Here's a really cool low mounted Vortex located pretty much on the U of M east bank campus in Minneapolis, MN. This replaced a 4/5 Thunderbolt (yes, at one time, there really was an East Bank Thunderbolt...) that was located in the same spot, just mounted a bit higher on it's pipe. I'd been eyeing this one for a while as a possible recording subject, and since I couldn't decide what to record I just went with this.
During the "fake attack" signal, it experienced some kind of glitch on the wind down during the second cycle. Not sure what caused that, but the way these do attack is they actually don't have their own timer, rather activation and cancellation signals are repeatedly sent out. The reason for this is that, when these were installed, the city wanted them to match nearby mechanical sirens as Whelen's wail signal doesn't really sound much like true attack. My best guess is that the controller somehow got "confused" during the attack cycle, but if anyone knows what actually happened please let me know.
The U of M has a campus wide system of Federal Signal DSAs mounted on their buildings. On the first Wednesday after the Hennepin County sirens are activated, they do a Westminster chime followed by a voice message, which is heard at the end. If you listen carefully at certain parts, you can also hear the West Bank Thunderbolt.
Also, I apologize about the crappy audio, I'm still trying to get my new audio recorder properly configured.
0:10 Alert
2:10 Attack
2:32 ???
3:55 DSA Westminster Chime + Voice
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Recorded 12/7/2022
Other info:
Siren model: Whelen Engineering Company Vortex R4
Location: Minneapolis Fire Station #19, SE Oak St, Minneapolis, MN
Temperature: 17°F
Time: ~1:00 PM CDT
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© Sam R. 2022
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