For distinctive visual signaling, System Sensor offers color lens attachments for SpectrAlert® Advance strobe devices. The lens attachments are available in four colors: amber, blue, green and red. Expanding the fire and life safety device line, these lenses may be used for mass notification, severe weather, emergency response and other non-fire applications.
The RRS-MOD, a reversing relay/synchronization module, enhances the operation of two- and four-wire i3™ Series detectors with a built-in sounder.
Funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the $787 billion economic stimulus package enacted and signed into law in February 2009, are now being disbursed. According to www.recovery.gov, the U.S. government’s official ARRA spending Web site, $25 billion of ARRA funds had been awarded as of December 2009. Only $18 billion of this sum has already been disbursed, however.
The 2W-MOD2, a two-wire loop test and maintenance module for use with i3 Series detectors, allows communication to two-wire i3 detectors with any listed fire alarm control panel.
When designing an audible/visible (AV) system, there are several upfront tasks and calculations that must be made that can be tedious and complicated. System Sensor assists in this process by providing tools online (www.systemsensor.com/tools): the Voltage Drop Calculator, the Mounting Options Tool and the Equivalent Facilitation Calculator.
Ron Hicks is Sr.Vice President of Advanced Cabling Systems, a Little Rock, Ark., company and a System Sensor contractor. Advanced has grown from a three-man cabling company in 1995 to a multi-million dollar enterprise that specializes in building technology integration. In 2002, Hicks came on board to begin the fire alarm and security side of Advanced. Hicks is NICET certified in fire alarms systems, sprinkler system design, CCTV installation, special hazards and audio systems and has more than 30 years of experience in low-voltage solutions.
The Virginia Tech tragedy served as a wake-up call for most U.S. campuses. In August 2008, the government provided support in terms of a new public law: the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008, an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965, which is required of schools that receive federal funds.
Measuring intelligibility for fire and emergency communications systems (ECSs) will become more commonplace as local jurisdictions adopt the 2010 version of NFPA 72. Taking proper measures can be complex, and most fire and life safety system designers have to work around existing building features that affect intelligibility.
Ask your colleagues if they have ever heard a hotel fire alarm sound in the middle of the night, and if so, how they reacted. If hotel guests hear just a single alarm, chances are good that they will do nothing; people are accustomed to false alarms, and they don’t want to appear foolish by running down to the lobby in their pajamas for a prank.
Emergency communications systems have amplified the need for effective voice communications systems. NFPA 72-2010 formally addresses measuring voice intelligibility to ensure what is said is heard properly.