it.

SlimBob · Post by **SlimBob** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 11:45 am

nmfire10 wrote:I have the external alarm on my CDM hooked up to my remote starter's aux input. They all think I am nuts at work when I start punching in numbers on the centracom and then my truck starts out in the lot.

HELL YES! I AM SO DOING THIS! (even if I have to have DTMF to do it!)

ro · Post by ro » Tue Mar 02, 2004 11:26 am

In all of our ambulances and emergency vehicles, we use a second car battery for siren/lights, interior lights and radio. The battery gets loaded by the main battery when there is sufficient power.
This setup protects us from dead car batteries, because even when the second battery (and thus all emergency equipment) fails, the car is still in perfect operational state since the main car battery is not affected. And as soon as you start the engine, the second battery gets loaded again.

Additionally, we attached a voltage converter to the second battery, so that we can use 220V equipment (e.g. incubators).

Crazy Idea.............

Crazy Idea.............

I'm listening....

Remote control