Norman, Oklahoma Thunderbolt 1000T Unit #2 Granted Reprieve

[woodyrr]

Norman, Oklahoma Thunderbolt 1000T Unit #2 Granted Reprieve From the Scrapper?s Torch.

Someone who is, apparently, a few ports shy of a complete chopper has purchased a Norman Thunderbolt 1000T. Disassembly and removal will commence as soon as practical.

During the regular weekly test conducted on Friday, November 19, this dual tone Thunderbolt functioned properly, producing an intense ?rotating beam of sound? as Federal Signal had advertised.

Currently, the plan is for the Thunderbolt to be disassembled, cleaned and repainted in the original factory color of CD Yellow. It will then be displayed in a selectively compressed representation of its original installation utilizing the top twelve feet of its original mounting pole. When the project is completed, the horizontal centerline of the projector should be approximately fourteen feet above grade level. Unfortunately, as the installation will be located in a densely populated residential area, the only electrical components that are likely to ever be energized will be the rotator assembly.

I'm actually prepared for that. This will have value to me, though. I grew up in Norman so it has sort-of a "home" element. (I explain this to some people and they go "Dude, it's just a freakin' siren..." Not like I can blame them though, at times I'm pretty weird.)

It's worth going through all the pain to lug the things around.
I've done it now, what, 7 or 8 times and I'm still doing it.
If I had more room I hate to think how many of the ridiculous things I would have.

(Emphasis added)

I sure do hope that you are right.

Here is a picture of it taken today:


Thunderbolt Unit 2 by woodyrr, on Flickr

and a video of the last 30 seconds of the test that I took with my iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaiV-x7i1Q

[Bryan]

I'll second the fact it works.. good lord i forget how loud those things are with the blower running. Glad number 2 is headed to good hands

[Sirenguy02]

It seemed like when the siren pointed towards your Iphone,its rotation slowed a bit

[dilloncarpenter]

Amazing! 8rpm too! Man I wish I had gotten a video of that one!

Here is my picture of the siren.

[ver tum]

Congratulations on your Thunderbolt! Listen to that sucker go!

Just get a single phase blower for it. Then you could probably legally run it on test day, blower and all, residential area or not. That would be one heck of a video!

How much are Norman's Tbolts going for?

[dilloncarpenter]

Congratulations on your Thunderbolt! Listen to that sucker go!

Just get a single phase blower for it. Then you could probably legally run it on test day, blower and all, residential area or not. That would be one heck of a video!

How much are Norman's Tbolts going for?

$500-750. If you want, I can send you the PDF of the sirens and their costs.
This particular one was $750, I got one of the $500 ones. Hey, at least I got one. I believe this one is single phase. Lucky dude...

[woodyrr]

After I had talked with mixerbd699 late last week and got a handle on what was involved physically and financially, I contacted Safetycom and sent payment for one of the Thunderbolts marked ?Usually dependable?. I was considering Unit 1 at 24th Ave. NW and Hemphill and Unit 2, which I ultimately purchased. Before selecting a siren, I wanted to examine the two prime candidates and their locations and then listen to the better candidate of the two so that I could confirm that it was dual tone.

I hate to sound immodest, but when I heard the radio activation tones in my headset and then heard it fire up, I thought - mark that sucker as sold! I couldn?t have been more happy with my primary choice. I didn?t notice any aberration in the rotation or the tone. The iPhone has a very wide angle camera lens and I was standing much closer to the siren as I made the recording than it appears so that might account for any apparent slowing of the horn as it rotated toward the camera. To protect my hearing, I was wearing a David Clark communications headset( http://www.marvgolden.com/david-clark-h ... adset.html ).

On the financial side to consider: writing the check to Safetycom is just the first step. The electrical company uses two bucket trucks and skilled labor to safely get these monsters removed.

From all external indications, this siren is three phase.

[dilloncarpenter]

From all external indications, this siren is three phase.

(Face palm.) I assumed the single transformer on the pole meant single phase.

Then again, the only thing 3 phase in all of Norman's Thunderbolts is the blower motor. The rotator and of course chopper are all single phase.

Mark one more Thunderbolt owner! You might figure out that these are WAY bigger on the ground than expected. Even if you expect them to be big, when I got mine I was surprised.

[ver tum]

500 to 750 dollars sounds reasonable, considering that some of them are in good working condition. How long will these sirens be available for purchase, and who would I contact if I decide to get one? How much are the additional costs, for removal, etc?

[Bryan]

500 to 750 dollars sounds reasonable, considering that some of them are in good working condition. How long will these sirens be available for purchase, and who would I contact if I decide to get one? How much are the additional costs, for removal, etc?

shoot me a pm with your number and I'll call you and get you all the contact info you need!