Encoder Identification Whelen

[OHIO Desperado]

I have an encoder that I am trying to identify. It's a Whelen built into what looks to be an old 2A Bell Phone beige case with a brown flip top on it.
It resembles the E801 but the controls are centered and not off to the right. No model number is printed on it. It's in very good shape and is operational. I have wired it to a audio amp and decoded the audio output.

Looking to find out what it is, what it's worth and ultimately sell to a collector.

Also will be selling an 864 once I get the oscillator for the clock running again. May be calling Whelen on that one.

BTW, I work on sirens as part of my job (communications field tech) so I do know a bit about this stuff, but the older encoders a mystery to me.
Thanks for any input ahead of time.

[OHIO Desperado]

Picture of the unit

[murrfarms]

While I'm not quite sure the exact model yours is, I do know that Whelen also offered a similar encoder model with less function keys as this one has, which was labeled as the "E801" encoder. A fellow enthusiast and board member has photos of an E801 encoder, which are attached below. Have you tried contacting anyone in the customer service department at Whelen to see if they happen to have any old manuals or literature on this type of encoder? If not, that may be your best bet to try first since not many other enthusiasts have Whelen encoders in their personal collections that I'm aware of, at least not any made prior to the older model E-864/M encoder that Whelen produced from the early '80s into the '90s. I hope this at least helps get you pointed in the right direction, and if you need contact information for someone at Whelen HQ or if we can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask!


(click on the thumbnails above for a larger resolution image)

[OHIO Desperado]

I can call Chris at Whelen. I speak to him about other things once a month or so.
As far as collection. I originally got this for the cool factor because I work on A large number of Whelen sirens.
The cool factor wore off and interest in having it sort of dwindled. I have an 864 for the same reason that I am going to repair. the clock doesn't run in it currently. If you are familiar with them there is an oscillator in the back right corner of the board that feeds the microprocessor and clock. It will not do anything without that oscillator running. Not a big deal but requires time I haven't allocated to the project yet. At this point I am going to get it running, put my documentation together for it and sell to someone that would enjoy having it. I have a 2010 that I use for work that's in a case with a radio with all the frequencies for the areas I service. I just reprogram it as needed. Honestly I rarely use it. Mostly I just encode with my service monitor for testing.
I have little idea what either are worth on the collectors market, but I would bet someone would love having one or both of them and would respect them enough to not go around setting off sirens all over the place.

[OHIO Desperado]

Licking County, Madison County, some Franklin County on the more technical issues, Some Union county but they are Federal. Got some Thunderbeams and a ThunderBolt 1000 in Newark I work on. Actually built Whelen interface for them so they trip off the Whelen encoder. Whelen decoder boards out of an older WPS series and CDM radios. All this is in Ohio BTW.

I have been going through stuff I have carted home over time and just trying to get it sorted out and disposed of. I was nuts about sirens for a while so if it had to do with that ,and was headed for the recycler or trash I redirected it to my basement and garage. Would still like to find a 1003 Thunderbolt. But that's about the extent of it.

[OHIO Desperado]

It has been identified, by Whelen no less as an E-836. It is an 8 digit encoder and isn't in use any more as all sirens now are either 7 or 10 (10 being prevalent) digit systems.

I will be posting this for sale,,,, but I honestly have no idea what to put on it as a value.

[EMD28]

Good morning, If you have not yet sold the full function encoder, I may be interested in purchasing to replace the old limited function model E802 I have in our EOC. I still have several of the 8 digit sirens in service and also slowly We are removing a bunch for parts as we upgrade to new 10 digit sirens.