FILE 08 REV 2026.04 DRAFT
FRAME · 08 / BLOG
08 Section · Blog
BLOG.LONG-FORM ONLY.
The blog is for things that don't fit a buyer's-guide hub: install journals, news, regulatory updates, deep-dives on chord theory and acoustic measurement. RSS feed coming once we have enough volume to justify it.
In the build queue
/01 OPEN
The 2014 DJD Labs train horn test explained
Deep-dive on the only credible third-party SPL test on the consumer train horn market. What DJD measured, methodology, why nobody has rerun it.
/02 OPEN
Why locomotive K5LA is quieter at 100 ft
Counterintuitive: K5LA at 3 ft = 149.4 dB, but at 100 ft = ~117 dB — sometimes quieter than aftermarket. Frequency-content physics explained.
/03 OPEN
FRA §229.129 vs SAE J1470 — two dB standards
Two unrelated SPL standards govern train horn measurement. FRA is for locomotives at 100 ft; SAE J1470 is at 2 m. Why mixing creates marketing fiction.
/04 OPEN
The Mississippi $1.78M train horn verdict
Kelly v. Garland — 145 dB train horn at 10 ft caused permanent hearing damage, jury awarded $1,787,597. What truck owners should take away.
/05 OPEN
How to read a train horn spec sheet without getting fooled
8-question framework for buying a train horn from a spec sheet. What "continuous duty" means, why "tank capacity" lies, the dB-at-distance trick.
/06 OPEN
Why Amazon 150 dB listings survive despite being wrong
Same Ningbo factory ships to dozens of Amazon-seller brands at $7-9 wholesale. Why marketplace incentives keep the inflated dB claims alive.