Equinox
| Equinox | |
 | |
| Company | Federal Signal Corporation |
|---|---|
| Produced | 2010-2013 (Special Order), 2014-Present (Official Release) |
| Type | Electromechanical |
| Sound output | 125 dBc at 100 feet |
| Frequency | 500 Hz |
| Horsepower | 6.5 |
| Succeeded by | 508 |
The 2001-Equinox is a rotating electromechanical siren produced by Federal Signal Corporation under the 2001 series line. It shares many characteristics of its design with the 2001-130, essentially being a 2001-130 with an Eclipse-8 rotor and 8-port stator. The intake and projector design of the 2001 proved to hamper its full potential in testing, bottlenecking its ability to move air and sound effectively. This led to the development of a new siren, the 508, which has an improved overall intake/projector design to increase efficiency. The 2001-Equinox can be difficult to visibly differentiate from the 2001-130 as they look nearly identical, besides the "EQUINOX" sticker replacing "2001-130" on the rotator box. However, if you look closely, the stators are noticeably different on the 2 models. The 2001-130 has 12 individual projectors on the stator with narrow gaps between them, where the 2001-Equinox only has 8 with rather large gaps between them. In 2014, the 2001-Equinox was publicly introduced as a low tone option to the 2001 series and is still available today. Despite this, only around 200 units have been produced as of 2021.
Initially, these sirens were rolled out on special order to the nuclear power plant market that had wanted sirens with a lower peak pitch than a 2001-130 that would in theory be more powerful and have a longer range due to the lower frequency. The first system of 2001-Equinox sirens were installed in 2010 around the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, a nuclear plant operated at the time by FirstEnergy Nuclear. The next system was installed at another FENOC plant, Perry, beginning in 2012. While these are considered to be the first installation of 2001-Equinoxes, one was installed in New Carlisle, Ohio in 2010, so it is possible that municipalities were able to order the 2001-Equinox on special request as well during this period. In 2021, Lansing, Michigan, received a number of 2001-Equinoxes to replace their aging system; the largest system of 2001-Equinoxes to be installed since the nuclear plant installations.
The 2001-Equinox is currently sold as a low tone version for the 2001-130.
