Location: Henrietta Township Fire Department
System: Jackson County
Test time: 1st Saturday of the month at noon
Enthusiasts present: Tommy (@buckeyenotifications), Alex (@SteelCitySirensandTrains), Rylan (@WolverineStateSirens), Joseph (@VintageCollections), Connor W. (@Blixt1000), Nolan (@southeastmichiganeas5820), Caden (@cadenwilliamwilliams8827)
After Haskins, we went up to Michigan to check out this meme of a Thunderbeam in Pleasant Lake, and ended up meeting with several other enthusiasts there. This one has had a messed up reflector disc since at least 2020, but in March of 2022, it decided to pull a Spartanburg and it started spinning much faster than normal. This is most likely due to the gearbox running low on oil and starting to seize, which causes the disc to spin with the chopper. It took a moment to get going this time around, but it did eventually manage to get up to about 30 RPM. This is also a single phase unit, and it doesn't sound the healthiest, as it's a bit lower pitched than normal and it has some minor pitch fluctuations. Despite that, it was damn loud (128.9 dBC from underneath), and there actually was a noticeable difference in volume between when the reflector was facing away versus facing towards us. Of course, it isn't as drastic as on something like a Thunderbolt or 2001, but I'd say it's at least a solid 6 dB of difference, if not more. Anyway, this was an awesome test, and it was pretty fun to see a Thunderbeam spin this fast in person, even though it's not as fast as the one in Spartanburg. Enjoy!
Tight shot: Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
Wide shot: Sony HDR-PJ710
Audio: Zoom H1n
25 фев 2024
