Coolest siren test ever!!!

[Gil]

Today, we we're coincidentally outside during P.E. class when the
sirens went off for the Statewide monthly test. At first, it was really
errie when the 2001s went off in Attack. Everyone just stopped and
looked around to see what was happening (kids sure are stupid).
Then after 2 minutes they stopped and everything god dead quiet.

Then, the Thunderbolt 1000T which is about 500 yards from the edge
of the school grounds ROARED to life. It was an awesome sound! That
one made everyone stop. I could actually hear the blower, which is very
surprising.

Barrington tests the sirens for 2 minutes in Attack (2001s), 1 min
rest, 2 min Attack (for the 2 Thunderbolts), and they do something
cool with the 2 EOWS 612s.

The attack mode on the 1000T was the best siren sound i ever heard.

It was awesome!

[Robert Gift]

Neat.

What is an EOWS 612?

Tomorrow I plan to video a dual-toned Thunderbolt on Denver's
George Washington High School. 2nd Wednesdays at 11:00

I won't waste time driving to Englewood, CO to record their
Allertor which likely will not operate. (Last month their dispatch
did not know they were to test their two sirens.)

Thanks,

[Elliott]

Robert,
E.O.W.S. stands for Electronic Outdoor Warning System, made by Federal, and there are two popular models that I have seen, plus possibly a few others to my knowledge. The 612 looks like 6 paging horn speakers on a circuit breaker panel that rotates. Here's a pic:

http://www.jmarcoz.com/sirens/circleville2_oh.jpg

Then there is the 1212, which is a stationary array of 12 speakers, 2 layers of six facing omnidirectionally. I had a video posted a while back of a 1212 being tested when Fernald relinquished the use to Hamilton County and new radios were installed.

Here is a 1212 pic:

http://www.jmarcoz.com/sirens/shandon2_oh.jpg

[Robert Gift]

Oh.
Thank you, Elliot.

I have little interest in electronic sirens, other than vehicle sirens.

For vehicles, e-sirens are better then real sirens.

The only advantage with Federal Q is that if there is a requirement that the siren must always be sounding during an emergent trip, you can have the Q sounding at low RPM and therefore very low dB output.

With electronic, it is at full dB output even if just "blipped".

Fortunately, in forward-thinking Colorado, sirens need not be contantly blaring when not needed.

[Elliott]

I saw a TV show that had an experimental vehicle siren in the UK somewhere; it had a yelp tone with a white noise burst at the lower fall of the tone. This was to test a theory that a standard yelp can cause echoes between buildings that can make localizing which way the emergency vehicle is traveling difficult. The white noise seemed to help somewhat.

Enough on that subject though, as we are deviating from the theme of the post.

[Conky 2000]

So what kind of noise do the 612's do? I like the dualtone Westminster Chimes signal best.

[SirenMadness]

Hm, sounds like you had a good weekday!

[Robert Gift]

So what kind of noise do the 612's do? I like the dualtone Westminster Chimes signal best.

What?!

Don't they sound like bells?
Description sounds horrible to me.
(But so does my carillon (bell) playing to others!)

[SirenMadness]

They do sound sort-of like bells, though a bit more sustained in each "strike."

[Gil]

I have a video of the Barrington EOWS 612 in Whoop mode...