The Siren Board

Here is an interesting article on the installation of tsunami sirens in New Zealand. What kind of siren is in this photo? It looks like a Grifco or Klaxon-type siren, but I don't recognise the nameplate on the end. The whole story is here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/stor ... D=10346377

Great newspaper story !

Hummm... Wonder if those roters and stators are slightly different

If yes......

IE: I think they might have a wonderfull 1960 MGM
The Time Machiene sound in New Zealand soon.

Hey... Nice article there!

That does look like a Grifco, makes sense too; considering we are the closest siren manufacturer I know of to New Zealand.

Just wish Sydney, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine coast would follow suit.

Could be used for shark warning too.
Psst, think of this and you'll know why... "Heh heh heh, Ahhhh! Shark Boy!"

C. Bryant wrote:Great newspaper story !

Hummm... Wonder if those roters and stators are slightly different

At first I thought that they had the same number of ports, but they don't align with each other around the top. It looks as if the near side has 12 ports and the far side has 10, just as almost any Commonwealth-built siren does. That siren must be fresh out of the shipping crate because the rotors are still tied open with wire. At least they are not using one of those godawful-sounding electronic sirens that one of their city websites listed (somewhere around Auckland, I think).

There are at least two companies that provide sirens in New Zealand:

Carrel & Carrel Ltd

http://www.carrel.co.nz/warning-signals ... _siren.pdf

http://www.carrel.co.nz/warning-signals ... _siren.pdf

and PSL/firemaster

http://www.firemaster.co.nz/

Both companys' sirens have the same logo on the end as in the news report (and what looks like tape covering the direction arrows of the rotors). However, I don't know if they manufacture them themselves, as Carrel & Carrel Ltd mentions importing sirens from Klaxon Ltd, UK.

Just as an add to my last message, here is a pic of one of the sirens in situ (look closely):



And here is a pic of an old New Zealand Fire Service siren for calling out volunteers (looks like they used to import sirens from the UK - or copy them):

Slightly off topic, but as well as the sirens situated in localised areas, New Zealand also has a national civil defence alert sound called 'the Sting'. The Sting is a sound tape played on TV and Radio before important Civil Defence messages, similar to Australias 'S.E.W.S.' system. To hear 'the Sting':

http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/memwebs ... -siren.wav

And for info - here is what Australia's SEWS sounds like:

http://www.bom.gov.au/inside/services_p ... 30s[1].wav

"The Sting" is the nasty sound I was referring to. I like the Australian one better, but I was somehow under the impression that "The Sting" was sounded on outdoor sirens. The tone used in America by the Emergency Broadcast System when I was young was just a high-pitched, 2nd interval tone that sounded for 30 seconds, followed by a message. Now it sounds something like an intermittant fax machine sound or perhaps a small, loud bird attempting to puke.

I checked through a few different sites detailing the Sting when trying to remember who the New Zealand companies supplying sirens were. Here are a couple of the pages I found.

This is a page from New Zealand's official Civil Defence website that the Sting download is on (bottom of the page):

http://www.getthru.govt.nz/Resources.36.0.html

And here are a couple of references to it on particular localities emergency pages:

http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/AbtCit/cp/emgncyserv2.asp
('What is the Civil Defence warning signal?' at the bottom of the page)

http://www.wdc.govt.nz/customerservice/?lc=links&id=448

I would have to look into it further, but I guess it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that any areas with electronic sirens would play the Sting as their siren sound.

Yeah the Sting signal is absolute crap.

Sounds like some sort of spaceship.

I much prefer the US and Australian ones.

Oh and whoever asked what sirens were playing our SEWS signal up in Queensland with that Tropical Cyclone...

It's broadcast over radio, not public warning systems.
That's why you can hear it so clearly on that video posted.