Does anyone know...

Emp_Fab

How the amber lanterns used in roadworks manage to flash in sequence ?  Once upon a time they would all just flash at their own independent speed, then a few years ago these fancy sequential ones started appearing.

p.s. when I say 'does anyone know', I don't mean 'can anyone guess' :-)

randomhandclaps

Infrared triggers with a master timer?

PolarityMan

I think its just fluke that they happened to leave the right gap between setting up the previous one. Sometimes you see the odd one out of sequence.

snakemanStoo

Witchcraft

Fretwired

It's wireless technology that allows them to be automatically synchronised - made by a company called Dorman.

Emp_Fab

Thanks Fretwired....  perfect answer and 100% correct.  Unlike Randomhandclaps who seems to have ignored the 'don't guess' part in the very first reply.

See me after class, Random.... 

mike_l

That's all well and good until some twat nicks one. Not that I'd ever do something like that. Not me. No way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly

Phil_aka_Pip

Emp_Fab said:

How the amber lanterns used in roadworks manage to flash in sequence ?  Once upon a time they would all just flash at their own independent speed, then a few years ago these fancy sequential ones started appearing.

p.s. when I say 'does anyone know', I don't mean 'can anyone guess' :-)

Once upon a time they were little red metal things with oil and a wick and they didn't flash

randomhandclaps

Lunar phasing?

Myranda

gnomes... a gang of gnomes hide under the lights and they use coordinated shouting to turn the lights on and off in sequence.

Road gnomes are intensely jealous though - and one will turn up with a slightly bigger lamp one day, and they get into all sorts of arguments, the lights no longer flash in order and it all goes to hell... 

So in addition to road gnomes you also need an uber-gnome for every ten lights... but they're paid in magic rocks which can only be found under roads... they're dug out by unter-gnomes ...

Really gnomes are a terrible way to sequence lights at the side of the road - it wuold be so much easier to just let a number of lights flash out of sequence. But the UK has such a gnome-based economy we can't change to a non-gnome economy...sad.

Emp_Fab

Put.  The.  Monster.  Ripper.  In.  The.  Bin.

axisus

Disappointed. I was rooting for witchcraft. 

randomhandclaps

Witchcraft would make sense because in the olden times when the lights were all random they used to burn witches.  Seems a strange coincidence that witches are no longer persecuted and now the lights synchronise.