80's LAPD siren/switchbox - Part 2 (for toon80)

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
The features on the control head are good, but I hate the siren wail tone.


The 80K wail tone is a screaming/bawling sound - a cross between a woman screaming in a horror movie and a toddler throwing a tantrum.
 

EVModules

Member
May 16, 2010
864
Deer Park, WA
Unitrol is one of the oldest sirens on the market and has the widest frequency range. It's capable of producing lower pitched tones than any other sirens without destroying itself. The low frequency pitch is important to pierce the sound-deadening designs of today's vehicles. I've seen many of these sirens get passed from build to builds many times!
 

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
EVModules said:
Unitrol is one of the oldest sirens on the market and has the widest frequency range. It's capable of producing lower pitched tones than any other sirens without destroying itself. The low frequency pitch is important to pierce the sound-deadening designs of today's vehicles. I've seen many of these sirens get passed from build to builds many times!

The 80K unit in the video is a high-pitched siren. One reason why siren manufacturers went to high-pitched wail and yelp tones was because smaller speakers had come into use in the early 1970s, and small speakers reproduce high frequency sounds better than low frequency sounds.


The only Unitrol siren I've ever heard with lower pitched tones was an old 800 in a YouTube video.
 

Black Hoe

Member
May 21, 2010
427
Long Island, NY
Hey Wailer, you are always repeating yourself on your posts. You do nothing but criticize Unitrol Sirens especially their wail tone. The truth of the matter is there are alot of members on here including myself that like the sound of Unitrol sirens. They are extremely effective at clearing traffic and intersections and are probably one of the most reliable electronic sirens manufactured today. I have been running Unitrol 80K's, Omega 90's and Touchmasters (not Deltas) for 30 years now and can speak for their reliability. I never had one burn out yet.


As for pitch sound, yes it is a matter of preference. There are some that like high pitched siren tones, there are some that like low pitched siren tones and there are those that like electro-mechanical over electronic sirens. Your extremely opinionated negative comments are nothing less than being repetitive and annoying.
 

emtanderson51

Member
Apr 9, 2011
3,795
USA Massachusetts
So what was the actual switch pak the LAPD used with the all light Aero?? I would like to get one if they're not a fortune...
 

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
Black Hoe said:
Hey Wailer, you are always repeating yourself on your posts. You do nothing but criticize Unitrol Sirens especially their wail tone. The truth of the matter is there are alot of members on here including myself that like the sound of Unitrol sirens. They are extremely effective at clearing traffic and intersections and are probably one of the most reliable electronic sirens manufactured today. I have been running Unitrol 80K's, Omega 90's and Touchmasters (not Deltas) for 30 years now and can speak for their reliability. I never had one burn out yet.

I don't hate all Unitrol sirens. The old 800 series and the Omega sound okay to my ears.

Black Hoe said:
Your extremely opinionated negative comments are nothing less than being repetitive and annoying.

This is a forum. Forums are for expressing opinions, aren't they?
 

EVModules

Member
May 16, 2010
864
Deer Park, WA
toon80,


The 480K is part of a family of controllers that hooks up with the 80K amplifier either by a remote cable or bolted together in one unit (requires an extended chassis that houses both the controller and the amplifier).


The beauty of the 80K is the flexibility. You can control the siren with your own switches, just one or a combination of several.
 

toon80

Member
May 24, 2010
2,487
Laval, Canada
EVModules said:
toon80,

The 480K is part of a family of controllers that hooks up with the 80K amplifier either by a remote cable or bolted together in one unit (requires an extended chassis that houses both the controller and the amplifier).


The beauty of the 80K is the flexibility. You can control the siren with your own switches, just one or a combination of several.

OK, so an external amplifier is rqeuired to operate the siren, but not for the lights, right?


Thanks for the infos, EVModules
 

EVModules

Member
May 16, 2010
864
Deer Park, WA
Correct, an external amp is required for the siren tones. The 480K can handle its share of lighting very well. It was designed for high-current loads with relative ease, no relays!
 

SoloRTP

Member
May 22, 2011
144
NV, USA
EVModules said:
toon80,

The 480K is part of a family of controllers that hooks up with the 80K amplifier.

Actually, the 480K is a full-function control head, which will hook up to any of the 80-series amplifiers. The primary difference between the 80K and the older 80H was the addition of electronic air horn to the K models. Some 80H amps were field-modified to provide air horn, once techs had a chance to compare the H and K schematics. H and K amps and heads are interchangeable, though of course the H control head doesn't have an air horn switch.
 

SoloRTP

Member
May 22, 2011
144
NV, USA
toon80 said:
OK, so an external amplifier is rqeuired to operate the siren, but not for the lights, right?

PROBABLY.


The reason that I say that is because one configuration option for the Unitrol Series 80 was to mount both the control head and the amplifier together. If what you have is about one foot long, and you can see two separate units when you look underneath, you have the one-piece system.


Otherwise, your 480 is just a switchbox with connectors for microphone and possibly a 12VDC jack on the front. For switching, you don't need the amplifier.


DO NOT CONNECT A MICROPHONE TO THE 1/4" JACK ON THE FRONT OF ANY UNITROL CONTROL HEAD unless it is marked "MIC" !!! If you have a 1/8" jack, that is to allow an auxiliary input, such as a tape recorder to give repetitive messages over the PA.


Most 480 control heads also have the auxiliary rocker switch unit, which you see in the LAPD video.


One nice thing about the 480 is that all of your power, lights and audio connections are made at the control head. The amp control, power and audio all go over the cable.
 

EVModules

Member
May 16, 2010
864
Deer Park, WA
SoloRTP,


Don't forget the original, simply called the 80 before the 80H. There's also two variants of the 80K, the later units had park kill circuitry installed.


Also, the aux switchpack makes it the 480. The 280 is without the aux switches on top and controls only lights thru the slide switch and siren with the 80 (and 80H & 80K).
 

toon80

Member
May 24, 2010
2,487
Laval, Canada
Thanks for the infos, everyone :)


I have received mine, which IS a combo of controller and amplifier.


On the front, I see the 1/4 jack input with "power" written. Right under, the white "P.A" push button.


What does the POWER input jack does?


There are many connectors under the brainbox. I'll take pictures and ask more knowledge from you guys pretty soon. ;)
 

EVModules

Member
May 16, 2010
864
Deer Park, WA
The power jack were likely for the hand held spot lights used by LAPD or throw lights on the dash but they've wired their spots elsewhere since the plug got in the way of the controls. They didn't use vehicle mounted spot lights then.


Under the 280 (lower half), there would be various different audio adapter plates for different radio systems. It's common to see inputs for radio speaker and radio microphone. The P.A. button works in conjunction with the audio adapter. When connected properly to a radio, the radio microphone would serve as a PA, eliminating the need for a dedicated PA mic. The PA button would light-up, indicating to the operator that the PA function is enabled.
 

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