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Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:06 am
by Stormsetter4
MVFD823 wrote:No more pictures today, the Chief had them on his old phone, and it's no longer with us... But I did find out some history about it from some of our senior members at the department. They did say it was a Sterling, and thought it was a M5, and it was disconnected in 1981 because it was supposedly disrupting court, as the courthouse is less than 100 yards away, and in direct line of sight of the siren. And it was also operated by a pushbutton inside the old jail. When a call came in for a brush, or car fire, the dispatcher would hold the button to bring the siren to full speed for about 30 seconds, then let go. And for structure fires, they would run it up to full speed twice. And they also mentioned that there was another one near a maintenance shed in the county, they described it as a large box with a long horn on the top that rotated, sounds like we might have a Thunderbolt around too, they said it was disconnected 2 or 3 years before the Sterling though.
That thunderbolt would definatly be something to look into. It would be much louder than the sterling, and most likely be in more of a repairable shape. Thunderbolts are much eaiser to work on than sterling's.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:21 am
by Bryan
I would check on your possible Thunderbolt before spend any money on that Sterling. The T-bolt would be a much better siren to restore and to use.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:49 am
by coastalsyrolover
Yea you can pretty much figure out how to take the whole thing apart and put it back together again on a Thunderbolt. Or just ask in some cases. And it is louder, carries further and can pretty much handle the elements like a boss.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 11:27 am
by MVFD823
TurbopropPilot wrote:If you get a chance, please take pictures of the thunderbolt. We are very curious!
I just got off work, I'm going to try to find it before I go home. I've got a good idea where it might be.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 2:38 pm
by MVFD823
Well, it's no thunderbolt. But from the description I got, there had to be a one there at some point, or its somewhere else in the county. But a technician at the garage came out and said that it had been tested in 2005 by emergency management, and ran fine. It was set up to be activated by phone, but they bypassed the phone box some how to test it. Does anyone know how this could be done? And what kind of siren this is?
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 3:00 pm
by Stormsetter4
Oh, an even better VFD siren. That is Federal model 5. I would restore that instead. These are pretty easy to work on and are much easier to remove and restore. I would definatly go after the Federal instead of the sterling. That one is in very good shape also, so minimal restoration would probably be needed; all it would probably need is a fresh coat of paint, and the motor checked out.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 3:04 pm
by PeachtreeSirens
I believe I'm seeing a second row of ports inside, which would make it a Model 5T. We'd need a closer/clearer photo to know for sure, though.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 3:08 pm
by Stormsetter4
Yeah it could be a 5T. Since it's CD yellow, it would definately point to that.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:20 pm
by MVFD823
I will take a better picture when we go back up there later today, but it does have a second row of ports that does not match up with the other.
Re: Need help bring a Sterling M-10 back into service.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:27 pm
by Chicagosiren-hunters
I think he means on a different head (one head having 8, the other having 16). If that is true, the 8/16 sterlings sound great!