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Xterra Equipment Reviews
Completed 4/4/2006
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LED Lights | 911EP TD28 Traffic Director | Able2 Sho-Me LED | TIR3 LED | Dual Talon LED | Jotto Desk | TM-G707A
LED Lights
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. There are currently three generations of LED lights. Generation one emitting the least light, and generation three the most.
LED lights require so little current to operate it is unbelievable. For example, all of my LED lights were pulling 5 amps when tested. Halogen lights require a much larger amperage flow, with strobes somewhere in between.
Another feature of LED lights is the fact that they only create one color of light (unless you get a clear one). This makes LED lights a brilliant red, blue, or amber. Halogen and strobe lights suffer from washout over distance. This is due to the fact that strobes and halogen lights create all colors of the visible spectrum, but use a filter to only allow one color through. In my experience you can detect the color of an LED light as far as the eye can see. |
911EP TD28
 I've had my eye on this traffic director for six months before I finally bought it. The TD28 uses generation 2 LED technology in its lights. It is 28 inches long and has 10 LED lighthead segments. There are 3 LED's per segment. Two of the LED's are fluted for excellent side warning, while the center LED is unfluted for straight on warning. There are 6 wires that control the TD28. Two are + / - and the other four control the flash patterns. The need for 4 switches might annoy some people, but it makes it much cheaper. Other traffic directors use control boxes which usually cost more than $100. I purchased my TD28 for $254 and did not have to get a control box. The flash patters are selectable using four switches which are easy to memorize. As far as the patterns go...WOW! All of the directional patters are excellent. I feel that they are much better than any halogen or strobe traffic director could ever be. What really sets this unit apart is the excellent warning patters it has. The new "inside out" warning is insane! |
Able 2 Sho-Me LED
 I purchased these amber LED lightheads and flashers for some simple and cheap warning to the front of my X. They are exactly that, simple and cheap. I am not very impressed with the flash patterns of the random flasher included with the lights. I should have gotten the random strobe flasher. The reason I dislike the flasher is because there are only two patterns that alternate the flashers. There is a slow alternating flash, and a raising / falling flash. I'm leaving it on the simultaneous quad flash. It isn't a big deal, but enough to make me recommend getting the random strobe flasher. These are generation one LED lights, so they are not nearly as bright as other lightheads. Like I said though, I wanted the cheapest LED lights, and that's what I got. I believe that there are 40 generation one lights on each lighthead.
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TIR3 LED
 I have four TIR3 LED lights installed on my X. The Whelen TIR3 lightheads use generation three LED technology. These lightheads are absolutely unbelievable. They provide exceptional warning for side and rear applications. Daytime use is pretty good, and nighttime is exceptional. I wouldn't use a TIR3 for front or primary warning if you are an emergency vehicle. I recommend the dual talon or single talon for front warning. The TIR3's have three generation three lights per lighthead. They have decent flash patterns, and can be synchronized to any other amount of TIR3 lightheads. |
Dual Talon LED
 I think this is absolutely the best dash / deck warning light ever. Words really cannot describe how awesome this light is. The light uses two lightheads that incorporate linear 8 technology by Whelen. There are 8 generation 3 LED lights lined up in a row joined with a single reflector. A dual talon has 2 lightheads in the unit. There are a ton of flash patterns on this light. Maximum flashes per minute is 680. That is psychotic! You'll almost go blind if you look into this light for too long, day or night! The off center warning is excellent also. I just don't know what else I can say about this light. The best, unbelievable, awesome, wow. |
Jotto Desk
 This jotto desk is a perfect addition to my vehicle. It allows me to drive with a laptop nearby that is running gps software. It is quite stable. |
TM-G707A
 In all honesty I don't like this radio very much. It scans very slow and suffers from intermod when electrical storms are nearby. The memory banks constantly get messed up and forget channel names and frequencies. That is very annoying. I will not buy another one of these radios. I should have gotten a Yaesu 8800 or 8900. |
I've had my eye on this traffic director for six months before I finally bought it. The TD28 uses generation 2 LED technology in its lights. It is 28 inches long and has 10 LED lighthead segments. There are 3 LED's per segment. Two of the LED's are fluted for excellent side warning, while the center LED is unfluted for straight on warning. There are 6 wires that control the TD28. Two are + / - and the other four control the flash patterns. The need for 4 switches might annoy some people, but it makes it much cheaper. Other traffic directors use control boxes which usually cost more than $100. I purchased my TD28 for $254 and did not have to get a control box. The flash patters are selectable using four switches which are easy to memorize. As far as the patterns go...WOW! All of the directional patters are excellent. I feel that they are much better than any halogen or strobe traffic director could ever be. What really sets this unit apart is the excellent warning patters it has. The new "inside out" warning is insane! 
I have four TIR3 LED lights installed on my X. The Whelen TIR3 lightheads use generation three LED technology. These lightheads are absolutely unbelievable. They provide exceptional warning for side and rear applications. Daytime use is pretty good, and nighttime is exceptional. I wouldn't use a TIR3 for front or primary warning if you are an emergency vehicle. I recommend the dual talon or single talon for front warning. The TIR3's have three generation three lights per lighthead. They have decent flash patterns, and can be synchronized to any other amount of TIR3 lightheads. 
I think this is absolutely the best dash / deck warning light ever. Words really cannot describe how awesome this light is. The light uses two lightheads that incorporate linear 8 technology by Whelen. There are 8 generation 3 LED lights lined up in a row joined with a single reflector. A dual talon has 2 lightheads in the unit. There are a ton of flash patterns on this light. Maximum flashes per minute is 680. That is psychotic! You'll almost go blind if you look into this light for too long, day or night! The off center warning is excellent also. I just don't know what else I can say about this light. The best, unbelievable, awesome, wow. 
This jotto desk is a perfect addition to my vehicle. It allows me to drive with a laptop nearby that is running gps software. It is quite stable.
In all honesty I don't like this radio very much. It scans very slow and suffers from intermod when electrical storms are nearby. The memory banks constantly get messed up and forget channel names and frequencies. That is very annoying. I will not buy another one of these radios. I should have gotten a Yaesu 8800 or 8900.