Testing BIG BLUE! ( Video)

[Rob]

Hey! Kenny & I tested my PAN AM painted Big Blue Diaphone. This is blowing at 100 PSI! The hell with the 45 max. it means nothing! We tried this horn at 45 PSI and it stalled and sounded like a boat horn. Punched it at over 100 PSI and it got raspy! If Garden City Park can blow theirs at 100 + PSI without a regulator for 70 yrs so can I It sounds better..! By the way thats Ken blwoing it. I'm holding the camera.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRobCicero#p/a/u/1/yWwDlR2gXOg

[Jim]

I only had time to download one of the videos.
I hope Kenny didn't blwo out his ears, too.

[slant-40]

Geez! What a great sounding horn that is! And I don't want to give unsolicited advice, but Capt.Ken really should think about some earmuffs. But I guess he's used to diaphones by now. Say, where was this test done? I'd love to get Goose honked one of these days, and I'd be more than willing to bring it in for a toot.

[blastit]

I'm just too spoiled from hearing South Farmingdale's dual set up over the years. Nothing (except Northport originals) come close.

[gareee]

Too bad you never heard Port Washington's Flower Hill Hose Co's dual set-up around the 50's to the 70's. They were similar to Northport's but a wee bit lower pitched.

[Rob]

Gary, I remember PT Washingtons horns in the early 80s... I use to be able to hear them from WP... but the moral of the story is..Some Idiot maitanance alarm repair guy realized that if you lower the pressure on a diaphone it lowers the sound or if you take 2 horns and install them on a 1 inch T spit your gonna get a horn that makes a sound but not the proper sound. Since we have heard both stages...Northport is a prime probative answer as to how the non proper air pressure and air volume can really make a diaphone sound horrible. I'm running my single diaphone now at 95 PSI on about 40 feet of 1 inch pipe. No regulator... It will melt your brain and make you grind your teeth.... i'm trying to mimic Garden City Parks ST 2.... damn close........ stay tuned for footage.............

[blastit]

can't wait to see it Rob! I do have a question for you (or anyone else): Does the size of the air tank have anything to do with sound quality? example: Northport from a 500 gal to 300 gal?? also does anyone remember if South Farmingdale ran a split or two separate pipes to their dual setup?

[Rob]

The bigger the tank, the more CFM flow, the longer you can blow your horn at a consistant tone without drop-off.

Heres the best anology for a diaphone and how it's sound/tone/pitch is affected or effected..? I get those 2 confused..Anyway,. Think of a federal siren, how the rotor chops the air at the stator at a range of RPMs.... Well your siren starts off at a growl and then ramps up to a steady pitch at a peak RPM. The higher the RPM of the rotor the higher pitch and louder the siren will be.... Now a electronic motor moves the rotor in a siren... in a diaphone, it's air flow that moves the piston.. Any fluxuation in air flow, decreased-increased air pressure, a drop off in air volume of CFM..etc will all determine on how your piston will move, thus creating it's unique sound to the exact air condition being suplied at the precise moment... It's a very simple concept really.... So step one for the diaphone. You want plenty of air source for a consistant tone and to eliminate drop off notes due to decreased CFM.. 2nd, you want your pressure at the horn high enough to get that piston really moving so it can produce it's raspy note. Think of the air in a diaphone in the same way an electic motor rotates a siren rotor.... if you kill the power on a siren at peak RPM..the sound will change and get lower as the RPM's decrease... In a diaphone.. if you have any fuxuation in air flow, its going to decrease the sound output and tone of the horn.... Can everyone follow this so far? Think of a Kazoo... If you blow on it lightly, your going to get one type of sound... if you blow on it with full lung power, your gonna get a much different sound.... Diaphone. same concept... it's very sensative to air flow... Still with me?

[Rob]

Did anyone, everyone grasp the above concept? or do i have to go back to Romper room? hahahahha

[gareee]

It sounded very logical to me.

[blastit]

Thanks for the Diaphonomic's class Rob. I get it now. It's just so sad to see that so many departments either did away with them (caved into resident pressure) or screwed with them so much that their sound is not worth the effort. Oh well, welcome to the New World Order

[Jim]

I suppose my first reply was sort of negative in that I only pointed out that the vid had been posted three times, "blow" was spelled "blwo" and the cardinal rule of always wearing hearing protection was apparently violated.

I dedided that bringing up over-pressure would be a waste of time.

What I didn't do the first time became clear after I downloaded the video again and played it for some at least somewhat knowledgeable friends:
I didn't mention that that horn simply does not sound good.

In the Diaphone Website database, there are dozens of sound files. Some of these are nearly perfect examples of the Diaphone sound, some are just really good and some have shortcomings.

Sorry Rob, but in my opinion "Big Blue" in that configuration fits in near the bottom.

[Rob]

Jim your always entertaining to read on here.....

it posted 3 times because this site is so slow.. I hit submit and it just hung up... then finally it posted 3 times. And we have no way of deleting posts after the option was locked out.

ken was wearing hearing pritiction. I guess ya cant see the ear pplugs from 47 feet away.

srroy for the spelling era's ..