Franklin County, Ohio Siren Discussion

[WPS4004Man]

My suspicion is that after they changed to 560hz in 2007, they still hadn’t fixed the pitch dropping yet. They probably noticed it this time, so they fixed it very quickly, making 530hz rare. The 560hz 2020s were then sold until 2011 or 2012.

Mind you this is complete speculation, but it would make sense.

[nvanw27]

That does make sense. I am pretty sure that the 2030 came out in 2009-2010 tho.

[WPS4004Man]

According to uncommonsense, 2011. I think that’s what the wiki says too.

[fire_freak_57]

I've heard many ESC-2030s fail to pick up cancellation tones before, so I wouldn't be too surprised. Franklin County skipped their test again today, due to an "ongoing investigation". Not sure if this means FC will switch their frequency or activation method or what, but hopefully they will test again soon.

That seems pretty weird, but also makes sense. Also just to let ya know all of Fairfield County's WPS-3000's have an ESC-2020 retrofit into an Analog ESC-864 cab. There are rumors that the WPS-3000 being put up in Lithopolis might have an analog ESC-864, but I somehow doubt it

I'm not quite sure where you're getting your information Jon, but I know someone with direct contact to the village mayor in Lithopolis. According to the mayor, the county does not allocate funds for new sirens, meaning the village has to purchase their own. What I can say is they have reached out to a vendor for a refurbished, older Federal Siren that provides more coverage than a Model 2 and is a rotating directional siren; this is just one of the options they are possibly looking into, but the mayor mentioned it may be difficult to get grant funding for a refurbished siren as opposed to a new one.

The mayor mentioned that this was all preliminary and that due to funding concerns, the current siren will not be replaced for at least two years, according to an email I have obtained from a friend who reached out. They would need grant funding to purchase a brand new siren, which would cost about at least $20,000.

FirstEnergy Nuclear (now Energy Harbor) sold the last of the old WPS-3000's from Perry to Fairfield County in 2010. These were approximately 50 units which were located on the western Lake County side of the Emergency Planning Zone and removed when the EPZ was revised to only ten miles out, removing these sirens from the zone. Subsequently, the Lake County Emergency Management Agency elected at that time to reinstall their own system of 50 Federal Signal 2001-SRN series sirens, which are tied into the Perry System and can be operated in conjunction with the Lake County EOC that activates the Perry sirens in Lake County. These sirens cannot be tripped by the Geauga, Ashtabula EOCs, only the Lake County one, but are tested along with the Perry system and that would be their main purpose aside from severe weather alerts.

You are correct when you mention Analog ESC-864's. Following the revision of the EPZ to remove the Western Lake County portion, the sirens were removed and stored in a field on plant property until around 2004 when the first of the Perry units were sold to Fairfield County and installed by a local electrical contractor in the area. Following this removal, the remaining Whelens in the Perry system was upgraded to a Federal Signal control and activation system and existing sirens were upgraded to Federal hardware, which is where the UltraVoices running the custom pitch came from. Prior to this, the original Whelen system installed in 1987 and used until the early 2000's was all analog and used the same voice message that is used at the FPL Port St. Lucie Station in Florida. These analog controllers were still used when Fairfield County installed the Whelens from Perry, but county documents indicate around 2011 or 2012 is when the FPU (Front Panel Upgrade) to the new ESC-2030 controllers was made. Over the years the county has added new Whelen Vortexes in areas that require new sirens.

Hope this provides some insight to you.

Pictured below is one of the older Lake County WPS-3000's that now has an SRN at it. I believe this photo was taken around the Mentor area but am not sure. It came from the Western Reserve Fire Museum's photo archive and is dated 1994.

Lake County WPS 3000.jpg (185.9 KiB) Viewed 5129 times

[SirokatM1]

I can confirm what Kurt (firefreak57) has to say. I contacted the Mayor of Lithopolis a little over a week ago and am trying to keep in contact with him. As for now there is no set plan to replace the siren, however it was noted that replacement is needed and is in the picture for the village's future. As for what siren they could be getting, they have contacted McCranie Warning Systems in Rhine, GA. HOWEVER this does NOT mean that the Model 2 will be replaced with a refurbished siren just yet. The idea of having to get a restored siren has to be approved by the county EMA, and a grant will most likely need provided to pay for it. While it is exciting news, nothing is final. It could be a few years before Lithopolis even gets a new siren in general. So for now, we wait.

[WPS4004Man]

I have a bit of a strange question that I've been meaning to ask for some time. One time I was looking at a WPS-3000 in Franklin County, and it started rotating. No sound, and I believe it was a Thursday a bit after noon. My question is, has anyone else seen this happen? Maybe it was some type of silent test, but I have no idea.

On another topic, Franklin County has resumed testing. I wasn't able to get my scanner out so I have no idea if they did anything to their activation tones, or if they changed the frequency. Regarding the 560hz ESC-2030 siren malfunction, I've narrowed it down to either CFD Station 27 or Worthington Hills ES. A news article said it could be loudly heard from Worthington Kilbourne High School, which is covered by those 2.

Looking back at the crappy footage I got (yes, I'm extremely bored) from the May 18th tornado warning, I don't think that zones were used. The quieter sirens (465 and 435hz) were too loud to be from the SW zone. I guess we will never know about that day. On the most recent tornado warning, the SW zone was activated an I heard nothing.

Anyways, sorry for the long rambling post. I do plan on using my scanner this Wednesday.

[uncommonsense]

I have a bit of a strange question that I've been meaning to ask for some time. One time I was looking at a WPS-3000 in Franklin County, and it started rotating. No sound, and I believe it was a Thursday a bit after noon. My question is, has anyone else seen this happen? Maybe it was some type of silent test, but I have no idea.

SiTest

[Tuba]

9-7-20 Tornado Warning:

Dublin Sirens went off twice. Shortly after the first Franklin County warning was issued, they fired off about 10 seconds of air horn (likely a mistake XD). It took them until 10 minutes after the warning was issued for the sirens to go off (at least in their legitimate wail cycle), which was odd to say the least.

[WPS4004Man]

9-7-20 Tornado Warning:

Dublin Sirens went off twice. Shortly after the first Franklin County warning was issued, they fired off about 10 seconds of air horn (likely a mistake XD). It took them until 10 minutes after the warning was issued for the sirens to go off (at least in their legitimate wail cycle), which was odd to say the least.

Boy, what a day that was. I went outside for a severe thunderstorm warning north of us, didn't see much. But then I heard the sirens go off. I was seriously doubting it was a real warning for some reason, but then I check my phone and it is. My mom called shortly after since she was driving and wanted to ask me what the weather was like. She didn't hear any sirens being near Delaware at the time. Being right in the path of the rotation, she was able to escape, but the conditions were terrible.

Since my mom works in Delaware, her employer called saying that a tornado warning was issued and sirens would sound soon. But the call mentioned that the sirens in Delaware would sound for 1 minute every 3 minutes. This could've been a mistake, but can anyone familiar with their system confirm?

I have a video of one of the activations, which may or may not include Dublin activations (I could hear them but I don't think my mic picked them up). I am currently unable to post them due to computer problems, but I will if I can. If anyone has videos, I look forward to hearing the Dublin sirens going off in Airhorn.

[Tuba]

Although this is a small tidbit of information, it is new as far as I am aware. Previously Dublin has said to operate only 29 sirens (via their website), but I have now located a 30th siren near Glacier Ridge elementary now making it the farthest north of any Dublin siren. According to Google earth, this siren was installed with the major upgrade they had around the early 2010’s. Like I said, not much, but it’s something.

I have added it to the Central Ohio Siren Map (All the newer sirens in Dublin have been 2905’s as far as I know, leading me to think that it is one)