The Siren Board

I'm probably alone on this, but I'm actually disappointed that Sentry caved and jumped on the electronic bandwagon. I think mechanical sirens are superior, and I've always respected Sentry for taking a stand on that. I guess that wasn't enough to keep up with the competition, so they finally said "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." What a shame. I'm tired of the electrification of everything. They're probably all driving Teslas, too. What the heck is this world coming to?

i can see your point, but I raise you this. What happens if we do run out of fossil fuels. or say the county needs to announce something. if they have an electronic siren with solar panels, they can do both. I too belive mechanical sirens are superior, but they need maintenance. not that electronic sirens dont but replacing a driver is much easier than a bearing.

When I initially seen that Sentry was going to introduce a siren with really high intelligibility I had a feeling that they were going to buck the norm. I though they were going to use the European style speakers that SiRcomUSA, Alertus, and Eaton, because those sirens have some impressive clarity. Something told me they were either going to use the HyperSpike MA series speakers or the LRAD's 360X and it's variants. The HyperSpike speakers were a good choice. These are very lightweight and compact. They also put out a ton of sound for their size. Click here to see my article on these speakers to see how well they perform.

Zarlog wrote:Wasn't there a post a while back on here about these speakers and people were talking about how they would make great electronic sirens?

I guess someone at the company seen my post. Hot damn!

Arteelx wrote:I'm probably alone on this, but I'm actually disappointed that Sentry caved and jumped on the electronic bandwagon. I think mechanical sirens are superior, and I've always respected Sentry for taking a stand on that. I guess that wasn't enough to keep up with the competition, so they finally said "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." What a shame. I'm tired of the electrification of everything. They're probably all driving Teslas, too. What the heck is this world coming to?

The thing is Sentry is actually losing out by staying with mechanical sirens. Electronic sirens are preferred by things like college or university campuses, because they can get a message out and broadcast a tone. While mechanical sirens can get the job done, and Sentry has done some campus siren systems in the past, they can only do so much. Military bases are also a dead spot for Sentry since they're mandated to have voice capable systems anyway. Also While mechanical sirens can cut through the air very well, that doesn't mean that electronic sirens aren't good. Whelen's WPS-2910 is easily able to keep up with something like a Thunderbolt or a 508 and nearly mirrors the performance of the 16V1T-B. I've heard 2810s and 16V1T-B's from 7 plus miles away and have heard a Vortex from 10 miles. I can't say the same for other electronic sirens on the market, but don't write them off because they are "new technology."

As a Sentry customer, I wish they would have included sound clips!

carexpertandy wrote: ↑

Sat May 05, 2018 3:10 pm

Oh my goodness, it looks like the largest model can put out as much as 148 dB! Louder than a Chrysler it looks like!

I don't believe that it is louder than a Chrysler Air Raid Siren.

The VR-10 literature has incomplete information to be absolute, but enough to dispute a claim of it being louder than a Chrysler Air Raid Siren. I believe the Decibel measurement for most modern sirens today is taken a 1 meter. The 138 dB(C) measurement of the Chrysler Air Raid Siren sound however was taken at 100 feet (32m). The approximate dB loss over the difference is 30 dB. If the VR-10 measurement was in fact taken at 1 meter the approximate sound level of the VR-10 at 100 feet would be 118 dB. Albeit very loud it still falls about 20 dB short of the Chrysler Air Raid Siren. I also note the power rating of the VR-10 is shown in their literature as 3,300 watts. Tthe Chrysler Air Raid Siren generates about 30,000 watts of sound energy.

As some one has previously pointed out, the published effective coverage ranges of the two sirens are vastly different (VR-10 one mile, CARS two and one-half miles). I would also note that this is certainly a case of apples and oranges as the VR-10 has two distinct advantages (among many others), 360 degree continuous coverage and the ability to do voice announcements.

While I do agree that 148 seems a little optimistic, I do need to correct you on something.
dB ratings today are still taken from 100ft.
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I wonder what that controller’s going to belt out in terms of tones....

probably the normal. siren tones, with voice.

From what I understand, Hyperspike speakers are extremely effective. In combination with Sentry, I think we can expect a really high quality siren from this line

I figured I'd bump this post to inform everyone that Sentry has recently discontinued the VR series. They are going to develop a new line of electronic sirens from what I understand. The series is no longer listed on their website.

DJ2226 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 06, 2020 6:24 am

I figured I'd bump this post to inform everyone that Sentry has recently discontinued the VR series. They are going to develop a new line of electronic sirens from what I understand. The series is no longer listed on their website.

You've gotta be kidding me. How long have those been out? 2 years? Well, at least a few were installed.
Excited to see their new line. Hope it doesn't flop this time.