Very Low-Pitched 2001-SRNB

[Thunderboltlover]

see, I'm wondering what the low-voltage cutoff is for the Federal DC sirens. that thing only ran for 20 seconds. If, say, the batteries weren't recharged after the last use, then that could be an explanation.

The low-voltage detector (if working properly) will stop the siren and prevent further activation when the voltage drops below 40 VDC

Also, with the 2-way controller, the EMA or city will receive notification of the problem. It also warns of charger problems, intrusion, and there may be several other message alerts

Here are the specs on the DCFCTB (2001 2-way controller):

http://www.federalwarningsystems.com/pd ... 206-09.pdf

And the manual:

http://www.federalwarningsystems.com/pd ... 55360G.pdf

[ver tum]

If it isn't the batteries or the charger, then the motor is probably going out. I think there was something on the mainSiren Board last year about some SRNB's having motor failures after 5 or less years of use. The SRNB at Eisenhower Elementary School here in Louisville is lower pitched than it used to be, and I'm thinking that the motor on it may be on it's way out as well.

[CoolBalla15]

If it isn't the batteries or the charger, then the motor is probably going out.

I doubt it's the motor because it's been sounding very healthy for years. I think it's the batteries. I don't think they were getting charged. I'm hoping that our EMA can fix that problem ASAP. It would not sound good at all if it went off for a tornado warning.

[ver tum]

You're probably right. There's no way to know for sure though until someone gets down there to look at it. They didn't run it long enough in Alert mode for me to hear whether the pitch dropped like the one that was having battery related problems that my uncle recorded last year at the JCPS Bus Compound. I think that every city should test their sirens for at least three minutes like ours does, so that problems like this can be diagnosed and fixed quicker.

[CoolBalla15]

You're probably right. There's no way to know for sure though until someone gets down there to look at it. They didn't run it long enough in Alert mode for me to hear whether the pitch dropped like the one that was having battery related problems that my uncle recorded last year at the JCPS Bus Compound. I think that every city should test their sirens for at least three minutes like ours does, so that problems like this can be diagnosed and fixed quicker.

Yeah, I totally agree. In 2007, they used to sound the Attack signal and the Alert signal for at least 1 minute each. I really wish that they would go back to doing that instead of sounding them for only 20 to 40 seconds each.

[Thunderboltlover]

Another thing that would be extremely smart for cities to do is to purchase the two-way controllers and messaging systems. Then they would know right away (even between tests) if there is a problem with anything BUT the chopper motor in a 2001 or Eclipse 8