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. 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 Equinox sirens were ordered and installed in 2010 around the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Another system was installed at another FENOC plant, Perry, beginning in 2012. While these are considered to be the first installation of Equinoxes, one was installed in New Carlisle, a village in Clark County, Ohio, in 2010, so it is possible that municipalities were able to order the Equinox on request as well.
