MrK's Page
Welcome to my site. Here you will find some of the projects I'm currently working on.
FEDERAL 500T AIR RAID SIREN PROJECT.
PREFACE. I DO NOT OWN THIS SIREN, I'M JUST BRINGING THE VIDEO OF IT TO YOU.
(Please right click the link below and save to your computer for best playing results. And also please check that your speakers are turned all the way up to ensure the closest reproduction of the sirens audio ;^) Please don't, it's REALLY LOUD!
Sorry about the large size, good video takes a lot of bandwidth. I hope you have a cable modem or DSL to download this video. I plan to have a few smaller files a bit later. 28.8K dial-up may take about 90 minutes to download. A 2.5Mb/sec (312KB/sec) download will take about 60 seconds. Your actual mileage and speeds may vary.
A few facts... The siren was rescued from a surplus equipment site. Weighs in at about 650lbs, has a 10HP 3 phase motor and rotates at nearly 3600RPM.
The siren was connected to an air conditioning electricial disconnect, thru a phase converter and then thru its original control box. At startup, the 500T and the phase converter draws 125Amps at 240 VAC. That was enough to dim the lights in the house and outside lighting (watch closely durring startup). Even the main service disconnect at the meter buzzes just when the phase converter is started!
The first part of the video is at the "location" where is was first fired up. Here we had access to the correct current requirements. 3 phase 240, and all the juice in the city. The siren takes just about 5 seconds from stop to full run. Next, a "few" miles away, is where the siren was located for the new years festivities. After a brief tour of the site, we test the beast in the afternoon of December 30th to verify that the celebration would go off without a hitch.
After the testing, the next night was time for action! Having everything started up and ready to go, 2 atomic clocks and WWV on the radio, we knew when to wake the valley up and ring in the new year!!
To get to the page of the sirens owner and one of the "Troublemakers", click Here !
I would also like to make reference to a fantastic site. Air Raid Sirens.com A fantastic site that got "The 3 Troublemakers" interested and motivated to go all out and have a bit of fun on new years!
2007-04-02 TGV POS 4402 Wheel on Rail World Speed Record
Cool Quotes......
"What we have to do for high speed bandwidth is sometimes outside the realm of efficiency or morality."
All of the above is ©1998-2011, Me, Kevin C. Novak - So There!
Other cool quotes that are not mine.....
"When you've done things right, people wont be sure you've done anything at all"
Futurama - "Godfellas"