When I first went on the job in 1972, we had B&M Super Chiefs on our roofs and some of the cars had Federal C series sirens with the V shaped grill. Being this was in the LA CO. area, I believe they worked best in clearing intersections when you peaked them out a few hundred feet away from the intersection. When they started installing the Federal Director and Interceptor sirens with a single speaker built in under the four bulb beacon, what a noticeable difference. The chief almost got hid broadside and after that, all electro-mechanical sirens went back on the cars but were placed behind the grill or behind the radiator... Even there, they still out performed the early electronics... I think they still do with the modern electronics. The electronics stayed also because our red beacons had the siren speaker built in and the chief saw no justification in buying CA twinsonics when we more than met the Title 13 Code for California with one red spotlight.. Just this old timer's opinion.
Because around when these were made, the Cold War was happening and the US government issued a law saying Civil Defense sirens needed to be distinguishable from vehicle sirens by being dual tone, and vehicle sirens being single tone
We had an old early 60's Seagraves with the dual tone mounted on the nose, with the blinking light. Wind up the dual tone, you didn't need air horns to move traffic. Definitely the best sounding siren.
Rich Rabatin In our town, we had a 1967 American LaFrance 800 Series pumper that had one of these mounted up front, in the nose, but it had a slow up-down white light. Kinda like a Mars light. The rig went out of service in the mid-eighties and was bought by the firefighters' union there as a parade truck. The siren was rarely used , though, because they had mounted dual electronic sirens. Now I understand why it never sported airhorns.
@tornspeedo As to your question, here is a theory. I remember the 77-L and 77-GB sirens being prevalent in the late 1950's. Then, the "Class-Q" was introduced around 1960. It was much louder and put out more sound up and down side streets. The "Q", together with the electronic (yelping) sirens that came out in the early 1960's, seemed to dominate the fire service and the double tones fell out of use. I agree with you! I loved the sound of the double tones. They were awesome!
Nice good rolling old siren. Seeing the steady burning red light reminds me of the police cars we had when I was a kid. They had WL siren with steady-burn reds fender mounted.
I have one that I clamp to a stool in the driveway every New Year and give it one very long roll. Neighbors' kids squeal with delight. Neighbors hold ears.
Hello. Hopefully you can help me. I have the same siren. It was installed in a ambulance I purchased. The light works. But the siren just clicks. Not action. Any recommendations?
Because it doesn't have a frickn flasher! bahahaha Traditionally they didn't flash. Flashers came about in the late 60s as traffic got heavier. Still in some places, emergency vehicle lights didn't flash until the late 70s. In Calif, you still see they have non-flashing lights built into their lightbars.
