ACA P-50 West Allis, WI

[spotandtiggerbug]

Would there be a way to buy one of those? Or could one be taken from a junkyard?

[RamFett]

@spotandtiggerbug I don't know what happens to most of them, not too many have been removed yet. There were a couple at a government auction in Texas last year, I'm sure as the ones currently in service age get replaced, there will be more that end up for sale like that. But they are HUGE, 7 feet tall and over 1500 lbs, so they are a major pain in the ass to move and store unless you have heavy duty equipment and lots of room at your disposal.

[spotandtiggerbug]

@RamFett Oh ok, because my dad has a huge trailer that could fit it, and i have a huge unused backyard.

[concertinanickz]

when were P-50's made? in the 1980's would be my guess

[RamFett]

@concertinanickz Correct.

[neosho53059]

Milwaukee needs T-121s badly and ditch these fuckers!!!

[Branden2732]

@neosho53059 these are one of the loudest sirens in the world

[form109]

The ACA P-50 is one Mean Mother Scooter....Ranks at the Top of the list of Powerful Sirens!

[hawkplaya94]

gah i wanna get close to a p-50 theres one bout a mile and a half away but until i can drive that aint gonna happen

[KSE828]

I guess i'm just so used to counter-clockwise rotation.

[KSE828]

Why is it rotating backwards?

[RamFett]

Why does everybody ask that? Read the post below yours, it offers the only explanation I can think of. It doesn't really make any difference anyway.

[soccerdude7330]

That's rotating the wrong way..maybe they connected the 3 phase legs incorrectly?

[loryr405]

i live not even a mile away from a p-15 or 10 (i really dont pay attention to the wind up). it is so loud that when even all the windows r closed its still very loud. it sure can "penetrate" an ATI right into the ground. xD

[loryr405]

gotta love the penetrator sirens no matter how old or new they are. i love it when they r facing u when they r going off, they r so loud it kinda sounds like theres another tone going along with it. and they sure r loud!

[bigbluecrane5]

imagine standing in the siren while it goes off if that happened to me aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggg­gghhhhhhhh

[RamFett]

Why the hell would you even post that?

[bigbluecrane5]

just to tell you i don't know

[Johnporter271]

Do they not test them during the winter?

[RamFett]

That used to seem to be the case in Milwaukee County, but this past year they've tested in December and early March. That's broken the trend of the last several years. Some time back (maybe 2002), I remember hearing a noon test in January, while walking home from school. Normally I wouldn't be out of school during test days, but I got out early due to first semester exams.

[Johnporter271]

Thanks. Where I live, they are tested year round.

[dillonrockband]

dang that thing looks HUGE!!!

[Rageman1112]

its 7ft tall 1500 lb. siren and has a rotor thats 3ft around

[neosho53059]

i hate the ones that spin...... doesn't sound cool

[CelticDragon0]

They spin so the sound carries in all directions

[neosho53059]

yea but what's the point it waste's mor energy when it could be used for the sound

[RamFett]

I strongly disagree.

[csx2295]

I agree some sirens do rotate around on the wind down well some of them the older sirens like our 3t22 don't rotate like the other sirens am i right about it?

[neosho53059]

me 2!

[CelticDragon0]

Thank you

[joehoose2700]

I went to Nathan Hale High School, which is over 1/2 mile from the siren. I could hear it with the windows closed in my classroom when they tested it! Very loud...

[RamFett]

Hale's not quite that far, but yeah these things pack a punch.

[neosho53059]

Try Going to Beaver Dam, WI and there sirens are a hell of alot louder like by the shopko there is one

[superjoe87]

Hey, I've seen that one, Isn't it an SD-10?

[neosho53059]

where r you talking??

[superjoe87]

The one on the east side of Beaver Dam...... By the 33-151 exit.

[neosho53059]

no SD-10's sound a hell of alot better than that peice of shit!!!!!!

[BrunetteBeauty06]

i went to hale too and now work for the district. i definitely always heard the siren with windows closed while at hale... and still hear it all the time while working.

[rykember11]

This has an amazing wind up. One of my favorite sirens. Still...Thunderbolts sound better.

[RamFett]

Permit me to disagree, and I'm sure many people will take your side, but I think this beats a thunderbolt any day of the week. :)

[rykember11]

I permit you to disagree. I have to say, it looks cooler than a thunderbolt. The sound...I'm gonna change what I said...The sound is equally comparible.

[carexpertandy]

Do you plan on getting a T-135 AC/DC next?

[RamFett]

Nah. There's a P-50 on the Milwaukee County Courthouse that I'm told makes a really cool echo off all the tall buildings in the downtown area. The T-135AC/DC is basically just a bigger, louder T-128, which doesn't interest me very much. Having heard what it sounds like in my tornado warning video, I'm not particularly excited about recording it. I'd rather get the older sirens, which won't be around for as long.

[csx2295]

How many P-50's are there in West Allis?

I was told the T-135AC cost almost $50,000

[RamFett]

West Allis has 3. Yes, new sirens are ungodly in their pricing, especially considering the simplicity of the components that go into them. There's gotta be a huge mark-up on new sirens.

[csx2295]

The Brand new T-135AC sirens are more than $50,000 once you add the control boxes and radio equipment stuff on it for one of those sirens and boxes and stuff you are looking at close to $100,000 that is for one T-135 tornado siren alone.

[csx2295]

Thank goodness we have Federal Signal 2001-130 sirens our two new sirens installed in January of last year we have 4 Federal Signal sirens the 3T22, EOWS 612, and our 2 new 2001-130's and 3 Whelen Vortex 4004 siren they rotate different from the 2001's and the EOWS 612 the 3T22 is a Mechanical siren it don't rotate how it works air flows into the damper and the top and goes out from the 12 horns on the top and 10 horns on the bottom its mounted on top of our fire station it is over 35 years old

[RamFett]

I'm familiar with all those siren models. 2001's are complete garbage. Too high pitched and they malfunction a lot more than they should. I'm fairly certain that Federal Signal only sells so many of them because they're the lowest or only bidder in a lot of cases. Federal just lazily sits atop their decades-old 2001 design, no longer making good sirens like they used to.

[csx2295]

there is a huge mark up in pricing on the new T-135AC once you add the siren all of the control boxes and radio control feature you are look at almost $150,000 to $200,000 just for one siren two T-135's and the extra features $500,00- $1,000,000 for 7 well over $3,00,000 I talked to Chris Roller from American Signal and that is what he told $50,000 plus the extra equipment you looking at $125,000 to$150,000 depends on the features you want on it.

[thecompanycar]

That's interesting because I talked to our local ASC dealer as well as our county's EMA director and the new T-135AC/DC runs at about $38,000 installed (compared to $18,000-$20,000 for a T-128). That's installed with batteries, two-way radio activation, the pole, electrical hookup, ect. I want to say that Dave Wherry reiterated the $38,000 price too.

[csx2295]

With our 2 2001's we had installed 1 year ago in January, 2008 when the super Tuesday tornado hit the west Tennessee they were put to use with the other 7 sirens in our siren system total sirens in the system we have are 8 sirens the Whelen vortex sirens are too Cheap 7 sirens are battery backup and 1siren does not have battery backup the one without the backup is one of second favorite siren is the 3t22 it is over 30 years old it was repainted in yellow.

[PGMEagle]

I wonder if there are any fire stations in the US anywere that use a P-50 for the house siren that would be cool :-)

[RamFett]

There's a P-50 next to a fire station in Trevor, WI, but it's not their house siren, instead it's used for tornado warnings. The house siren is an old ACA Allertor 125. They use if for curfew or something-it goes off daily, but is old and in a bad state. It doesn't get close to full speed.

[FBSCommunications]

The Poll that the P-50 is installed on looks a little deformed.

I am also surprised they painted that yellow because most P-50's are a gray color

[RamFett]

Yeah, it's probably one of the older P-50's around in Milwaukee County. The pole's probably pretty old, too. And earlier in production, ACA made a lot of yellow P-50's.

[rykember11]

Well...The P-50 is HUGE on a puny pole. I hope the pole doesn't fall over. That is a great sounding siren.

[PGMEagle]

These siren are extreamly loud.

[RamFett]

You bet.

[csx2295]

You bet they are loud extremely loud I was in Memphis, Tennessee in 1998 on a Saturday i was near the National Weather Service Office in Memphis, Tennessee and the loud siren went off it sure was real loud if you note on the Control boxes on the new T-135's and as well the older P-50's WEAR EAR PROTECTION it says the same thing on the T-128 as well.

[RamFett]

Most sirens will have some form of warning about hearing protection. These things are absolute beasts when they go off, though. When I filmed this, I was a good 200-300 feet back and it vibrated in my chest and hurt my ears.

[1050HzSineWaveTone]

Call me crazy...but

the yellow color painted on the a.c.a. t-135 siren (p-50 siren) makes the siren look really cute and adorable...almost as cute looking as those Federal Signal 2001 Sirens.

[RamFett]

Sure...cute until you hear the adorable yellow monster speak. And this thing eats 2001's for breakfast!

[computerTube3000]

you can say that again lol!

[superjoe87]

Interesting that it sounds exactly like a T-135.

[RamFett]

The T-135AC and P-50 are the same siren, but are named differently based on when they were produced. American Signal Corporation (ASC) used to be known as Alerting Communications of America (ACA) and had different names for their sirens. The switch came some time in the early 90's. This siren is Civil Defense Yellow, so it was produced by ACA, technically making it a P-50. When Civil Defense ended ACA discontinued Yellow and switched to gray, and ASC continues to make only gray sirens.

[superjoe87]

But does the T-128 have a counterpart from ACA?

[RamFett]

No. They were first produced by ASC in the late 90's.

[rjjgoose]

dude are you ever dumb it is a T-135 but in the old days they caled it the P-50 it is the same siren it is just named deferent.

[UAL4ever]

That sound reminds me of the time when that tornado touched down in the middle of January. There is a siren exactly like that built only 200 feet away from the school and i was outside when that siren went and boy i`ll tell you it`ll make you do deaf for a few minutes but other then that very good sirens.

[kll510]

Wow that was a very long wind down. I'm amazed you can get so close to it. We have a tornado siren across the street in a park and when it goes off you can't be outside because it's so loud. I can even hear clearly from the basement.

[Flamingopink86]

I wish we had these in Minneapolis. Our sirens are just plain annoying.

[RamFett]

Sorry, Siren1000T, I removed your comment by accident. To answer your question, no I did not have hearing protection on. 50 yards was far enough for me. Plus, I really wanted to hear what one of these sounded like in person without hearing protection, since the last one I filmed I wore earplugs. It didn't hurt my ears or anything, but it is the best way to get a true appreciation of how powerful the sound is.

[Siren1000T]

Damn! Well your a more brave recorder then me. lol. Thats ok that you accidently removed my comment. I dident even realise that anyways. lol.

[kdksiren]

The pole looks so small compared to the siren. These things are monsters. Wish that there were some of them here. These and Cyclones are just awsome! Same color too! Thanks for putting up this video. Five stars and a favorite for sure!

[BellyJae]

i wish we had some of these in Cincinnati. Awesome clip! :)

[RamFett]

I didn't realize the audio picked it up before, but a neighboring municipality's sirens can be heard winding down at around 2:20. I'm not sure whose system it is, but it's somewhere in Eastern Waukesha County.

[RamFett]

When I get the video from the second camera I filmed with, I think you'll like it even better.

[gajda1984]

i love the wind down!

[RamFett]

Yeah, for rotational sirens, P-50's have remarkably long wind downs. Probably due to the fact that the siren and rotation have separate motors powering each of them, so no momentum is drawn off the chopper.

[carexpertandy]

I love that yellow.

[RamFett]

As do I. Much better than white/light gray.

[simplextech9]

@carexpertandy i agree where i live the p-50s in kenosha are gray

[coyoteunknown]

It must be amazing to stand before one of these beasts. While it's only the second loudest siren produced, it's still more/less a king and to stand before it when it sounds. *shudders* Awesome.

[RamFett]

It's quite an exparience. I was almost shaking when it started, partly from the ancicipation after not hearing the sirens for so long, and partly because the sound is powerful enough to vibrate through you as it passes around. Every siren enthusiast needs to experience this at least once.

[CoolBalla15]

Excellent video once again! Keep those videos coming! :D

[Siren1000T]

Nice job John. P-50s rule!

[RamFett]

Thank you kindly, sir.

[RamFett]

Just to clarify, there's a better quality video of this same test that I will be uploading as soon as I can find the camera/computer connector cable.

[Siren1000T]

Thats good news.

[CoolBalla15]

I'm looking forward to it! :)