McCordsville, IN: Failed Whelen Vortex R3(?) with Distant 2001 Ambience

[Greenfield1003]

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

I decided to try and record this Vortex since it is the closest siren to me that isn't a 2001 and tests for a full 3 minutes, plus I've never heard a Whelen before. Obviously I don't know for sure that it's an R3 and not the usual R4, but considering how quiet it was in another video of it taken a few years ago by Brad Meiser (Squiddy7863) I'm almost certain it is. We got there in plenty of time and met the boss for the company that this siren is at, who was really nice. He explained that this siren can actually be activated by both Hamilton and Hancock Counties, even though it is technically within the Hancock County line. 11:00 rolled around and I heard some nearby 2001s wind up but so far nothing from my scanner indicating that Hancock was about to test. What county the 2001s were coming from I honestly don't know. They only ran for 50 seconds, which is how long Marion County (Indianapolis) tests for (even though the sirens are technically only supposed to growl on every other Friday besides the first, for some reason a few of their sirens test for 50 seconds weekly), but they were coming from the opposite direction that we came from (I live in Indianapolis.) The Hancock/Marion County line is kind of crooked though, plus we didn't hear two-tone coming from Hancock County's frequency, so I'm almost positive they were coming from Indy.

As for the Vortex failing Hancock County appears to be "hit or miss" when it comes to siren testing. The director explained to me back in December that even though the test is supposed to take place every Friday at 11 it sometimes ends up being closer to 11:30 due to them working on other emergencies. Well it appears that if the emergency is not dealt with within approximately 30-45 minutes then they cancel the siren test all together. I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying over the scanner but it sounded as if there was a fire or something around 11:03, which caused the siren test to be delayed. Fast foreward to around 11:20 and they said something about the fire being "nonexistent", so at this point my mom and I were like "alright, there's no fire get on with the test." But THEN there was another fire or somebody had to be rushed to the hospital so the test was delayed some more and then presumably canceled for the week.

[4J25]

There's a good chance that was an R4, and it just wasn't operating at it's full potential.

[Greenfield1003]

There's a good chance that was an R4, and it just wasn't operating at it's full potential.

True, true. But there's a 2001-130 about a 3/4 of a mile from this Vortex so they probably either installed an R3 or else set it at a low volume

[bmeiser]

Since it wasn't a first Friday, it was probably Hamilton county (Olio Rd and 104th St). They only test for ~ 1 minute these days. If it was a first Friday, I'd say it definitely could have been Indy. The one at 86th and Admiral's Way isn't far from this location. It definitely wasn't Vernon Township in Hancock county since 2 of those sirens are less than a mile from this one. You definitely would have noticed.

This siren came before the nearby 130's, btw, so their presence didn't affect what type of Vortex McCordsville purchased.

[Greenfield1003]

Since it wasn't a first Friday, it was probably Hamilton county (Olio Rd and 104th St). They only test for ~ 1 minute these days. If it was a first Friday, I'd say it definitely could have been Indy. The one at 86th and Admiral's Way isn't far from this location. It definitely wasn't Vernon Township in Hancock county since 2 of those sirens are less than a mile from this one. You definitely would have noticed.

This siren came before the nearby 130's, btw, so their presence didn't affect what type of Vortex McCordsville purchased.

Dang, thought that Hamilton still did 3 minutes. Hopefully Hancock doesn't start doing these ridiculous 50 second tests. In that case, though, it probably was coming from Hamilton County. However, there are some sirens in Indy that for some reason run the 50 second cycle weekly