Use of Fedreal q

[Stephen T Alcox]

Im glad to see more depts using the fed q thankgoodness. Am glad its back makes people pay more attention.Thsoe electrical ones are ok but the fedq is much betteras far as attention getting.MY 2 cents worth
Steve

[5inchLDH]

I heard that Anne Arundel County (MD) will not permit any new apparatus to have the real Q series siren; they must have an eQ2B if they wish to have that sort of siren tone. Also, Federal Signal has copyrighted the Q's siren tones.

[Stephen T Alcox]

Thats o kas long as thye have the q. either electronic or regular.
Steve

[PSUFireFighter]

The electronic doesn't work the same as the mechanical. The mechanical Q (square wave pattern) will penetrate vehicles while the electronic Q (smooth wave pattern) can actually jump over a vehicle. the mechanical Q aslo has a directed wave while the electronic Q goes out in all directions. Mechanical Q is much better.

[towaladda124]

Man I thought I was the only one who knew anything about soundwaves :) Well while we're on the topic, my dept. uses q's. What do you all think about the Great Powercall Warble?

[Stephen T Alcox]

The q is the best.I could care less about the others the only one that really wroks is the qThe rest are muffled until they get really close. Ill put it thsi was I can hear the q before the ohers. So as far as im concenred id love to see the eletrical ones eliminated.
Steve

[VFN102]

Ohhh the Powercall, my favorite electronic siren. In Virginia they seem to be regional, prevalent in Northern Va and Maryland. Some of the newer Richmond & Henrico rigs have a pushbutton type siren that mimics the Powercall, not quite as good but better than none at all.


Nothing finer than a Powercall & Federal Q2B in unison!

[PierceEngine8]

Our company placed a new Pierce Saber in service last year, and yes, it has a mechanical Q and the Powercall siren.... but don't forget the airhorns!! With all three going at once, you can definately see other vehicles on the road pay attention to you! We see a big difference with this setup compared with our older units which have electronic sirens by diffent manufacturers. Some of our neighboring stations are going to the Powercall as well.

[Odie23]

Our new engine has a powercall type (not sure if its a true powercall) and a mechanical Q on board. Parts the traffic pretty good. For attention getting though you can't beat a bell on the front of a piece of apparatus. Drivers in PG county get to hear sirens all day long and are getting pretty good as blocking them out. A few good clangs on the bell gets a "what the hell is that" response out of people blocking the intersections.


Odie

[BigBrother]

"It ain't a firetruck without a Q"

[NorthSTAR]

Odie23: Is the "powercall type" siren gray & silver in color, with 2 knobs, a red, square button and "G.E. POWER-CALL / SIREN" on the front? If so, it is original. If not, it is a reproduction (which by the way is 42 watts more powerful than the real thing)

[BigBrother]

All our rigs came equipped with Powercalls that were taken off of retired DCFD pieces. They got that long slow wail with em too.:)

[Stephen T Alcox]

The fedq should be the obnly siren those elctrics dont have the same warning capabilities.
Steve

[aor]

bog brother...


good deal those are some sweet sounding sirens isnt it! :)

[ohfrmn89]

our deputy chief is a safety equipment supplier and used to be the chief on another small primarily volunteer dept. anyway there squad used to have one of those ge powercall sirens in it that northstar mentioned along with a regular siren. i loved running both of them. it really made a difference getting peoples attention. unfortunately due to lack of space and the addition of another radio we had to remove it. our medic unit has one of the electronic powercall sirens it still works pretty good. one of our pumpers has an original qsiren on it our quint has the electronic q but to me they both seem the same. but you're right though nothing beats laying on the airhorns and the q siren both for getting peoples attention.

[ohfrmn89]

i like the "warble" sound of the power calls more than anything.

[neb]

I think there great thing to have even better to have two on each truck. just lik this tanker

[NorthSTAR]

neb: Do you have any additional info on that tanker? Federal Signal does sell a grille for their bumper mounted speakers that makes them appear to be a Q2B, but is really an 'E'Q. Still looks neat, though.

[ohfrmn89]

holy chit........2 q's.........good lord if they don't hear that ruck coming they must be deaf

[neb]

this is the site for the tanker http://www.bvfdrs.com/index.cfm?fs=news.newsView&News_ID=14

[ohfrmn89]

nice web site !!!!!!! oh by the way to correct my previous spelling error that was supposed to be TRUCK not RUCK......oooops

[1075]

If those are two Federal Q's on that tanker, the only thing they are accomplishing is twice the power draw.....and that's ALL, well you do also double the COST. Sound is not light, you don't double the decibel output by adding another siren putting out the same amount of decibels. :rolleyes:

The Federal Q is a very effective siren, but there are a lot of people who don't know how to use them. In order to maximize the effectiveness of any siren, either the operator, or the electronic program must vary it's pitch as rapidly as possible. Those who just tromp on the ole switch on the Q and don't vary the pitch of the siren are not getting the maximum effectiveness because they are creating a monotone pitch that is easly drowned out by background noise such as music on the radio, tire or engine noise, or just plain road noise. The human ear is also more sensitive to varying sound pitches. Sensitivity to different pitch varies from one individual to another.

Same goes with an electronic siren. All else being equal, a "yelp" setting on an electronic siren is the most effective setting because it rapidly changes pitch and is audible over a much larger range and by more people. The "taser" or "electroic air horn" settings are very ineffective because they are either monotone (horn) or vary pitch too rapidly (taser). These settings are more effective at helping the siren operator get their jollies than anything else.

Another point is that the more drivers hear certain audible stimuli (horns, sirens, etc.), the LESS effective they are. So those of you who crank the siren before you leave the firehouse and don't stop until after you are on the scene are actually reducing your effectiveness. Next time you go to NYC, watch what goes on. In most cases you'll see ambulance jockies making all sorts of wierd noises with their sirens. FDNY and NYPD for the most part will only use their sirens to give a "personal invatation" to move out of the way. Watch and see for yourself which method is more effective.

Probably the most important point to remember is that at almost all speeds greater than 30 MPH, ALL audible warning devices are largely ineffective. Vehicles today are PACKED with sound insulation and powerful radios which just about drown out any outside noise. A siren of any type is almost impossible to hear in a vehicle travelling greater than 40 MPH with the windows down due to wind noise.

It's easy to pick out the showboaters who don't understand the concept of audible warning devices. They are the ones makng all sorts of wierd sounds or who follow the "more is always better" approach.

[5inchLDH]

If those are two Federal Q's on that tanker, the only thing they are accomplishing is twice the power draw.....and that's ALL, well you do also double the COST. Sound is not light, you don't double the decibel output by adding another siren putting out the same amount of decibels. :rolleyes:

And how about the possibility of cancelling each other out, in terms of sound waves?

The Federal Q is a very effective siren, but there are a lot of people who don't know how to use them. In order to maximize the effectiveness of any siren, either the operator, or the electronic program must vary it's pitch as rapidly as possible. Those who just tromp on the ole switch on the Q and don't vary the pitch of the siren are not getting the maximum effectiveness because they are creating a monotone pitch that is easly drowned out by background noise such as music on the radio, tire or engine noise, or just plain road noise.

Seems to me this is one great arugement for a better (more effective, not necessarily more elaborate) lighting package, since vehicles are so well insulated from sound. Something that uses strobe, LED and halogen equally (so that each one would pick up the other's weaknesses).

Same goes with an electronic siren. All else being equal, a "yelp" setting on an electronic siren is the most effective setting because it rapidly changes pitch and is audible over a much larger range and by more people. The "taser" or "electroic air horn" settings are very ineffective because they are either monotone (horn) or vary pitch too rapidly (taser). These settings are more effective at helping the siren operator get their jollies than anything else.

So, then I guess it's safe to say that hi-lo is rather ineffective, due to it's bi-tone design (alternating between only the 2 tones)? Seems to me it might be somewhat effective in it's attention getting use ("what the hell??" kinda thing)...

Probably the most important point to remember is that at almost all speeds greater than 30 MPH, ALL audible warning devices are largely ineffective. Vehicles today are PACKED with sound insulation and powerful radios which just about drown out any outside noise. A siren of any type is almost impossible to hear in a vehicle travelling greater than 40 MPH with the windows down due to wind noise.

That's one reason I'd like to see a low wattage transmitter used to broadcast on ALL AM/FM freqs, and which can override CD/tape decks (yes, some people still have tape decks in their cars!), and play a pre-recorded message. The technology is already in use in emergency vehicles emitting radar-like waves and tripping radar detectors...let's just tweak it some!

[aardvark]

Looks like a rural tanker....the only thing that 2q's MAY accomplish on this rig will be to get the deer out of the road...maybe woodchucks too........

[BigBrother]

Those might move deer. Or, they might put the deer in one of those trances they are all too famous for. :cool:

[MVFD81]

Hey steve I was just wonderin where you learned to spell?