The Siren Board

So a couple years ago my town decided to ditch it's 2001's in favor of a new ASC electronic system. The main reasons were the old system was getting costly to maintain, sirens showing their age and such. The other was they really wanted voice capability. And so it was.

Something I stumbled upon is even more interesting. Park Ridge Illinois is replacing their early 1990's 2001s with, my guess is, 2001's. The current sirens are not roundbacks, but do have the smaller cone in the middle of the horn. Almost identical to the ones we had here. Probably even the same age. Federal won the bid, it is possible that the new sirens could be 508's. But my money is that they are 130's. At around 22k a pop, they are not cheap.

The other bids received were from ASC and a company called Frontline Warning Systems. A little googling found that they are a Whelen dealer.

http://www.parkridge.us/assets/1/Events ... ySiren.pdf

Wow! This is a surprise! I go to school in Park Ridge and had no idea! I will ask the fire chief who occasionally wanders the school after school. Hope it 508s. Seriously need some in the area. Thanks for the info.

I checked with Federal on FB....confirmed, 2001's.

Brendan Ahern wrote:I checked with Federal on FB....confirmed, 2001's.

I did to, I was about to write that haha. But I was kinda hoping for Equinox's or 508's. But I will be interesting to have some -130s in the area.

Not sure when they go up...my guess is they will be in the same locations as the current system, maybe even on the same poles. Still seems kind of funny to me to replace 2001's with 2001's

Brendan Ahern wrote:Not sure when they go up...my guess is they will be in the same locations as the current system, maybe even on the same poles. Still seems kind of funny to me to replace 2001's with 2001's

Indeed, though that design is pushing about 30 years of age. There are certainly sirens that have lived on serving that are much older, but I guess 25-30 years is an acceptable life.

Brendan Ahern wrote:Not sure when they go up...my guess is they will be in the same locations as the current system, maybe even on the same poles. Still seems kind of funny to me to replace 2001's with 2001's

Well newer ones are 2 decibels louder than the old ones!!! That's city logic. Anyway, some of the old poles are in horrible condition with one having a terrible lean near the Niles/Park Ridge border.

Not surprising. The 508's are probably a lot more money.

I look at this as a waste of money, same as how I see our county replacing 2001s that weren't even pushing 10 years of age for sirens with "no moving parts." Expensive 2810s, a good 5 or 6 by my count, in the middle of nowhere... eh back on topic. They'd be better off keeping what they have instead of spending all of that cash on a new system that seems to have no benefit over the old one; maybe retrofit controllers if needed, put up some to add to the system, or do some pole replacements for the ones rotted out and whatnot. Let the -130s be AC/DC units. If they speed off and make 800+ Hz, they may actually underperform the ones they replaced with the higher pitch being absorbed into the air faster.

There is a 130 about 1.5 miles from me. Yes, it is high pitch, but I can hear it and understand what it is. So I don't think coverage is a problem.

I don't think this is a waste of money. Yes, replacing fairly new sirens for something shiny is a waste. These are not new by any account.

They don't need to add to the system. The city has been landlocked for decades. way before even the current system was installed.

They claim to be making costly repairs, totaling over 10k in 5 years. Maintenance, especially unexpected, is something everyone would like to avoid. They can get grants to replace equipment, but not to maintain it.

The system is more than 25 years old. Even if they replaced poles, retrofitted controls, added AC/DC option, the sirens will still need to be replaced in the fairly recent future. This would be the more costly option. Think about it. Take sirens down, replace all controls and whatnot. Put old siren and new equipment on new pole. Pay for new equipment, plus install fees. Now, 10 years later. Siren heads need replacing. Purchase new siren heads, pay contractor to use crane to remove old siren head from pole and replace with new heads. This can add up to several thousand dollars per siren, as well as the siren heads costing more money in 10 years. So lets say 2k in labor per siren and 10k per siren head in 10 years. Or replace it all now, start fresh. Get another 25 years out of the new system. They have the money to do it. Plus this climate is not kind to anything outside. They have endured high winds, extreme heat, hail, extreme cold, ice. They have endured 25 Chicago winters.