Unitrol Sirens

Hello again. I’m posting this thread as I’m wondering about Unitrol sirens and their history.

Starting off, the Touchmaster.
If anyone noticed the Touchmaster before FS took over had a different sound to it. It had a lower pitched 80K wail and the Yelp had a “bow” sound it, the wail on sweep switches after it peaks. The newer ones don’t have these features. I also noticed some FS Touchmasters still kept these features. Does anyone know when FS phased out the old DN tones from their Touchmaster?
Did any major departments use Touchmaster in bulk?

Alright into the 2nd Unitrol. The 80K
I currently own two 80K amplifiers. One FS and the other Unitrol. I noticed they sound different pitch wise. What was the reason for this change? Also I noticed on a video of the San Francisco Police Department responding, that one of the 80Ks had a fast Yelp compared to the other 80Ks I heard. If possible, can you change the Yelp of the 80K to sound faster?
Third question for this siren. The controllers. Which departments use the 480K, 280K, or FP-183k more often? Also what does the “LV” stand for on the 183k? I noticed on the manual on the 80K the 183k has “off” “man” and “auto” whilst on the LV is has “wail” “yelp” and “Hilo”. Was this specifically changed for departments?

Alright, last siren. The Omega.
When I saw LAPD responding with it, I noticed they used the priority tone. Did they intentionally set it up like that or was it just the officer making his own modifications?
As you also may know, the Omega has a sweep mode which sounds like an electronic game. Has anyone heard an actual police car use this feature? Also does the FS and DN Omegas have any differences like the other 2 Unitrols?

I apologize if I wrote too much as these questions have been bugging me. I also apologize for the repetitive use of some words. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions and reading through this post.
 
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zakovermyer

Member
Jan 29, 2013
25
Illinois
Hello again. I’m posting this thread as I’m wondering about Unitrol sirens and their history.

Starting off, the Touchmaster.
If anyone noticed the Touchmaster before FS took over had a different sound to it. It had a lower pitched 80K wail and the Yelp had a “bow” sound it, the wail on sweep switches after it peaks. The newer ones don’t have these features. I also noticed some FS Touchmasters still kept these features. Does anyone know when FS phased out the old DN tones from their Touchmaster?
Did any major departments use Touchmaster in bulk?

Alright into the 2nd Unitrol. The 80K
I currently own two 80K amplifiers. One FS and the other Unitrol. I noticed they sound different pitch wise. What was the reason for this change? Also I noticed on a video of the San Francisco Police Department responding, that one of the 80Ks had a fast Yelp compared to the other 80Ks I heard. If possible, can you change the Yelp of the 80K to sound faster?
Third question for this siren. The controllers. Which departments use the 480K, 280K, or FP-183k more often? Also what does the “LV” stand for on the 183k? I noticed on the manual on the 80K the 183k has “off” “man” and “auto” whilst on the LV is has “wail” “yelp” and “Hilo”. Was this specifically changed for departments?

Alright, last siren. The Omega.
When I saw LAPD responding with it, I noticed they used the priority tone. Did they intentionally set it up like that or was it just the officer making his own modifications?
As you also may know, the Omega has a sweep mode which sounds like an electronic game. Has anyone heard an actual police car use this feature? Also does the FS and DN Omegas have any differences like the other 2 Unitrols?

I apologize if I wrote too much as these questions have been bugging me. I also apologize for the repetitive use of some words. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions and reading through this post.

The Omega 90 has the sweep feature, yes. By making some changes to the dip switches on the back you can add and delete any of the tones from the sweep. We currently have an Engine, Brush Truck (dual tone model), and F-150 with that siren on it. I got into the F-150 and removed the two "Slot Machine" tones and horn from the sweep and it sounds much better with just Wail, Yelp, Ultra Hi-Lo, and Hetro. The unitrol install guide can be found here: https://www.fedsig.com/resource-document/file/8143

Sorry I can't be more help with the 80K or Touchmaster. Our old rescue truck had an 80K but that was retired and went to another rural Alaska fire department shortly after I joined.
 

MtnMan

Member
Dec 20, 2012
1,533
Eastern PA
Also what does the “LV” stand for on the 183k? I noticed on the manual on the 80K the 183k has “off” “man” and “auto” whilst on the LV is has “wail” “yelp” and “Hilo”. Was this specifically changed for departments?
I believe that’s the Las Vegas Metro PD version.
 

Black Hoe

Member
May 21, 2010
427
Long Island, NY
Regarding the Touchmaster sirens except for the Delta models, the pitch and rise and fall rate of the wail changed around the year 2000. The yelp pitch and rate did not change.

Regarding the 80K sirens, yes they can be used with any Unitrol brand controller or even an aftermarket. The 80K is very flexible. The siren pitch and rise and fall rate on the wail tone has varied over the years. I've heard really high pitched wail tones on some 80K amps and I've heard others that sound like pre 2000 Touchmasters. The yelp sound on the 80K have been very consistent sounding over the years.

Regarding the Omega 90 siren, again they can be used with any Unitrol Omega controller or an after market. The wail siren pitch and rise and fall rate has varied over the years but the yelp rate and pitch have remained consistent. Please see my siren videos.

 

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