Equinox
| Equinox | |
[[File: | |
| Company | Federal Signal Corporation |
|---|---|
| Produced | 2010-2013 (special order), 2014-present (Under the 2001 series line) |
| Type | Electromechanical |
| Sound output | 126 |
| Succeeded by | 508 |
The Equinox is a rotating electromechanical siren produced by Federal Signal Corporation. It was initially a special order in 2010, essentially being a 2001-130 with an Eclipse-8 rotor. The intake and projector design of the 2001 proved to hamper it's full potential in testing, bottlenecking its ability to move air and sound effectively. This led to a new development to fix said issues known today as the 508, with an improved overall intake/projector design to increase efficiency. The 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 Equinox only has 8 with rather large gaps between them. In 2014, the Equinox was publicly introduced as a low tone option to the 2001 series and is still available today.
While designed initially as a prototype for the 508, these sirens were rolled out on special order to be installed at nuclear power plants that had contracts for Federal Signal sirens, as these plants wanted sirens with a lower peak pitch than a 2001-130. The first systems of Equinoxes were installed and ordered by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company in 2010 through 2013 at Perry Nuclear Generating Station in Perry, Ohio; and at Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania.
