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M-250R2 and a Black Transformer
[url=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Route+37,+Cranston,+RI&hl=en&ll=41.754346,-71.48675&spn=0.000128,0.0842&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.450489,86.220703&oq=route+37+cra&hnear=Rhode+Island+37,+Cranston,+Rhode+Island&t=m&z=14&layer=c&cbll=41.754258,-71.48676&panoid=T6VHxiECl6IUeRzOOfDcjw&cbp=12,168.9,,0,-13.94] here's the streetview [/url]

Yep! A black transformer! That M-250R2 is an early incarnation as well. It has a metallic NEMA tag, so that tells me this was probably one of the earliest M-250R2s from either 1985 or 1986. Route 37 starts to the left and there's a driveway to a house on the right. Kinda cool how they installed traffic signals facing the driveway.
Keywords: American_Streetlights

M-250R2 and a Black Transformer

here's the streetview

Yep! A black transformer! That M-250R2 is an early incarnation as well. It has a metallic NEMA tag, so that tells me this was probably one of the earliest M-250R2s from either 1985 or 1986. Route 37 starts to the left and there's a driveway to a house on the right. Kinda cool how they installed traffic signals facing the driveway.

347_IMG_0424.JPG P223452M.JPG gol22212_001.JPG CIMG5654.JPG IMG_0255_med.JPG
File information
Filename:gol22212_001.JPG
Album name:Mike / Outdoor Lighting
Rating (1 votes):55555
Keywords:American_Streetlights
Company and Date Manufactured:General Electric
Model Number:M-250R2
Wattage:250
Lamp Type:HPS
Filesize:441 KiB
Date added:Feb 22, 2012
Dimensions:2048 x 1536 pixels
Displayed:246 times
Color Space:sRGB
DateTime Original:2009:03:26 17:38:38
Exposure Bias:0 EV
Exposure Mode:0
Exposure Time:1/871 sec
FNumber:f/2.8
Flash:No Flash
Focal length:28.8125 mm
Light Source:Unknown: 0
Make:Vivicam
Model:V5024
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=10826
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 1 to 20 of 20
Page: 1

streetlight98   [Feb 22, 2012 at 07:43 PM]
you can see a 250w HPS M-400 split door too. Smile
traffic light1   [Nov 04, 2012 at 06:52 PM]
YES! have you seen my flickr site??
streetlight98   [Nov 04, 2012 at 07:13 PM]
Can you send me a link? BTW, have you been at this intersection before? you seem to be familiar with it?
traffic light1   [Nov 04, 2012 at 08:38 PM]
Yes. go to 3m traffic lights on google. you will see my photos. Cool then click on the photo and you will be on flickr Smile the photo is 2end row with the 2 3ms. [google images]
streetlight98   [Nov 04, 2012 at 10:50 PM]
This intersection is five minutes from my house. Cool I can't find your flickr account. Can you please link it in your next comment? Get the url and paste it into the comment liek this:

[url= enter http address here ] type decscription here [/url]
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Nov 05, 2012 at 01:27 AM]
Since both you guys live in RI you should meet up sometime!
streetlight98   [Nov 05, 2012 at 01:35 AM]
we are on December 2nd!. Cool
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Nov 05, 2012 at 01:38 AM]
CONGRATS!
Maybe since you don't have much space at your house to store your collection maybe you could store some at his place for safekeeping?
GullWhiz   [Nov 05, 2012 at 02:44 AM]
Actually GE M-250R2 did not come out until 1985, the metallic tag had existed in the late 80s too, I had gotten and OVS that had metallic tag and it was from 1987.
streetlight98   [Nov 05, 2012 at 07:14 PM]
i don't think the late 80s GEs had them though... I believe by 86 or so GE was using non-metallic tags.
rlshieldjr   [Dec 27, 2012 at 03:48 AM]
We still have quite a few black transformers here in CA. I have also seen a home driveway with detector loops for signal.
streetlight98   [Dec 27, 2012 at 02:31 PM]
Yeah there’s a bunch of black transformers here too. Some have what appear to be halogen-colored indication lights on them. This driveway doesn’t have loop detectors if I remember correctly. If that’s correct they’d have to wait until a car rolls up to the intersection on the freeway’s side.
streetlight98   [Nov 14, 2016 at 08:43 PM]
This had its original lamp and PC until it began cycling this year. It was relamped a couple months ago. This was likely one of NGrid's last relamps in Cranston before Cranston assumed ownership over their lights. Cranston is rapidly replacing all their HPS and MV with LEDs (they're using 20W LED for 50W HPS and 40W LED for 100w HPS; funny thing is that the 100W MVs are also replaced with 40W LED and even some 50W HPS, which is good since the 20W LEDs are about as bright as 150W incandescents, I kid you not!)
Antstar85   [Nov 15, 2016 at 01:40 AM]
Yeah Northampton has begun the mass replacements with their streetlights as well. They are using the Leotek eco cobrahead fixtures. They really dimmed out the lumens from the previous fixtures. 250 watt HPS fixtures were swapped to 29 watt LED. They also went with the warm white color temperature which makes it look like incandescent lighting the roads again.
streetlight98   [Nov 15, 2016 at 01:58 AM]
29 watts to replace 250W?! That's a 50W= wattage. Shocked Here the only 250W HPS fixtures they replaced were lone fixtures mixed in with 100 and 50W HPS, so they just made it all the same and replaced the 250W HPS with 40W (100W=) LEDs. I drove around tonight and the 40W LEDs are sufficiently bright IMO but the 20W LEDs are just too dim. They're slightly dimmer than 50W HPS (which I already think is too too dim for street lighting). The 40W LEDs are between 70 and 100W. Just slightly dimmer than 100W. I do like the warmer tone since it does give that incandescent feel. Jamestown RI has incandescent lights still and the color is quite similar (and so is the low brightness lol)
Antstar85   [Nov 15, 2016 at 10:33 AM]
Yeah I thought the same thing when I saw the change. In the more urban areas, they used 88 watt fixtures to replace the 250 watt fixtures. Even the 400 watt fixtures only got 88 watts except for major intersections or crosswalks but I wasn't able to get a look at the wattage driving by. It was a big deal when the city announced the changeout. A lot of the residents wanted dimmer lights so they can see the stars at night. Public safety goes out the door for the DSA FINATICS.
streetlight98   [Nov 15, 2016 at 11:34 AM]
Wow that's nuts! RIDOT used 280W LEDs for their 400W HPS lights and IIRC, they used 133W LEDs for their 250W HPS. RIDOT's LEDs are actually as bright as the HPS they replaced IMO. They did a good job, though I still think they're stupid for ditching the old reliable group-switched contactor cabinets in favor of individual PCs with wireless capability (the PCs are made by CIMCON and managed by a software made by SivlerSpring, a California-based "smart software" company). RIDOT's LEDs are all LeoTek fixtures like you have in Holyoke. They're a 4000K color but have a noticeable amount of blue to them.

Providence is using 139W Cree LEDs IIRC. For 250W and 400W HPS. They're decently bright. Not sure of the wattage of the side street lights (50 and 100W HPS) but they're also Cree and are actually really bright. A lot of residents in Providence complained about the LEDs being too bright, but the plan in Prov is to dim the lights down with the wireless controls (same as RIDOT) once the whole city is LED, which I think is about now. Providence's LEDs are the same bluish white color as RIDOT's lights.

Cranston has those tall green DTL PCs on their AEL Autobahns (the Autobahns with the round area for the LEDs and the option for the drop lens, which Cranston didn't use). I don't think the DTL PCs are dimmable, which is weird since that PRISM organization requires the use of "solid state LED) lighting technology with dimming controls". I'm happy Cranston is using pretty much "normal" photocells though. Those hi-tech wireless PCs creep me out a bit. Too much technology packed into something that once was so innocent lol. Those CIMCON PCs have GPS tracking in them! The idea is that they can know where street lights are when they need to be serviced but something tells me it's also to prevent theft to some small degree lol. Bottom line, if you steal an LED from Providence or RIDOT, pull out the PC and leave it on-site lol. Since even when power is disconnected, the PCs have battery backup to keep communication with the system! Shocked
Antstar85   [Nov 15, 2016 at 04:17 PM]
I like the look of the autobahn fixtures more than the squared ones. The towns who used autobahn fixtures here were the squared ones. None of the towns here are using any of the dimming controls which is nice so it keeps that somewhat classic streetlight feel. I know Westfield is using those tall ripely LED controls and So is South Hadley (where I'm moving to) for there LED installations. Holyoke was using the Sun-tech LED controls, but they switched brands but I have no clue what manufacture. They are terrible though with footcandles, no joke lights are turning on at 3:45 on a clear day during this time of the year.
streetlight98   [Nov 15, 2016 at 11:21 PM]
Yeah the round Autobahns do look better than the square ones, though they are pretty glarey since they basically use a magnifying glass as a lens for the LED chips. All the glare of a drop lens fixture but with all the constrained distribution pattern of an FCO fixture lol. The round Autobahns also have very harsh shadows. The Cree LEDs Providence is using have very nice distribution patterns. The 250W= Crees look alright but the 50 and 100W= ones look like tennis rackets with the space in the middle. The LeoTek Toilet Lid lights aren't that bad with distribution either, but RIDOT has had lots of outages. Not sure if the fixtures are crapping out, or if it's the PCs that are too high-tech for their own good. Could also be wiring issues but doubtful since the HPS lights before them never had issues. They've been out since day 1 too. RIDOT did these swap-outs at night, but the relay boxes were shut off via their disconnect switches, so I guess they didn't bother checked for the duds. If they have any logic, when they're done with the mass conversion, they'll go back and replace all the bad ones and then make a warranty claim and use the replacement fixtures sent under warranty for future spot replacements for knockdowns or whatever. But they probably won't do that.

The CIMCON wireless nodes that RIDOT and Providence are using come on wicked late into the evening. Some come on around 4:45 this time of year but most don't come on until after 5PM, when it's nearly black out. Haven't seen the Cranston LEDs at dusk yet to see how early/late they come on. The PCs are tall and green. I THINK they're DTL because they're AEL fixtures so it only makes sense that they'd order the PCs with the fixtures. But I guess they could be Ripley.

BTW, did you know Ripley's ownership merged with Sun-Tech? Ryan got a couple letters in the mail (I guess since he's ordered form Ripley in the past) but I haven't see anything on either website making it public. I hope it doesn't mean they're going to "crappify" Ripley's photocells, as they make some of the most decent PCs today.
streetlight98   [Apr 13, 2017 at 02:39 AM]
Another update for this pic: The black transformer was recently replaced. Apparently that transformer was dedicated for feeding the freeway lighting on Rte 37 to the left See here; BTW note how some guy has traffic signals facing his driveway since he's at the intersection lol. The freeway lights all went out in that March snowstorm we got that dumped half a foot of wet slush. Must've killed the transformer or something.

I knew they had fixed the lights because about 15 of the lights in that interchange are dayburners and they were back one day, same day I noticed the new shiny light gray transformer, which is bigger than the black one and lacks the cooling fins. So the dayburners got a month's vacation. Laughing About half the interchange is still dark though. They must feed the lighting from multiple sources. I've been going around on streetview looking for old transformers that connect to "nothing" on neighboring streets. I've found a few. Notice the conduit going down this pole. The transformer looks small though.

And I found this transformer that only feeds that light on the pole and a feed running underground, I assume to the freeway lighting. (...) idea here. There seems to be a feed at each corner of the interchange. A really mess to troubleshoot I'm sure. And even odder, the lights are all 120V, for freeway lighting! They were 240V in the MV days but NECo used all 120V HPS. Seems like a very inefficient method for freeway lighting. They must use some heavy-gauge underground cable!

Comment 1 to 20 of 20
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