Federal 500 AT

[Hanako]

Hey everyone,

On the old message board I asked what a 500AT looked like, and you all gave me quite a bit of information, thanks =)

Although I looked at the videos that were linked on the thread:

http://www.jmarcoz.com/sirens/mad500at.avi

http://www.jmarcoz.com/sirens/reed500.avi

http://www.wisconsinsirens.com/videos/5 ... 0Alert.avi

(these require divx, sorry o_o)

But none of them sounded like the 500 AT I knew as a kid, it sounded like this:

http://www.airraidsirens.com/mp3/federal500at.mp3

Why is that?

[hobbeekid]

Each different 500 had different port configurations to produce the different single/duel tones you hear. I can't give you specifics on that third interval fourth interval duel toned stuff cause I'm alittle fuzzy on that so someone else on here can tell you those specifcs.....

[Archon]

The Madison WI 500AT's is 9/12 port 3 of them Active Tornado's
The Reedsburg WI 500 is 12 port only 1 only Active Fire Calls
The Dundee MI 500AT is 10/12 port 1 only Active Fire Calls
The Los AnglesCA 500T's are 9/12 port Many DeActived CD



What town did you live in that you heard the 10/12 port one? The only one known that is 10/12 is the one in Dudee MI never found a 10/12 anywhere else yet

[Hanako]

For 11 years I lived in a Town in British Columbia Canada called Oliver(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver,_British_Columbia)

The fire station there used the Federal 500 as a Fire Emergency signal(in which the difference in tone was explained when you spoke of the signal in Dundee MI)

The Fire Department in Oliver sounded it for 3-4 minutes during an emergency and for 1 minute each Thursday at 7:30 PM during a test.

I have heard some months ago that the fire crew has since moved to another building, I'm not sure whether the signal is still in active service though, but Oliver is a rather popular holiday destination so, chances are I may be able to ask a tourist if they come down to where I presently live.

In fact, I think I may have even found the name of the Department in question (If anyone's curious):

Willowbrook / White Lake Volunteer Fire Department
RR #2, S52, C54, Oliver, V0H 1T0

It makes sense, the Postal code matches (so does the phone number, but I won't put that up unless someone asks) and if I recall correctly, there's only one fire hall, and if that isn't the case, then they might be able to point out the right one =)

[AllSafe]

That 500AT with the 10/12 rotor is very nice sounding; it sounds a lot like a rotating 2T22.

[Hanako]

That 500AT with the 10/12 rotor is very nice sounding; it sounds a lot like a rotating 2T22.

Well, it always scared the dickens out of me but that's largely due to the fact that I think it was kept in a housing built onto the fire house, I never actually saw it, so I had no idea where the noise came from or even what it was o_o

[Archon]

The Siren Might just be a Allertor Since you can't acculy see it ACA made Allertor's in the late 50's and early 60's with Federal 10/12 ports. It would sound just like a 500AT

[Hanako]

Hmmmm, I dunno if an Allerator would fit in the wooden housing on top of the firehouse (it pretty much looked like a little box with a roof on it and vents on each side) it does have a rather funny shape

[500AT]

What town did you live in that you heard the 10/12 port one? The only one known that is 10/12 is the one in Dudee MI never found a 10/12 anywhere else yet

The only other 10/12 port 500AT I have ever seen, is on Indiana State Route 9, south of Greenfield, which is located in Hancock County. These sirens were both manufactured circa 1970, and obtained through 50/50 DCPA (Now FEMA) matching fund grants. Interestingly enough, this design uses an air intake tube that resembles a traffic cone, rather than the latter versions, which are shown from the video from Madison, Wisconsin.

[500AT]

To the best of my knowledge, the Federal Model 500 came in the following configerations:

500A
500AC
500AT
500B
500BC
500BT

Of all the aforementioned models, the "C" series, which used a damper device to cut off the air intake, was the shortest lived. This was done to create a "third signal" that was a pulsed steady blast. According to Duane Zwick, an employee for Automotive Services, based out of Jackson, Michigan, which was one of the Federal Signal dealers long before Westshore Services. He said, there was only one 500AC that he knew of, which was located at a nearby prison camp back in 1980. Since that time, the siren was replaced with an STH-10, and is nowhere to be found.

The city of Lambertville, Michigan has either a 500A or 500B that is an 8 port low-pitch model, which sounds very much like an STL-10. I have not seen it in several years, but I will make an attempt to get down there to take some photos of the siren.