Discussion
How about one of you BiB sorting out these odd noises from the traffic cars , in fact any car / fire engine etc etc .
These new tones or whatever are so hard to work out the direction you are comming from .
I am not saying go back to a cute little bell on the bumper , but something that not sound like a ring tone on steriods , or the latest washing machine beaming down would be great .
If I dont get out of your way , then it means i dont have clue to your location .
And when you find one that does sound nice , and you can tell its location then get all the forces to adopt it so we have one nice common sound throughout the UK .
These new tones or whatever are so hard to work out the direction you are comming from .
I am not saying go back to a cute little bell on the bumper , but something that not sound like a ring tone on steriods , or the latest washing machine beaming down would be great .
If I dont get out of your way , then it means i dont have clue to your location .
And when you find one that does sound nice , and you can tell its location then get all the forces to adopt it so we have one nice common sound throughout the UK .
putridp said:
Don't some foriegn emergency service sirens include pulses of white noise to help drivers locate the source?
It seems like a good idea to me (and definately works, IMHO). Why don't we use it?
This explains directional sound:It seems like a good idea to me (and definately works, IMHO). Why don't we use it?
Advanced Aviation Technology Ltd said:
Human hearing extends across the range from 20Hz to 20kHz but is optimized for speech, which lies in the more limited range between 500Hz to 3,500Hz.
Human hearing is capable of identifying the source of sounds (a good survival trait!) by using a number of aural cues. Timing information (i.e. the time difference between a sound arriving at each ear) can be extracted from low frequency sounds in the range up to 1000Hz. Similarly, the difference in the intensity of sounds at each ear (i.e. a sound appearing louder in one ear than the other) can be measured at 3000Hz and above.
Both these cues together provide important information - but this is still not enough for the brain to identify the source of a sound. In particular, to determine whether a sound originates from in front or behind us. This last aural cue is obtained from the complex shape of our ears, which amplifies some frequencies and attenuates others (esoterically called the Head Related Transfer function - HRTF!).
If the right kind of sound is used, the human brain's ability to locate a sound can be optimized. This is the simple but effective secret of Directional Sound. Pure tones or narrowband sound simply cannot be localized. For example, and somewhat surprisingly, conventional emergency vehicle sirens cannot readily be localized! It is not easy for the brain to work out whether an emergency vehicle using a conventional siren is in front or behind us. New sirens are now being produced containing directional sound, so fixing this problem.
Directional sound contains broadband sound across a range of frequencies providing all the aural cues the brain requires to accurately pinpoint the direction of the sound source. This is effective even if the hearer has partially impaired hearing.
StreakyHuman hearing is capable of identifying the source of sounds (a good survival trait!) by using a number of aural cues. Timing information (i.e. the time difference between a sound arriving at each ear) can be extracted from low frequency sounds in the range up to 1000Hz. Similarly, the difference in the intensity of sounds at each ear (i.e. a sound appearing louder in one ear than the other) can be measured at 3000Hz and above.
Both these cues together provide important information - but this is still not enough for the brain to identify the source of a sound. In particular, to determine whether a sound originates from in front or behind us. This last aural cue is obtained from the complex shape of our ears, which amplifies some frequencies and attenuates others (esoterically called the Head Related Transfer function - HRTF!).
If the right kind of sound is used, the human brain's ability to locate a sound can be optimized. This is the simple but effective secret of Directional Sound. Pure tones or narrowband sound simply cannot be localized. For example, and somewhat surprisingly, conventional emergency vehicle sirens cannot readily be localized! It is not easy for the brain to work out whether an emergency vehicle using a conventional siren is in front or behind us. New sirens are now being produced containing directional sound, so fixing this problem.
Directional sound contains broadband sound across a range of frequencies providing all the aural cues the brain requires to accurately pinpoint the direction of the sound source. This is effective even if the hearer has partially impaired hearing.
We do have directional tone in my force but it is the third short range tone.
We have the long wail, yelp and white noise as our tones.
But its usually down to range.
The Wail has a longer range than Yelp and then white noise.
On approach to hazzards we change tones to give better direction.
We have the long wail, yelp and white noise as our tones.
But its usually down to range.
The Wail has a longer range than Yelp and then white noise.
On approach to hazzards we change tones to give better direction.
Same here Slider.
I was always taught to use the wail when i'm approaching hazards as it projects ahead. I was told to use yelp in built up areas and when going through junctions etc as it's supposed to project more to the sides.
I tend to give a quick blast of white noise when I approach roundabouts and junctions in the hope people can tell where i'm coming from.
A few of the older cars still have the french horn as the third tone, I tend to use that when i'm not the lead vehicle in a convoy so people can tell there's more than one car coming through. I detest being the second car, someone will ALWAYS pull back out after the first car goes past. You have to be so carefull.
I was always taught to use the wail when i'm approaching hazards as it projects ahead. I was told to use yelp in built up areas and when going through junctions etc as it's supposed to project more to the sides.
I tend to give a quick blast of white noise when I approach roundabouts and junctions in the hope people can tell where i'm coming from.
A few of the older cars still have the french horn as the third tone, I tend to use that when i'm not the lead vehicle in a convoy so people can tell there's more than one car coming through. I detest being the second car, someone will ALWAYS pull back out after the first car goes past. You have to be so carefull.
Yep,
Pretty similar here except we are taught long tone for long range projection, yelp for approach to first hazzard, white noise for second hazzard or if yelp is not effective.
We now have an additional course for 2 car convoy and initial pursuit where second car is always on a different tone to first car and teaches all the road positioning for car 1 and 2 in convoy, which is by far the best course i have done after the response course and makes life so much easier in convoy! And helps prevent the situation of a car giving way then pulling out in front of car 2!
All are cars are now fitted pretty much with the new tones except when the workshops fitted and old siren system to a brand new car! I still think we need an air horn or similar in addition to the normal horns as sometimes a 2 second blast of the horn along side siren can help with alerting the public to the fact you are there with there windows up and radio on loud!
Pretty similar here except we are taught long tone for long range projection, yelp for approach to first hazzard, white noise for second hazzard or if yelp is not effective.
We now have an additional course for 2 car convoy and initial pursuit where second car is always on a different tone to first car and teaches all the road positioning for car 1 and 2 in convoy, which is by far the best course i have done after the response course and makes life so much easier in convoy! And helps prevent the situation of a car giving way then pulling out in front of car 2!
All are cars are now fitted pretty much with the new tones except when the workshops fitted and old siren system to a brand new car! I still think we need an air horn or similar in addition to the normal horns as sometimes a 2 second blast of the horn along side siren can help with alerting the public to the fact you are there with there windows up and radio on loud!
Our PSU Sprinter 'the fun bus' has an airhorn, it does work very well at getting people out of the way. Just as well as the stopping distances on that thing are up there with crude oil tankers...
It's good that you get extra training on convoy running, we had half a days worth. Our response drivers are not trained to pursue under any circumstances either, you must be an advanced driver in an intermediate or advanced vehicle.
The policies in different forces are usually so different though I suppose, one of our ACC's hates driving of all kinds and seems to spend all her time making policies tighter and tighter.
It's good that you get extra training on convoy running, we had half a days worth. Our response drivers are not trained to pursue under any circumstances either, you must be an advanced driver in an intermediate or advanced vehicle.
The policies in different forces are usually so different though I suppose, one of our ACC's hates driving of all kinds and seems to spend all her time making policies tighter and tighter.
I was originally pursuit autherised, but they changed it and took the initial phase away from standard response trained drivers.
Even though i was autherised i managed to get the training to cover my arse so to speak.
The 2 car convoy and pursuit is a 3 day course.
Ours are getting tighter too as there was no refresher training or assessment drives after you had passed the course, now its every 6 months to a year which is good.
Even though i was autherised i managed to get the training to cover my arse so to speak.
The 2 car convoy and pursuit is a 3 day course.
Ours are getting tighter too as there was no refresher training or assessment drives after you had passed the course, now its every 6 months to a year which is good.
robwales said:
Am I correct in remembering that a few years ago, each service used a different tone ?
Why is this no longer the case?
They found that adjacent forces/services didn't recognise each other's tones! Why is this no longer the case?
- StreakyThink issues to do with inter-service communications if you need the joke explained - S
Santa Claws said:
I love the old *NEE NAW NEE NAW NEE NAW NEE NAW* siren. It just sounds so British.
Strangely enough the old 'nee-naw' is one of the tones used by our most recent batch of vehicles (in amongst the regular yelp,wail &airhorn) so I can only assume the vehicle designer has a sense of humour and a warm, rose-tinted, nostalgic and patriotic affection for the retro charm of the old nee-naw as I'm fairly sure there's no 'scientific' reason for fitting it other than perhaps its familiarity with more mature road users....
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