Whelen WS-2000R Special Siren Test - Whoop, Alert, and Wail - Chetek, Wisconsin

Date: 4/5/21
Location: Chetek Dog Park, Chetek, Wisconsin
Temp: 70°F
Signal: 3 cycles of whoop, 30 seconds of alert, 2 minutes of wail
Units Heard:
WS-2000R - 150 feet
OA-1 - 0.6 miles
WS-3000 - 1.2 miles

NOTE: As of November 2021, this siren has been replaced by a Vortex R4.

This morning, Asa and I drove out to the Chippewa Valley to meet up with Mitchell, Holly, and William to catch some siren tests. Little did we know, we were in for a rough couple of hours. First, at 10, Sand Creek’s 508 failed the Dunn County monthly test. We called dispatch, and the lady said she was having difficulty setting it off. After three failed attempts on the county’s end, we just cut our losses and left for our second target, which was the Chetek 2000R. A city worker, named Dan, was there with us to see if the siren worked (it was their first test of the year). Just before 11, the county got a fire call, so the test was put on hold until after they were done. We waited for over a half hour, and ditched our noon plans in hopes that it would sound. At about 11:40, the county finally sent the tones out, and the 2000R fails to sound. Since we were pretty fed up with everything by then, we decided to ask Dan if he could set the siren off for us manually. Thankfully, he agreed to! He mistakenly set off whoop and alert at first, and quickly cancelled them after realizing he pushed the wrong button. On his third try, he got it right, and it wailed for just shy of two minutes before he stopped it. He was on the phone with Frontline (their contractor) for a while after the test and was fiddling around with the innards of the cabinet, and let us know that they would get the problem sorted out soon. Hopefully they can get it working before the statewide tornado drills next Thursday! Thanks for watching, and enjoy.

Barron County tests their siren system on the first Monday of every month at 11AM April-October, weather permitting.

Primary Shot: Canon PowerShot SX540 HS
Secondary Shot: Canon Vixia HF R82
Audio: Canon PowerShot SX540 HS

© Michael A. 2021
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