The Siren Board

I know how air horns work but I've also heard about diaphone and resonating horns that work alongside sirens and I've wondered how do they work? I know theres a horn somewhere that basically is a siren but with a damper that opens to make a horn sound but idk if thats how they work. Someone please explain

Airhorns such as the Diaphone use a vibrating diaphragm that's actuated by compressed air moving through it. It's quite similar to how our voices work, air moving through a diaphragm to create vibrations which result in audible sound.

Here's a diagram I found of how a diaphragm horn works: (You may have to zoom into the diagram, it is kind of small)



It doesn't show this in the diagram, but the air pipe going into the horn connects to the air chamber, in which the air pressure presses against the diaphragm, causing it to expand just enough so that air can escape to the horn. After the air gets released, the pressure on the diaphragm drops and it then goes back to its original position. The area in the back of the horn is just space for the diaphragm to vibrate in. I'm not so sure if the noise comes from the air escaping or the diaphragm hitting the end of the horn, but Snowpix did explain better how the sound is made.

Keep in mind, this process happens multiple times a second!

and what about resonating horns?

ACAhurricaneguy wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 25, 2024 9:59 pm

and what about resonating horns?

Sorry for a late reply, but resonating horns work almost the same way as a diaphragm horn. Instead of air, it uses an electromagnet to vibrate a metal plate that moves fast enough to create sound, basically like a simple speaker. The electromagnet is hooked up to a circuit that you might find in fire bells or in old buzzers to make the plate go fast enough so it can make sound!

Lastly, I heard about some sort of horn that uses a chopper-stator mechanism like a siren, but uses some sort of mechanical damper to blast the horn open and closed. I have a video from VintageCollection showing this and I wanted to know what these are called.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ch6_3h9p6bM

ACAhurricaneguy wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 30, 2024 11:43 pm

Lastly, I heard about some sort of horn that uses a chopper-stator mechanism like a siren, but uses some sort of mechanical damper to blast the horn open and closed. I have a video from VintageCollection showing this and I wanted to know what these are called.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ch6_3h9p6bM

Yet another late reply, but the name of the short says it's a foghorn!