First of all, I have to give a massive shoutout to the two guys from the FD that parked near where I set up my tripod for the outstanding hospitality as well as the T-shirt they gave me as a souvenir. I was told by them it was originally going to do regular alert despite it being the 15th, then I heard "unless you want it to do alternate wail." They really gave me the hookup and it was well worth the 8&1/2 hour drive to go and hear this thing go off. The new paint job looks great as does the black screen in the horn. Now I'm the first to have heard both 4/5 port Thunderbolt 1003s in the world. This siren's blower used to be reverse wired due to the blower's oil being so old and thick that it prevented the blower motor from reaching full speed while wired correctly, but strangely enough, it would run at full speed backwards so they ran it that way until they could have blower maintenance performed. I've heard University Park's 4 times already and it's still awesome despite being in not so great shape, but after hearing that this 4/5 1003 was back in service, restored, and correctly wired, I just had to dedicate myself to hearing it in person. Given what this siren has been through in comparison to University Park's as well as the fact that this one still sounds the fire signal, those reasons make this one that much more rare than the one in University Park. Also this was my first time hearing a real siren sound alternate wail. 10/10 would do this again.
And to set the record straight, if you heard people say this no longer tests on the 15th, that's not correct and is misinformation. Thanks to Mike Becker (the fire chief) and Jared Harrel for providing the correct information.
This is arguably my craziest video out of excitement for various reasons, but hope you enjoy! The main test video will be uploaded on Christmas day and I promise you it will be worth the wait because it's probably my best video yet. For anyone wondering about the high tone damper that sometimes acts goofy, Tyler Shaw and jcb19 plan to work on getting that issue sorted out in the not so distant future.
No, you may not reuse the audio from this video in any way, shape, or form. If I come across any video that is using the audio from this or happens to be a complete copy of this video, a copyright claim will be issued.
P.S. "Siren Head" comments = ban. Comments saying it's going to fall over = ban.
Siren Information:
Siren: FS Thunderbolt 1003A
Signal: Alternate wail
Usage: Primarily a fire siren, but also doubles as a tornado siren since the county can activate it.
Motors: Chopper: 2HP single phase; blower: 7.5HP 3 phase
Chopper: 4/5 port
Location: St. Paul Volunteer Fire Department in St. Paul, NE.
County: Howard
Tested: Every 1st of the month at 1:00pm (alert), every 15th of the month at 1:00pm (alternate wail).
Testing time on 5/15/2022: 1:03pm.
Other notes: St. Paul has this 1003, 2 RSH-10As, and 1 2001-SRN.
