EOWS 612/DSA Monstrosity

[echo1030]

My state has been well known for wrecking perfectly good siren installations, but this one takes the cake by far! I present to you… the EOWS 612/DSA Monstrosity! Originally purchased in 2006 & installed in 2010, this EOWS 612 was specifically ordered & purpose built for Moanalua Valley in Honolulu County. It was shipped from the factory with UltraVoice controls & is very distinct in having a top mounted solar panel. It was to be used as a 1200 watt directional array at the very back of Moanalua valley, with no use for a rotator. In April 2023, it failed on both me & SoundMaster 391. After a phone call to HI-EMA after the failed April test, they posted on their website that repairs had been made around a month later. SoundMaster 391 & I showed up on December 1st 2023 to attempt a re-record of the 612, but we were not expecting what awaited us at the valley park! Less than 9 feet from the ground, a DSA6 had been hastily mounted to the 612’s pole at said height. To make matters worse, the electrical job was absolutely botched. A hole was drilled into the side of an existing LB conduit body, with a wire emerging. All 30+ feet of this cable was left zip tied in a coil to a 1” EMT strap. The cable then entered the DSA via a 1” flex conduit connector, screwed into a Meyers hub, complete with several feet of tightly wrapped electrical tape within a one inch radius. The 612 has been left inactive atop the pole, now being used solely for its solar panel. Just beneath the 612 atop the pole, a junction box has rusted away almost entirely. This is believed to be the culprit for whatever is currently “wrong” with the 612 head itself. They have adopted the “just replace it” mentality, despite well over 100 sirens across the state being completely nonfunctional/maintenance required. I’m confident that our state is incapable of effectively & efficiently repairing it’s outdoor warning system whenever trouble arises. This band-aid fix has reduced the output of what was once a 1200 watt siren to a mere 600 watts. Furthermore, the DSA has been so poorly wired, that a simple tug of its pathetically strapped wire would render it useless. Assuming they are choosing the cheapest bidding contractor for the electrical installation of their sirens, they end up spending so much more money in the long run every time a failure occurs due to poor workmanship. This poor management of state funding not only costs us taxpayers, but puts countless residents at risk since so many people rely on our siren system as their primary means of notification in times of crisis. Apologies to the board Moderators in advance if this post belongs in the media section, as I have quite a few photos & several videos posted below of this decrepit installation to compliment this write-up. The first video may include a moderate choice word or two, just a heads up to younger viewers.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkp9pVU4l8w


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq7-4NPdoX8

[Eclipse DDS]

To quote Geoffrey from the BBC TV show Not Going Out:
“Dear God…”

I actually used this siren as a case-study in my Design Engineering project a while ago, it’s a shame to see that it has fallen victim to a literal ‘duct-tape’ fix.

[Greenrid]

What contractor are they even using? It's nice that they kept the 612, but that's just a ridiculous set up. At they least properly put the DSA up properly, but then they jerry-rigged the wire to the siren using duct-tape and just screwed a massive hole into an existing junction. This kind of reminds me of another EOWS like this in Hawaii...

[siren fan]

That is insane.

[echo1030]

An update from SoundMaster 391… He’s been told that all 12 speaker drivers on the EOWS 612 are nonfunctional. I am personally unsure if this is due to poor connections in the rusted out upper junction box, or if the drivers themselves are completely blown. He also stated that the DSA has been installed to provide temporary coverage since the neighborhood board isn’t too happy about not having any siren coverage in the area. The future installation of a Modulator 6024B is most certainly inevitable.

[CoconutYT]

This is the only DSA/612 I saw in person in moanulua. I’m aware that the drivers on the 612 is nonfunctional according to a video. The DSA is a temporary siren as for the one in Lahaina, that one is dead. It has controller issues and i don’t know who did this installation