I orderd a Plectron R8200 from the factory set to the tones for Marlton First Aid Squad (today Evesham EMS). The above sound file is recorded from this unit activating. The pair of tones before the alarm (2361Hz-831Hz) are what activates the alarm, in this receiver a High/Low signal. These radios can be set to only receive when the alarm is activated, or can monitor all calls on the channel, in this case 154.220 MHz.
I also orderd an R8200 set to the tones used to dispatch Mt. Laurel's EMS when I lived in that town. The above file is this unit activating with the tones for Fellowship Squad (953Hz-1164Hz). For this unit I chose a siren alarm signal.
A Plectron R720
This is an over-the-air alert signal for alert receivers without an internal alarm.
The Plectron Corporation went out of business in the late 1990's. Their products, which are very high quality, are sought after by collectors of radio gear. The name Plectron has become a generic term for pagers and alert radios. Many of these radios are still in service today.
Other Emergency Radio Sound Files
Had what I think the coolest radio signals. This was the signal that was heard after Central's siren tone when Moorestown Fire was dispatched. The dispatch and tones were broadcast from the Central tower in Westampton, the signal was broadcast from a tower in Moorestown after the encoder was activated by the siren tone. (173KB)
This was the signalthat was used for Moorestown's ambulance calls-another cool one! Again, this was broadcast after the siren tone when dispatched by Central. These signals were discontinued in 1992 when the Moorestown siren was taken out of service.(161KB)
Burlington City, NJDispatched as "90F" before switching to Burlington County Central dispatching. (92.7KB)
Browns Mills, NJDispatched on 154.130 as "District 18F" before switching to Burlington County Central dispatching.(278KB)
Palmyra, NJ's tones seem to growl afterward! These were secondary tones transmitted from a repeater in Palmyra. (153KB)
Firehouse sirenFor many years, sirens such as this would call volunteers to the station for an emergency. In some towns one blast was for fire, two for ambulance calls. Over the years its use has declined with the use of pagers. (155KB)
Other Emergency Sounds
An interesting firehouse siren page...awsome sound files-
Plectrons were radio receivers used to call volunteer fire and first aid personel in the advent of an emergency, similar to a pager.
The Moorestown radio signals were created by Matlack Electronics of Mt. Laurel in the early 1970's, when the stations were dispatched by Moorestown Police, before switching to Central. The tones for the Fire and Ambulance are very similar, so these signals were originally broadcast after the tones so members could tell the tones apart.
When Moorestown Police renovated their dispatching console in the early 1990's, Matlack removed the tone encoders for this system. They are presently stored in the attic of the Moorestown Hose Company.
----Thanks to Tim Matlack for this information.
A Plectron R20
Before Garden State Hospital opened in June, 1973 this was one of the closest hospitals to Marlton. BCMH (Burlington County Memorial Hospital) has become Virtua - Mt. Holly.
