Air horns or train horns are some of the loudest horns that can be found in the market. These are generally installed on trains or cars to be used as a form of a warning signal to alert other traffic or stray obstacles that may come in the way of the vehicle. The horn itself is made up of one or two tubes that are flute-like in shape and a high pressure air compressor which is connected to a solenoid valve. The solenoid valve is basically an electrical device which helps to control the flow of air from the compressor. The principle on which this type of horn operates is very simple. The air from the compressor is pumped into the horn which makes contact with a metallic diaphragm. This diaphragm vibrates due to the air pressure thus it rapidly opens and closes in quick succession producing a noise.
 An air horn can be categorised as one of the two – a big horn or a personal horn. The big train horn is the one that is usually placed on vehicles like trains, ships and other automobiles like cars and trucks. These are electrically operated and their sole purpose, as mentioned above, is to alert vicinity traffic. On the other hand the personal type is usually handheld and is used at home, at school, etc. These are usually used to get the attention of a large crowd, to start and end sporting events and in some popular cases as a practical joke. The type of sound that each horn makes is dependent on a lot of different factors. If you listen close enough, the type of sound being produced is indicative of not only the make but also the model of the horn. Generally the loudness of the sound is directly proportional to the size of the air chamber. The bigger the chamber of air the louder the emitted sound will be. The pitch and tone of the horn is the result of the kind of metal being used to make the horn. Though it has been proved to be quite effective, the train horn can be extremely dangerous too. One of the greatest disadvantages that the horn has is the noise pollution it creates. The decibel count of the horn is much higher than what is acceptable to the human ear and so prolonged exposure to it can cause serious damage to the ear. |
