Motorola sirens
| Motorola Sirens | |
| |
| Company | Motorola, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Produced | 1974?-1980? |
| Type | Directional Electronic |
| Wattage | 600-2400 W |
The Motorola sirens are basic directional electronic speaker array sirens that were produced by Motorola, Inc. (now Motorola Solutions) in the mid 1970's to sometime around or during 1980[1]. They were Motorola's first (and only) outdoor warning siren created for the outdoor warning siren market and were one of the first ever attempt at voice broadcast and battery backup. They were known for generally being unreliable (in the case of Hereford, TX's sirens) and were discontinued very early onto their production.
Note: "Motorola sirens" is a conjectural name given to the siren, as only the manufacturer is known and the actual model name is currently unknown.
History
Motorola sirens are extremely basic electronic sirens, consisting of what seem to be Motorola TDN6252 speakers, powered by 300 W high power speaker drivers on a small circular mount (although at least one supposed unit in Waka, TX lacks a mount of any kind and is instead comprised of 2 speakers attached to the sides of a building). The sirens were available to purchase with either 2, 4, and 8 speakers. The sirens used an early analog controller based off of Motorola's early vehicular siren controls, complete with battery backup capabilities, and voice functionality, making these one of the earliest known sirens to boast these features. It predates other early electronic sirens such as the Whelen WS-1000 by a few years.
Most, if not all existing Motorola siren units unfortunately do not have their original controllers due to their reliability issues, although it is hard to identify which units retain them as there are no references as to what the original controller enclosures would look like.[1] The only known city known to have had a system of Motorola sirens was Hereford, TX, which after the tremendous underperformance of Motorola's sirens, sued the company. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Hereford was paid an undisclosed amount of money which they used to purchase ACA Cyclones and Federal Signal SD-10s.[1] After the sirens were removed, they were sent to several smaller towns around the Hereford area, where they remain today. After this happened, Motorola presumably decided to cease manufacturing the sirens.
Motorola sirens, while a revolutionary concept for their time, were executed poorly and did not sell very well, with the sirens being rather faulty and quiet. Motorola sirens appear to have been only sold in Texas and Oklahoma, and it's unlikely they made it far outside of these states. Very few are known to exist today, and none are known to be active.