American Signal Corporation is an outdoor warning siren

Civil defense siren

A civil defense siren is a mechanical or electronic device for generating sound to...

 company in America founded in 1942.

History

The company began as Biersach and Niedermeyer Co. in 1873, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

 based metal fabricating operation. After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

, concerns surfaced that the American public should be notified in the event of air attacks. The United States Department of the Army

United States Department of the Army

The Department of the Army is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Army is the Federal Government agency which the United States Army is organized within, and it is led by the Secretary of the Army who has...

 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 raged on bringing a new threat, that of Nuclear War. In the late 1960s the company's name changed to ACA (Alerting Communications of America) and the production of new models began, to suit the needs of each individual municipality. 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

SCADA

SCADA generally refers to industrial control systems : computer systems that monitor and control industrial, infrastructure, or facility-based processes, as described below:...

) 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. Currently, 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 such threats as, severe weather, chemical spills and civil emergencies.

Early Production Siren Models

Original siren from early production:

• Mobil Directo (Biersach & Niedermeyer brand)

Sirens from the late 1960s until the 1980s:

• ACA Allertor 125
  ACA Allertor 125
  The ACA Allertor 125 is a discontinued electromechanical Civil defense siren made by Alerting Communicators of America. It has a distinctive design with the chopper on the bottom horn and the noise also coming out of the top horn.-History:...
  
  
• ACA Hurricane 130
• ACA Hurricane 130 (MK II)
• ACA Screamer Series. (Ranging from 2 HP to 10 HP)
• ACA Banshee 110
• ACA Banshee 115
• ACA Sentry 95
• ACA Cyclone
  ACA Cyclone
  The ACA Cyclone was an outdoor warning siren built by Alerting Communicators of America, in 1968. The Cyclone has more of an older design that does not match their other sirens in production.-History:...
  
   125
• ACA Cyclone
  ACA Cyclone
  The ACA Cyclone was an outdoor warning siren built by Alerting Communicators of America, in 1968. The Cyclone has more of an older design that does not match their other sirens in production.-History:...
  
   120 (This 40 HP. version lasted only a short while)

Sirens in production during the 1980s until the early 1990s:

• ACA Cyclone (A foreign 60 HP. version was built as well)
• 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 (The RM-130 is the predecessor of the modern T-128, and uses the same horn system while maintaining appearance similar to the Penetrator series)
• T-135 (Same as the ACA P-50)
• OM-120
• RE-1600

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 their good quality electronic speaker array sirens.
Alertronic line:

• AL-1000

• AL-2000

• AL-4000

• AL-8000

Others:

• E-Class PA speaker array

• iForce/Quadrant modular array