The Washtenaw County Amateur Radio Public Service Corps (ARPSC) supports the county Emergency Operations Center by participating in a monthly test of the 90 outdoor warning sirens in the County. The test is held on the first Saturday of each month from March through October, with the sirens being activated at noon. City of Ann Arbor sirens are on a different schedule, which activates on the second Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.
Ham radio operators like myself who volunteered for the siren test were assigned one of the sirens in the area that's convenient to them and that needs to be monitored for this season. My siren this week was on Lohr Road at Waterways, just southwest of the Ann Arbor Airport. Once you are on location or heading to it there is a brief check-in to make sure everyone can be heard by Net Control. At the noon hour, the sirens go off for their test and there's a net afterwards where people report in successful (or unsuccessful) operation of the siren they are watching. Did it rotate? (Most of them do, but not the ones in Dexter Township). Did it make a noise? Did it stop making noise when the test was done? Are there any maintenance issues, like trees growing into the control box or power line?
Like all parts of the ham radio hobby, this exercise has a few pieces. You need to be able to get to your assigned siren, and they really don't have street addresses - some careful observation and directions from net control should get you there. You'll either need to be near the N8DUY repeater with your handheld radio, or you'll need a suitable car radio with a little more power if you are further away from I-94 and M-14 in Scio Township where the tower is. And of course you'll need to be on time.
Warning sirens save lives, and if they are not working you really want to find out before hand and not during an emergency. Tracking down maintenance issues during these tests is some small but essential part of emergency preparedness, and I'm happy to participate.
Map of siren coverage (checked for January 2025): https://www.washtenaw.org/1785/Washtenaw-County-Outdoor-Warning-Siren-S