1 Like
Today I did a K-O the Kangaroo gig at an open house at the fire station close to the Rox stadium! It was built some time in the 70s, and still has some of the original fire alarm signal devices in use! They currently have some kind of conventional FCI system with FCI MS-7 pulls (their version of the BG-12) and System Sensor i3 smoke detectors. The original alarm signals from when the fire station was built were old Wheelock 6" bells and Space Age V33 remote lights. The main garage area has the Wheelock bell intact but disconnected in favor of a Wheelock NS horn/strobe mounted where the V33 obviously was. There was also an NS horn/strobe in the living/kitchen area for firefighters. The firefighters’ quarters had a Wheelock 6" bell with a Wheelock RSS remote strobe mounted next to it, presumably replacing a V33 light. The fire chief’s office also had a the Wheelock bell and V33 remote light intact.
Nite N’ Dale has an unknown system with 2 Gentex Commander 3 horn/strobes covering both seating areas respectively. The FIRE lettering for the alarms is mounted upside down while the NA itself is installed rightside up, which is very strange. Bathrooms have a ceiling mount SpectrAlert horn/strobe RIGHT above the stalls, and considering that the room is very compact it would be extremely loud, unless the horn is turned off. Smokes are WSD-355s by the entrance and SD-355s everywhere else. Pull stations are… Bulldog Security BG-12s. I’m not sure if the smoke detectors and signals are rebranded too since the atmosphere is dim but from the Bulldog Security website the system is probably rebranded by them. I’m guessing its manufactured by Silent Knight or possibly Fire-Lite.
Newton-Wellesley Hospital - Newton, MA
Green Medical Office Building:
Pull stations: Notifier NBG-12LX’s
Detectors: FSP-851’s on newer bases
Signals: SpectrAlert Advance speaker/strobes
Blue Medical Office Building:
Same initiating devices as before
Signals: L-Series horn/strobes
Main Hospital:
Same initiating devices as before, except that the FSP-851’s are on the older bases
Signals: Wheelock E70 speaker/strobes
White Medical Office Building
Panel: Notifier NFS2-640, located in the lobby.
Pull stations: BGX-101L’s
Detectors: SDX-551’s
Signals: Faraday 6140 (high-volume version of a 6120) horns on SAE A32 strobe plates.
That’s right - high-volume mechanical horns in a hospital.
East Parking Garage:
Pull stations: Protectowire BG-50’s
Signals: Gentex SHG (and a few Wheelock MT-24-WM) horn/strobes
So is the 6140 the Faraday version of the 9846?
[quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=85169 time=1570835988 user_id=18]
So is the 6140 the Faraday version of the 9846?
[/quote]
Yes.
Didn’t even know there was a version of that alarm rebranded by Faraday. You learn something new every day. 
High volume horns in a hospital, doesn’t seem too bad, must give people a jump though! The one hospital we service has the EST Genesis horns all over the place, all run by an EST quickstart, which replaced an Edwards 8500 2 stage system (that had single stroke bells/chimes).
[quote=randomperson post_id=85166 time=1570812023 user_id=3878]Signals: Faraday 6140 (high-volume version of a 6120) horns on SAE A32 strobe plates.
That’s right - high-volume mechanical horns in a hospital.
[/quote]
I could never imagine horns in a hospital because if they go off and a patient has a weak heart well then they are done for. Also if there are doctors operating at the time, if they get caught off-guard, they could nick a major artery and that patient is also finished.
Standard doctor building
If it is a standard office instead of a surgery than I could see it having horns. My doctor when I was a kid was in two offices with the first one having TrueAlerts and the second one having Wheelock ASs.
The local middle school has a really rare Edwards system. The signals are Edwards 892 horn/strobes in most areas. Pull stations are 270-SPOs and the panel is unknown. They also have adpatabells for class change. Also worth mentioning is the StRaNgE system at the Franklin square Shopping center. Most of the place is Radionics, Advances, and many many keypads. The Best Buy changes the aspect of the entire place. I walked inside expecting to find Advances and a Bosch T bar but guess what I saw? A EDWARDS 278-B AND A EDWARDS GENESIS HORN/STROBE. I was very happy but… Half of the devices were falling out of their trim plates! 
Not the best but the bathroom alarm was close to hanging. Very cool though.
Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit) - This post covers select areas of the following buildings/wings: Main Building (1921); Clara Ford Pavilion (1925); Clinic Building (1955); Benson Ford Education and Research Building (1977); and West Pavilion (circa 1990s).
Panel:
Simplex 4120 voice-evac panel in the West Pavilion
Detectors:
Gentex 9003-series photoelectric detectors above elevator doors
Simplex 4098-series (TrueAlarm) addressable photoelectric detectors
Simplex 2908-9201 photoelectric detectors
Pull stations:
Simplex 2099-series single-action pull stations (a mix of older and newer models)
One Simplex 4251-21L “LOCAL FIRE ALARM” t-bar inside the Main Building
Notification appliances:
Simplex 4903-series speakers on Simplex 4903-9105 strobe plates in the Clinic Building
Simplex 4903-series speaker/strobes in the West Pavilion and Benson Ford areas
Simplex 4903-9196 (TrueAlert) speaker/strobes (white)
Simplex 4906-series (TrueAlert) speaker/strobes
Simplex 4906-series (TrueAlert) strobes
One Veeder-Root Overfill Alarm system in an outdoor area of the West Pavilion, next to a door (viewable in Google Street View)
One Wheelock ET70-series speaker/strobe in a greenhouse dining area
Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital (West Bloomfield Township) - First opened in 2009, this hospital was built around what was originally an outpatient center that opened in 1975, according to Henry Ford Health System’s history section for Henry Ford Hospital. There have been three systems over the course of the outpatient center alone.
Panels/annunciators:
I don’t know what the first two systems used for panels, but the current system is most likely an addressable Simplex 4003 or Simplex 4100-series model based on a couple of the tones; whenever there is a public address announcement, a short tone blast (doesn’t always play) followed by one chime will be heard, with a spoken message that follows. I have never experienced this system in alarm.
Detectors:
Simplex TrueAlarm-series photoelectric detectors
Pull stations:
Simplex 2099-9754 pull stations
Some locations had Simplex 2099-9799 break-glass pull stations; in some cases, the glass was broken long ago and only the metal hammer was left intact.
According to a rectangular metal plate near the south entrance, there most likely was a National Time 641 device there, based on a silver grille directly over it leftover from the original system (see below).
Notification appliances:
In the same area of the former National Time 641 device, there is a silver grille with horizontal slats that closely resembles what National Time would have used for bells and horns in flush-mount installations. The actual housing was empty, however. I don’t know what the components were from the second system, but there are numerous square metal plates throughout the original outpatient building where there used to be devices.
One Gentex Commander 3 horn/strobe in the basement that acts as an agent device.
Simplex 4906-series (TrueAlert) speaker/strobes
Simplex 4906-series (TrueAlert) strobes
White, ceiling-mount Simplex 4906-series speaker/strobes
Concord Mills Shopping Mall has a Siemens Fire Alarm System.
MALL SYSTEM:
PANEL:
Unknown but I guess a Firefinder or another Siemens Panel.
PULL STATIONS AND SMOKES:
None spotted. Smokes scattered about the place
NOTIFICATION APPLIANCES:
Siemens U-MHT-S17 Horn/strobes every 10 to 13 feet on the wall.
Siemens Rebranded RSS strobes in the mall restrooms.
STORE SYSTEMS:
Dave and Buster’s
PANEL: Unknown. I guess a Fire-Lite with a Safepath
Pulls and Smokes: No pulls seen. Fire Lite Smokes every now and then on the beams
NOTIFICATION APPLIANCES: Ceiling Mount Wheelock red Speaker strobes on the beams.
Best Buy:
PANEL: Fire-Lite of sorts
Pulls and smokes: BG-12 by entrance door
NAs are Advances.
FireHouse Subs:
Wheelock RSS strobes.
LEGO store:
Panel: Fire-Lite or SK.
Initiating devices.2 Fire Lite Smokes located inside.
NAs are Gentex Commander 2s and respective remote strobes
(There is also a Edwards “Mini horn/strobe” located above the staff only door.
Here are the systems at my college and elementary school.
Elementary School: Built in 1991, has a simplex 4100 with voice evacuation (Didn’t play a message, just the slow whoop) and signals are simplex 2902-9739 speakers on 4903-9101 strobe plates with the t-bar pull stations
They used to have an annunciations that looked sort of life a 4002 panel, but they got a new one around 2009. Dont remember any of the smoke or heat detectors.
College: Two of the buildings have old simplex systems. The library has a simplex 4001 with a 2903 plate and a 2901-9838 horn with 4251-20 pull stations and a 4903 remote strobe.
The other building with an old simplex system, has the performing arts program, along with offices and classrooms, has a 4002 panel with 4251-20’s and 2903 visual signals (Don’t know if they are strobes or lights with 2901-9838’s. Will figure out the other systems at a later time.
It must have been really interesting to be in an elementary school that had speaker/strobes then going to a middle school that had horn/strobes and being completely shocked that fire drills aren’t as inaudible as you thought. XD
Actually Simplex 4051, the system in my elementrey school was loud. It was like this horrible boinging sound, and then thought out middle and high school were spectraelert advanced horns, and wheelock AS’s. Haven’t heard any systems go off at college yet though.
It probably was worse than normal because your elementary school didn’t play a voice evac message with the speaker/strobes.
The Art institute of Chicago has a MASSIVE Siemens MXL system. From my experience there, a majority of devices are Siemens ZH horn/strobes, red/white AND wall/ceiling. They can also be found in the bathrooms! Some reason, I feel like the installation for the Art Institute and O’Hare airport are related. However the educational part of the building is much more strobe happy, with massive classrooms and studios recieving only one white strobe (including bathrooms). In one section, there are white Siemens HS horn/strobes with white ceiling mounted ZRs. In the food court theres U-HNH horn/strobes and U-MCS strobes along with a 7002T by the eating area. Pulls are MSI-20Bs and smokes are a mix of HFP-11s, ILP-1s, and DI-B3s.