Whelen WPS-2800

The **WPS-2800** series is a series of modular multicellular electronic sirens that was produced by Whelen Engineering over a span of 15 years, and is the successor to the revolutionary WPS-2700 series. It improved the design and allowed for more speaker cells per siren, increasing its effectiveness versus its predecessor.

The WPS-2800 series and its sub-models would be produced until 2006, when it was discontinued and replaced by the WPS-2900 series, which offered ease of maintenance with its EZ-Pull drivers and improved the design further. The WPS-2800 series is still a very common find due to their reliability and long production run, and many have been upgraded to newer controllers which will increase their lifespan in service. Its main competitors were the Federal Signal Modulator and ASC's Quadren/i-FORCE.

## History and Design

The WPS-2800 series was introduced in 1991, replacing the WPS-2700 series as Whelen's main omnidirectional siren. Unlike the WPS-2700, the WPS-2800 uses an all-fibreglass construction, with the cell supports no longer being made of aluminum. The other major change from the WPS-2700 is the mesh screens to keep debris out of the cells, which have been significantly enlarged. This is unique to the WPS-2800 and makes it easy to differentiate from the WPS-2700 and WPS-2900, and also causes the siren to make a loud hissing noise as it runs due to the vibrations shaking the screens. The internal design of the siren was significantly improved, with models of identical cell count performing much better than their WPS-2700 counterparts.

Each WPS-2800 unit is made of a varying number of cells, with the number of cells dictating the siren's model number. Unlike the WPS-2700, the naming scheme changes the ones column instead of the tens column in its name. Thus, a WPS-2800 with six cells would be a WPS-2806, rather than a 2860. Between one and ten cells are supported, increasing the maximum number of cells compared to the WPS-2700 which only supported nine. Each cell contains a 400W "Superpower" speaker compression driver in the bottom half of each cell, which broadcasts the amplified tone from the siren's controller. The sound is projected upwards from the bottom of each cell, and outwards by a conical projector in the middle as well as the shape of the cells themselves.

Each cell is made entirely of fibreglass, and has two elliptical surfaces, with a projector and mesh screen in between. The cells are supported by six fibreglass supports. Early units ran on the ESC-864 analog controller, but this was quickly changed to a digital version of the ESC-864 controller. The WPS-2806 and below require a Type II cabinet, while the WPS-2807 and above require a Type III cabinet. The WPS-2800 also includes support for Whelen's VisuAlert, which is a set of 6 LED lights attached to the bottom of the siren to provide visual notification alongside standard audio tones.

Unlike the WPS-2700, the WPS-2800 was available in all ten cell configurations.

### Variants

In 1998, the WS-280 series was introduced. These were designed for use by fire departments, and sacrificed two-way radio functionality in favour of two-tone activation and local activation, which reduced costs. The WS-280 series was only available in one to five cell configurations, and are otherwise entirely identical to the WPS-2800 series. It came in 5 models: WS-281, WS-282, WS-283, WS-284, and WS-285. The WS-280 series was short-lived, being retired in 2002. It would later be replaced in 2011 by its spiritual successor, the Firehouse series.

In addition, in 2004, the Vortex-O series was introduced. Very similar in concept to the Vortex-R series, the Vortex-O is identical to a standard WPS-2800, but with its voice capabilities removed, meaning it is entirely incapable of relaying voice messages, both prerecorded and live. However, unlike the WS-280, it still supports two-way radio functionality. This reduced the cost of the siren and made it more affordable for areas where voice was not needed. It was available in four models, the Vortex O1, Vortex O2, Vortex 03, and Vortex O4. The Vortex-O series would be renamed to the OmniAlert in 2006, with the model names changing to the OAO1, OAO2, OAO3, and OAO4, respectively. These would be discontinued in 2006 in favor of their WPS-2900 counterparts.