ACA Alertronic

Rotational Electronic

The **Alertronic** is a line of sirens that was produced by Alerting Communicators of America (ACA) and later the American Signal Corporation (ASC). An ambitious attempt to compete in the budding electronic siren market in the 1980s, it was always the underdog in its market but made up for it with its quirks.

## History

The Alertronic series was introduced in 1983 as ACA's first fully electronic warning system. These were intended to compete in the electronic siren market against Whelen Engineering's popular WS-2000 and WS-3000 sirens and Federal Signal's EOWS series, which were seeing much success at the time. The first two sirens introduced were the Alertronic 5000, which was a rotational, high powered electronic siren, and the Alertronic 4000, which was a directional electronic siren made up of 4 speaker arrays. While the 4000 proved popular, the 5000 would be a complete failure and would be discontinued shortly after.

In 1985, the AL-6000R was released, which was a rotational electronic siren that was meant to replace the 5000. It used a design that was very similar to the WS-3000, which nearly led to a lawsuit from Whelen, though the lawsuit was dropped as ACA was deemed to not be a significant enough competitor. The same year, the short-lived omnidirectional AL-7200 would be released, and the Alertronic 4000 would be renamed to the AL-4000. These three sirens would be the only sirens in the series until 1986, when the AL-1000, 2000, 6000, and 8000 would be released, which were variations of the AL-4000 with differing amounts of speakers.

The line would remain the same until 1991, when the AL-6000R would be discontinued and replaced by the AR-1600, which was an improved version of the design with better performance and cheaper production and maintenance costs. The year after, the Quadren would be introduced, which was considered part of the Alertronic series at that point in time.

In 1994, ACA went bankrupt and was bought by Hörmann, being reformed into the American Signal Corporation. The Alertronic line would remain largely the same as it was, though the Quadren would be renamed to the I-Force, and the AR-1600 would be renamed to the RE-1600. The line would remain unchanged throughout the rest of its production, until the line was finally discontinued by ASC in 2011.

All Alertronic sirens run on 24VDC, and are capable of battery backup operation, allowing for the siren to operate for up to 30 minutes after main grid power is lost. The siren can run on either deep cell 24V batteries, or on solar powered operation. The Alertronic was capable of 10 main signals, with 13 different programmable tones. These signals were Alert, Attack, Fire, Airhorn, Hi-Lo, Hazard, Scream, Wail, Silent Test, and Chimes, and all Alertronic sirens are voice-capable, using either a live microphone on the controller, or prerecorded messages. The sirens can run on analog or digital controllers.

Today, Alertronic sirens are few and far between, both due to their poor sales compared to their competitors, as well as the increasing age of these sirens. These sirens developed a reputation for questionable reliability, with some cities opting to replace them entirely after a few years. Enthusiasts have also noted their quietness compared to other electronic sirens, which may be due to failing drivers as these sirens age. Few rotational Alertronics remain in service, along with a handful of directional units. Others sit abandoned and rotting away, having been replaced or decommissioned long ago.

The models of Alertronic are as follows:

## Rotational

### AL-5000

The directional electronic ACA Alertronic AL-5000 was introduced in 1983 by ACA. The Alertronic 5000 makes use of a large fibreglass projector consisting of six exponential channels that came together into one large projector. Each channel was connected to two 100-watt drivers for a total of 1200 watts. Supposedly, the design was later altered to include four 100-watt drivers per channel for a total of 2400 watts. The assembly utilized a chain-driven rotator that allowed the horn assembly to rotate 360 degrees. Like the rest of the Alertronic family, it likely made use of collector rings. Very few of these sirens were reported to have been installed, and one was rumoured to have been installed in Rhinelander, WI. The Alertronic AL-5000 was rated at 125 dB at 100 ft. It was discontinued just a year later in 1984 due to lack of sales as well as various design flaws (in particular, the projector was susceptible to high winds due to its shape) and replaced with the far more successful and compact Alertronic AL-6000R in ACA's lineup in 1985. Very little else is known about this siren, and as of today is assumed to be extinct.

### AL-6000R

The AL-6000R was introduced in 1985, replacing the Alertronic 5000. The AL-6000R is very similar to Whelen's sirens, utilizing high-powered speaker drivers located in the back panel of the siren to amplify the sounds from the controller. The AL-6000R uses 16 100W drivers for a total of 1600W, with two drivers paired into each of the siren's 8 "throats" which connect to the siren's singular horn and allows the siren to reach 125 dB at 100ft. The siren is rotated with a separate motor and gear reduction drive which drives a chain inside of the lower enclosure that rotates the entire siren unit 360 degrees. Early AL-6000Rs made use of the Allertor/Penetrator series chain-driven rotators, although facing backwards. This was quickly changed to an internal chain-driven rotator to shield it from corrosion, which is the design it used up until its discontinuation. Every other rotating Alertronic siren used this rotator afterwards.

Like Federal Signal's EOWS series, the AL-6000R makes use of collector rings, which means it doesn't have to oscillate. However, this also means that the siren may cut out or glitch if the rings are dirty. ACA did experiment with directly wired drivers, removing the collector rings and hard wiring the drivers to the controller and adding a reverser switch to allow the siren to oscillate like a Whelen. At least one of these units survives in private possession. The siren's overall design was similar enough to Whelen's WS-3000 that Whelen considered suing ACA for infringing on their designs, but they chose not to as ACA was not deemed a big enough competitor in the electronic siren market. In 1991, the AL-6000R was discontinued in favour of the AR-1600, which simplified and improved the design and was cheaper to make.

### AR/RE-1600

The AR-1600 was introduced in 1991, as an improved and refined version of the previous AL-6000R. The siren uses largely the same design, with a few changes. The number of throat channels was reduced from 8 to 4, with the siren using 16 100W speaker compression drivers, with 4 attached to each throat. In addition, the siren's aluminum components were replaced with corrosion-resistant fibreglass components, and a mesh screen was added to the siren's projector to help keep debris out of the throats. The siren's overall height was reduced, with the projector now being more compact due to having fewer throat channels. The projector itself was simplified, with a shorter distance from the end of the throats and the end of the projector itself, and the length of each throat is longer than the AL-6000R. The driver cover on the rear is now rounded on the top and bottom. All of these changes improved the siren's performance, with the siren being rated for 128 dB at 100ft. The AR-1600 would be renamed to the RE-1600 in 1994 when ACA became ASC, and the siren would be produced until 2008 when it would be discontinued.

## Directional/Omnidirectional

### AL-1000 and 2000

The AL-1000 and AL-2000 are two small directional electronic sirens, which were introduced between 1986 and 1991. These are essentially an AL-4000 cut in half, with four Atlas CJ-46 fibreglass paging horns attached to a rectangular aluminum housing which contains the wiring and speaker drivers. The AL-1000 uses 4 100W speaker compression drivers, with one attached to each horn, for a total of 400W. The AL-2000 is visually identical to the AL-1000, but differs on the inside by doubling the number of drivers, with 2 100W drivers per horn for a total of 800W. There is a removable panel on one side of the siren, which allows access to the internals, and the design of these sirens allowed for different directional configurations by removing speakers on one or more sides. The AL-1000 is rated for 108 dB at 100ft, while the AL-2000 is rated for 112 dB. These sirens sold poorly, and none are currently known to exist today.

### AL-4000

The AL-4000 was one of the first sirens in the series to be released, and was the longest lived, being produced from 1983 until 2011. The AL-4000 was the directional, non-rotational alternative to the Alertronic 5000 when it was first released. The AL-4000 is a simple electronic siren, with 8 Atlas CJ-47 fibreglass paging horns attached to a cubical aluminum housing which contains the wiring and speaker drivers. The AL-4000 was available without the square housing, with each speaker array's drivers being contained in individual smaller housings. This made it able to face in more than 4 directions, and made it look very similar to a DSA or WS-2000. The AL-4000 contains 16 100W speaker drivers, with two attached to each horn for a total of 1600W. There are 2 horns on each side of the housing. There is a removable panel on one side of the siren, which allows access to the internals, and the design of this siren allowed for different directional configurations by removing speakers on one or more sides. The AL-4000 is rated for 116 dB at 100ft, and was one of the most successful models due to its compact, inexpensive, and easy to maintain nature. Several remain in service today.

### AL-6000

The AL-6000, which is not to be confused with the AL-6000R, is a rare directional electronic siren. The AL-6000 is essentially an AL-8000 with the top four speakers removed, sharing the same housing as the AL-8000 to save on costs. Due to sharing the same housing, the horn mounts are visible where the horns would have been mounted. The AL-6000 was introduced between 1986 and 1991, with 12 Atlas CJ-46 fibreglass paging horns attached to a tall rectangular aluminum housing, with three horns on each side. The siren used 2 100W speaker compression drivers per horn, for a total of 2400W. There is a removable panel on one side of the siren, which allows access to the internals, and the design of this siren allowed for different directional configurations by removing speakers on one or more sides. The AL-6000 is rated for 121 dB at 100ft. The AL-6000 was not as successful as the AL-4000 or AL-8000, with no units known to survive in service, though at least one inactive unit remains.

### AL-8000

The AL-8000 is the largest directional siren in the Alertronic series, essentially being two AL-4000s stacked on top of each other with a single rectangular housing. The AL-8000 shares the same tall, rectangular aluminum housing as the AL-6000 which contains the siren's wiring and drivers, with 16 Atlas CJ-46 fibreglass paging horns attached to the housing, with 4 horns on each side. The siren uses 32 100W speaker compression drivers, with 2 drivers attached to each horn, for a total of 3200W. There is a removable panel on one side of the siren, which allows access to the internals, and the design of this siren allowed for different directional configurations by removing speakers on one or more sides. The AL-8000 is rated for 126 dB at 100ft, and saw similar success to the AL-4000, with several units remaining in service today.

### AL-7200

Little is known about this siren compared to the rest of the series, as it was relatively short lived. It was introduced sometime around 1985, and uses an omnidirectional design compared to the directional design the other non-rotational sirens used. The AL-7200 uses the same Atlas CJ-46 paging horns as the other sirens, with three rows of 8 horns attached to an octagonal aluminum housing which contains the speaker drivers and wiring, with a total of 24 horns altogether. The siren is assumed to use 48 100W speaker compression drivers, with two attached to each horn, for a total of 4800W. The siren's decibel rating is unknown, as is when it was discontinued. The only known units known to have existed were installed in Oak Ridge, TN, and only a single unit remains, abandoned. A larger 30-speaker model, the AL-12000, was rumoured to have existed, though absolutely no evidence of this siren's existence has been found.

### Quadren

Main article: Quadren

This siren was introduced in 1992 and differs significantly from the other Alertronic sirens in design, being a large stacked-cell electronic siren similar to a Federal Signal Modulator or Whelen WPS-2800. More information is available in its own article linked above.