Fletch
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Sacramento

Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:03 am

What type of sirens are used in Sacramento, CA?

I read that they have a system, but nobody seems to know what type of siren is utilized.

JScott
 
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Re:Sacramento

Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:32 am

Fletch:
Greetings from Sacramento.
All sirens I have seen in the main part of town are mechanical.
Through the downtown are sirens that are single-pitch. They have two openings, the bottom one for air intake, the upper one where the chopper is. They also have three "covers," one on the top of the unit, and the other two above the rectangular openings. On the site, I have seen people describe these as modified model 5's, but I have yet to determine what they are.
Behind one of the major malls in the north part of town(I am in the process of videotaping a test of this one, and the owners of the mall said I could, but I cannot identify the mall, or any of the stores there), there is a Federal Tbolt 1003. It is in beautiful shape.
On one of the buildings downtown, there is what I call the "mystery siren." It has a round base, which I believe houses the rotation mechanism. Above that is the motor/chopper. The distinctive thing about it is that at the front of the projector there is a solid cover, in which are openings shaped like elongated raindrops pointing from the center out to the edge of the projector. No, it is not a t128. I am planning to get a video of it in the next month or two.
Finally, in the south part of town, there is a Tbolt 1000. I do not know if it is single or two tone. I haven't seen it work. BTW, it is painted white.
Sirens are tested the last Friday of the month at 11a.m. Unfortunately, they only test in alert mode, so I haven't seen the 1003 in attack or hi-lo.
One more: along highway 50, in the vicinity of the Watt Avenue exit, there is an older siren visible, I guess in a park. It's on a rotator with an electric motor in the middle, connected to two chopper/projector units at either end, pointing in opposite directions. I've seen it referred to in a previous forum post, but I don't remember what it was called.
These are the main ones here in Sacramento. But, as in many other places where there are no tornadoes, or severe storms, they don't seem to be a high priority.
Jon

Fletch
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Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:41 am

I understand that Los Angeles may have also utilized the "mystery" siren you describe, that looks like a Model 5 but is different.

Too bad the sirens have a low priority. At least they test them.

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Hacksaw
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Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:41 am

South of Sacramento there are some P10's that were part of the Rancho Nuclear plant warning system.

JScott
 
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"Mystery Siren" and More

Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:58 am

Actually, the mystery siren is different from the supposed modified model 5's. As far as I know, it's the only one in Sacramento, and it is across from Old Sacramento. The best way to describe it is that it is a lot like one of the older, small sirens I have have seen pictured on the site here. I believe the ones I am thinking of are called Model A's and or B's. It has the motor in the rear, with what I am assuming are covers on the electrical wiring sticking up like long "bumps" at the back of the motor housing. The projector has two parts, the back flared, where I assume the air is taken in to the chopper, and the front, which has that "cover" I described that has the raindrop shaped openings. The openings are similar to the openings on the front of the t128, but on our siren, the openings are "skinnier" and longer, and cut out of the cover of the projector, unlike the petal shaped "insert" on the t128. And, our siren is a much higher pitch.
If you go to the siren archive, under Sacramento, CA, you will find pictures of 3 of the sirens discussed in this thread. As I said before, I hope to have a video of the "mystery siren" done soon.

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hobbeekid
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Re:Sacramento

Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:31 pm

JScott wrote:Fletch:On one of the buildings downtown, there is what I call the "mystery siren." It has a round base, which I believe houses the rotation mechanism. Above that is the motor/chopper. The distinctive thing about it is that at the front of the projector there is a solid cover, in which are openings shaped like elongated raindrops pointing from the center out to the edge of the projector. No, it is not a t128. I am planning to get a video of it in the next month or two.

I've seen that siren that your talking about many times leaving old Sacramento.I was going to start a thread about it,but I wanted to take pictures of it first.It's definitely a mystery siren,it's been on top of that building many many years.It hasn't moved from the same position since I first noticed it years ago which leaves me to believe it's abandoned.Best I can describe,it looks like a early penetrator type rotating siren but instead of a narrow intake cone in the center, it has a wide bell type intake that rolls out almost all the way to the edge.Probably a 12/9 port siren Id imagine.It's on top of the old California fruit building on the corner of 4th & J st. If you go out there to take pics or film it,see if you can gain access to the roof to get a closeup of that siren during business hours.Maybe theres a custodian that will escort you up there.Be sure to ask some of the businesses who rent storefronts on the first floor if theres a building head of maintenance.You never know.That was my plan but I can never find the time to get up that way.....

FedTB
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Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:43 am

JScott, what's with the paranoid owners of the mall, not wanting you to disclose the name of the mall or the stores there? It's not like recording a siren is top-secret. I've never heard of anything like that! :roll:

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More Sacramento Info

Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:47 am

Regarding the Tbolt 1003 at the mall, I can not imagine why they asked for the mall/stores not to be identified. Funny thing is, if you go to the siren archive, there are two pictures of it, with the location on one of the pictures! The photographer did a good job of not showing any of the store names, either the one where the siren is, or the store in the background of the picture that is misidentified as the blower--actually the two control boxes. The blower is on the ground, hidden by the low bushes.
I have two projects with the 1003. One is a complete video of its running(the one I have started after it went off, since it seemed long after the normal start time--I started to put the camcorder away, and of course the silly thing went off. So I have about 80% of that test, but I want to get the whole thing), and the other is to get one of it running shooting from ground level looking up with a microphone recording the blower, which is something that has been talked about on the board before.
And, as far as the mystery siren is concerned, it does run on testing days. As far as going up to see it, no thank you. One or two years ago, there was an f0(yes, f-zero) tornado. Not any damage, but it did give some poor guy sitting at a stop light a scare when it came along and picked his car up about six inches, then slammed it back down. A couple days later, one of our TV stations had a report about the sirens in town. They went up on that building and shot the mystery siren. It's huge! So yes, it runs, and it's loud, so loud in fact that when it is facing in your direction, the "note" of the sound seems to "bend" lower in pitch! At least, that's how it sounds to me. I may ask around and see if that report is on the station's web site.
I think on the 25th(this month's test day), I'll try to get the mystery siren on video. And, by the way, the mystery siren is single tone. Wouldn't a 12/9 port be two toned? Just wondering.
Jon

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hobbeekid
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Re: More Sacramento Info

Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:47 pm

JScott wrote: And, by the way, the mystery siren is single tone. Wouldn't a 12/9 port be two toned? Just wondering.Jon



Yes, I just assumed that it would be a dual toned CD siren being up on top of that building and all.Every time that I've been to Sacramento, I don't get up there much,I've looked up to see that siren facing the same direction.I thought it was abandoned.guess I was wrong. Hope you get to film it next test day.



Jeff

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Daniel
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:44 am

The Arden Fair Mall has a Thunderbolt. Am I going to get sued now?
Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.

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