WS-3000

WS-3000
[[File: WPS-3000 located at Todd Road, East of Summerfield Road; in Monroe County, MI |200px]]
Company	Whelen Engineering
Produced	1981-1990
Type	Electronic
Sound output	124
Succeeded by	WPS-4000 Series (1990)

The WS/WPS-3000 is an Electronic Siren that was manufactured by Whelen Engineering. This siren uses 16 100 Watt drivers to file sound through 16 "Throats" which is projected out of the horn.

originally introduced around 1981 to 1982, it used the same controller as the WS-2000 series. the WS tone generator is capable of 5 tones - alert, attack, wail, continuous air horn, and Hi-Lo. only the first 4 signals could be activated via the front panel push buttons, Hi-Lo had to be activated either through the radio or with a contact closure. later, when the ESC-864 was released, the name was changed to the WPS-3000, the rotator design was updated, and the siren was now capable of dual tone.

The original rotator design uses an optical encoder, which was found to be unreliable by Whelen, being acutely vulnerable to grease dripping from the bearings. This rotator design was used until the introduction of the ESC-864 controller, where they switched to a microswitch based design. the old rotator can be identified due to the lack of a split in the center of the rotator, whereas the newer design has a split in the middle and is overall slightly taller. both rotators use a 24V DC gearmotor to power the rotator in either direction. the optical encoder and limit switch designs are compatible with each other, meaning earlier rotators could be retrofit with newer controllers.

the only difference between the WS-2000 controller and the WS-3000 controller is the addition of a rotator controller. the tone generator and amplifiers are the same. these controllers had no official name, though WS controller is adequate.

Link to 1985 Whelen Advertisement