The Siren Board

This is a tale of what you really might not want to do if your siren system breaks down.

So, I was browsing the internet and came across this photograph from Longmont, CO:

CAPTION: Jay Jahrman holds cables to help guide old tornado siren speakers as Dan McAmis (not pictured) lifts them with a crane near the intersection of Nelson Road and Hover Street on Tuesday. Jahrman and McAmis, employees of Kellem Electric LLC, have been replacing the speakers at all 17 tornado sirens in Longmont. The new speakers emit warning tones at 3200 watts, twice as loud the old ones.

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20525 ... ado-sirens

I think, "Aww gee...that's too bad, but some surprise." Longmont hasn't exactly had the best of luck with their rotating ATIs....and they're ATIs...so I mean, sayonara, right? The only truly unfortunate thing is that the sirens couldn't have been that old. The rotating ATIs only came about during the last decade as far as we all know. So these sirens are probably no older than 10 years old.

In this thread, the OP even commented that the sirens looked new, and that was 2007! http://airraidsirens.com/forums/viewtop ... t=longmont

Of course, its seems by 2008, the sirens were not functioning well at all.

June 5, 2008: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/lo ... t-for-some

Original thread (yes, I realize it degenerated and got locked): http://airraidsirens.com/forums/viewtop ... nt&start=0

And by last year, the system had essentially failed.

Eamon said the old system in Longmont had just become too expensive to keep in shape, with upkeep running about $30,000 a year.

"The maintenance costs on the old system, they're just too much," Eamon said. "We didn't want to put any more money into a used car."

Source: http://www.timescall.com/news/ci_20273985/newstip

Of course, it does make one wonder how in the world a small system of electronic sirens could drive up maintenance costs to $30,000 a year...which seems exorbitant.

And, of course, the units weren't much to look at in their waning days, at this photo so aptly demonstrates.

Source: http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-coun ... ing-sirens

So what to do but replace the system. I found this quote promising:

Each of the 17 siren sites now has eight 400-watt speakers that generate 3,200 watts of audio power. Because they do not rotate like the old system, the tone should be constant instead of fading in and out with the siren's rotation.

Source: http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont- ... ens-monday

Oh goodie! We're getting Whelen 2908s. Perfect!

So of course I do a little digging and get to the city's website. Their description of the new horns:

The siren horns will no longer rotate. They are being replaced with eight 400 watt speakers per siren that will provide 3200 watts of audio power. The horns are true re-entrant, directional and exponential speaker horns that can be tilted or directed as needed. These ?omni-directional? sirens will change the way sound is delivered. The sound will no longer get louder and softer as the speakers rotate, but should instead remain constant.

All I could think is, "Uh oh...that sounds like..."

Source (and a good quick read): http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/emergency/ ... system.htm

And that is, to my utter horror, what I found when I scrolled.

So...they replaced their broken young ATIs with new ATIs. Check, check, and check...

And even then, the new sirens didn't quite work well during their first test:

"Of the 17 sirens, up to three had some sort of glitch or error message, according to Longmont emergency manager Dan Eamon....

...A Times-Call employee posted at South Main Street and Pike Road noted that the siren there sounded for about a minute before it died. However, other sirens from other locations could still be heard at the intersection.

Eamon said that incident was likely a battery issue, and the city will replace batteries at all of the sites to try to correct it.

Source: http://www.timescall.com/ci_20566682/lo ... successful

A simple fix? Sure. But still.

So, I end this tale of "Oh my god this really happened..." with some common sense. If your new system doesn't last...don't do it again.

That's sort of like using Chevy Cavaliers for city police cars, having them fail miserably, then replacing them with Chevy Cobalts.

Really though, that's more than a bit stupid.

You would think they would have learned the first time around with ATIs.

And so the vicious cycle continues...

Anyone want to take bets on how long this ATI system will last?

Oldiesmann wrote:Anyone want to take bets on how long this ATI system will last?

I`m going 5 years or less!

However many years their warranty is, take away the exact same number of years.

I know that they are absolute junk, but those rotating ATIs do looks pretty cool IMO.

Oldiesmann wrote:Anyone want to take bets on how long this ATI system will last?

The first five minutes or two activations, whichever comes first.

And yet we wonder why federal put down a lawsuit.