A Mystery Siren in Miles City, MT

[The Owl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEydcWUSIRo

Found this video of a siren test in Miles City MT, and I've NEVER seen a machine like this at all, 3 separate siren heads, any ideas as to who made this particular beast?

[CABLEVision]

This has been posted about a week ago. We decided that it was some sort of sirens like model "D's" but bigger.

[JasonC]

This has been posted about a week ago. We decided that it was some sort of sirens like model "D's" but bigger.

They are nothing like Model D's. They look more like giant vibratory horns, with only one opening.

Whatever the case may be, it looks like this siren will remain a mystery like the Colerain, OH siren.

[Thunderbolt 612]

They could be electronic sirens with exposed speaker driver housings/wire, and an STH-10 recording on it.

[Joey P 3]

no way, thats definately a mechanical or electromechanical siren

[holler]

It is odd though how if they have three seperate motors how all of them manage to stay in sync.

[Daniel]

That's why I think they are electronic. In the 1940's, outdoor horn speakers looked more like these and did not have reflex cones in the center of the horns as modern ones do. Also, note that the wires are very light gauge, are not in conduit, and enter through a little hole in each housing. Any motor-driven device would use heavier gauge wire, conduit, and some kind of watertight coupling to the housing (remember that courthouses are full of lawyers!). My guess is that these are older, custom-made speakers with massive coils, possibly driving an internal diaphragm, that are broadcasting a recorded siren sound. It may have been a prototype of an electronic siren by one of the major manufacturers.

Electronic sirens did exist in the 1940's -- look at this article:

http://www.utexas.edu/tours/mainbuildin ... rraid.html