American Signal Corporation
American Signal Corporation is an outdoor warning siren and mass notification company in America. ASC was founded in 1942 as Alerting Communicators of America.
| Private | |
| Industry | Public safety |
| Founded | 1942 |
| Headquarters | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Key people | Richard D. Roe, Executive Vice President, Dale Moeller, President & CEO. |
| Services | Computer Systems alerting and notification systems |
| Website | http://www.americansignal.com |
History
The company began as Biersach and Niedermeyer Co. in 1873, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin based metal fabricating operation. After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, concerns surfaced that the American public should be notified in the event of air attacks. The United States Department of the Army granted the company a contract to manufacture outdoor warning sirens and in 1942 the company began production of over 2000 sirens to be installed throughout the Pacific Theater for American troops and Air Bases. The need for these outdoor warnings increased during the following years as the Cold War brought a new threat of nuclear war.
In the late 1960s the company's name changed to Alerting Communicators of America (ACA) and the production of new models began, to suit the needs of individual municipalities. Banshee, Screamer, Cyclone, Howler, and Allertor are just a few of the names under which these sirens were known. In the 1980s, the company produced a line of sirens known as the Penetrator series, a more substantial variant of sirens the company had previously manufactured. In 1982, the company became the first in its industry to provide a wireless digital supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system called CompuLert, with over 6000 installations worldwide. Over the decade, the prominent advancements the company made in its siren's designs included battery operation, high powered Voice/Sirens and indoor alerting systems. Similarly designed sirens were still manufactured, but under new names, such as the Tempest series. As of 2010, ASC is still in operation and supplies many towns and cities in the U.S. with outdoor warning sirens, most of which are now used to warn the public of threats such as tsunamis, severe weather, chemical spills and civil emergencies.
Early production siren models
Original siren from early production (1940's-1950's):
- Mobil Directo (Biersach & Niedermeyer brand)
Sirens from the 1960s until the 1980s:
- ACA Allertor 125
- ACA Hurricane 130
- ACA Hurricane 130 MKII
- ACA Screamer Series. (Ranging from 2 HP to 10 HP)
- ACA Banshee 110
- ACA Banshee 115
- ACA Sentry 95
- ACA Cyclone 125
- ACA Cyclone 120
Sirens in production during the 1980s until the early 1990s:
- ACA P-10
- ACA P-15
- ACA P-20
- ACA P-50
- ACA Howler
- ACA Alertronic 6000
- ACA Alertronic 4000
Sirens made after 1990
After going bankrupt in 1992 and being sold to a new owner, the company changed its name and the name of its sirens in production.
Sirens built from 1992 onward:
- RM-127
- RM-130
- T-135
- OM-117
- OM-120
- AL-4000R
Current mechanical sirens
Tempest siren line is the current mechanical siren line.
- ASC T-112
- ASC T-121
- ASC T-128
- ASC T-135-AC/DC
Current electronic sirens
These are the electronic speaker array sirens produced by the company.
- E-Class public address speaker array
- iForce modular array