"Outdoor Sirens"

[r4tbolts]

Many threads in the past week or so have been have had links to news media where sirens failed to activate. The standard official response is that it is unfortuante that the sirens failed but the are for outdoor warning only don't rely on them.


Sorry, but reality is most people in every community take the "outdoor siren" as the offical messege things are going to get bad and head to the basement. Generations of citizens especially in the cold war days had sirens that would shake you out of sleep in your house in the dead of night. In the past it was sirens not the local radio station that signed off by sundown, not Weather Radios that got your attention. People will rely on the sirens no amount of PR will ever change that.

Years ago before pagers fire sirens wailed in the middle of the night to summon the Volunteers. This thing now about sirens are for you sitting on the porch, sipping tea on the deck or at the park is a poor excuse for poor siren coverag, crappy sirens (2001's) or sloppy care of the sirens in any given community.

Two weeks ago at night it was the 28 year old T-bolt that awoke my family (inside slpeeping) in a tornado warning despite two 2001's were closer to my house than the t-bolt. The old model 5's in town were more audible at a distance than than the 2001's that replaced them.


This "they are to be for outdoors only" is a crappy excuse for poor design and a poor product and cutting edges with siren coverage. Years ago I never herad anyone complain because they couldn't hear the T-bolts, Allertors, Cylclones, Hurricanes and many other old school sirens.


I would hazard a guess most complaints about not hearing the sirens come from communities that have had older systems replaced by 2001's. Everytime we have a warning here the paper on the following days have people writing they did not hear the sirens assuming they were broke. In most cases the siren worked they just didn't hear it like the old ones.


I can recall when my community got the 2001's the selling point they were supposedly were to be heard up to four miles on a still day LOL. Reallity is lucky to get your atttention a mile away on a still day . A single tone high pitched siren just will not do the job.

[Allertor113]

It seems the the siren companies seem to think that if people don't hear the siren that they will be smart enough to turn on there Television, But what if its a big super cell and the "Weather man" Says there is no chance of tornadoes tonight.

But then all of a sudden there is a some sort of wind change and then tornadoes and 70+ M.P.H.. Then what are we going to do? Some people are bound to here it but what about people in apartments and houses with soundproof walls?

We have to get the companies to understand that television and radios aren't going to warn everyone!

[Alasiren1977]

Many threads in the past week or so have been have had links to news media where sirens failed to activate. The standard official response is that it is unfortuante that the sirens failed but the are for outdoor warning only don't rely on them.


Sorry, but reality is most people in every community take the "outdoor siren" as the offical messege things are going to get bad and head to the basement. Generations of citizens especially in the cold war days had sirens that would shake you out of sleep in your house in the dead of night. In the past it was sirens not the local radio station that signed off by sundown, not Weather Radios that got your attention. People will rely on the sirens no amount of PR will ever change that.

Years ago before pagers fire sirens wailed in the middle of the night to summon the Volunteers. This thing now about sirens are for you sitting on the porch, sipping tea on the deck or at the park is a poor excuse for poor siren coverag, crappy sirens (2001's) or sloppy care of the sirens in any given community.

Two weeks ago at night it was the 28 year old T-bolt that awoke my family (inside slpeeping) in a tornado warning despite two 2001's were closer to my house than the t-bolt. The old model 5's in town were more audible at a distance than than the 2001's that replaced them.


This "they are to be for outdoors only" is a crappy excuse for poor design and a poor product and cutting edges with siren coverage. Years ago I never herad anyone complain because they couldn't hear the T-bolts, Allertors, Cylclones, Hurricanes and many other old school sirens.


I would hazard a guess most complaints about not hearing the sirens come from communities that have had older systems replaced by 2001's. Everytime we have a warning here the paper on the following days have people writing they did not hear the sirens assuming they were broke. In most cases the siren worked they just didn't hear it like the old ones.


I can recall when my community got the 2001's the selling point they were supposedly were to be heard up to four miles on a still day LOL. Reallity is lucky to get your atttention a mile away on a still day . A single tone high pitched siren just will not do the job.

I so agree with you!! I am soooooooooooo tired of everyone using the excuse to go run out and get a weather radio. It is a one part of a warning system, but im sorry I dont strap my weather radio across my back every time I leave my house. I am a very "on the go" person who is very rarely home. The sirens have been my initial indication that a tornado warning has been issued on many occasions. Hell I was pumping gas one day and they went off and warned me of impending danger. Where was the " all glorious, wonderful, all mighty weather radio...at home on my dresser!! Its just that we live in a society now that likes to make excuses when something doesnt work correctly, or even more that they bought cheap equipment (2001's). Take it from an avid "shopaholic", you get what you pay for!!

[dilloncarpenter]

The other day, Rhett and I heard a Thunderbolt in Mustang, 6+ miles away, right after filming a Vortex in OKC. It was about as loud from there as Oklahoma City's Vortexes are from my house, when the Whelen horn points our way. The nearest Vortex to my house is about a mile. I must also say, being near the Vortex is NOT loud at all. There's also a thumping noise about every 1/3 of a second that goes throughout the entire test.

[Josh_S]

The other day, Rhett and I heard a Thunderbolt in Mustang, 6+ miles away, right after filming a Vortex in OKC. It was about as loud from there as Oklahoma City's Vortexes are from my house, when the Whelen horn points our way. The nearest Vortex to my house is about a mile. I must also say, being near the Vortex is NOT loud at all. There's also a thumping noise about every 1/3 of a second that goes throughout the entire test.

I'm guessing that thumping noise is poor sound generators.

[Allertor113]

The other day, Rhett and I heard a Thunderbolt in Mustang, 6+ miles away, right after filming a Vortex in OKC. It was about as loud from there as Oklahoma City's Vortexes are from my house, when the Whelen horn points our way. The nearest Vortex to my house is about a mile. I must also say, being near the Vortex is NOT loud at all. There's also a thumping noise about every 1/3 of a second that goes throughout the entire test.

I'm guessing that thumping noise is poor sound generators.

No it wasn't going out the horn it was coming from the control box, it wasn't being sent out through the siren.

[Josh_S]

The other day, Rhett and I heard a Thunderbolt in Mustang, 6+ miles away, right after filming a Vortex in OKC. It was about as loud from there as Oklahoma City's Vortexes are from my house, when the Whelen horn points our way. The nearest Vortex to my house is about a mile. I must also say, being near the Vortex is NOT loud at all. There's also a thumping noise about every 1/3 of a second that goes throughout the entire test.

I'm guessing that thumping noise is poor sound generators.

No it wasn't going out the horn it was coming from the control box, it wasn't being sent out through the siren.

Oh, I see, when I had a Whelen tone the audio skipped a bit. Anyway that seems strange...

[dilloncarpenter]

It's not unique to that siren either. The one on 15th 2 miles northwest does the exact same thing.

[MisterTwister55]

I've been really lucky over the past years. Our system was built just after TMI melted down in '79. I think the system was up by '84 if I'm not mistaking. It has about 79 cyclones, 20 dual toned p-10's, and like 5 or 6 2001's. I live about 1.5 miles away from a cyclone and about 2 miles away from a p-10. The sound is faint BUT VERY DISTINCT. Together, they make a very noticeable harmonious drone. They are both dual-toned but different port ratios. When the Penetrator points towards my house, its frequency appears to drop (only an illusion). It's one of the coolest sounds I've ever heard.

The only gripe I have with our system is the lack of testing. They to a silent radio test every morning at 4 A.M. and a Growl the first Thursday of the Month. They only do one annual full test and that's this Thursday (Last Thursday of June). Now there is no reason why people can't hear them. The only reason they don't recognize them is because they never know when they hear them. They might hear it once a year if they actually care.

All in all, this "outdoor warning system" is old but still gets the job done. I'm gonna be mad next year once the T-128's start rolling in.

[acoustics101]

The Thunderbolt 1000 series were the best sirens Federal Signal ever made, by virtue of their external blower and large horn with a low cutoff frquency, which permitted them to maintain their output well into their lower frequency range. Lower frequencies simply propagate farther and penetrate construction material better than higher frequencies.
http://alfwarnock.info/sound/transmission_loss.html

The 2001 units are higher in frequency and cannot maintain their output at lower frequencies. By using a higher frequency they could get by with less HP a smaller horn for a given dB rating at 100 feet and by using a single motor to run the chopper/blower they got by without the external blower. By trying to save some money, Federal Signal has also cheapened the effectiveness of this product.

Even then we still have problems hearing the Thunderbolt at Concord Elementary from the Food Court at Kentucky Oaks Mall, a mere 1/2 mile away! We also have a problem hearing the Thunderbolt atop Lourdes Hospital from my office at West Kentucky Community & Technical College, a mere 3200 feet away! I'd sure hate to think of what would happen if they replaced these two units with 2001s as they are doing elsewhere. You would not hear these at all!!