"Outdoor Sirens"

[Alasiren1977]

I highly disagree with all of the "cheap sirens, cheaply made" comments. It's not a "you get what you pay for" kind of deal. These aren't cheap knockoff electronics, these are high powered outdoor warning devices. These are 10 and 20 thousand dollar sirens. We have to remember that. We also have to remember that the siren reps READ these boards. Comments such as "Crappy sirens (2001's)" really have no reason to even be typed on here. I don't honestly believe that any siren made today is "crappy". Build quality is build quality. They're built to last. I've been keeping up with the posts pertaining to "crappy sirens" and you want to know something that I fail to see in nearly ANY of them?

Maintenance.

Drive your car a year without changing the oil or lubricating something and let's see if it lasts. A little work goes a long way. I don't want to see or hear anything about "maintenance free". Think that's maybe why these "crappy" sirens are failing?


Just because you don't like the way one sounds doesn't mean it's a bad siren. People cut the Whelen Vortex down on here for years. When I lived in Nicholson, the Vortex near my house was a little under a mile away, and it brought me out of the house with our dishwasher and washing machine BOTH going. To this day, none of Jackson County's sirens have failed a test.

Yes there are sirens that I have been impressed with, and there are sirens that I haven't been impressed with. The fact of the matter is that they were still heard. The Eclipse 8 in Winder wasn't that loud, but I was also a quarter mile away from it and it was being blocked by numerous buildings. Hell maybe even a half a mile away.

The Messner Bro's Machine Shop siren is just as high pitced as a 2001 but nobody on here has ever complained about it.

To add to the Outdoor Warning Sirens thing, what do you think would happen if a siren company stated that the sirens can be heard indoors AND outdoors? One person would sue them for every penny they had. Come to think of it, out of ALL the siren ads I've seen posted over the years, NOT ONE OF THEM states that they're audible indoors. Insulation is much better nowadays than it was back when those siren were king, too. More noise blockage.

Guys, I'm not taking sides here. However, I AM defending the companies against producing "crappy" products.

To add one thing, one poster said he was pumping gas and heard the sirens but his radio was at home on his dresser. That just proves the OUTDOOR siren part even more. He was outdoors and heard them.

Jason, be ready to moderate this. I'm sure I just swatted at a hornet nest with a stick. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

I want to make something very clear here. Yes Matt you are correct in some of your statements, and some are very opinionated(Which I can respect). My point was that sirens, weather radios, and whatever other methods of warning are out there are part of a "system". You cant rely solely on sirens, nor can you on weather radios, tv's, text alerts and so on. As far as my comment on the cheap sirens, first I really don't care if the siren reps read this post, I hope they do! Their product may be $10-20k, but it is still very cheaply made, it has constant breakdowns and has a consistent record of being "inconsistent". As a matter of fact I have wrote that company and told them my opinion. The 3 previous towns I have lived in all had 2001's and they all had problems with them..all the time!

Next, I do not form my opinion about a siren if it sounds "cool" or the siren is "neat" looking, I base them on facts, consistent data and the performance history (overall) of that unit. Yes some towns are lazy and do not maintenance their sirens like they should, but these 2001-130's coming out the door with pitch problems and other issues..well that to me indicates either poor craftsmanship, cheap parts, or both. Their should be some quality assurance department that catches that stuff before it hits the truck.

So at the end of the day, this board is for siren enthusiast and we all have different views, opinions, likes and dislikes of siren models and their companies, and the last time I checked freedom of speech was still legal. So whether a rep or the CEO was reading this, this should give them a reflection of how their product is perceived, and should influence a positive change for present and future products.

[r4tbolts]

I guess I have showed my cards and am not a big 2001 fan. When my community upgraded with 2001's I was excited based on how the other older sirens from FS were workhorses that lasted in some cases for 40 plus years and served this area well.


My beef with the 2001's again is the single tone high pitch that does not deliver coverage as advertised. While maybe not a "crappy" manufactured siren it is indeed a "crappy" designed siren offering promisies that are quickly realized as not reality. Communities like mine end up buying more of them to fill the voids after being told how great they were.


Further, when the new sirens get placed the old sirens while working perfectly get silenced "Y'all need new software to get those on line" so most communities say the heck with it we can't afford it.


IMO FS is running a good business model that pushes upgrades to solve problems. Like the simple beacon on the Fire Engine that cost 45 bucks years ago and seen the same distance as the new 1500 computerized led light bars. Outdoor sirens have morphed into the same breathtaking expense only to do the same thing a Model 5 did for 800 bucks in in 1970.
In 1970 you repalced the beacon for less than a 100 bucks. Now you need a new computer chip to run the led for 500 bucks. Sirens are no differnet now the solution to every siren problem is upgrades or more 20k sirens.


I find it quite ironic many siren systems that came about in the 80's and 90's have or are being replaced while many communities are still served with sirens dating back to he 50's and before.


Once again I cringe every time I hear the press release response "they are only ment to be heard outdoors". Of course not all will hear them indoors but at the same time these sirens should be better than the ones they replaced and IMO they are not in many circumstances. As a previous poster stated it is just the powers to be setting lower expectations.

Finally, I fully respect those who disagree with me, always have and always will. To those who have posted thank you for taking time to share your thoughts.

[Jpressman8]

I'll have to say this. We have 32 T-128s and 32 F.S. 2001s (ranging from DCs to SRNBs) operating here in Hamilton county and the T-128s at 500hz clearly out performs the 2001s. We had quite a few failures Monday June 14th including the 1000T up the street from my house. A lot of these failures were from power outages and sirens that were already broken. EMA has become very bad about fixing them. I am really questioning the decibel output of the 2001-130 it seems that the 2001 DC has the most powerful sound of all of the 2001 series and that is the second gen model of the siren line. To me the 2001-130 sounds almost like a Q siren. On another note the activation went out 8 minutes late after the Tornado Warning was issued. There was no Tornado watch in place otherwise the sirens would have already been running the minute the storm hit the county. They need to go back to the old system of sounding the sirens for a severe T-storm as well. The mentioned storm was already in the heavily populated area doing damage with 2 funnel clouds sighted and 6 areas of rotation detected on doppler radar.

[nickrusche]

I totally agree with you Jason. The sirens need to begin being activated for Thunderstorm Warning again like they were in the 90's.

[MattDean1003]

What statements of mine are opinionated?

[Alasiren1977]

What statements of mine are opinionated?

" I don't honestly believe that any siren made today is "crappy". Build quality is build quality. They're built to last. "

That is very opinionated, no supporting facts. That is like saying all cars made today are not crappy. That's why there are things like Consumer Reports and other companies to rate craftsmanship and quality of certain objects. So for you to say that you dont believe "any siren made today" is not crappy has no basis to it and has nothing to back that statement up, in other words... Your opinion.

[acoustics101]

The build quality of a siren may be of first class. This isn't the issue. It could be built to the precision and tolerances of a Rolls Royce or Northstar engine, yet perform poorly in the far field for the simple fact that its frequency spectrum is too high. Sure, it will blow you away within the first 1000 feet and impress city or county officials auditioning it from this distance. The more important issue is how it will perform at 1 or 2 miles.

Units capable of high output at lower frequencies will always perform better under this more rigorous test. Such a test will separate the men from the boys. When in a life threatening situation the important thing is warn those within the unit's audible range. If using lower frequencies this range will be extended and reach more people, as well as being less annoying to those living within the first 1000 feet.

[Jim_Ferer]

What statements of mine are opinionated?

That's the wrong question. The right question is, "What's wrong with being opinionated?" The answer is nothing, as long as the opinions are intellectually honest and backed up with some knowledge. What good is a forum except as a place for information and opinions?

[MattDean1003]

And just what facts do I HAVE to base off of sirens being built to last? Are cars, trucks, boats, planes, trains, computer monitors, amongst other things, built to last? Let me rephrase what I said. Why would a siren NOT be built to last? I'm not about to pay 10 to 20 grand for something thats not going to last me 10 years or more.

Not trying to pick a fight..I can see where all of this is going but I mean lets all use a little bit of common sense. No sirens today made are crappy.

[Alasiren1977]

And just what facts do I HAVE to base off of sirens being built to last? Are cars, trucks, boats, planes, trains, computer monitors, amongst other things, built to last? Let me rephrase what I said. Why would a siren NOT be built to last? I'm not about to pay 10 to 20 grand for something thats not going to last me 10 years or more.

Not trying to pick a fight..I can see where all of this is going but I mean lets all use a little bit of common sense. No sirens today made are crappy.

Not trying to pick one either, but again..matter of opinion and not fact. Just for the sake of dropping it.. cause it all a matter of wording. Instead of "crappy" lets use something a little more fitting and just say some siren models are less reliable than others. Just due to their track record and current and previous issues. There Im off the soap box, and moving on to something more productive.