Whelen Question

Tech225 · Post by **Tech225** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:36 pm

Anybody know what this actually is?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 75824&rd=1

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:35 pm

I'm wondering if it's a siren amp or something. I wouldnt buy it thats for sure.

nmfire10 · Post by **nmfire10** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:12 pm

Definately looks like a remote siren amp, and a fairly modern one. Never seen a Whelen power supply that looked like that and I've seen a lot of them.

I wouldn't buy it not just due to the uncertainty... the main problem I think is what appears to be some sort of fecal matter on the cover.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:35 pm

to me it looked like corrosion and rust

Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:41 am

That's a VERY early siren or electric air horn remote amplifier. Totally wothless without the right control head and cable, not to mention that it looks like it is well past it's prime. The stuff on top looks like some kind of adhesive such as used in sealing gaps or keeping a piece of moulding in place. Probably got on it in the trunk of someone's vehicle.

I see my all time fvorite Ebay line was used in this auction as well. "Was in working condition when removed from vehicle." What a maroon! (Yes, I meant to spell it that way) How can it be so sure it was in working condition when removed when he has no idea what it even is?

familo77 · Post by **familo77** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:18 am

Wow, looks like an excellent PVRS product. Oh wait, it's not Code 3. "We don't have parts for that!!!"

Post by **alex** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 7:34 am

familo77 wrote:Wow, looks like an excellent PVRS product. Oh wait, it's not Code 3. "We don't have parts for that!!!"

Not that this is really on topic of this post - but what is with small agencies obsession with code 3 products.... the agency I'm with has blown up 2-3 switchbox's, and they STILL buy their crap.

-Alex

x1sspic · Post by **x1sspic** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:41 am

I think that DID come out of a PVRS vehicle.... to be replaced by something Code 3

apco25 · Post by **apco25** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:46 am

code 3 compeltely blows, literally

I have numerous siren/switch box combos fry and catch fire over the years.

I can't get away from the damn things, we have them in our county vehicles and the college!

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:55 am

apco25 wrote:code 3 compeltely blows, literally

I have numerous siren/switch box combos fry and catch fire over the years.

I can't get away from the damn things, we have them in our county vehicles and the college!

Ya'll comments surprise me. I've got a 4-year-old VConn 3672L4 in the truck, and probably a dozen or so that I maintain in various apparatus and for some of the other volunteers. I've never had a serious problem with them... my only real complaint was the old mic design that would tend to go hot-mic as the button aged (fixed now), and the looseness of a well-used pursuit switch.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:04 am

apco25 wrote:code 3 compeltely blows, literally

I have numerous siren/switch box combos fry and catch fire over the years.

I can't get away from the damn things, we have them in our county vehicles and the college!

I think more people would question your wiring vs Code 3's product.

jedi_saber · Post by **jedi_saber** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:06 pm

tvsjr, you seem to be one of the lucky ones.

I have not had good luck with ANY code3 siren and wont touch them with a 10-ft pole! Excellent wiring jobs given, I have seen these blow up on multiple occasions.
Have I mentioned that they sound, shall we say inferior? I realize a siren is a siren is a siren... BUT let's not get something where the airhorn sounds like a constipated duck trying to cough something up and the rest of the tones don't sound like they are generated by Fisher-Price.

I have made nothing but excellent experiences with all Unitrol sirens. Newer Whelen stuff is top notch too.

jedi_saber · Post by **jedi_saber** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:27 pm

[quote="alex]Not that this is really on topic of this post - but what is with small agencies obsession with code 3 products.... the agency I'm with has blown up 2-3 switchbox's, and they STILL buy their crap.

-Alex[/quote]
Agreed - I only see small depts buy their stuff. Don't get me wrong, I think code3 makes decent lightbars et al (360, mx7000, excal), but their sirens are junk in (apparently not only in) my book.
They are just as expensive if not more than everything else out there and they sound like crap...but small town ops keep buying them.

Whatever...

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:29 pm

jedi_saber wrote:tvsjr, you seem to be one of the lucky ones.

I have not had good luck with ANY code3 siren and wont touch them with a 10-ft pole! Excellent wiring jobs given, I have seen these blow up on multiple occasions.
Have I mentioned that they sound, shall we say inferior? I realize a siren is a siren is a siren... BUT let's not get something where the airhorn sounds like a constipated duck trying to cough something up and the rest of the tones don't sound like they are generated by Fisher-Price.

I have made nothing but excellent experiences with all Unitrol sirens. Newer Whelen stuff is top notch too.

I'll agree with you, to some extent. The Code 3 Mastercom siren unit totally sucks... the airhorn sounds like an ultra-rapid hyperyelp - blah, and the siren tones aren't much better.

OTOH, the VConn has one of the best airhorns I've heard short of the real things. Definitely better than the Mother Moto siren box. Wail isn't quite as good as a Motorola box or a real FedSig siren, but it's pretty close. Yelp and Hyperyelp are quite good.

That being said, the next truck will likely have an eQ2B or the Whelen equivalent... I like the mechanical tones.

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:30 pm

Adam wrote:
apco25 wrote:code 3 compeltely blows, literally

I have numerous siren/switch box combos fry and catch fire over the years.

I can't get away from the damn things, we have them in our county vehicles and the college!
I think more people would question your wiring vs Code 3's product.

I wouldn't question apco25's wiring. Have you seen the pix of his truck? I guess the wiring could be hideous underneath, but I highly doubt it, considering the way the rest of the vehicle looks.

jedi_saber · Post by **jedi_saber** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:37 pm

I second that. APCO25 is on top of his game and does his homework my friends...

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:41 pm

jedi_saber wrote:Agreed - I only see small depts buy their stuff. Don't get me wrong, I think code3 makes decent lightbars et al (360, mx7000, excal), but their sirens are junk in (apparently not only in) my book.
They are just as expensive if not more than everything else out there and they sound like crap...but small town ops keep buying them. Whatever...

Again, the Mastercom blows. There aren't a ton of options if you want something that gives you a pursuit switch, 4 pushbutton switches, and a full-featured siren/PA. I'm excluding the crappier stuff like SVP, ShoMe, etc.

I've made a number of 30+ minute runs with the VConn running the whole time... no problems and on on-board fires yet.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 7:19 pm

I wasn't insulting his work.. I know there's a lot of members on here who are fanatics with their equipment and have seen some amazing installs. I was just saying.. "most people" would question the wiring first.. imo.

This is the first I've heard about Code 3 products lack of quality. I love the Mastercoms airhorn sound myself.. but the wail and yelp blows.

Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:09 pm

My biggest gripe with them (Code 3) is the 2 WEEK (yep, you heard me right) lead time on getting parts. All orders by dealers are processed through the company instead of master distributors (Who generally have alot in stock). I just love telling a customer they have to wait 2 - 3 weeks sometimes for parts.

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 1:07 pm

there amber stuff is even worse code3/PSE

ESDA20 · Post by **ESDA20** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 7:45 pm

You hafta admit tho, for all their suckiness, there sure are a lot of Code3 Dashlasers out there on vollies dashboards. I'd wager 3 out of 5 dash lights in my county are Code3 DL's.

Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:00 am

PSE

Piece of
S#it that's
Expensive!

thebigphish · Post by **thebigphish** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:27 pm

ESDA20 wrote:You hafta admit tho, for all their suckiness, there sure are a lot of Code3 Dashlasers out there on vollies dashboards. I'd wager 3 out of 5 dash lights in my county are Code3 DL's.

that's because CT has a disproportionately high amount of Whelen products....you need that crap to balance out the Feng Shui of the universe.
It's an equilibrium thing.

FFParamedic571 · Post by **FFParamedic571** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:53 am

Its all about pricing and deals.. Missouri has tons of Code3 stuff because ts made there and they give a great deal on the stuff they bid and sell. Im sure CT is the same way. Illinois has a ton of federal stuff. California is unitrol.

I have very few Code3 sirens I install. 90% of what I install is unitrol TM-4's or PA300's the last %10 is Code 3 3050 undercover sirens. I like those and think they are loud and easy to install.

The Vcon's and mastercoms are fine if you use them to drive a relay for switching our power. Just dont try to run a whole car through one..

BPD109 · Post by **BPD109** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:52 pm

To answer the earlier post abouti why smaller departments opt for the Code3 siren/switch panel combinations...I work for a small PD in the butt-crack of southwest Missouri and I can tell you one thing, amongst all others that's true regarding small-town Missouri. The powers that be, who are responsible for allowing PDs to spend money want it spent IN THE COMMUINITY, and if not there, then in the state. Code 3 gives us pretty good price cuts, and the city fathers love the appearance of saving money.

The ONLY trouble I have had out of the Vcons is the pursuit switch wearing out, and it was a galls knock-off box that it happened with. Before we switched lightbars (From loaded MX7000s, Halogen) to Whelen Edge bars, I made sure to drive the light bar from a relay and not pull all that juice through the box. Safety, don't matter who makes the box, its just better to do it right, the first time so you have 0 failures. The Whelen bars we have now use low current switching, so the entire system is run through the box direct. We had a couple of Carson sirens and all I can say about them is they are CRAP. The newer Code3 Mastercoms sound incredibly pitiful...the fisher price siren tones for sure, cant argue that. I would also much rather have the eQ2B too, but our budget just wont allow for that much cash on a siren..

Just my .02

apco25 · Post by **apco25** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 3:06 pm

I wasn't complaining about all Code 3 products - just the VCON and MASTERCOM.

Those models have a pretty high failure rate. The slide switch wears quickly as the do the funky plastic push button auxilary control switches.

The most prevelent problem I've encountered is the 12v switch board is grossly over rated in amp load. Most of I've seen show signs of burning on the board and I've had one actually catch fire while in use.

That unit was replaced with an PA300 and SW300 classic combo with NO problem what so ever.

Good things Code3 has product? The dashlazer and the MX7000.

usmcguttentag · Post by **usmcguttentag** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:45 pm

That sure has the same harness for a siren like the other Welen models.

Sun Feb 13, 2005 7:00 am

usmcguttentag wrote:That sure has the same harness for a siren like the other Welen models.

That's because, as stated above, it is a Whelen siren.

Cam · Post by **Cam** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 9:57 pm

BPD109 wrote:..butt-crack of southwest Missouri and I can tell you one thing, amongst all others that's true regarding small-town Missouri.

Going by this infomation I wish to hazerd a guess of...Branson?

Cam

Bob W · Post by **Bob W** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:28 pm

nmfire10 wrote:Definately looks like a remote siren amp, and a fairly modern one. Never seen a Whelen power supply that looked like that and I've seen a lot of them.

I wouldn't buy it not just due to the uncertainty... the main problem I think is what appears to be some sort of fecal matter on the cover.

I don't think that it's all that modern - probably late '70s to early '80s - whatever it is. Based on the trademark - the old Whelen Strobe II dome - which hasn't been used for many years. Also, they haven't been in Deep River, CT for a while.

It does look like some aircraft strobe supplies I have seen.

nick.dejohn · Post by **nick.dejohn** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 5:19 pm

It looks like the amplifier part of the old Whelen WS-224/227 models. Those modles are similar to the 295HFS4 today but about 15 years ago. The control head had a white facing to it and the ws227 had a 3 position pursuit slide switch and 4 push buttons for other accessories. The siren tones were the basic ones back in the day; manual, wail, yelp, and two-tone along with radio rebroadcast and pa. It als had a small black volume control on the lower right side on the front for the pa and 2 small push buttons for manual and air horn.

This was a pretty nice siren. If you can pick up the amplifier pretty cheap, you can sometimes find the control head eith er here or on ebay also

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:59 pm

alex wrote:
familo77 wrote:Wow, looks like an excellent PVRS product. Oh wait, it's not Code 3. "We don't have parts for that!!!"
Not that this is really on topic of this post - but what is with small agencies obsession with code 3 products.... the agency I'm with has blown up 2-3 switchbox's, and they STILL buy their crap.

-Alex

The world's largest fire service also likes Code3. Maybe everyone in the middle buys elsewhere, and the only organisations at the extremes of size buy Code3

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:05 am

i know FDNY tries to buy Whelen When ever possible

1 due to the location of chester to NYC
2 all the lights shipped down there after 9-11

Post by Pj » Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:10 am

I think those are some of the best sounding amps they produced. There is something about those tones that sound really natural...especially with a LO-Pro speaker. Now all the sounds are within 1800-3000Hz reguardless of siren selected.

nick.dejohn wrote:It looks like the amplifier part of the old Whelen WS-224/227 models. Those modles are similar to the 295HFS4 today but about 15 years ago. The control head had a white facing to it and the ws227 had a 3 position pursuit slide switch and 4 push buttons for other accessories. The siren tones were the basic ones back in the day; manual, wail, yelp, and two-tone along with radio rebroadcast and pa. It als had a small black volume control on the lower right side on the front for the pa and 2 small push buttons for manual and air horn.

This was a pretty nice siren. If you can pick up the amplifier pretty cheap, you can sometimes find the control head eith er here or on ebay also

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