El Chupacabra's Fire Alarm Collection (links to photos)

El_Chupacabra · December 30, 2016, 10:36am

Thanks! The horn is indeed brand new and came in its original box, so that was a very special find. I had been looking for one of those older Adaptahorns for a long time.

firefreak57 · December 30, 2016, 2:02pm

Very nice! My school has an old adaptahorn like that in grey. It reads ‘FIRE HORN’ on it and it was likely part of a system at some point (original system was likely IBM).

Simplex_4051 · December 31, 2016, 7:06am

Are those red circle Adaptahorns one pitch or can they have different pitches?

kcin556 · December 31, 2016, 5:06pm

Just curious, how do you get the lighting so good in your photos without causing glare off the strobe?

El_Chupacabra · December 31, 2016, 8:07pm

This Adaptahorn is an AC model, so I doubt there would be noticeable variations in pitch from one horn to another. DC models would perhaps have different pitches, but I can’t confirm whether or not this is the case since I’ve never heard one.

Thanks! I use a combination of room lighting, natural light, and additional LED lighting from a desk lamp (if needed). To reduce glare, I avoid exposing the devices to harsh or direct light and I don’t use a flash. It can be tricky to get perfect lighting since different devices (not just strobes) can react differently to the same lighting setup, requiring specific adjustments for each alarm.

El_Chupacabra · December 30, 2017, 7:31pm

Additions from 2017:

Mircom MH-24R

Siemens ZH-MC-CR-B

Mircom SP-104A-70

Edwards 6250C + 6251C-001A base

Edwards 270-SPO ('60s version with French lettering)

Simplex MS-301C

Edwards 270-SPOTB

Notifier FM-9551S (I haven’t had the opportunity to get an “official” high-quality photo of this device yet)

I accidentally modified the last photo’s URL (late '80s 270-SPO) in my previous post by reuploading an edited version of the original picture. Here is the new link to the photo in question.

Simplex_4051 · January 4, 2018, 10:19am

You have such a very nice collection so far! Great job on finding these devices! I hope we can see more from you in the future!

El_Chupacabra · January 5, 2018, 2:22am

Thank you! I’m quite happy to have been able to find some unique devices that I’ve wanted to add to my collection for a long time (notably the Edwards 270-SPOTB and Notifier FM-955).

Simplex_4051 · January 5, 2018, 11:00am

I honestly never thought that there was a variation of the Edwards 270-SPO pull that looked like that or that they even made any variations from the original! It really is a pretty cool device! Looks very awesome and I hope you an find other cool devices!

El_Chupacabra · January 3, 2020, 11:55pm

Additions from 2019:

Edwards 560 Adaptabel (NIB; appears to be from the 1940s)

Mircom FH-400-RR

Simplex_4051 · January 16, 2020, 4:04am

Is that Mircom horn a horn only version of the original Select-a-Horn/Strobe or the redesigned one?

El_Chupacabra · January 17, 2020, 12:25am

It’s part of Mircom’s newer 400-series (LED) devices. While the 400-series appears to be the successor to the 340-series Select-A-Horn/Strobe in Mircom’s product line (which, in turn, replaced the 240-series Select-A-Horn/Strobe about 10 years ago), it has ditched the “Select-A” name. Unlike both generations of the Select-A-Horn/Strobe, which were a rebranded Potter/Amseco product, these newer devices are made in-house by Mircom.

Simplex_4051 · January 18, 2020, 1:37am

Were the previous alarms ever called “Mircom” then? I thought that at least in the US that they were but I could be wrong.

El_Chupacabra · January 18, 2020, 3:13am

The 240-series and 340-series signals were indeed rebranded by Mircom despite being made by Potter/Amseco. In fact, it seems that the Mircom-branded versions of these devices were more common than the Potter/Amseco versions. Both Mircom and Potter/Amseco used the “Select-A-Horn/Strobe” name.

El_Chupacabra · December 31, 2020, 1:02am

Additions from 2020:

Simplex 2901-9836

Edwards 275-SPO (courtesy of Conor/CJ9899)

Simplex 4099-9004CB (courtesy of Conor/CJ9899)

Simplex 4098-9830 (courtesy of Conor/CJ9899)

I also received a three-zone FireShield Plus from Conor (a perfect demonstration panel for a beginner like myself—it’s in excellent shape and is easy to use):

El_Chupacabra · January 4, 2022, 11:14pm

Additions from 2021 (the devices identified by an asterisk were generously given to me by Conor/CJ9899 as part of a large trade):

*Mircom MS-507

*Fire-Lite MPS-950BF

*Notifier NFM950KB

*Honeywell FM950K

*Edwards 274-315

*Simplex 2099-9921

*EST SIGA-270

*Edwards 128D-AWC

*EST 202-8A-001

*Simplex 2901-9723

*Siemens ZR-MC-W-B

*Atlas Sound CVT-17

*Electro Vox EV157CT

*Electro Vox EP708A2

*Simplex 2903-9101 (shown here with my 12901-9801 horn)

*System Sensor P2RLA

*Simplex 12901-9802

*Edwards 1574-1

Edwards 270-SPOB

Siemens M61-B

Mircom MS-710AP

EST 882-2C

Faraday 1900

ADT B3407-024

Simplex 12098-9505

Siemens CU-MCS

I also purchased this beautiful 8-zone Simplex 4002 panel from Conor (along with a 4602-9102 annunciator), which he graciously acquired for me from someone who was selling it following its removal from service. This appears to be a later 4002 as it has a wiring diagram date of May 5, 1995. The annunciator is older (late '80s) and was not originally part of this 4002 system.

TheCarson116 · January 5, 2022, 1:29am

All nice acquisitions, & most of that stuff you got from Conor!

Some of that stuff is pretty rare, especially the bilingual devices (that Edwards 274-315 in particular must be indescribably rare!)

Never seen an Integrity-series device marked with the manufacturer before.

Funny how the first 4 pull stations are all essentially the same in design yet are different colors, brands, & reset methods, & have different text.

El_Chupacabra · January 5, 2022, 11:29pm

Thanks! I’m very happy to have those devices in my collection.

I’ve been concentrating my collection on Canadian-specific devices and am particularly interested in bilingual devices as they represent what I typically see in my area; they just tend to be harder to come by. The Edwards 274-315 is perhaps the coolest device I received; the “basic” 274 (single-action with English lettering) is already a rather uncommon device, so I’m ecstatic to have this rarer “fully loaded” example. I’m also very happy to have an older bilingual Simplex T-bar, which was a device I had been looking to add to my collection for quite a while.

Regarding the 202-8A-001 strobe, I regularly see examples of these devices with the brand on the front plate for sale online (and have seen some in person at my high school); they just seem to be a bit less common as I don’t believe they were in production for very long. This one is from 1995, and I previously owned a model from 1996 (202-8A-T) which did not feature branding, suggesting that the change occurred around that time. While I’ve only ever seen EST-branded examples, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were also sold with Edwards and Mirtone branding.

It is indeed interesting to see the differences between the first four pull stations. Despite the fact that they use the same basic design, those pull stations all feel unique when I hold or activate them. Variations between similar devices are one of the first things I noticed when I first became interested in fire alarms and remain one of my favourite aspects of the hobby—it’s always fun to discover new varieties that I had never seen.