Vortex

[MattDean1003]

Folks, it's about that time to where I move out of the house and into a place of my own. Anyways, the place I'm getting is not even a quarter of a mile from a Whelen Vortex w/the wing on the back of it. Go left out of my driveway, drive about 500 ft, go left onto the highway, drive about another thousand feet, and there it is. As the crow flies, it's a little less than a quarter of a mile away. I'd say at most, right above a quarter of a mile. DUMB QUESTION-I should know this-but-Just how loud is it going to be? I've never lived even remotely close to sirens, the closest one being in Statham, the Vortex in the middle of town 5 miles away. Mind you all, I move next week, but I just want a ballpark idea of how loud its gonna be when they test them. It's one of those low mounted Vortex's on the new GPS site that I posted. Like I said, I should know this lol, but I've never heard sirens except for tests. Part of the reason I'm asking is that they test them the first Wed. of the month at 9:00 AM.

[ronatello]

1/4 mile = 1320 feet or (5,280 / 4).
Did one say that a siren loses 10 dB every multiple of 100 feet (factor in a bit more if there are trees, buildings, etc in the way). So if this particular vortex is around 128 dB @ 100 feet then it should be like...
100 feet from projector: 128 db
200 feet: 118 dB
400 feet: 108 dB
800 feet: 98 dB
1600 feet: 88 dB

Figure around 93 to 95 dB if conditions are right. Now, my scale may be off so if is, please correct me

[vortexofmisery]

I live just under a half mile from the same type of siren you are talking about. I have one video of it going off during a tornado warning. I was actually facing the direction of the siren, but there's also heavy rain and other noises that usually wouldn't be there. Since you are closer it will probably be a little louder than this when it oscillates your way. This is the link, it should give you an idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt0MiecUwfg

[JasonC]

1/4 mile = 1320 feet or (5,280 / 4).
Did one say that a siren loses 10 dB every multiple of 100 feet (factor in a bit more if there are trees, buildings, etc in the way). So if this particular vortex is around 128 dB @ 100 feet then it should be like...
100 feet from projector: 128 db
200 feet: 118 dB
400 feet: 108 dB
800 feet: 98 dB
1600 feet: 88 dB

Figure around 93 to 95 dB if conditions are right. Now, my scale may be off so if is, please correct me

10dB per distance doubled is what the FCDA put out in it's guidelines. It could be more or less depending on your surroundings.

[Whelen Rules]

I used to live half a mile from a Vortex R-4 (129 dB) and I can tell you its loud. I now live a little under a mile from one and it is still pretty loud, even in the house. When I lived half a mile from one I could easily hear it in the house no matter where I was, even with the AC on and the windows up, if you have decent hearing the annoyance of the low tone of the siren at this distance will wake you up at night (or it would wake me up anyways) during a tornado warning or other emergency.

p.s. all of our Vortex sirens were installed in 1999 and have the fins on them.

[Travis]

My parents live about 1/8th of a mile away from an R-4. You can deffinately hear it everywhere inside the house when it goes off, even when it is facing the other direction.

[MattDean1003]

OK so, I can pretty much guarantee that it will be heard no questions asked. It's not that far, I mean it maybe a quarter of a mile or a little more. There are trees in the way, yes, this is the country we're talking about, but then again, I've never lived less than a few miles from one. I'm looking forward to it. Plus, the room I have is actually closest one to the siren, not that it would make a difference.