Air Vent Art?

Peter: 11th Sep 2006 - 16:53 GMT

thats cool! i imagine it making a really loud horn/honking sound, like a big metal goose. heh.

been: 17th Feb 2007 - 08:52 GMT

Looks like part of the old air raid siren system.

I remember in the 70's these things would occasionally trigger and sound
off just like in the movies, sometimes for hours.

Into the 80's they would test them each year by running them (individually) until the point where they just start to rumble and then start to wail, and then shut them off. About ten seconds up and around five seconds down. Not nearly as loud as the full wail but even eerier. Don't see many of them around rooftops anymore, and haven't herd the testing for at least fifteen years, so the system appears to be defunct with the end of the Cold War.

Was part of that whole "This is a test -- of the Emergency Broadcasting System. If this were an actual emergency ..." thing that would break into scheduled programming on TV networks.

I remember discussion about having to replace the ageing system but then suddenly the Iron Curtain fell, the Cold War ended and the discussion was moot. Strange memories.