Dickson, TN Storm siren inoperable, city using email alerts

[Charlie Davidson]

Not only is it LaVergne.. now Dickson is in on it. I think it's about time for me to take some decisive action.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120 ... ail-alerts

[weasel2htm]

It's sad that a high school student can have a better siren(s) in his housing development than a city.

I'd bet that Charlie, Jeb, Werden Electric, etc... could have that Sentry diagnosed in less than an hour!

[uncommonsense]

It's sad that a high school student can have a better siren(s) in his housing development than a city.

I'd bet that Charlie, Jeb, Werden Electric, etc... could have that Sentry diagnosed in less than an hour!

They have. It's bad batteries. It sounds like the money just isn't there to pay for them. The community didn't pay for the siren; a consortium did.

[murrfarms]

They have. It's bad batteries. It sounds like the money just isn't there to pay for them. The community didn't pay for the siren; a consortium did.

It's not so much just bad batteries, it's the way they have the input power circuit hooked up going to the siren's battery chargers. They have a light switch hooked to an underground power source on a service entrance pole near the siren, which is wired to a security light on that service pole and a run of 10/2 Romex running overhead from that pole to the siren's pole. For some reason, someone keeps turning off the light switch, which kills the power to the battery chargers and causes the batteries to go flat from sitting unused for long periods of time. Someone (Charlie?) needs to just go up there and break the operator off of that stupid switch in the "on" position and fill it shut with epoxy.

[kswx29]

I wana know why communities in states like Kansas and Oklahoma NEVER get rid of their entire siren systems in favor of these text-based systems, yet communities in states recently hard hit with severe weather in the previous years are all for it. I think text based systems are great especially in today's world but I also think sirens are still a vital part of the warning process.

[holler]

That's because people in the midwest have lived with sirens all of their lives, but many in the south haven't. Down here sirens aren't even given a chance to show how effective they can be.

[r4tbolts]

Electric as a primary energy source is more reliable than batteries. Batteries as a back up is great but I have never seen the wisdom of making batteries the primary power source for warning siren. IMO it is asking for problems and sadly many communities once the siren goes up the powers to be pretty much forget about them till they fail.

[landmobile]

... someone keeps turning off the light switch...

That sounds all too familliar. My fire company frequently responds to an alarm activation that is caused by low presure in a parking garage sprinkler system. Outdoor sprinklers are often charged with compressed air so they don't freeze, and the pressure is maintained by a compressor. In this particular parking garage, some genius decided to install a switch that shuts off the compressor in a janitor's closet, right next to a pile of brooms and mops. You can probably guess what keeps happening to that switch.

[Trey]

What kind of an idiot puts a light switch right there? I'm laughing yet somewhat annoyed and it's not even my problem.

Anyone experienced with hot (120V if I'm guessing and understanding right) work can take a try at removing the switch and just connecting the wires with wire nuts.
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*Disclaimer: bad idea...don't do that. I take no responsibility for putting ideas into anyone's heads to do hot work. Never work anything electrical when it's live.*

[Taterworks]

When a real disaster hits, I'll be interested to see if any of these email/text messaging schemes really work.