Tag: megaphone

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Why Is Fall a Great Time To Buy a Megaphone?

Students in blue school colors celebrate on the sidelines at a sports event.

It’s almost fall, and you know what that means. School’s back in session, and football is kicking into high gear. Here’s one thing they have in common: the need for powerful megaphones. In fact, there are a lot of seasonal events where these devices are essential for maintaining an effective communications network. Check out our full list below to learn why now is a great time to buy a megaphone.

Venues That Are Perfect for Megaphones

It only seems fair that we start with the two we already mentioned.

Football and Cheerleading. As excited and loud as crowds often get to show their team spirit on game day, it’s no surprise when we get a call from a cheerleader who wants to buy a megaphone. These devices have played a key role on the sidelines for a long time. How far back, you ask? Cheerleaders at the University of Michigan claim that their squad was the first to incorporate acoustic megaphones in 1898!

School. Public schools are still adjusting to in-person teaching since the COVID-19 pandemic. That, coupled with safety concerns and large numbers of students, means that it’s important to have the right communications equipment to stay organized and keep everyone safe. Whether it’s relaying information down a crowded hallway in between class, delivering news to a full auditorium, or walking students through safety drills, you want to buy a megaphone that will guarantee your voice is heard. Similar to football, megaphones come in handy for school-related sporting events like track and field, rowing, swimming, and more.

Did You Know? School systems can apply ESSER funds toward new communications equipment, including megaphones and two-way radios.

Outdoor Festivals and Parking. Outdoor festivals are more common in the fall as the temperatures ease and the leaves start to change. They often require coordinated parking and announcers for special attractions that may take place across festival grounds. Megaphones are ideal for organizers because of how convenient and portable they are, thanks to long-lasting batteries, or — in the case of our heftiest model, the THUN-1200 — a car adaptor cable.

Theme Parks and Carnivals. Falling somewhere between sporting events and festivals, theme parks and carnivals are also great for seasonal entertainment. While many of them rely on powerful PA systems to alert visitors to important information, megaphones are still vital for crowd control.

So You Want To Buy a Megaphone — But Which One Should You Choose?

Megaphones come in a variety of models, each developed for a specific range of activity. Here’s what you can expect from those under the ThunderPower brand.

THUN-150: 15 watts of power and effective up to 600 yards, with voice amplification up to 98 decibels (dB) and siren at 112 dB. These are recommended for teachers, parade operators, event organizers, and tour groups.

THUN-120: 15 watts of power and effective up to 800 yards, with voice amplification up to 100 dB and siren at 112 dB. These are recommended for coaching, theater productions, school pickup and dropoff lots, as well as campus crowd control.

THUN-250: 25 watts of power and effective up to 1200 yards, with voice amplification up to 102 dB and siren at 118 dB. These are recommended for law enforcement.

THUN-450: 35 watts of power and effective up to 1400 yards, with voice amplification up to 108 dB and siren at 120 dB. These are recommended for political rallies, outdoor festivals, and religious congregations.

THUN-1200: a whopping 45 watts of power and effective up to 2000 yards, with a voice amplification up to 112 dB and siren at 122 dB. These are recommended for military training, firefighters, security, and massive gatherings.

Ready To Buy a Megaphone? Tell Us Which Ones You Need!

Give us a call today to talk immediately with one of our award-winning customer support representatives. Many of our models are currently in stock and available, and those that aren’t will ship quickly upon order.

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Bullhorn for Sale! Tips on Choosing the Right One

A woman straps a ThunderPower 1200 bullhorn over her shoulder while using its connected microphone in the middle of an outdoor festival.

Are you looking for a bullhorn for sale? Or perhaps the word you’re thinking of is megaphone? Both names have become practically interchangeable, because these devices perform the same function: electronically amplify users’ voices so that they’re heard over great distances. That said, not all of these are created equal. What are the factors to keep in mind when choosing a bullhorn for sale? Here’s what we recommend reading before your next purchase.

Bullhorn Ranges

How far do you want your messages to be carried? Bullhorns have different ranges to serve different crowd sizes. If you’re dealing with one on a large scale, you’ll want to be loud and clear to the people at the farthest ends of the group. Conversely, if you’re at a smaller event, you won’t need nearly as much power (and your listeners’ eardrums will thank you for it).

That’s why ThunderPower offers bullhorns with the following ranges:

  • 600 yards
  • 800 yards
  • 1200 yards
  • 1400 yards
  • 2000 yards

But how do you know what your range should be?

Here’s a quick reference guide before you choose a bullhorn for sale:

Six-hundred yards is ideal for teachers, parade operators, event organizers, and tour groups. An eight-hundred yard range is more in line with coaching, theater productions, school pickup and drop-off lots, and campus crowd control. At twelve-hundred yards, you’re into the realm of law enforcement. By fourteen-hundred yards, you’ve reached the size of political rallies, outdoor festivals, and religious congregations. Two-thousand yards is geared more toward military training, firefighters, security, and massive gatherings.

What about sporting events, you ask? These aren’t as easy to narrow down to a specific bullhorn range. With the possible exception of two-thousand yards, all of the others could apply. That being said, we can still think of a few sports venues where “The Earthquake Maker” is the only way you’ll be able to get your voice heard.

Adjustable Volume Control

Worried that your bullhorn will be too loud? That’s why these units offer adjustable volume control to meet the changing needs of the groups you’re in. As those groups may grow or disperse, so too will the amount of effort you’ll have to put forth in order to be heard. Volume control also mitigates noise levels during certain times of the day, or in locations with specific noise ordinances. 

Make sure to account for how much surrounding noise you predict you’ll end up fighting. Group marches, outdoor sporting events, stadiums, and emergency services all deal with different degrees of commotion and human-made interference that influence the effectiveness of your bullhorns.

Sirens and Alarms

Sirens and alarms are essential components of any effective bullhorn. If you need to alert people around you to potential danger, or simply get everyone’s immediate attention, these two features are invaluable. That’s why all ThunderPower bullhorns come equipped with them. 

Not sure what each of those will sound like? We think you should know. Simply click one of our available units below and scroll down to where it says “Listen to the Siren” and “Listen to the Whistle” respectively.

ThunderPower 150 (15 watts, 600-yard range)

ThunderPower 120 (15 watts, 800-yard range)

ThunderPower 250 (25 watts, 1200-yard range)

ThunderPower 450 (35 watts, 1400-yard range)

ThunderPower 1200 (45 watts, 2000-yard range)

Durability and Protection

If you’re looking for a bullhorn for sale, it probably goes without saying that the one you choose needs to be ready for a little wear and tear. Whether it’s the environment it’s being used in, or the number of people who will end up handling it, there’s always the chance for these units to be dropped, scraped, and damaged. That’s why we strongly encourage you to purchase bullhorns that are made with industrial-strength chassis. And, in spite of how ergonomic the handles on many of these bullhorns may already be, including wrist straps made of nylon webbing can be a great way to prevent how often they’re dropped or misplaced.

Measuring Bullhorn Performance

If you’re still on the fence about how loud is loud enough for your next bullhorn, we understand completely. Although we’ve provided ranges, you may still wonder what those numbers actually mean in a real-world setting.

That’s why we include helpful charts under each unit linked above that give you the decibels for that unit, as well as comparable sounds that will allow you to gauge the actual volume of each model.

Batteries for Your Bullhorns

Because bullhorn users tend to move around a lot, most of these units are battery powered. All you need for yours are a few good AA’s to get long-lasting performance. Our most powerful bullhorn, the ThunderPower 1200, also comes with a cigarette-lighter attachment to charge it from a vehicle.

Bullhorn Pro Tip: Cut down on battery costs by purchasing rechargeable ones.

Are You Concerned About the Supply Chain?

Worried that these bullhorns might get lost in the apply chain? Not a chance! If the ones you want aren’t currently in stock, it doesn’t take long for us to get replacements. In other words, you won’t be waiting months for the equipment that you need.

Bullhorn Users Who Made Us Laugh

These days, we all could probably use a little more humor in our lives. Trust us when we tell you that you can have some fun when it comes to bullhorns. 

For example…

  1. Back when sports teams were playing to empty seats, one diehard baseball fan decided to use nearby office space to his advantage and deliver a message of disapproval to the Houston Astros. The fan’s goal was to be heard as far as the batter’s box. Kudos to his use of grade-school math to determine the range he needed on his horn. And we certainly can’t fault him for his choice of megaphone brand that he knew would get that job done.
  1. Have you ever had someone disrespect your lawn by letting their dog use it as a bathroom? If they have, and if it’s bothered you enough, you’d probably appreciate the methods this megaphone user went to when he caught his neighbor’s dog in the act: an air horn to startle them first, followed by a megaphone to tell them (and the neighbor) off.

Where Should You Get a Bullhorn for Sale?

Before you may default to the “let’s buy everything from Amazon” approach, we’d encourage you to take a look at our full lineup of available units. ThunderPower has been a long-standing brand name that has demonstrated time and again why it is the definitive choice for bullhorns (or megaphones). Not only do we carry the best models on the market, we offer US-based customer support that will pick up the phone as soon as you call. No more getting stuck navigating a phone tree in order to get a live person to help you with your order.

Do you have questions about a bullhorn for sale on our website? Our reps are ready to answer them, learn about your business, and give you the best options to meet your needs. 

If you still aren’t convinced, take a look at the reviews others have left us about why they love the ThunderPower brand.

When you’re ready, give us a call at 877-782-7073 to talk about your next order.