These old electro-mechanical sirens bring back some old memories. I worked on the ambulance in Los Angeles in the 1970s when the B&M and Federal C5 & 66 were popular and the Federal Director and Interceptor were coming in and taking their places. My opinion was, and still is, the B&M and Federal electro-mechanical sirens were more effective in LA traffic. For a number of years, our ambulances had both installed. I used the electronic in conjunction with the B&M and used the YELP mostly.
This was probably the best siren for ambulance use. Had enough volume to move traffic, but did not have an irritating tone to bother the occupants. This was the biggest siren Federal made before coming out with the Q.
I totally agree. I have an old Federal model 28 thats puts a Unitrol Touchmaster to shame. Sure wish Federal would come back with the behind the grill mechanical sirens. Much better then a electronic one any day....
This was the largest siren Federal made before coming out with the Q. Very popular for ambulance use, it did not have an irritating tone, easier on crew and patient.
For some reason they mainly used the 2 federal signal twinsonics and the animal caller for the speaker input. I wish they used the siren more often in films, even better, run the model 19 light!
@Henry455 I am a huge Q fan, however the newer ones sound higher pitched, coast down too fast, and don't have the "growl" of older ones. To my ears, the C5 sounds more like what a Q "should" sound like at its best. I can't find any information online about these sirens though, just some excellent youtube videos like yours. I wish someone would write a book or at least devote a webpage to the evolution of electro-mechanical sirens!
The siren you hear in the movie was dubbed in over this one. Not sure why they did that, but in the behind the scenes featurette on the dvd there is a deleted scene where you can hear the real Ecto-1 siren before it was dubbed in for the movie.
The Ferndale Volunteer Fire Company, where I live near in Ferndale, Maryland has Federal Q2B's on their fire trucks. It would be cool if they retrofitted them with this siren
I looked at ECTO-1 from Ghostbusters and if you look at the car real close you can see this type of siren on top of the car. Can you imagine if they used this siren instead of a fake one like in the movie?
That rotor bearing is 25 years old and well broken in. I hate to restore a vintage coaster siren with bad rotor bearings because the new bearings are packed with grease and do not coast well. It takes hours of use to break them in. I will pay double for a good well used bearing over a new one. By the way, this C5 is the favorite of my collection, sorry Q lovers, they are just to high pitched.
The brake should have one wire. This wire runs to a momentary push button switch and then to (+) battery. The brake is grounded thru its attachemnt to the siren body. The spring should retract the brake plunger when power is removed from the brake.
Henry455 Brilliant, thanks Henry. The only diagram I could find was for a B&M but it looks like those sirens are spring-loaded on, and the brake is released when the siren is activated.
Hello, this is Edaan Friedman. You may remember me from other posts. I recently acquired one of these. I would love to restore it, and thought you would be the best person to help me. If you can. You can email me.
These old electro-mechanical sirens bring back some old memories. I worked on the ambulance in Los Angeles in the 1970s when the B&M and Federal C5 & 66 were popular and the Federal Director and Interceptor were coming in and taking their places. My opinion was, and still is, the B&M and Federal electro-mechanical sirens were more effective in LA traffic. For a number of years, our ambulances had both installed. I used the electronic in conjunction with the B&M and used the YELP mostly.
One of the best sirens Federal ever made. Wish they would come back and start producing them again. Better tone and sound than a Q2.
Its the ghostbusters ambulance siren
This was probably the best siren for ambulance use. Had enough volume to move traffic, but did not have an irritating tone to bother the occupants.
This was the biggest siren Federal made before coming out with the Q.
This siren has the best coast down and smokes the heck out of any Q of today... thanls for this upload!
It sounds just like a q..
Yes great great slow wind down. To me sounds like a little lower frequency than the Q. I love it!!
I totally agree. I have an old Federal model 28 thats puts a Unitrol Touchmaster to shame. Sure wish Federal would come back with the behind the grill mechanical sirens. Much better then a electronic one any day....
Nice long wind-down! Good sound! We still have ours off of our 57 Seagrave City Service Ladder.
This was the largest siren Federal made before coming out with the Q. Very popular for ambulance use, it did not have an irritating tone, easier on crew and patient.
Fun Fact: This is actually the siren that was mounted on the Ecto-1 in the 1984 film, Ghostbusters. Although, it was never used.
Actually it was, when Ray had pulled up in the hearse before it was the ecto, then Peter said "Hey, you can't park that here!"
For some reason they mainly used the 2 federal signal twinsonics and the animal caller for the speaker input. I wish they used the siren more often in films, even better, run the model 19 light!
Good lord thats a pretty siren, sounds amazing.
The C5 is my favorite siren; Have one mounted on my fire truck.
@Henry455 I am a huge Q fan, however the newer ones sound higher pitched, coast down too fast, and don't have the "growl" of older ones. To my ears, the C5 sounds more like what a Q "should" sound like at its best. I can't find any information online about these sirens though, just some excellent youtube videos like yours. I wish someone would write a book or at least devote a webpage to the evolution of electro-mechanical sirens!
You can find them quite often on Ebay, C5's chrome or C4's painted and no rear cover and C6's chrome with solar ray light on front.
Now that's a siren! Awesome!
Now that is the type of a " Growler " that is a true fire truck sire. I was a Q man until I heard this one .
It's probably STILL coasting, isn't it Henry? What an outstanding piece of history. Sure sounds good.
The siren you hear in the movie was dubbed in over this one. Not sure why they did that, but in the behind the scenes featurette on the dvd there is a deleted scene where you can hear the real Ecto-1 siren before it was dubbed in for the movie.
Always heard it when my Grandfather drove the Caddie
The Ferndale Volunteer Fire Company, where I live near in Ferndale, Maryland has Federal Q2B's on their fire trucks. It would be cool if they retrofitted them with this siren
Yes, they were available in the 50's.
Amazing!!
what a beauty!
It all makes sense now😶. This siren had the original grille design before dollar tree
sounds like a Q siren this sound will get your attention very nice
It sounds different because the C series sirens have 8 sator port openings and the Q has 14 ports. More ports, same RPM, higher frequency.
Id love to have this I would use it to disturb the highschol footbal game, and wake up my freind for work.
I looked at ECTO-1 from Ghostbusters and if you look at the car real close you can see this type of siren on top of the car. Can you imagine if they used this siren instead of a fake one like in the movie?
That rotor bearing is 25 years old and well broken in. I hate to restore a vintage coaster siren with bad rotor bearings because the new bearings are packed with grease and do not coast well. It takes hours of use to break them in. I will pay double for a good well used bearing over a new one. By the way, this C5 is the favorite of my collection, sorry Q lovers, they are just to high pitched.
I also rescued sofia carbonell with this fire engine siren in the 1984 film Ghostbusters
great siren
Wow that bad boy is broke in, it will coast forever.
Have the same thing on the mack in our fire dept.
this siren has a nice winddown
sounds like the twin sister of the federal signal q2a siren !!!!!!!!!!!!1
🎉❤
WoW Nice Video!
Crazy Sound! Where can i buy this siren for my silly neibourths
This siren was on ambulances and fire trucks back then. But was it on old police cars too?
Thats one bad siren
Sorry, have none for sale at this time.
Do you know when the model 66 sirens were made? I have one without the chrome housing plate.
Was that siren used in 1959? That looks like Ecto-1's siern.
Are your sirens automatic?
Long coaster siren
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I don’t suppose you’ve got a wiring diagram for a C5GB? I’m just not sure how the brake is powered/switched. It looks like it’s spring-loaded off.
The brake should have one wire. This wire runs to a momentary push button switch and then to (+) battery. The brake is grounded thru its attachemnt to the siren body. The spring should retract the brake plunger when power is removed from the brake.
Henry455 Brilliant, thanks Henry. The only diagram I could find was for a B&M but it looks like those sirens are spring-loaded on, and the brake is released when the siren is activated.
how much does the C5 go for?
Hello, this is Edaan Friedman.
You may remember me from other posts.
I recently acquired one of these.
I would love to restore it, and thought you would be the best person to help me.
If you can. You can email me.
My youngin