Damn, I'm gonna have to go down there tomorrow and see this! Maybe also find out if/when its tested.

Ugh...according to that map, it looks like that lone Iowa ATI is likely being used by the University of Northern Iowa, or perhaps one of the larger community colleges in the WCF area. My bet would be on UNI though. Perhaps it's time for me to take a drive up there with my camera to confirm this terr...

That is unusual, I've never heard of just air horn being used for tornado warnings. My hometown uses one or two blasts of air horn as an attention-grabber before sounding a voice announcement during tornado warnings. but, after the voice announcement is done, they go into a standard alert cycle. Dav...

Here's one I found a couple months ago in Preston, IA. Older sirens like this I'm not very familiar with, so apologies for my lack of knowledge in case this ends up being a real easy answer. http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll132/bigloudnoise/Sirens/Preston/th_20090404_DSCF3632.jpg http://i287.pho...

The new cover on that model 7 looks very much like one of the cowlings from an ACA Screamer. Very resourceful!

Just a thought...but perhaps the spinning chopper created some sort of gyroscopic effect that somehow helped cushion the fall? Or maybe the electrical wiring acted as a support line that slowed the fall. I don't know, I'm one of those people who try to find any possible explanation for oddities, eve...

All right, the mystery has been solved...at least in regards to the loudest siren heard. This is definitely the siren in Central City, and it is a 5T or 7T. I drove over this afternoon and took some pictures of it: http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll132/bigloudnoise/Sirens/Central%20City/th_200905...

The P-50, if there is one, is heard at 0:42. It may just be winds from the tornado, though. Ah, I do hear it now. At first I thought it was a very distant Whelen, but at full volume with headphones, it does sound like a dual-tone sound. Hrmn...it seems perhaps I have some investigating and explorin...

Looking back through my pictures, I'm embarrassed to say I have yet to take any pictures of the sirens in Alburnett and Central City. What I DO know, however, is this: Alburnett has an XT22 next to the fire station. In addition, Alburnett is within the DAEC emergency planning zone, so it also has a ...

Well, I can say now that the wheels are in motion for me to possibly acquire the STH-10. I've found a crane that could be used to remove it from the pole. All I'd need is a bucket truck and someone to go up and physically detach it from the pole, something I cannot do myself (Let's just say I'm a li...