The Siren Board

VASirens wrote:Good heavens, and I thought the half of an Allertor I found off a street in small town Kansas was big...

Wonder where this guy came from.

Could have been anywhere around here. Siren_Dude shared this image a while ago of a Mobil-Directo in present day Cambridge, Ontario. Looks like even the tags are the same.

murrfarms wrote:

Captain Dynamite wrote:Nice find! Is is a 8 port or a 10/12 port model?

Judging by the data plate reading "BN44EDT" (E=electric; DT=dual tone), this one is a 10/12 port model.

Is the number 44 basic identification or a serial number?

coastalsyrolover wrote:Is the number 44 basic identification or a serial number?

The "BN44" nomenclature represents the base siren model (or specifically in this case, "BN44E"), whereas the "-211" suffix is more representative of the actual serial number. Maybe that implies that this siren was #211 to roll off the line? Not sure, but maybe "SuperBanshee" would know if this is actually the case or not.

Factory production of the Mobil Directo began in 1944. While the prototypes were made and tested in 1942, it took over a year of bartering and deal-making to allow full production of these sirens. It's a bit confusing since sites like ASC always draw back to the 1942 date, even though siren production didn't really begin until 1944. From 1942 to 1944, you only had the small batch of prototype Mobil Directos sitting around for periodic tests.

The main production code names were BN44-G and BN44-E. They changed around slightly over the years, which leads to the "BN44EDT" name. The sirens shown in this thread are electric dual tone, 10-12 port.

The GSC plate is strange since the siren's production code name appears to be part of the serial number. The other plate legion is entirely blank.

Every Mobil Directo used in Canada is 10/12. They also all have the General Supply tag, so its easy to tell ports and location with all the sirens being so standard.