The Siren Board

gman 1 wrote:Well, for starters ACA is out of business. They were bough out by ASC. Plus this siren is no longer manufactured. ASC does make electronic sirens, the E-class and I-FORCE, but they aren't rotating, and the problem was likely in the rotator or control units.

You can get 100-W drivers off the shelf, you can get those rotators off the shelf. The only place you are right is if there was a controller problem, but the controller ASC used up until the NexGen CompuLert was essentially the same as what they put together during the mid-90s.

uncommonsense wrote:

gman 1 wrote:Well, for starters ACA is out of business. They were bough out by ASC. Plus this siren is no longer manufactured. ASC does make electronic sirens, the E-class and I-FORCE, but they aren't rotating, and the problem was likely in the rotator or control units.

You can get 100-W drivers off the shelf, you can get those rotators off the shelf. The only place you are right is if there was a controller problem, but the controller ASC used up until the NexGen CompuLert was essentially the same as what they put together during the mid-90s.

So then why would those sirens be impossible to replace?

gman 1 wrote:Well, for starters ACA is out of business. They were bough out by ASC. Plus this siren is no longer manufactured. ASC does make electronic sirens, the E-class and I-FORCE, but they aren't rotating, and the problem was likely in the rotator or control units.

ACA was a subsidiary of the Biersach & Niedermeyer Company. Biersach & Niedermeyer filed for bankruptcy in November 1992. B&N sold ACA to Hormann GmbH who then renamed it American Signal Corporation. Then ASC was bought by Dale Moeller in 1999.

uncommonsense wrote:
You can get 100-W drivers off the shelf, you can get those rotators off the shelf. The only place you are right is if there was a controller problem, but the controller ASC used up until the NexGen CompuLert was essentially the same as what they put together during the mid-90s.

In regards to the rotating Alertronics, there are some parts you can't buy off the shelf. Controls, rotator platform base, and fiberglass horn casting. ACA and ASC would have offered such parts in the past, but that's not the case anymore since they don't support the older electronic sirens.
I've never seen a successful electronic siren restoration. A case in point would be Rock Spring's Alertronic which itself was compiled from 6 different Alertronic sirens' parts, yet it still does not work effectively. With the decidedly-short lifespan of an electronic siren in mind, it's just not worth the bother even if you could pull off such a restoration. It's easier to just replace the siren.

Didn't know there was a second ACA Alertornic RE-1600 near i-55 interstate.

Did you guys know there was a second ACA Alertorninc RE-1600 in Bolingbrook Illinois near a soccer field? On a street named 1650 Apricot St. in Bolingbrook Illinois. It's in a home community. Fyi This image was taken three years and 8 months ago. So this was the last surviving ACA Alertornic RE-1600 siren until probably Summertime of 2013 or 2014 than they replaced it. As of now it's been replaced also.

There were actually 3 (or maybe more) in the entire city. I'm not sure what you mean by "RE-8000." There was the RE-1600 and the AL-6000R.

Sorry typo. That's what I meant. Sorry. I changed it.

There were originally 4. The I-55 and Frontage road siren in front of La Quinta Inn. This one was knocked down in a storm sometime in 2008. Check Google Maps. September 2007 it is there, September 2008 only half the pole is left. They put in a new 2001-130 about a half mile south of this location to replace it.

115th and Weber Road. Replaced in the last couple years with a 2001-130. Not updated on Google Maps yet, but I have personally seen the new siren.

Soccer field at 1650 Apricot St. Presumed replaced by a 2001-130. No updated Google Maps yet.

Illinois Rt. 53 and Lee Ave. Replaced with a 2001-130. Shown on Google maps.

Thanks for the info Brendan.

Could you tell me if you know where exactly it was mounted? Was it in front of the parking lot? where you enter in to the hotel?