Alertus

Alertus Technologies, based in Baltimore, MD, has provided a variety of products ranging from in-building systems to outdoor warning sirens and text-to-speech software since 2002. They offer integration of their products with existing systems from several companies and are involved in a wide number of industries. As far as sirens go, Alertus is a relatively small player in the market due to their small presence and semi-recent establishment, although their existing systems have proven to be very reliable in the areas of which they serve.

Products

High Power Speaker Array (HPSA)

Alertus' High Power Speaker Array (HPSA) are medium-range electronic sirens primarily intended for military bases, college campuses, and industrial facilities, as recommended by the company itself. They are derived from HÖRMANN's ECN, utilizing the same thin rectangular horn design, constructed primarily out of corrosion and UV resistant aluminum alloy. The speakers attach to a galvanized steel pole which the speakers attach to via a side mount and can be configured in a variety of ways; in most cases, they are arranged in a way that the sound is propagated omnidirectionally, with the principle being based on gap diffraction, also called Huygens' principle. The ECN's horn design was licensed to several companies during its production (and in some cases copied), resulting in many other sirens looking similar, if not identical to the ECN series, with the only changes being the logos on the sides of the horns. Alertus's horns were most likely produced in-house.

The similar horns make telling the sirens that use these designs apart quite difficult without close inspection, and many confuse sirens that share the same horns and drivers with one another. The sirens are powered by 150 W drivers, with cube-shaped enclosures behind each horn shielding each driver from the elements. The HPSA supports a minimum of 1 (150 W) and a maximum of 16 (2400 W) horns, with even larger options exceeding 4200 W available per request; very few HPSA units exceeding the standard 2400 W are known to exist currently. A wide variety of mounting options are available for the HPSA; Alertus provides options for pole mounts, which support 150 W to 3000 W+ HPSA units, roof mounts, which support 300 W to 3600 W, and ceiling mounts, which are only intended for indoor use and support 50 W, 100 W, and 200 W installations. The ceiling mount makes use of each speaker mounted horizontally instead of vertically to a central pivot, which is suspended by a chain.

The main difference that sets the HPSA apart from other American manufacturers that use the HÖRMANN-style speaker arrays are the controllers; Originally, the HPSA was driven by panels and hardware based on Telegrafia's controllers, and utilized a European tone set. This is evident by their similar 415-425 Hz peaking pitch, wind ups/downs, and 10/8 second on and off timing. Telegrafia, based in Slovakia, also likely distributed their panels to HELIN, based in Germany, to integrate with the SONUS HES sirens. Alertus and Telegrafia's series were practically one in the same, besides the logos on the horns and cabinets; while it is not exactly confirmed that Alertus used Telegrafia hardware, considering the striking similarity between the Telegrafia PAVIAN and Alertus HPSA sirens, it would not be far off to say that Alertus had some kind of deal with Telegrafia, similar to Cooper/MadahCom and SiRcom in the early 2000's. At some point around 2022, Alertus apparently ditched the Telegrafia controllers in favor of a newer design.

These were designed in house and most likely introduced to cut down on expenses. Telegrafia also updated their controllers with a different amplifier design, and right around that time, HELIN changed their controller design as well and started to use what appear to be SiRcom amplifiers in their control cabinets. It is speculated that the changes are tied to each other given that they happened at around the same time. These new controllers no longer use a European tone set but are capable of it considering they still emit a sine wave-esque sounding tone and have 2 audio outputs. Chances are these may have a dual tone capability, similar to Whelen's ESC-2030, though it does not seem to be utilized.

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Mobile High Power Speaker Array (HPSA)

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High Power Speaker 100 W (HPS 100)

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