-Another apartment that got it’s panel upgraded. Used to be old Mirtone, now a Mircom panel.
-Walktest function on a Simplex Panel, that replaced a 6500 at some point.
-New apartment with some LED Horn strobes.
-Testing the different NAC features on the 6616.
-In an old arena that used to have an Edwards ESA 2000 with voice evacuation. Now has a simplified Vigilant VS system of 2 to 3 horns, and a lot of strobes.
-Testing in a new apartment building, more L series NACs.
Is there a reason none of the systems with voice evac play an actual message, just tones? In addition why is there often a several second pause before the system alarms? (as opposed to most other systems where there’s only maybe a half-second or full-second pause).
Definitely unusual to hear a speaker playing a march time tone in #45.
I think it might have to do with the building type, to be honest I’m really not sure. I’ll have to ask about that. My theory is that most of the buildings I do with speaker systems are fairly smaller, like under 30 stories. The highest we do is about 28 stories, and the average is usually 14 to 16 stories, which by our codes you need a voice system for 14 floors or higher. Which will change, I’ve heard, to 8 floors. I know large buildings, mainly in the GTA, would probably have voice evac with automatic messages, like the Rogers Center or Eaton Center. They might have some in my city even, but have yet to come across any with voice messages.
The pause usually has to do with the type of system and the reaction time. I know Mircom systems will take a second because the Amplifiers have to turn on and power all the speakers. If you stand next to a Mircom amplifier when it goes into alarm you will hear a rapid series of clicks that turn each signal circuit on. Most of the newer Edwards/EST I find take around 5 to 7 seconds or so. With the code I follow, it gives the systems 10 seconds to activate everything as well.
Yeah, #45 was definitely the installers fault. The building was built in the early 2000s, they should have programmed it to temporal. I would love to change it but we don’t do Mircom programming anymore, which is one I would love to learn, that and Notifier. Mainly because that’s what’s starting to take over around my area.
I have been told that supposedly voice evac systems in Canada require federal government approval to install (which is just stupid in my opinion especially since such approval is not required in the US & just about everywhere else in the world), though whether that has to do with the system being able to broadcast any actual voices I don’t know (since pretty much all the voice evac systems you’ve come across are voice evac systems, they just don’t play any actual voices).
It’s still a ridiculously long delay to me, especially since such a delay could prove deadly if the alarm isn’t sounded in time during an actual emergency.
You definitely should learn, because as you said Mircom seems to be the brand taking over your area, & thus there’s always a chance that if you don’t learn how to program such systems you might be out of a job.