The Siren Board

is the whelen 3016 siren still being made and if not why did they take it out of production

not its been discontinued for resions i do not know. but all i know is there has to be at least 100 up my way.plus 50 or so 4008s

Whelen took it out of production because they began to make lower pitched sirens. It may have been more money to make than it was worth(low sales). I know the Vortex series is very popular due to its high intensity output (SPL 129 dB @100 feet) and its low cost. Whelen makes improvments alot. They try to make sirens with a low tone and high intensity output to achieve longer distance in coverage which can be several miles in some cases depending on model. You have to give Whelen credit because they make the most effective efficient electronic sirens, that actually sound like a siren and not a ineffective way to highpitch mimic of a siren like the ATI's and even Modulators are too high pitch to be effective at long range.

Whelen Rules wrote:Whelen took it out of production because they began to make lower pitched sirens. It may have been more money to make than it was worth(low sales). I know the Vortex series is very popular due to its high intensity output (SPL 129 dB @100 feet) and its low cost. Whelen makes improvments alot. They try to make sirens with a low tone and high intensity output to achieve longer distance in coverage which can be several miles in some cases depending on model. You have to give Whelen credit because they make the most effective efficient electronic sirens, that actually sound like a siren and not a ineffective way to highpitch mimic of a siren like the ATI's and even Modulators are too high pitch to be effective at long range.

That is why I think the others sound like vehicle sirens on steroids. And as far as ATI, they amount to a RadioShack car alarm bolted to a pole...in my opinion.

What amazes me about the Whelen, is that it has such a low tone for an electronic siren, but yet has a life of 20 years, which seems to be alot of years before the speakers blow out.

You have to give Whelen credit because they make the most effective efficient electronic sirens, that actually sound like a siren and not a ineffective way to highpitch mimic of a siren like the ATI's and even Modulators are too high pitch to be effective at long range.

I've never heard a Whelen in person; only sound clips on the internet.

However, I do have to agree with the above statement. The ATIs we have here are very ineffective. My house is about 1/2 mile from one. The system is tested on 1st Saturday of the month; many months I don't even hear it.

If atmospheric conditions are right, I can hear it faintly; one time there must've been a good breeze blowing towards the house because I heard it very clearly.

Even outdoors I don't think they'd be very effective. The sound is nothing but a high pitched electronic squeal.

There are several Whelen WPS-3016's in St. Louis County (Missouri), installed in 1982, and the problem found with about 4 or 5 of them in the past 2 or so years haven't been with speakers blowing out (that I know of), but that of the rotator boxes malfunctioning; the horn no longer rotates.

Yes, the Whelen WPS-4003's/4004's and the 2800/2900 series have nicer lower tones than the tone of the 3016's; more eerie. I think the 3016's tone still carries well at long distances, though. I have heard both the high and low tones of the various Whelen models, and both carry well. I don't believe there's a difference in coverage, IMHO.