My weirdest hobby... I bought another siren

[kx250rider]

People collect stamps or baseball cards, and even antique cars.... But I can't be normal. For me, it's air raid sirens! I have several of them installed and operational at our place in SoCal. Yesterday, I made an 800-mile round trip to the San Francisco area to get this one; (not that anyone here cares about the details, LOL), a Federal SD-10 dual tone with a 10-hp 3-phase motor. It's in good shape other than paint, and amazingly 50 years of San Francisco salt fog didn't wreck the sheet metal! Some of these in coastal areas wind up looking like Swiss cheese due to rust. 1st pic is all the pieces filling up my truck, and the second pic is an example of what it looks like all together...

It's lucky I'm into lifting as a sport, since the motor and head weighs over 380 lbs alone, and I don't have a crane truck. The other siren nut who sold it to me, just had a hip replaced. So it was my job to get it into the truck...

Charles
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/kx250racer/th_SD-10sirenno210-2010.jpg

Google Image Result for http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4758604947_aa6d13e5ea_m.jpg

 

[nangiggles]

do those make the creepy disaster alarm noise like in silent hill?

 

[kx250rider]

do those make the creepy disaster alarm noise like in silent hill?

YES! . Ask anyone who lives in the northern end of Thousand Oaks/western end of Moorpark, CA... They get treated to my sirens on New Years Eve, and every last-Friday of the month at noon (in keeping with the usual federal warning testing schedule as not to scare anybody into thinking the Russians sent us a nuke).

Charles

 

[nangiggles]

YES! . Ask anyone who lives in the northern end of Thousand Oaks/western end of Moorpark, CA... They get treated to my sirens on New Years Eve, and every last-Friday of the month at noon (in keeping with the usual federal warning testing schedule as not to scare anybody into thinking the Russians sent us a nuke).

Charles

Those creep the crap out of me

 

[just...v]

lol, ur neighbors have to hear that? So glad I don't live by you, better them than me.

 

[RADAR]

Man! I want me one of those!

 

[OMEGA]

that is wierd lol

 

[RADAR]

i loved that creepy sound in silent hill.......it makes your skin crawl

 

[kx250rider]

i loved that creepy sound in silent hill.......it makes your skin crawl

Me too!

Today at noon (in 30 minutes) the Thunderbolt siren will blow. Then if I get a chance later today, I'll test-blow the SD-10 (subject of the thread).

Here's a video of two of my sirens sounded at the same time last New Years Eve. Believe me, the digital camera doesn't do the sound any justice! The Thunderbolt is 135db at 100 feet; about like a jet engine . It can be heard clearly for 7 miles (per federal warning siren standards), and heard somewhat for up to 25 miles.

YouTube - New Years Eve 2009-10 Cold War air raid sirens sounded at midnight in Ventura County, CA

Charles

 

[nangiggles]

Love your wife's spirit, there's the loud siren and she covers her ears but she sees you filming her and immediately smiles

 

[nangiggles]

dont your neighbors get scared of it?

 

[kx250rider]

They haven't complained... But they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. The one to the west, has a Mexican rodeo stadium, which is active nearly every weekend with 800 or 1000 people, mariachi bands, huge bonfires, and the whole enchilada. The neighbor behind us has a rifle range on his place, and has drunken shooting parties. And let's not forget the Cuban mafia man, who just imported (ILLEGALLY) a few thousand yards of dirt, backfilled a federally-protected waterway, and God knows what else he's up to. So nobody dares complain about my innocent little sirens ;-)

And we're not in a noise-regulated zone. If anyone moves into the area, and thinks about complaining, I'll point out that the name of the road is Wailing Siren Ranch Drive.

Charles

 

[mochara]

would love to hear it ,first i have seen one ,

 

[nimbus]

dude that is awesome! i really like the way the first one sounds; the one whose button you pushed from inside

 

[puddlemonkey]

Sell a couple of those sirens and upgrade the cast iron dumbbells.

 

[kx250rider]

dude that is awesome! i really like the way the first one sounds; the one whose button you pushed from inside

Thanks!

That's a 1960s era Federal Thunderbolt with a supercharger. Those were installed all over Dallas, and most places with big flat populated areas. Probably the most commonly recognized tornado siren, after the Cold War ended in the 80s when these were mainly installed and tested for warning in case of incoming Russian nuclear missiles. That thing weighs 1,200 pounds, and has 3 motors and a Roots blower like Nascar engines have. I went all the way to Milwaukee to get that one.

Charles