Whelen WPS-2905, Voice, Full Whoop, Alert & Fast Wail: Bloomington, IN (IU Siren Test, HD)

Copyright 2017, Brandon Mendel (Please use with permission).
Originally Recorded 8/5/2016

So last summer, catching any siren in Bloomington, IN, has presented itself a bit of a challenge. Last June's test was a failure. I was going for a 2001-SRN, but the siren failed completely. Not to mention none of the background sirens did fast wail (the whole reason why I came). Although it was nice hearing the ambience of 2001s and Whelens, the wind nearly destroyed the recording. Then last July, I decided to come to this exact siren. Obviously IU's campus isn't too crazy over the summer. Siren went off ten minutes early just as I finished inputting the frequency onto my scanner; was really pissed off. But I forgive them now as this time it did 'whoop' for an entire cycle. Usually it's a short alert blast, followed by a fast wail cycle, then off. Sometimes there's a post-test announcement. Tests are sometimes as short as 30 seconds. This is probably a good reason why you should go to previous locations every now and then...you never know what may happen.

Monroe County has (what others may call) a "boring" system of 2001s and Whelens, but in reality it's quite interesting in regards to how different the tests can be. IU and Monroe County maintain different systems. Monroe County owns all the 2001s, and a finback Vortex. IU owns six voice-capable Whelens, giving the campus well saturated coverage.

The test was a success, but I did find one issue. A lot of IU's 280Xs have been programmed to run a full cycle of five minutes, borrowing from Monroe EMA's procedure. The 2905 here, which was added later, only runs the default of three minutes. There might be another newer siren with this issue as well.

Parts of Interest
0:06 - PA Activation
0:29 - 'Whoop' Activation
3:34 - Siren reaches full cycle, shuts down (ambience heard)
4:15 - 'Alert' Activation
4:41 - 'Fast Wail/Attack" Activation
5:08 - Post test announcement (prerecorded)

Enjoy, and as always comment, like, and subscribe for more. Thanks!

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