So, me and my friend (SirensofCincinnati) were downtown looking for fire alarms. As we were driving past a big open atrium, I saw something through the window… Something red, with a grille and a strobe on the bottom! I yelled, “AV-32!!!” Well, we went in, and it turned out to be even rarer: AV-34’s! Apparently they are still in use, and if you’re wondering, the speaker behind them is the Simplex 4090-91. (Can anyone tell if they are strobe plates or light plates?)
More than likely, in a system that wasn’t originally installed by Simplex, the speaker probably isn’t the Simplex rebranded version (4090-91), but rather, the original Federal Signal version.
Upon a further investigation on one of the photos, it looks like there is a light bulb in there, as opposed to a strobe.
Those appear to be Amseco/Potter outdoor use strobes being used for some kind of alert purpose (with the amber lens). They are a part of the (now discontinued) CSHB/CSLB series of colored strobes.
I found some info on that strobe. Below is the link to the data sheet for the 24VDC version which more than likely is installed there. I found it on the “obsolete” section of Potter’s website:
Yep, the speakers are Federal Signal DirecTones. They may have been rebranded by whatever company made the original system. I’ve seen them with Simplex, Autocall, Gamewell, and Kidde labels. Some of those speakers actually have the transformer installed on the side of the speaker housing, hence the need for the oversized AV34 plate. I have an AV34 with a DirecTone speaker like that.
The plates from that era are incandescent lights. The later Space Age strobe plates tend to have solid “FIRE” lettering instead of hollow.
This looks like it may be the remains of an old Autocall system because Autocall used those light plates frequently, and also Autocall was one of the first companies with a voice evacuation system.
