This page is all about the Thunderbolt 1000, 1000T, and 1003. The Thunderbolt is a 125db(duel toned) to 127db(single toned) at 100 ft siren. It was first produced in 1952. It was Federal's best selling siren and was the siren of choice by many local Civil Defence agencies. But as the years went by many communities wanted sirens that were low maintence and to have the ability to have a battery back up if the power went out. Unfortunately the Thunderbolt is a high maintence siren (3 belts in the blower, oil for the blower, grease and a belt for the rotator) and can only be run off AC power. Around the 80's sales for the Thunderbolt started to fall as communities didn't want to replace there old Thunderbolts with new Thunderbolts. Finaly in 1990 Federal stopped producing the Thunderbolt. It was replaced by the 2001 (which has the Thunderbolt's rotator and is now Federal's best selling siren). The Thunderbolt has 4 or 5 (depending on the model) main parts. First is the blower. Usualy located on the ground or on the side of the pole the blower supplies air to the chopper via a pipe going up the pole (called the standpipe) and gives it the loud roar this siren is well know for (without the blower it sounds much quieter and different). The blower also enables it to keep the same db level at different chopper speeds. This is also the biggest and heaviest Thunderbolt part (all together the Thunderbolt weighes 1000 pounds) The second is the rotator. Located below the chopper assembly and horn this rotates the horn 360 degrees so it can be heard in all directions. The rotation speed can be set at 2 RPMs, 4 RPMs, or 8 RPMs. The third is the horn. This part amplfies the sound and is the longest part (about 52" long). The fourth is the chopper. This part is responsable for the sound. The chopper could be set at different voltages (208-240) to produce different pitches. The chopper was available in a 5 port single tone (1000) and 5/6 port duel tone (1000T and 1003). The motor for the chopper was basicly the motor of a Model 2 (except for the series B which resembles a small STH-10 motor). The fifth are the solenoids. Found only on the 1003 these are located behind the horn at the throat between the horn and the stator (looks like a bowtie behind the horn). This enabled the 1003 to produce a third signal by intermittently blocking off the air flow to one or both slots of the stator at a time. This signal was usualy an alternating high-low tone (like a british police car) but could also produce a pulsed tone (depending on how they were set in the RCM3). The solenoid speed could be adjusted for a slow or fast "fire" signal. These motors were all controled by the RCM1 and RCM3 (for the solonoids on the 1003) motor starters and the AR (1000 and 1000T) and AF (1003) timers. This section is under construction while I finish transfering all info off of my old site.