ACA Hurricane
The ACA Hurricane was an electro-mechanical and rotating-directional, 130dB civilian defense siren, created and produced by Alerting Communicators of America. ACA began manufacturing the Hurricane 130 in 1967, and ceased production in 1981. The Hurricane 130 is very similar to the Federal Signal Thunderbolt series and was also meant to compete with the Federal Signal Thunderbolt.
History
The ACA Hurricane 130 was designed by James E. Biersach of Alerting Communicators of America and presented at a Civil Defense convention in November, 1967. They introduced other sirens, however, this utilized new fiber casting techniques, never before used by any other company. It was available in 8/10, 10/12, 8/12 port, or single tone 8, 10, or 12 port configurations, but only 8/10 models were produced. It was meant to compete with Federal Signal's Thunderbolt siren series at the time. The Hurricane started off with a square horn (very similar to the Federal Signal Thunderbolt), but ended with two throats where the horn attaches to the chopper enclosure. Additionally, the Hurricane siren was a supercharged mechanical siren, utilizing a blower and high output chopper similar to the Federal Signal Thunderbolt. These were produced until 1973 when a larger, rounded horn was made that was a true exponential horn. The siren was popular with towns looking for a high output 130dB siren.
Later on, ACA opted to change the design of the Hurricane to make it stand out from the Thunderbolt siren, and to avoid potential lawsuits over the two similar designs. Aside from that, they decided to correct some design flaws that were discovered in the original model. These changes to the design include: a pole mounted vertical blower, controller removed from blower assembly and housed in its own cabinet, and most notably, the horn changed from rectangular to round. This model was dubbed the "Hurricane 130 MKII" by the company. It also utilizes a 30 horsepower blower motor, as opposed to Federal Signal Thunderbolt's 7.5 horsepower blower motor. The company continued production until 1980, when it was replaced with the Penetrator P-50, a 50 horsepower dual-tone 135 dB siren. All Hurricane 130's are very rare, as most of them have been replaced by newer sirens.
Technical information
| Year | Type | Horn Shape | Rotor/Stator Ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Hurricane 130 | Square | 10/12 | Cylinder-shaped rotator assembly, with small collector rings. |
| 1970s | Hurricane 130 | Square | 10/12, 8/10, 8/12, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12 | Larger stationary rotator box, with larger collector rings for better performance. |
| 1973 | Hurricane MKII-130 | Round | 8/10 | This type featured a larger non-stationary rotator box and used a 30 HP compressor, as opposed to an earlier 25 HP compressor. |
| Mid-1970s | Hurricane MKII-130 | Round | 8/10 | Used modified rotator box to allow for easy maintenance. This is the most commonly seen Hurricane of all types. |
| Unknown | Tri-Signal Hurricane 130 (MKII-130) | Round (unconfirmed) | Unknown (Most likely 8/10) | There isn't much evidence that this model exists. However, it utilized solenoids that gave it the third "High-Low" tone. |
Cities that had/use the Hurricane 130 Model
| Cities Using Or That Have Used The ACA Hurricane | Number of Sirens, Operation Status | Model |
|---|---|---|
| Addyston, OH | 1, removed which was roof-mounted. It is currently owned by Clayton Werden Electric Co. | MKII-130 |
| Baxter, MN | 1 (exact number unknown), removed. One unit suffered from a mechanical failure which was replaced in 2007 with a Federal Signal 2001-130 siren. | 130 |
| Benton Harbor, MI | About 10 were removed and replaced With Whelen Engineering WPS electronic omnidirectional sirens in 1996. (Cook Nuclear Power Plant) | MKII-130 |
| Centralia, IL | 2, 1 removed which was installed on a multi-level parking garage type building which was demolished, other one was removed from its place in 2010 which is now in private possession. | 130 |
| Crystal River, FL | Approximately 10, removed (Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant system). All replaced Hurricane units were replaced with Whelen Engineering sirens. | MKII-130 |
| Darien, IL | 3, 1 has recently been removed and replaced by an American Signal Corporation / Fulton Technologies T-128. One was removed in 2010 for private possession, located in 1934 Manning Rd., and was replaced by a Federal Signal 2001-130 which has been also replaced recently with a T-128. Location of the third unit is yet to be confirmed which was said to be replaced with a Federal Signal 2001-SRNB. | MKII-130 |
| DeKalb, IL | 3, removed. One unit was a 1968 version of the Hurricane which featured a smaller cylinder-shaped rotator assembly, replaced by Federal Signal 2001 series electro-mechanical sirens in 1989 due to partial system failure during a tornado warning. | 130 |
| Elk Grove Village, IL | 4, removed. One was replaced with an ACA Penetrator P-50. [1] | 130 |
| Garland, TX | 4, removed. 2 were sold in an auction in 2004, replaced with Acoustic Technologies Incorporated (ATI) omni-directional sirens then were replaced later with sirens manufactured by Whelen Engineering Company. | MKII-130 |
| Greendale, WI | 1, removed. Replaced with an American Signal Corporation (ASC) Tempest T-128. | MKII-130 |
| Glendale, WI | 1, removed. | MKII-130 |
| Greenville, TX | 2 inactive units. 1 is out of service as the switch is set to the (OFF) position. The Hurricane located at 5401 I-30 Frontage Rd. has a detached blower pipe, while the power switch remains in the (ON) position with no evidence of cut wires.
|
MKII-130 |
| Kewaunee, WI | At least 4 were removed and replaced later on. (Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant) | MKII-130 |
| La Crescent, MN | 3, removed. The Hurricane MKII-130 unit located in Veteran's Park was replaced by a Sentry 10V electro-mechanical and omnidirectional siren, while the Hurricane MKII-130 unit located in Ice Arena was replaced by a Federal Signal 2001-130. The third unit which was located in Kistler Park did not have any type of siren replacement. Before its replacement, the last active two (2) Hurricane MKII-130 units in La Crescent, have no functional rotating mechanism and one of which does not have any functional blower which resulted in a weaker coverage. | MKII-130 |
| Milwaukee, WI | 2 (exact number of units unknown), the unit located in Milwaukee Fire Station 39 (8025 W Bradley Rd) is confirmed functional with no sources of replacement.[2] It will only be removed if it ceases operation. The other one is stored at the American Signal Corporation (ASC) Headquarters. All square-horn Hurricane 130's were manufactured here, according to other siren enthusiasts that more Hurricane units were installed in the city one time. | MKII-130 |
| Minnetonka, MN | 3, removed. | 130 |
| Moore, OK | 2, All removed and replaced. | MKII-130 |
| Normal, IL | Exact number of units unknown, all removed and were replaced later on with ACA Penetrator P-15 units. | MKII-130, 130 |
| Oak Harbor, Ohio | All units were removed and replaced with Federal Signal Thunderbolt and XT22 sirens. | MKII-130 |
| Plymouth, MN | 1, this unit was placed along I-694 which was removed in 1990 and replaced by a Federal Signal 2001-DC. | 130 |
| Rolling Meadows, IL | 3, removed. One of which was rumored to have a three signal capability which was located in Former Rolling Meadows Fire Department Station 15, which was replaced by an ACA Alertronic AL-6000R in 1988. All Alertronic AL-6000R units that replaced the Hurricane 130 units have been replaced also with an American Signal T-128 AC/DC. | MKII-130, 130 |
| Spencer, IN | 2, All removed in 1993. 1 unit was bought by a private owner, the other unit was most likely scrapped. | MKII-130 |
References
- "Photo of Elk Grove Village, IL ACA Hurricane MK1 - The Siren Board". www.airraidsirens.net. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
- Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management
http://civildefensemuseum.org/sirens/hcane/station3b.jpg
http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/sirens/sirenpx4.html
http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/sirens/manuals/Hurricane_130_MK2.pdf
http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/sirens/manuals/Hurricane_130_Manual.pdf