Two Maine Lighthouses with a Treble Voice
Two Maine Lighthouses with a Treble Voice
As time continues to pass, we may not hear the sound of a lighthouse fog horn nearly as much as we used to now that these “voices” are activated by mariners on demand. However, when we do hear its audible warning, the bellows possess a familiar resonance.
This is the case for all the fog horns along the Maine coast, with two exceptions- Saddleback Ledge in Penobscot Bay and Great Duck Island in the Gulf of Maine, south of Mount Desert Island.
Rather than being outfitted with the typical lighthouse fog horn of today – an FA-232 sound signal, Saddleback Ledge and Great Duck are instead equipped with an SA-850/02 sound signal. You might say this makes them the two Maine lighthouses with a “treble voice.”
Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse and the sound of its SA-850/02 fog horn. Bob Trapani, Jr. video.
The United States Coast Guard used to deploy an SA-850 primarily on buoys. The water-proof unit is compact, self-contained and its 12-volt system has a low current drain, which made it perfectly suited for buoys that required a sound signal.
However, the SA-850 could also be utilized at light stations – with one caveat. The light station needed to be relatively isolated. Why? Because of the high-pitch sound that the signal emits.
According to U.S. Coast Guard aids to navigation manuals, “The SA-850/02 shall not be located nearer than 2.5 miles from the closest residence. These distances shall be observed for either fixed or buoy installations.” The Coast Guard went on to note, “The SA-850 broadcasts a higher frequency, which is annoying to residents.”
Unlike buoys, which had a single SA-850, Saddleback Ledge and Great Duck lighthouses have a double-stack arrangement – classified as an SA-850/02. The two-unit grouping increased the range of the omnidirectional sound signal from a half-mile to one mile.
A double-stack SA-850 sound signal stands approximately 4-feet tall and weighs 256 pounds. Historically, the unit has been used primarily on stations where batteries were the only source of power.
USCG aids to navigational manuals go on to say, “The SA-850/02 is made up of two SA-850 emitter housings bolted together, two SA-850 drivers, one SA-850 power supply, and one power amplifier. Stacked sound signals have power modules in lieu of the timer/oscillator as the master signal provides the coding.”
Throughout their service, the SA-850/02 sound signals, which were manufactured by Automatic Power, have proven to be workhorses. How much longer they remain in the field is an unknown. One day there is bound to be a change to a more standardized arrangement. However, for now, the fog horns at Saddleback Ledge and Great Duck continue to help aid the mariner and “serenade” the lighthouse enthusiast with a “treble voice.”