Federal Signal 2T22 Siren

BabyBoy2023

BabyBoy2023

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For those of you born and raised in the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's, you are probably familiar with the big yellow sirens atop tall poles. The sirens were unique because they had two rows of horns situated above one-another (10 horns on top, 12 on the bottom,) and they sent sound out in a 360-degree radius around the stationary siren. Because of its duel-tone sound and its total of 22 horns, the siren was called 2T22. Federal Signal had another version called the 3T22, which produced a high-low signal by means of shutters that opened and closed alternately over the air intake ports of the siren. Now, there is a website on which siren enthusiasts can purchase scaled-down versions of the 2T22 and other Federal Signal discontinued sirens, and though they aren't nearly as loud, they sound just like the real thing. These "mini sirens" can be placed on tables, shelves, etc., in your home and/or business. I am planning on purchasing a 2T22 from the website for use in some of my freelance recording projects. The 2T22 mini siren along with others are made using a 3-d printer and are fairly light-weight. The mini 2T22, for instance, weighs only 8 pounds as compared to the actual 2T22 full-scale siren, which weighs approximately 700 pounds or more.
So what are your memories of the 2T22 or 3T22 warning sirens?
 
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I have a correction to make. The 2T22 has 10 horns on the bottom and 12 on the top, not the other way around.
 
Where I grew up in Clearfield County PA, 'air raid sirens' are still used to call firefighters to the station.
When I was working in southern Indiana and northern Texas, they where used as tornado warnings.
 
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When I was in college, there was one of those across the street from my dorm. I could actually sleep through it when it went off.
 
KitsuneFox said:
Where I grew up in Clearfield County PA, 'air raid sirens' are still used to call firefighters to the station.
When I was working in southern Indiana and northern Texas, they where used as tornado warnings.
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Were there any 2T22's or 3t22's there? I love the ominous sound these sirens make. It is a siren that speaks for itself. When it goes off, it literally screams "get the hell out of here now!"
 
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Into the 1960's sirens went off at sunset in some places to remind certain people that "your kind ain't welcome on our side of the tracks (or river) after sundown." :(
 
dogboy said:
When I was in college, there was one of those across the street from my dorm. I could actually sleep through it when it went off.
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That big behemoth didn't wake you at all? Good grief! It could wake the dead and you slept through it! Well, there's no doubt you could sleep through a freakin' tornado, LOL.
 
What I think is neat about the 2T22 is the fact that behind the high pitch duel tones, you hear a lower and somewhat quieter lower pitch set of tones that harmonize with the high pitch ones. This, according to a podcast I have been following on Spotify, is due to the fact that the siren's rotor system is composed of long veins and short ones in ratios on each rotor - the 10-horn side and the 12-horn side. These veins give the siren its raspy sound.
According to the Wiki page, "2T22 and 3T22," it is stated that the rotors themselves are 14 inches in diameter. Together with the large central motor, the two stators that housed the rotors, combined with the twenty-two horns and the pole mount bracket, a fully assembled 2T22 and 3T22 each weighs close to 700 pounds. Now that is a beast of a siren!
 
BabyBoy2023 said:
That big behemoth didn't wake you at all? Good grief! It could wake the dead and you slept through it! Well, there's no doubt you could sleep through a freakin' tornado, LOL.
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Haha...yeah, everyone said I could sleep through W. W. III
 
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dogboy said:
Haha...yeah, everyone said I could sleep through W. W. III
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Same as with my mom. The house could have been falling down and she would be lying on the sofa, snoring away, LOL.
 
KitsuneFox said:
Where I grew up in Clearfield County PA, 'air raid sirens' are still used to call firefighters to the station.
When I was working in southern Indiana and northern Texas, they where used as tornado warnings.
Click to expand...
I grew up and responded to many alarms before moving away. 💜💜
 
BabyBoy2023 said:
Were there any 2T22's or 3t22's there? I love the ominous sound these sirens make. It is a siren that speaks for itself. When it goes off, it literally screams "get the hell out of here now!"
Click to expand...
One of the local 'fire whistles' where I grew up, beside the Fourth Ward fire station ... [ GM Link ]
.
Fourth Ward Firehouse.JPG
 
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In the Uk we still used the WW2 air raid sirens for nuclear attack warning and other things ,
In 2010 I was in a town called Bracknell delivering to Curry’s (home appliance ,shop ) @10 am a one of these went off ! I asked the goods in guy what’s it for and he said “they test it every Monday at 10 am as it’s the warning siren if there’s an escape from Broadmoor psychiatric Hospital prison where they keep the likes of Peter sutcliffe etc “
Then years later and now I work with a guy who was born just up the road from there and was told if the siren went off HEAD STRIGHT HOME AS FAST AS POSSIBLE !
 
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NappiedTruckDriver said:
In the Uk we still used the WW2 air raid sirens for nuclear attack warning and other things ,
In 2010 I was in a town called Bracknell delivering to Curry’s (home appliance ,shop ) @10 am a one of these went off ! I asked the goods in guy what’s it for and he said “they test it every Monday at 10 am as it’s the warning siren if there’s an escape from Broadmoor psychiatric Hospital prison where they keep the likes of Peter sutcliffe etc “
Then years later and now I work with a guy who was born just up the road from there and was told if the siren went off HEAD STRIGHT HOME AS FAST AS POSSIBLE !
Click to expand...
Not to vchange the subject, but who is Peter sutcliffe?
 
The 2T22 used to scare me as a kid, but I favor it now. Though the sound is ominous, I love it. Like I said in an interview with the man who makes the mini-scale 2T22's for siren enthusiasts, "If there ever was a siren that truly said, "get the hell out of dodge," it would be the 2T22."
 
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