The Siren Board

Hey everyone!
Recently a personal friend of mine and I decided to team up to create a enthusiast based outdoor warning siren controller. So in the process we are beginning to build a prototype enthusiast siren controller that will soon be available to the hobbyist level! Exciting right? I need your input though! Right now we are at the basic level. 3 minute alert, 3 minute attack (toying with the idea of some sort of physical timing wheel for attack), and cancel. We also were thinking of ideas for remote activation.
Right now the prototype will be very plug and play. Some ideas include adding remote activation via Ethernet port or radio, battery backup, and so much more! I want to hear any ideas you guys might have, though, that you think would make a great product and we will see what we can throw together. As of right now cost of the units could range anywhere from $30-$100 depending.
Lets hear those ideas!

Tactile buttons that click when pressed. And fancy lights. Sounds like an awesome project!

4J25 wrote:Tactile buttons that click when pressed. And fancy lights. Sounds like an awesome project!

Lots of fancy lights, got it! And tactile buttons, similar to the ones on an FC board? That will most likely be what we go with, as well as some outputs for remote buttons or switches.

I've never clicked the ones on an FC, but probably. And by electronic do you mean a driver based siren? If so, how about a mic for live PA?

LED panel lighting so you can see those buttons in low lighting. put a switch on the door so it turns the lights on and off to save electricity. have there be an option between red or white color, maybe even use color changing LEDs and have the user program the light color themselves. Red lights is rumored not to affect your night vision.

4J25 wrote:I've never clicked the ones on an FC, but probably. And by electronic do you mean a driver based siren? If so, how about a mic for live PA?

Basically a control board similar to an FC or other electronic control board, but affordable to enthusiasts. Mainly it would be used to control mechanical units. We did discuss the option of adding in a tone generator and amp for an electronic siren, but that would be on an as-requested basis. Everything seems to be very plug and play so it's an option!

gman 1 wrote:LED panel lighting so you can see those buttons in low lighting. put a switch on the door so it turns the lights on and off to save electricity. have there be an option between red or white color, maybe even use color changing LEDs and have the user program the light color themselves. Red lights is rumored not to affect your night vision.

Yeah, that is an option too. I would probably go with red specific for cost reasons.

How about a module that controls the solenoids on a siren so equipped? It'd be neat if you can design a controller that not only would allow you to set the duration of each note, but would also let you configure the length and interval spacing of the hi-lo cycle in respect to the siren's attack waver. Pulsed signals would be cool, too. 8)

The buttons on an FC board aren't really meant to be pressed very often. They are more a local test type deal, not really meant to be used as a primary means of activation like the thing you are talking about putting together. Something like the buttons on an AR would be more appropriate.

As for the whole radio/ethernet idea, I'd suggest adding about 50-$100 or more onto your budget for that. A DTMF/two tone decoder is not going to be cheap, and you will have to have a scanner/radio to connect to that, which is even more expense. The user would also have to be a Ametuer Radio operator to use frequencies for activating it, unless you have a frequency licensed to you, which is not cheap. Becoming a Ametuer radio operator is a good idea, and can broaden you knowledge on radios.

As for the ethernet/wifi idea, i'm not sure that would be cheap either, and I wouldn't be too trustworthy of a internet relay deal like that, that's a fairly new technology that might have some issues with it. And on top of all that, you are going to have to find a way for all of that to interface with the timer, which could be an issue. I've looked at building something like this before, and they are usually pretty expensive nor are they very user friendly.

And, there is the issue of liability. If your controller is hooked up to a hobbyist's siren, and it were to accidentally damage or accidentally trigger the siren itself, you could potentially be open for liability.

Not trying to crush the idea, as it is pretty neat, but I just want to make sure that everyone knows what they are getting into.

Cruz Newberry

Definitely make a "test" button like on the AR timer, for growls.

I really like this idea! Definitely something similar to an AF/AR timer. I guess if you were to do it for electrical sirens you could make a board without an amp on it to test the idea. For that basically just Alert, attack, hi lo steady, alternating wail, pulsed steady and wail and Westminster Chimes. That way you could give them an option to use an amp. I saw an electronic controller without an amp on YouTube. I'll see if I can find it again.