Genesee County Siren Testing

Thank you for your interest in the Genesee County Siren Testing Program

Siren Testing has been an important service provided by the amateur radio community since 1979. Even though siren technology has changed over the years, we still provide ground truth observations important to protecting our communities during severe weather events.

As volunteers, our responsibility is to report siren observations to the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management. Maintenance and repair of any malfunctioning sirens is the responsibility of the local municipality.

Everybody is welcome to participate!

You do not have to be a member of GCARES or a licensed amateur radio operator to report a siren. We appreciate reports from anybody.

If you cannot send a report in via radio, feel free to email your report to sirens@gcares.org

Testing Schedule for 2024

Month	Date	Note

Testing Information

• Testing takes place at 1:00 PM on the first Saturday of the month, unless otherwise specified.
• The siren net occurs on the 147.380+ repeater (88.5 PL Input).
• Please try to check in between 12:00 Noon and 1:00 PM to request your siren.

Information to Observe and Report

• Siren rotates (older sirens may not rotate)
• Siren produces as steady tone for 3 minutes (there will be a slight up and down tone from the rotation of the siren)
• Anything out of the ordinary

Outdoor warning sirens are used to alert residents who may be outdoors when a Tornado Warning is issued by the National Weather Service.

The sirens are not intended to alert people indoors. It is highly recommended that each residence, business, school and church have a NOAA All-Hazard Radio that will automatically activate during severe weather and hazardous materials events. More information on NOAA Weather Radios in South East, Michigan can be found at the Detroit / Pontiac National Weather Service Website.