How exactly do you "trick" it?

Nice fixture! Thats the current GE model for the Countdowns. You can trick it to count even with toggle switches, as long as you can "pulse" the hand so it flashes. The internal counter just counts the flashes. It will need to re-learn any timing changes.

ahh so you'll need to flash the hand the same number of times a few times for the numbers to work?

I see lots of these all over NYC. I also see the other diode outline kind. Many of those have dead diodes and some light WALK and DON'T WALK at the same time.

Thanks Nick! and yeah that's how it tricked it to count in the first pic. This one has a built in conflict monitor inside the module since if both the walk and don't walk are powered, only the don't walk hand will light up.

Thats sweet. I never powered both indications together on mine to see if it had a built in monitoring circuit.

Yeah it's a pretty cool feature, I've noticed some of the peds in use here don't have that feature.

In downtown Seattle, the police will happily ticket you if they catch you stepping off the curb with the sign blinking and counting down.

Really? Here nobody uses the ped signals and nobody cares about it. I guess they figure they have the right of way anyways. I guess the only reason we have them is becuase the law says so.

Wow that police dept has alot of time on their hands...

Back in the pre-countdown days the flashing hand was a clearance interval. If you were in the street, continue across but pedestrians just approaching the intersection were to remain on the curb.

Now the flashing hand is more of a judgement call because you have the counter to decide on whether or not you should walk, run, fly or stay put for the next light. Only the hand needs the countdown, the walks dont because no matter how long the walk is, you have right of way. And in some cases the walk will dwell

There's a intersection that has the counter, but I don't believe it's working right. Never went to walk mode when it was supposed to be on. So I treated the intersection as if it didn't have them. What can you do right?

Which intersection Mister Crow?

Texted you the locations of two intersections with shady pedestrian signals.

I heard people in Toronto have gotten a $25 ticket during safety blitzes for walking when the hand is on but I find most cops here usually turn a blind eye to people who do that and jaywalkers in general.

Yeah my family and I were in NH in Wolfeboro and a cop gave us a "warning" since we crossed the street and we weren't at a crosswalk. As odd as it may sound, we had no idea that wasn't legal since in RI pedestrians cross wherever and whenever they feel like it lol. I guess "Pedestrians have the right of way" is taken a little extreme lol. Except for the very urban/downtown areas, there aren't even crosswalks except at signals. Even at some signals there aren't crosswalks sometimes. I guess it's just one of those laws that gets a blind eye turned to it as Joe mentioned.

Too much paperwork for the cops.

You have never heard of "J-Walking"? It's illegal everywhere, I am pretty sure it might be illegal to cross the dirt road in front of my house but it won't EVER be enforced because there are no crosswalks and people walk around the neighborhood all the time and there is very little traffic.

But it's enforced on the big roads.

Well, it's not inforced here. I've heard of J-walking, but i didn't know it applied to all roads. I knew it applied to highways and interstates an such but nah everyone here crosses where ever they please lol.

I've noticed here at crosswalks with crossing signals (not at an intersection), people don't press the button for a red light/walk light. Instead they wait for someone to let them cross or they just cross in front of cars thinking they own the friggin world. i always press the button because i want to see the 12-12-8 signals turn red lol, as I rarely see that happen.

Nice find. As one member already mentioned, this kind is in use throughout the city of New York. I actually might want to acquire this type of countdown module insert eventually. How did you acquire it if I may ask?

Thanks, I got it from this place which also has some other traffic light stuff like ball and arrow modules and old reflector assemblies (glass and aluminium).

Unfortunately I don't think they ship though.