1983 Major Upgrade
There was a major upgrade in 1983 that included a new control system, new sound system, and additional speakers and buildings to house them. The Press was invited to tour the upgrade and a press release was presented. The complete press release is available at this link: 1983 Press Day
1983 Control System upgrade
A new computer control system was added in 1983 using a Radio Shack (Tandy) TRS-80 to create the choreographed programs. The music and control channels were recorded via modem to a 4 channel reel-to-reel tape recorder. Two channels for music, one channel for a timing reference signal, and one channel for ASCII (text) commands to the PLC to change water levels and lighting. The PLC "listened" to the tape via a modem and an ASCII interface module after the PLC upgrade.
Musical Fountain’s First PLC
An Allen Bradley PLC-2/30 was installed in 1983 to modernize the controls system and to make it much easier to create song programs. Before this upgrade the control system was a paper punched tape and a custom wired wrapped relay panel.
1983 Overview of the Musical Fountain
Picture taken for Press Day 1983. Notice the banks of incandescent lights to illuminate the water modules. These used aircraft runway lights and colored (red, blue, & amber) filters in front of them. The three banks of lights in front of each of the seven water modules were replaced with two LED units per water module in 2012.
The pump house and control room are underground. In the picture above (left center) you can see the roof line of the underground house and the window panes for the operator to see the show.
1983 Amplifiers Upgrade
Ten 800 watt amplifiers. 8000 watts total. The wires going to the speakers are #6 gauge. The speakers are about 250 feet away along the riverfront. The sound must be sent .7 seconds in advance so that it is synchronized with the lighting of the Musical Fountain. Sound travels must slower than light!
Dr. William Creason
Musical Fountain founder, Dr. William Creason, in front of new speaker house and speakers which were added to serve the water front north and south of the grandstand.
A tribute to Dr. Creason is at this link.
“Upper” Speaker Houses Added
View of speaker houses, the Grand River, the grandstand (directly across the river), and the main street of Grand Haven. Here you can see the new speaker houses (left and right). The existing (~1965) speaker house is in the middle.
The Earliest Speakers
Prior to the building of the center (“lower”) speaker house (see center of pic directly above) to permanently house the main speakers serving the grandstand directly across, these movable speakers were used.
Pump room 1983
Original water pumps and Allis-Chambers motors. One 100 HP, one 75 HP, and one 50 HP. The pumps recirculate water from the pond, into the manifold, and then out through the valves which control the height of the water formations.
An article about the Musical Fountain control system that made the cover of a 1987 trade magazine for control engineers can be viewed at this link: "PLC the User Magazine"