The Siren Board

It's gone. When they built the new Griffin Middle School behind the existing building, part of its footprint extended to the spot where the old ACA P-50 stood. I figured with all the land they had to work with they could have constructed the new facility a few hundred feet north to avoid disturbing the siren, but I suppose that wasn't what they had in mind.

Here's a picture of the old P-50 I took back in April 2012:


Here's where it used to be:


The helicopter seen in the second picture was used in place of a construction crane to lift the HVAC units on the new building. Here's some video of it in action, quite fascinating to see in person (many of the nearby residents were also outside taking pictures and video).

https://youtu.be/KcllfRiT8eM

A replacement Federal Signal 508 was installed about 500 feet East on the other side of the football field. The replacement choice isn't terrible, however it's quite disappointing considering the huge coverage loss they now have (at least they didn't try to replace the P-50 with a 2001-130).

That was the first P-50 I ever saw or heard. I remembering being very excited when we would go to The Colony as a small child because I might get a chance to see "The Bucket Siren." Unsurprising that they went with Federal, as they replaced all their other legacy system (P-10/15's, and Allertor) sirens with 2001's back in like 2003 or 2004. I do not know if the Model 2 is used or not with their system, but it's not too far from where the P-50 was.

Shame it's gone. As Travis said, at least they didn't try a -130.

Also, according to the spec sheet, these suckers have a 70 dB radius of 7300 feet and a 60 dB radius of 14,700 feet. I think they're covered better than we think they are.

No way that 508 can equal the P-50. You can believe the ratings, smoke, and mirrors all you want, but with sirens horsepower does count.

Paris, TX has been replacing there P-50s with 508s but they are doing it the right way, with two 508s per p-50.

holler wrote:No way that 508 can equal the P-50. You can believe the ratings, smoke, and mirrors all you want, but with sirens horsepower does count.

Alright, thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Makes me wonder if they'll add another one to compensate for that.

holler wrote:Paris, TX has been replacing there P-50s with 508s but they are doing it the right way, with two 508s per p-50.

Good point.

I understand the battery backup capabilities, but that adds up to a lot of money to replace one siren that worked perfectly fine. And with a lot of coverage loss.

This P-50 might actually be the one that Andy has in his yard...

dilloncarpenter wrote:This P-50 might actually be the one that Andy has in his yard...

Very cool! Do you have any pictures you can share by chance?

Really the only siren at the moment to could directly replace the P-50 is the T-135. Wish it could be as easy as purchasing the head and adding the FC and whatnot. Oh well. If you go by what the companies say, the P-50/RM-135/T-135 has a 70 dB rating of 9000 feet, so they lose a good 1700 feet of range. This hits that same nerve in my head as seeing Plano and McKinney directly replacing 4008s with 2910s.

That's a shame but it was bound to happen eventually. I agree at least it's a FS 508 and not a 2001.