The Siren Board

When looking for sirens, I usually look for used sirens taken out of service. Either in a graveyard, privately owned, or just deactivated by a county. Before this though, I mainly looked at sirens directly on a companies website. I understand that mainly government agencies purchase from the companies, but could a standard citizen (with a swish to warn their neighbors) purchase a siren straight from the company?

Sorry if this is a bump.
To answer your question:
yeeeeeeahhhhh... nahhh...yeahhh?
It depends on your circumstances. I mean factories buy them all the time for use as shift change notif. In order to buy a siren or it's associated equipment, you usually have to go through a dealer that sells your desired brand. As you said, usually you'd have to be a government body like an FD or a PD or a village president, but I've seen it before where people that act as unofficial "mayors" of small unincorporated communities (i.e. no FD, local PD) with no official govt background to speak of are perfectly able to purchase warning sirens.

Companies can decide who to sell to and what to sell them within the laws and applicable contracts governing them, though money certainly does talk. I'm sure if you had the dough you could buy yourself a brand new siren system.

An internet search showed me a few things. You could buy a brand new 120V Model L siren from Federal Signal for around $1900. You could also buy a 10 HP Sentry 10V for about $7000 from the factory. If you want the 40V2T you have to "Call For Price"

EBay and Facebook Marketplace will remain my go-tos for the time being - I'm okay with used sirens!

There are sirens on eBay for sale all the time.

siren fan wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 17, 2022 8:24 pm

There are sirens on eBay for sale all the time.

I do understand this, but usually they aren't sold with a controller. I have only found 2 sirens for sale on ebay with all equipment. both are about $5,000 each.

Plus I'm mainly looking for sirens with battery backup. Mainly electric sirens. Something else I would like would be some form of auto activation software like Federal Signal's CommanderOne system.

StormanCharlie wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 18, 2022 1:28 pm

siren fan wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 17, 2022 8:24 pm

There are sirens on eBay for sale all the time.

I do understand this, but usually they aren't sold with a controller. I have only found 2 sirens for sale on ebay with all equipment. both are about $5,000 each.

Plus I'm mainly looking for sirens with battery backup. Mainly electric sirens. Something else I would like would be some form of auto activation software like Federal Signal's CommanderOne system.

Battery backup sirens are hard to come by since many of them are still in service.

Your best bet if you're looking for cheap and affordable is to buy a cheap Model 5/STH/SD-10 and then buying a surplus generator on either FB marketplace or an auction website. Sure the cost will be high, but it'll be cheaper than dropping $10k on a used 2001.

Crazywarriorman wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 18, 2022 3:27 pm

Battery backup sirens are hard to come by since many of them are still in service.

Your best bet if you're looking for cheap and affordable is to buy a cheap Model 5/STH/SD-10 and then buying a surplus generator on either FB marketplace or an auction website. Sure the cost will be high, but it'll be cheaper than dropping $10k on a used 2001.

I understand this. But on ebay, there are a few 2001s and T-128s for sale without the controllers. Plus the 2 with all the controllers and radios. If I want an electronic siren, I probably need to ask for one from an EMA who has a set deactivated system, or some siren graveyard.

You could make your own controllers if you're handy with electronics and wiring. I've thought about using a Raspberry Pi and relay setup for a controller, but haven't gotten farther than just dreaming about it.

HDN wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 18, 2022 5:42 pm

You could make your own controllers if you're handy with electronics and wiring. I've thought about using a Raspberry Pi and relay setup for a controller, but haven't gotten farther than just dreaming about it.

I have a controller from carolinasignalco for the 3d printed 14v I bought from him, but I am not at all handy with electronics.