Location: Village of Bismarck Maintenance Garage
System: Vermilion County
Testing schedule: First Tuesdays at 10 AM
Testing time: 10:00:11 AM (on time)
Cycle when tested: 3 minute alert
Cameras used: Sony CyberShot DSC-HX400V (tight shot & audio), Canon PowerShot SX540HS (wide shot)
Recording distance from siren: 120 feet
Loudness: Extraordinarily loud - 117.5 dBA, 124.4 dBC
Temperature: 31°F
Other enthusiasts present: Connor (‪@Thunderbolt1000Tfan‬ )
Other notes: So, I didn't have to work on the first Tuesday of January, so we decided to make the drive all the way to Illinois to check out this 1003 in Bismarck since word on the street is that it's insanely loud. It is incredibly loud for sure and it does make my top 10 loudest Thunderbolts, however, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting it to be more uncomfortable to my ears than it actually was. Nevertheless, it was still really cool hearing the sound echoing off of the brick building next to it, and I could feel the sound pressure a pretty good bit, especially during the wind-down. There are some subtle pitch fluctuations in a few rotation spots from the collector rings being a little dirty, but that's a pretty minor thing, as this 'bolt still sounds pretty healthy besides that. My decibel meter read 106.7 dBA from the echo off of the brick building where I had my cameras set up, and topped at 117.5 from standing between the post office and the J&N Enterprise building. After this Thunderbolt winds down, you can hear a Whelen Vortex from either Danville or Rossville and a T-128 from Rossville sounding in fast wail and then winding down. After this, we went to Sheldon's Fedelcode 5 for a noon blast. Enjoy!
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