(10/12 Port) ACA Allertor 125 Siren SWA Activation | 1 Min. & Full Alert | Emmetsburg, IA | 3/27/24

Location: 1st & N Superior Streets
System: Palo Alto County
Test time: Iowa Statewide Tornado Drill
Enthusiasts present: Dylan (‪@xXSo1arGamingXx‬), Tommy (‪@buckeyenotifications‬), Dan (‪@Siren1000T1‬), Connor F. (‪@MidwestSirenProductions‬), Sam (‪@Snowcube‬), Mikey (‪@mnsirens‬), Dalton (‪@NoisySirens‬)
After making the trip to Iowa the day prior, we decided to carpool Dylan with us to record the 10/12 Allertor in Emmetsburg for the statewide tornado drill. It was very cold, with wind chills around 8°F at the time of the drill, but Tommy and I had been wanting to hear this siren for a long time prior to this, so we weren't gonna let the cold stop us. We ended up meeting with a lot more enthusiasts than we were originally anticipating, including Dan from Michigan, which was awesome! With so many people here, setup spots were becoming limited, and this unfortunately led to Sam's camera inadvertently being subjected to execution via truck just a mere 3 minutes before the test. If there is a lesson to be learned from this, it is: be mindful of where you set up your equipment at sirens.
Anyway, once 10 AM rolled around, tones started coming through, and this beast roared to life. However, it quickly got caught on some tree branches and had a very hard time rotating past them. On top of that, it wound down after only a minute of alert, which left us quite disappointed. Right after the drill, a police officer happened to be driving by, and Dylan decided he'd try asking if they could sound them again for 3 minutes. The officer told him that they'd see what they can do, so we decided to keep recording just in case. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, the sirens started up again and went for a proper 3 minutes! It also finally managed to get past the tree branches, although it only managed to make 2 full rotations.
Many people have previously said that this siren was extremely loud, much like the one in Cedar Falls. However, if I'm being completely honest, I didn't think this was any louder than New Hampton's 10/12 was. In fact, I actually thought New Hampton was slightly louder than this, if my memory serves me right. Not only that, but Dylan and Mikey, who previously heard this one back in 2021, both said it was significantly louder the first time they heard it. I believe this is due to debris getting into the compression chamber and restricting the air flow on this unit, and there is evidence to support this. For starters, the intake screen is missing, and with it being right next to a tree, branches can easily go into the intake and interfere with the chopper. On top of that, it is higher pitched than it used to be, and the wind-down is slower (compare to this video: • Tornado Sirens, Emmets... ). This would also explain why it makes a slight ratcheting sound on the first wind-up. In any case, it would be awesome if they trimmed the tree next to this siren back a good bit and cleared any debris out of the horn so this thing could run at its full potential again. Overall, this was quite the eventful meetup, and despite the cold and some things not going as anticipated, it was still awesome to experience this siren in person. Enjoy!
Tight shot: Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80
Wide shot: Sony HDR-PJ710
Audio: Zoom H1n