When a Traffic Light Detector Reset Function Fails
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- čas přidán 10. 06. 2024
- When you first open a traffic cabinet door and see the traffic light detector cards completely dead, you assume there's no power to them. Not so fast! You know what happens when you assume....Today, you'll learn that there can be another cause of that perceived failure.
- Věda a technologie
Interesting! Neat to see the old box for remote communication, and amazing how a fix can sometimes be as simple as unplugging one wire.
Agreed. Just fixed an intersection yesterday by replacing a small blown fuse causing the entire intersection to stay stuck in red flash.
Cool walk through.... And look an MDS9810!!! I used to deal with them in substations years ago. Pretty solid radios in my experience! Slow by yesterdays standards but served their purpose well and trouble free for years.
Well said. I'm slowly upgrading these radios to broadband radios however. I'm sure you know the limitations on bandwidth with these. Thanks for the comment!
@@streetsmartstraffic Ohh yeah, we ran at 9600! Six substation RTUs being polled by an MDS2101 master. Worked well enough though. Eventually upgraded to OPGW (fiber) and was able to of course bring in so much more data.
@@inothome Awesome. Yes, they worked well enough and served their purpose then. With as much as you can do with traffic signals these days, they aren't as practicle anymore. Just my opinion!
Sometimes basic is better. I supported so many devices using RS-232 serial port communications, it was _the_ standard that let you interconnect just about anything. Newer standards like USB are fine, but there are so many variations.
@@bobblum5973 All great points. I like (when upgrading signals) to incorporate video detection. I think pictures (or video in this case) is worth 1000 words. I can't tell you the many times I was able to check "the complaint" before heading to the signal. And video helps with that.
My point is--not enought bandwidth with that technology. Thanks for the insightful comment!
Not gonna lie those cards remind me of the circuit cards that General Motors put in their Dash 2 series locomotives in the 70s and 80s.
They may be from that time! LOL. Thanks for commenting
So if the TBC has some kind of chip that’s stuck in the “ON” position and you can’t power cycle it to fix it, is basically the only option is to replace the whole thing or unplug that one wire like you did to make it unstuck?
You got it. Much cheaper just to disconnect the wire than replace the entire traffic signal controller. I hate to throw something out when the only problem found is something that isn't used anymore anyway. Great question
In STL, it seems like it always takes a phobe call to STL County Street Dept. or MODOT to get a Ticket Submitted. 🤔 Do any Signals Auto Notify when they Fail ?
Hey Ken, I previously supported both StLCo & MoDot StL. I know StlCo has a system that logs intersection problems. Thats IF the signals are on the system...meaning fiber connected to them. It's been awhile but I believe they were around 70% connectivity. Meaning 30% are standalone signals that just sit out there in the wild. MODOT may have similiar % but they have way more signals. I'm in the process of building out the network I currently maintain and have the ability to either text or email me when problems arise (based on severity).
Great question!!
Had purchased a pair of ground mount cabinets at a city auction one time but when I moved to Europe they were left behind since there was "no room" in the cargo containers. Yeah big regrets,could have used them here to house outdoor electrics and a Ham Radio Repeater. I hate to see what the cost is of a new housing only.
The cabinets I order fully populated runs between $20-$30 range I believe. Yes, those cabinets are often repurposed as smokers as well! (I'm told)
Sorry--$20K-$30K
@@streetsmartstraffic thanks for the info! I am a ham radio operator as well as an electronics tech who installed law enforcement remote receiver links. We used the cabinets in remote areas of a jurisdiction to add remote receivers which were then linked back to a main voter which would select the best possible receive signal. This would allow the universal use of keys on the cabinets so they could do a reset of a receiver should it fail. Do you have a company name where I can inquire about the housings only?
@@Subgunman Here in the States, Mobotrex is a distributor of traffic signal parts. They also have their own cabinet manufacturing plant in Texas. You can check their website. However, I would look into ebay or govdeals.com if you're looking to save some $
@@streetsmartstraffic Many Thanks for the info!
What does TBC stand for? Would recycling the power to the controller clear the enabled state of tbc aux3? can you manually toggle the state of that output?
TBC--Time Base Coordination. No-recycling would not clear it. I'm assuming there is a chip that controlls that Aux3 output that is stuck on. In the old setup, yes you could log into the controller and manually turn it on and off (or have the output turned on by time of day).. Great Question!!
Is that the conflict detector next to the controler?
Yes--it's the conflict monitor
So other than the fact that the controller has a problem… it’s fine.
Got it.😂
I'll just unplug my check engine light that'll be fine
LOL. I know, looking back...it sounds stupid, right? I should have clarified, the controller is running the intersection fine. There was just a stuck output for the Aux reset. Not necessary for the intersection to run properly. More of a nice to have...when we had working radio communication to log in remotely. Thanks for commenting!
@@soapflakes But it does make you feel better not seeing it when you start up the car! LOL
@@streetsmartstraffic so why not restore that comm?
@@shadowopsairman1583 You win the prize! I was waiting for someone to ask that question. LOL
Most of the radios in these cabinets are the old serial radios. Technology that cannot handle streaming video. I've been slowing upgrading to broadband radios as we have money in the budget. Anyway, at some point all of this will be restored. Thanks for asking that question!
Hi first and love your channel what work do you have i want to work there (:
Thanks for the comment! How much traffic signal knowledge do you have?
@@streetsmartstraffic Not much but i own a traffic light and a Sequencer from amazon and i want to buy a more professional one.
@@THEROBLOXFAN206 Check ebay or govdeals.com. Sometimes, on govdeals you can get quite the haul for pennies on the dollar
@@streetsmartstraffic great thanks I saw some I like and maybe buy
@@THEROBLOXFAN206 Awesome. Good luck!
This fire is going to be burning for quite some time.
We've been slowly upgrading cabinets/signals on projects when $ is allocated. So hopefully the burning will be for not much longer lol
i watched 2 of your vidss. this seems boring yet stil really intresting, Hows this job? its intresting to me and might want to take that as a chance in my future..
If you want something thats not monotonous, the traffic signal field is anything but. Check out my other video "How to become a Signal Tech" for more information.
My first thought was issues caused by mice, snakes, or ants.
Mike...I've had my share of issues with all of those!
Why are traffic lights so complicated? Shouldnt it just be a simple preprogrammed light action with a manual bypass for fire trucks and such?
Why does a basic cellular phone need to end up as a handheld computer with cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth radio, Internet access, games, music and video players... 😁
It doesn't, unless you want it to do more than just basic traffic signal switching. Plus standardizing on the hardware so the techs can support them more easily. (Yes, I know that doesn't happen in reality, you'll always have a random mix of old and new hardware.)
@@bobblum5973 Great response!
I know, right? Seee @booblum5973 response below...
in the country that i live in, all these units are networked back to a central traffic MGT centre in our capital city. They can, with a click of a mouse on a computer change sequences and put them into amber flash mode, do remote resets and heaps more. there is also the ability to have fault notifications and remote diagnostics. so upgrading them to the new technology is a bonus if you want the extra abilities. Most of our cabinets have a fibre switch that runs from cabinet to cabinet. if fibre is not possible they get 4G modems.
@@My_Special_k Wow--You just stated a similiar setup we have. While we don't have all signals setup this way yet (still trying to connectivity to all signals) but the ones that we do, we have that ability. Currently we have a main corridor on fiber. Outliers are setup with broadband radios that tie back to a cell modem or beam back to the fiber run to tie into that system. Great info! Thanks for commenting!