The Siren Board

I don't think they can sense direction. The reason it had to be pointed North is so it would actually end up in the right directions when called for. If north pointed east instead, then the head would point east when it was supposed to be north.

So upon closer inspection of another Siren in the Isabella system, it would appear that they have both Vortex and 4000 series sirens. The one I pictured in the beginning of this thread had the circular rotator and type II control cabinet which leads me to believe it is a 4000 series, yet 2 miles down the road is a siren that has a rectangular rotator and type I box= Vortex. Why both?

Brendan Ahern wrote:I don't think they can sense direction. The reason it had to be pointed North is so it would actually end up in the right directions when called for. If north pointed east instead, then the head would point east when it was supposed to be north.

In the block diagram for the electronics cabinet there's a block labeled as "ROTOR POSITION." I didn't think the controls could sense direction either, but that makes me think it might be possible.

Look on page 48 of https://www.dropbox.com/s/wb0m8xnp1oyea ... Manual.pdf

The way it was explained to me is there are limit switches in the rotator. One for each direction. So if you command it east, it will rotate until it hits the east limit switch. This makes the most sense. Otherwise what would they use, a compass? I could see that being very prone to failure.

I notice several 4004 & Vortex's pointing different directions. I thought they are suposed to reset pointing due north?

siren fan wrote:I notice several 4004 & Vortex's pointing different directions. I thought they are suposed to reset pointing due north?

Not automatically

Vortex's don't need to return to the home position since they do not do voice. 4004's can be commanded back to north, but it doesn't always happen. I have seen a system of 4004's all over the place at one time, and all pointing north another time.

Brendan Ahern wrote:The way it was explained to me is there are limit switches in the rotator. One for each direction. So if you command it east, it will rotate until it hits the east limit switch. This makes the most sense. Otherwise what would they use, a compass? I could see that being very prone to failure.

Ah, that makes sense, thanks. I've seen some of the older Whelen encoders with 90/180 degree CW/CCW buttons, so I guess the 3016 can at least tell how far it's rotated.