Yeah. I’ve seen ES devices on many small Simplex systems in my area, but almost all of the Autocal systems have conventional notion. This is because the Autocall installer in my area is a reasonable local company, while JCI is a terrible corporate.
For example, the only Autocall system in my area that I know of with ES devices is my state’s 14 floor capitol building. Meanwhile, there are several small elementary schools and stores in my area that have Simplex systems with ES notification.
I’ve seen this before. The building I was in had like 4 or 5 rooms and one hallway and they went full on addressable. A couple conventional devices could’ve got the job done as originally there were just two Adaptahorns
Really? Huh, well that’s nice at least (what your local Autocall dealer does that is: also glad I have someone to back up what I said). I guess despite Autocall now being under the same umbrella as Simplex that they still have some autonomy if your local dealer can do that huh?
“the Autocall installer in my area is a reasonable local company, while JCI is a terrible corporate” Couldn’t have said it better myself: seems like local & family-run companies are often better than corporations!
Yeah I’m honestly not surprised at all.
Don’t seem to see too many systems with horizontal-strobe MTs! (probably because everyone would always go with the simplier single-tone AS instead: don’t really need a multi-tone device like the MT for that kind of application)
For some reason, all of the medical facilities in my area that have Simplex systems use MT’s (mostly the newer ones like this).
I have never seen any of them in person either. They even had them inside the bathrooms.
St. John’s Lutheran Church and School (Winston-Salem, NC)
Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures when I was there.
Main Building:
Panel: Hybrid Simplex 4007es (Johnson Controls branding) w/ 4606-9205 remote annunciator by the entrance
Pulls:
Simplex 4251-XX (from an older system)
Simplex 4099-90XX
Smokes:
Simplex 4098-9714
Notification:
Simplex 4906-91XX horn/strobes
Simplex 4906-9101 remote strobes
My favorite! 1x Edwards 5520D in the hallway (broken? plays a creepy inconsistent hi-lo tone. It’s only settings are Horn and Siren.)
Outdoors:
Weatherproof Simplex 4906-9131
1x Atlas A2WRF loudspeaker playing a 2400hz continuous tone
Gym (separate building):
Panel: Fire Lite MS9200UDLS with ANN-80 at the entrance
Pulls: BG-12LXs
Smokes: I didn’t see any
Notification: Wheelock Exceeders and and weatherproof Advances outside.
Inspire Family Fellowship- Bismarck, ND
I was here today for one of my school’s band ensemble events. I thought the FA system was quite interesting so I wanted to share it.
Panel- Probably a Potter AFC-100 with an EVAX panel or an AFC 1000-V (would be quite excessive).
Notification Appliances- Mostly what appear to be EST integrity horn/strobes. They also have EST integrity remote strobes, at least one Potter S-24 replacement. For the voice evac parts they have Potter SPKSTR-24CLP ceiling mount speaker/strobes that I saw and probably some SPKSTR-24WLP wall mount speaker/strobes somewhere.
Pull Stations- Edwards 270-SPO pull stations (some are very old) and unbranded chevron pull stations (also look very old).
Smoke Detectors- System Sensor 2100 detectors, at least one i3, and Potter PAD200-PD addressable detectors in at least one small renovated part that I saw.
Based on what I saw, I’m assuming that this building was originally built in the mid 1900’s with an AC system with the chevron pull stations. At some point not long after, the building was added onto but got Edwards devices including the 270-SPO’s. In the 90’s, the system was upgraded to a newer EST system. Recently, the EST panel and some devices were replaced by my local Potter dealer.
This type of system with older EST devices on other brand’s modern panels is actually quite common in my area. This is because EST was pretty common in my area in the 80’s-90’s but isn’t all that common anymore.
In my area, Potter seems to have filled the part of the market that Fire-Lite (or maybe Silent Knight) fills in most areas.
First Merchants Bank Expo Center (Monroe Township, MI)
Annunciators/panel:
<One Notifier N-ANN-80 in a black paint color. I don’t know what the actual panel is (not in a public area), but presumably, it is an older Notifier Inspire or ONYX-series model with Digital Voice Command.
Detectors:
<At least one Notifier FSP-851 photoelectric unit connected to the N-ANN-80
Pull stations:
<Notifier NBG-12LX units throughout the building
Notification appliances:
<System Sensor SP2R1224MC speaker/strobes throughout the building
The next two buildings are both owned by the Diocese of Bridgeport, and are located in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The Cathedral Parish of Saint Augustine, Bridgeport, CT:
This is the seat of the Bishop of Bridgeport, and it is the “Mother Church of Bridgeport.” It was built in the late 1800s, and features beautiful stained glass windows, as well as an Allen pipe organ and Steinway Model B grand piano in the Choir Loft.
The panels are a Fire-Lite ES-50X and a Fire-Lite 25/50X (Sadly, I have no photos, as I attended Mass here this morning.)
The pull stations are BG-12LXes (some with the Fire-Lite Alarms by Honeywell text, but some just said ‘Fire-Lite.’) I believe these replaced SpectrAlert Classic speaker/strobes at one point.
The notification appliances are LED L-Series horn/strobes.
The detectors are a mix of older System Sensor low-profile detectors, as well as SD365s.
Kolbe Cathedral Preparatory School, Bridgeport, CT:
This high school, also overseen by the Diocese of Bridgeport, is right next door to the church, and it was built in the 1960s, but gained its system in the 1980s. Many of the devices have now either been replaced, but some original ones remain!
The panel is unknown- possibly a Simplex 4006 or similar, based on the devices.
The pulls are 4251-20s:
The N/As are mainly 2901-9838 horns on 2903 light plates:
One instance in the gymnasium has a SpectrAlert Classic slapped lazily onto the strobe plate!
The detectors are i3s, formerly replacing old Simplex TrueAlarms.
Great Wolf Lodge-Wisconsin Dells, WI
First Great Wolf Lodge ever built, opened in May 1997 to be exact. It has a very large waterpark with a diverse system.
Main Building Guest Rooms (1997) -
NA’s
Wall Mounted SpectrAlert Classics and a few Advances (probably to replace not working classsics)
One ceiling mount Advance in main lobby
Pulls
BG-12’s Johnson Control Branded
Smokes
System Sensor 2412 Conventional smokes
(Note: there were approx. 30-35 detectors per floor, so that would mean the building has about 130 detectors in the hallways.
Pictures:
Condos 2000’s (Attached to Main building)
NA’s Wheelock NS-24MCW‘s
Smokes 2151 Adressable Smokes “Johnson Controls” branded.
Waterpark - There were 3 main areas. The original areas had Classics and Advances, with a few L-seris. The last area, the most recent adition, had wheelock speaker strobes. All pulls were BG-12s and the same smokes as the Condos. The fire pannel was some sort of Notifire system and I dont think it is original.
Pulls are JBG-12LX’s
Old smokes are Johson controls 2551j. Possibly a system sensor 2551 or notifier sdx-551.
New smokes are johnson controls 2951J or system sensor 2251Bs.
The annunciator pictured is a notifier LCD-160 probably connected to a 2-3030 or 2-640. Original panel was most likely an IFC-2020 or 1010
Very cool!
I did a post a while back on the nearby Kalahari that you may have seen:
These two resorts share quite a bit in common. They were both the first locations of their respective companies and they were both originally built within a few years of each other. Both resorts appear to have been originally built with Johnson Controls addressable systems (something that I got wrong in my original Kalahari post). Both places also have had several additions over the years and several recent upgrades. It’s always cool to see how a system from that era has been updated and upgraded over the years.
Amway Grand Plaza Parking Garage/Van Andle Arena-Devos Place Skywalk
N/As- Simplex 4051s, 450Es, and a 2901-9833
Initiation Devices- 4251-20s, a later T-Bar and various smokes/heats
Panel is modern Simplex. Structure has modern Simplex speaker strobes/horn strobes in some areas.
This will be a big update about lots of systems that I have seen recently!
The Watson Center (Yale University,) New Haven, CT:
The Watson Center is a one of Yale’s many buildings on their campus, located at 60 Sachem Street in New Haven. The building houses many of Yale’s engineering classrooms and lecture halls, with two floors.
The panel here is a Gamewell-FCI S3 (with the touchscreen display!)
The pulls here are Gamewell-FCI MS-7s (similar to these, but with the Gamewell-FCI logo):
The N/As are System Sensor SPSRL speaker strobes and SRL strobes in restrooms.
The detectors are Gamewell-FCI addressable detectors (maybe the ASD-PL2?)
Rippowam Middle School, Stamford, CT:
This middle school is formerly known as Rippowam High School upon its 1966 construction, until it became an alternative program for expelled students in 1988. After that program closed, it was the temporary home of Hart Magnet Elementary School, the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, and the Magnet Middle School. Eventually, in 2002, the building became Rippowam Middle School, and in 2014, the APPLES preschool was added on in an unused wing.
I do not atttend this school, as I am in high school currently.
The panel here is an EST3, presumably located in the main office.
The pull stations are 270-SPOs with the Edwards triangle logo.
The N/As are EXTREMELY RARE 1st generation EST Integrities!
The smoke detectors are Edwards GS photoelectric detectors- common on most systems of this time period.
Those things will never not look awesome.
Huntington Place (Detroit, MI) - I previously posted about this location in January 2012, but I decided to create a new post due to recently revisiting the center and noticing several things that I didn’t notice before. Originally known as Cobo Hall, this location was built in 1960 with renovation projects finishing in 1989 and 2015. It includes the former Cobo Arena, which was remodeled into the Grand Riverview Ballroom. All devices below–except where noted–can be seen in Google Street View and Huntington Place’s 360 virtual tour on their webpage.
Annunciators/panel:
<Google Street View from June 2011 shows what appeared to be a Simplex 4100/4120 voice-evac panel inside Cobo Arena, in an area next to River Level Entrance 1. This panel was removed during renovations.
<Currently, there are most likely several Simplex 4100ES units (distributed through Johnson Controls) throughout the center.
Detectors:
<Johnson Controls 2951J photoelectric units
<Gentex 9000-series photoelectric units in elevator areas
Pull stations:
<Google Street View from June 2011 shows what appeared to be a Simplex 2099-series t-bar near the 4100/4120 panel mentioned above. This was removed during renovations.
<There was a Gamewell pull box in the corridor space per a YouTube video titled “A Visit to Cobo Hall (c. 1960)” (skip to 0:50). No other Gamewell boxes were noticed.
<Currently, there are a mix of Johnson Controls JBGX-10L units, along with NBG-12 and NBG-12LX units, the latter two of which are branded by Fire-Lite and Johnson Controls.
Notification appliances:
<Google Street View from January 2016 shows a car exhibit with System Sensor SpectrAlert P24110 strobes. These were temporary and exclusive to that exhibit.
<Google Street View from June 2011 shows a Wheelock ET70WP-2475W-FR speaker/strobe next to River Level Entrance 1 on the south side. This was removed during renovations.
<There were Simplex TrueAlert speaker/strobes inside Cobo Arena per a YouTube video titled “Peek Inside Cobo Arena” (skip to 0:47). They are long since gone.
Currently, the NAs consist of the following:
<Red and white Wheelock RSS strobes, with both ceiling and wall units
<White Wheelock ET90-series speakers and speaker/strobes
<Red Wheelock Exceder LEDs and strobes replacing broken RSS units
<Wheelock E50 speaker/strobes
<Wheelock E70 speaker/strobes
<Wheelock E-7025 speaker/strobes
<The Detroit People Mover and Ballroom Loading Dock each have a surviving Wheelock ET70-2475-FR speaker/strobe, plus ceiling-mount units in the Atwater Parking Garage.
Other:
<There were several ceiling-mounted red beacons throughout the expo halls, but I did not know if these were part of an earlier alarm system or a different system altogether. None of these beacons exist today.
<The Atwater and Washington Parking Garages each have red beacons in Washington and Atwater Parking Garages for CO2 and NO2 detection. Judging by the designs, these are likely Edwards Adaptabeacons.
Do they make cards that allow the 4100ES to run Honeywell addressable protocols (kind of like how EST3 panels can run CLIP protocol and the 3030 can run SIGA protocol)?
