The Siren Board

Posted: **Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:27 pm**

Kasm279 wrote: From what I read, it was introduced in the 2800 series. But I can't seem to find the product description for the 2800 series now...

Nope. The EZ-Pull driver is the big differentiating feature between the 2800 and the 2900.

Posted: **Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:57 am**

Also, someone mentioned that the taller a siren, the flatter the horizontal output pattern is. I wonder as to whether that has anything to do with the surrounding air trying to push the vibrating air at the siren's axis inward to flatten out the pattern due to the pressure differences, kinda like the slower-moving air under a plane's wing pushing up against the faster air on top. Is that the same basic concept or something completely different? And how big of an effect on the output profile does adding a large number of cells have?

Posted: **Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:18 pm**

uncommonsense wrote:Completely off the subject of efficiency is the fact that Whelens are built top to bottom in the USA. When large sums of public money are being spent, its still nice to know some of this money is staying right here.

Community Professional Loudspeakers builds Whelen's drivers. In fact, Bruce Howze, Community's owner, has his name on many of Whelen's siren design patents.

Ex: Whelen 2700 series: http://goo.gl/EmHcM
A patent that would evolve into the 3016/400x*: http://goo.gl/q0nNV

Now, that being said, I can say with total certainty that ATI uses a Taiwanese driver (and speakers). Federal uses a generic 100W driver, but its a crap shoot who makes them and where they're made (I couldn't find it). I believe its been said here that ASC uses Atlas Sound drivers, which are of quality and I believe made in the USA. But Whelen is for sure totally USA made, and that's something that, in this day of outsourcing, I really appreciate.

*This appears to be the ACTUAL patent for the 3016/400x. Its always been thrown about that http://goo.gl/UbjHY is the patent for the 3016, but that's just a rotator mechanism. The actual sound producing mechanism is the patent I posted above. I'm not sure its been posted here before in all truth.

I do not doubt your info on the Whelen Outdoor Warning siren drivers but on the automotive side, Whelen (and other automotive siren speakers makers) uses the Sanming Electronics (Taiwan R.O.C.) SD-210 series of 100 watt drivers on some of its speakers that is covered under U.S Patent # 5,987,148.
If you go to Atlas Sound's website, their new AS100N 100 watt driver that replaced their SD-370 driver looks almost identical to the Sanming SD-210R including the exact same dimensions. Atlas also does not claim to have a patent on the AS100N as they did on the SD-370A. I would not be surprised to find Sanming making Atlas's drivers.

Posted: **Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:29 pm**

I have been told that Whelen Sirens are blowing a lot of drivers everytime the system is activation in OKC and Ft. Worth. Good thing they bough a long term maintenance contract.

Posted: **Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:59 pm**

FederalSignalGuy wrote:I have been told that Whelen Sirens are blowing a lot of drivers everytime the system is activation in OKC and Ft. Worth. Good thing they bough a long term maintenance contract.

\
Curious, where did you hear this?

Posted: **Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:10 pm**

In recent history, I only hear about Whelens blowing out drivers if they don't get a long enough cool down between uses.

Posted: **Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:10 pm**

Hacksaw wrote:In recent history, I only hear about Whelens blowing out drivers if they don't get a long enough cool down between uses.

Especially in Franklin County, Ohio which is where Columbus is. Several of their Whelens have had those problems, and when there's a Tornado Warning, they sound for a certain amount of time, rest for a certain amount of time, and continue the cycle until the warning expires. They really need more rest than that.

Posted: **Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:21 pm**

Franklin county has REALLY bad luck with their Whelens. For some reason they smoke drivers and amps year round.

Posted: **Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:22 am**

Some pricey smoke too. $1,200 per year per siren in Franklin County (on average). They're good for what they are, but that's still too much.

Posted: **Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:27 am**

FederalSignalGuy wrote:I have been told that Whelen Sirens are blowing a lot of drivers everytime the system is activation in OKC and Ft. Worth. Good thing they bough a long term maintenance contract.

I have never heard of OKC blowing drivers everytime they activate, I bet on average they lose maybe 1-3 drivers a year.

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