The Whelen Engineering Company is an American corporation that designs and manufactures audio and visual warning equipment for automotive, aviation, and mass notification industries worldwide. Founded in a
Deep River, Connecticut
Deep River is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Deep River Center, Connecticut, town center is designated by the U. ...
garage in 1952,
Whelen has become a provider of warning lights, white illumination lighting, sirens, and controllers.
Whelen products are designed, manufactured, and assembled in two facilities in
Chester, Connecticut
Chester is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The name is a transfer from Chester, in Engl ...
and
Charlestown, New Hampshire
Charlestown is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,806 at the 2020 census, down from 5,114 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Hubbard State Forest and the headquarters of the Student Conservation As ...
.
Divisions
The Whelen Company is divided into four divisions and has a subsidiary called Whelen Motorsports.
The four divisions of the company are as follows:
#The Automotive Division — provides lightbars, dashlights, strobe kits, siren boxes, and other public warning systems to be mounted on or within vehicles, rotating sirens, and student alert systems with voice broadcast capability.
#The Industrial Division — provides public alert hardware for clientele in an industrial plant forum.
#The Aviation Division — provides warning equipment specifically for use on aircraft or airport directional lighting.
#The Mass Notification Products Division — provides hardware for mass notification, such as omnidirectional sirens (
electronic civil defense sirens), rotating sirens, and student alert systems with voice broadcast capability.
Motorsports
Whelen Motorsports is partnered with
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
and is the "Officially Licensed Warning Lights of NASCAR." It also sponsors and promotes four NASCAR regional touring series: the
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (formerly known as Racecar Euro Series and Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series) is an official NASCAR stock-car racing series based in Europe. It is one of NASCAR's three international-sanctioned series, alongside th ...
, the
Whelen All-American Series
The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local short track motor racing around the United States and Ca ...
, the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...
and the
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (WSMT) was a stock car racing series owned by NASCAR and operated in the Southeastern United States as part of its Modified Division. The series began in 1989 as the Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams (S. ...
. In the Whelen All-American Series, more than 10,000 drivers compete for championship at 55 NASCAR-sanctioned short tracks within the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Whelen Motorsports
/ref> Whelen the Modified and All-American tours . Whelen is also an official sponsor of Goulian Aerosports and airshow pilot Michael Goulian.
Whelen Hornet
The Whelen Hornet is an electronic civil defense siren
A civil defense siren, also known as an air-raid siren or tornado siren, is a siren used to provide an emergency population warning to the general population of approaching danger. It is sometimes sounded again to indicate the danger has pas ...
. It was introduced in 1995. It contains a single 400-watt speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
. The siren's appearance is best described as a small dish on a square rotator platform, with the single driver located at the center of the horn. It is the smallest outdoor siren made by Whelen. The siren can sound six signals, just like most other sirens produced by Whelen;[Whelen Hornet](_blank)
/ref> however, it is not voice-capable like the WPS-2900 and WPS-4000 series sirens. Whelen also produced the WPS-3000.
References
{{Reflist
Auto parts suppliers of the United States
Law enforcement equipment
Chester, Connecticut
Sirens
Aircraft external lights
Manufacturing companies established in 1952
1952 establishments in Connecticut