1992-1993 "ACA Identity Crisis"
Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:30 pm
I'm sure you all know the transfer of power that occurred in 1992 between Biersach and Niedermeyer and Hörmann America. There are, however, a few details that are often brushed over, mostly concerning what happened to the sirens.
In the early 1990's, ACA made a huge sale to a middle eastern country (I've heard both Iran and Iraq), with a large number of sirens going overseas. Whoever it was, they neglected to pay for these sirens. This thrust ACA into bankruptcy. In 1992, it appears as if feeble attempts to push ACAs current line were made. New flyers showing the sirens under new names were released: the P-15 became the PN-15, the P-50 the PN-50, and the Banshee and Cyclone were absorbed into the Screamer line, becoming the SC-15 and SC-50 respectively, among other things. It was at this time that the Alertronic Quadren was also introduced, which when looking at the flyer you may find some very interesting features that you may not have known about. The company didn't last too much longer after this, and later that year Hörmann America stepped in and overtook ACA, transforming it into American Signal Corporation. For a short time, it appears that Hörmann America either A. decided to keep the new names or B. didn't have the time or desire to recreate a bunch of flyers, so we ended up with a bunch of similarly designed pamphlets with the same siren names, and the only changes were to the logo and any mention of ACA, which of course all became ASC branded. Finally, in 1995, Hörmann America decided to change the siren names once again. This is where we got the OMs, RMs, the RE, and so on. Not to mention, this also appears to be where they decided to introduce their ECN series on paper. And the rest is history: Dale Moeller broke off in 1997 to form Excel Alerting Communicators, with Jim Biersach designing the T-128. Eventually Hörmann America drove American Signal into the ground, so Dale bought it back. The remainder of the Tempest line was introduced, and many of the Hörmann America-era sirens saw their discontinuation in favor of this.
Anyways, I'm sure you all want to see the graphics. Here they are!
1992 ACA
First off, the continuation of the P-15:
And the P-50:
Now the PN-20. This actually retained the same name through the transfer, and it's likely that the rest of the Penetrator series took on after it:
And the Screamer:
And the Screamer?
And the Screamer?!
And of course we can't forget the electronics:
First off the "AR-1600." I find it interesting that this is depicted with a screen. It is also my belief that the 6000R would have been discontinued this same year:
Then we have the AL-1000 and AL-2000. I haven't found any flyers on any of the other omni Alertronics, but they were produced at this time as far as I'm aware:
And my personal favorite of the bunch, the Alertronic Quadren. Such wacky combinations and mounting options! It would have been brand new in '92.
1992 ASC
I was only able to find three '92 ASC flyers, consisting of the Penetrator line:
PN-15:
PN-20:
PN-50:
1995 ASC
At this point, Hörmann America has renamed each siren line.
First off, the RM-130, which as I'm sure you all know is a continuation of the PN-20:
And then the RM-135, a continuation of the PN-50:
The OM-117:
The OM-120, which is a continuation of the Performance Plus Omni:
The Screamers:
The AR-1600 became the RE-1600:
And the ECN line:
And here's a CompuLert flyer:
And that's everything! It is my understanding that once Dale bought back ASC, any of the sirens that were continued over from Hörmann also received new names, namely the RM-135 becoming the T-135.
Also, a huge thanks to Mr. Werden for saving these and allowing me to scan them!
In the early 1990's, ACA made a huge sale to a middle eastern country (I've heard both Iran and Iraq), with a large number of sirens going overseas. Whoever it was, they neglected to pay for these sirens. This thrust ACA into bankruptcy. In 1992, it appears as if feeble attempts to push ACAs current line were made. New flyers showing the sirens under new names were released: the P-15 became the PN-15, the P-50 the PN-50, and the Banshee and Cyclone were absorbed into the Screamer line, becoming the SC-15 and SC-50 respectively, among other things. It was at this time that the Alertronic Quadren was also introduced, which when looking at the flyer you may find some very interesting features that you may not have known about. The company didn't last too much longer after this, and later that year Hörmann America stepped in and overtook ACA, transforming it into American Signal Corporation. For a short time, it appears that Hörmann America either A. decided to keep the new names or B. didn't have the time or desire to recreate a bunch of flyers, so we ended up with a bunch of similarly designed pamphlets with the same siren names, and the only changes were to the logo and any mention of ACA, which of course all became ASC branded. Finally, in 1995, Hörmann America decided to change the siren names once again. This is where we got the OMs, RMs, the RE, and so on. Not to mention, this also appears to be where they decided to introduce their ECN series on paper. And the rest is history: Dale Moeller broke off in 1997 to form Excel Alerting Communicators, with Jim Biersach designing the T-128. Eventually Hörmann America drove American Signal into the ground, so Dale bought it back. The remainder of the Tempest line was introduced, and many of the Hörmann America-era sirens saw their discontinuation in favor of this.
Anyways, I'm sure you all want to see the graphics. Here they are!
1992 ACA
First off, the continuation of the P-15:
And the P-50:
Now the PN-20. This actually retained the same name through the transfer, and it's likely that the rest of the Penetrator series took on after it:
And the Screamer:
And the Screamer?
And the Screamer?!
And of course we can't forget the electronics:
First off the "AR-1600." I find it interesting that this is depicted with a screen. It is also my belief that the 6000R would have been discontinued this same year:
Then we have the AL-1000 and AL-2000. I haven't found any flyers on any of the other omni Alertronics, but they were produced at this time as far as I'm aware:
And my personal favorite of the bunch, the Alertronic Quadren. Such wacky combinations and mounting options! It would have been brand new in '92.
1992 ASC
I was only able to find three '92 ASC flyers, consisting of the Penetrator line:
PN-15:
PN-20:
PN-50:
1995 ASC
At this point, Hörmann America has renamed each siren line.
First off, the RM-130, which as I'm sure you all know is a continuation of the PN-20:
And then the RM-135, a continuation of the PN-50:
The OM-117:
The OM-120, which is a continuation of the Performance Plus Omni:
The Screamers:
The AR-1600 became the RE-1600:
And the ECN line:
And here's a CompuLert flyer:
And that's everything! It is my understanding that once Dale bought back ASC, any of the sirens that were continued over from Hörmann also received new names, namely the RM-135 becoming the T-135.
Also, a huge thanks to Mr. Werden for saving these and allowing me to scan them!
