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Chem_Boffin_6589
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Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:52 pm
Real Name: Alfie Woolard
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Location: South East England, UK

Electronic Siren Tone Generator and Controller

Thu Feb 15, 2018 7:52 pm

Over the past few weeks I've been working on making a thing that I've been wanting to do for ages. A few of you might remember my video of a laptop powered amplifier that was feeding audio to two 15 watt speaker horns. A week later I dismantled the entire thing thanks to a homeowner being annoyed (who would have known!). This project sat dormant for about half a year until I got this package from my American uncle which had the manual siren kit from Chaney Electronics inside. To put a long story short, I build the tone generator, tested it, then I modified it with a stereo jack and a power supply.

The controller works by feeding constant voltage to the tone generator and its timer, which is waiting for a positive voltage trigger of 9-12VDC. This is achieved by pairing the trigger voltage for the amplifier duration timer with the tone generator timer. A key switch operated push button completes the trigger circuit. When the tone generator relay is closed, tone rises. When opened, tone decreases in pitch. Here is how it operates:
Theory of Operation.jpg
Theory of Operation.jpg (138.5 KiB) Viewed 1889 times
I put the assembly in an old 3 phase contactor and overload box I salvaged from a kiln. It was pretty rough but it turned out great in the end. The amount of free space in it meant I can put add-ins into it in future. I.e, battery backup for example, or a radio that pulses a relay. If I had more money I could make this controller a multi signal controller and not a single signal one like it is now. I have got it programmed to mimic Whelen's analogue attack signal, wail, and alert and I need to manually select which program I desire to activate. There's a 4 second delay after pressing the button but I've designed it that way, otherwise it wouldn't work right.

The tone generator is a manual siren kit from Chaney Electronics and it $6.00 to buy. It produces the most realistic sound, I believe, to date, for a small prokject like mine. It's also loud. Here is the product if you're interested: http://www.electronickitsbychaneyelectr ... mber=c6382 The tone produced makes the horns resonate and the tone carries well. At some point I'm going to go into a remote field and see how far it carries. The tone profile resembles a triangle wave, as it isn't as harsh as a sawtooth or square, and isn't as soft as a sine wave.

Enough rambling, here's a video of it sounding. If you don't respond well to strobes then it's best if you listen only or not watch at all.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi0bQybMU9k
(I apologise for the large photos.)
IMG_0288[1].JPG
The Internals
IMG_0288[1].JPG (2.36 MiB) Viewed 1889 times
IMG_0289[1].JPG
Case Exterior
IMG_0289[1].JPG (2.64 MiB) Viewed 1889 times
Moderators please move to relevent forum if this isn't the right place, Thanks!
Alfie Woolard
Federal Signal MC know-it-all.
Installed, initiated and maintains school campus warning system.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGVVz ... 8BQ47VmdHg

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