Les signaux sonores / The sound signals

At this lighthouse station, sound signals were used when fog made the light useless, and the station both tested and used several systems. At the start of the 20th century, the department made it a test site, where an engineer lived permanently; his residence was later occupied by the lightkeeper and then the assistant. From 1859 to 1894, a fog cannon was detonated every half hour in poor visibility, a risky practice even when firing blanks. From 1894 to 1903, explosive guncotton firecrackers suspended from a long pole were lighted at 20-minute intervals, and their sound carried farther than the cannon's. In 1903-1904, a Scotch siren using compressed air and a rotating cylinder was installed in the site's oldest building, which was erected to house the device, its compression motor, and air cylinder. From 1904 to 1972, a diaphone with the same resonator, energy source, and air intake as the Scotch siren produced its whistle with an alternative piston. From 1972 to 1997, automation brought a less powerful electronic foghorn triggered by a visibility reader.

Quebec · Canada