Wait. You are telling me people still buy cassette tapes? I did not know that. :lol:
I shadowed a an elementary music teacher (school not disclosed for privacy reasons) yesterday for an over-break assignment. I had been in the school before, but it has been YEARS and there have been some renovations and additions to the original buildings (1976) since then. I knew the system was Simplex, but here’s the full rundown.
The original school opened in 1921. The only remaining part from the original is a 1963 classroom wing addition (now houses grades 4-5 , special ed and “specials”–music, art, etc). The rest of the school was rebuilt and opened in 1976. 1976 classroom wings (K-3) were originally the open-pod type; only Kindergarten still has a fully open pod. The other pods now have folding wall dividers added (probably) in the 1990s. The walkways between the buildings were enclosed into hallways in 2016 and fire doors replaced the existing exit doors.
Control Panel—Simplex 4005–Main Office, replacing the 1976-installed 4207 or 4208. Installed June 1997! Simplex wrote the date on the framed operating instructions sheet next to it.
No remote annunciators.
Initiating Devices
Simplex 4251-20 pull stations—1976 (flush mount) and 1963 buildings (surface mount).
Simplex/Chemtronics heat detectors—1976 and 1963 buildings—not many of them.
Simplex 2099-9754 pull stations—2016 additions/enclosures. Mainly by the new exits in the enclosures/additions.
Simplex 4098-9601+4098-9683 smoke sensors—2016 additions/enclosures—mainly near fire doors.
Notification Appliances
Simplex 4051 horns—1976 classroom pods, hallways, offices and main lobby (flush mount) and 1963 buildings (surface mount).
Simplex 4051+4050-85 horn/lights—cafeteria and multi-purpose room (gym/auditorium).
Simplex 4901-Series rectangular horns on 4904-9104 ceiling strobe plates (ceiling mount -9105 strobes)—1976 classroom pods with folding walls. Probably installed with the 4005.
Simplex 4903-9252 15 candela horn/strobes—2016 enclosures/additions. The enclosures I went through only have 1 horn/strobe in them.
No remote strobes to be seen, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
No exterior alarms visible.
Coding is probably continuous or temporal; I haven’t heard the system in alarm.
Clock system is a Simplex 6400. Clocks are your standard, round Simplex fare. Not sure what the PA system is, but classrooms have Bogen wall speakers. Hallways have 8" round speakers with no external branding.
[quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=85624 time=1576363333 user_id=18]
Wait. You are telling me people still buy cassette tapes? I did not know that. :lol:
[/quote]
I found my old Middle school christmas play cassette tape but the reel broke so I had to “extract” them out into a new tape. (And also because nostalgia/mixtapes.)
This evening I was invited to my parents workplace’s Christmas party at the company owner’s house. Here is the system of the house:
PANEL:
A*T Keypad by front, front, front, front door (Yes. There are about 4 exit doors in the house. As a matter of fact it is EASY to get lost in their home’s complex halls)
IMI keypad by Gameroom (Air hockey/arcade/hangout area)
IMI Remote keypad (Only 3 buttons) in their teenage daughters bedroom
INITIATING DEVICES:
AT Motion detectors
AT ultrasonic break glass detectors
AT Door/window contacts
System Sensor i-3 smokes in areas of the house
First Alert SA76RS Smoke detectors (Not connected to AT/IMI system)
SIGNALING DEVICES:
ADEMCO 747 siren in a restroom for some reason
A*T Unknown alarm box above Keypad at F,F,F,F door
IMI siren/doorbell in gameroom
When you said system there, for a moment I thought that you meant that they had a fire alarm system. LOL
Value Village in Charlotte next to Cash America Pawnshop:
PANEL:
Unknown but most likely a Potter or ESL
INITIATING DEVICES:
ESL dual action RSG t bars
Fire Sprinklers
SIGNALING DEVICES:
White Potter SH24C-177W ceiling mount select-a-horn/strobes that are VERY yellowed.
Roses next to another Value Village (That one just has 2 System Sensor 2400 smoke/heat detectors)
PANEL:
Most Likely a Silent Knight as noticed by the SK Keypad by the doors
INITIATING DEVICES:
SK BG-12s
SIGNALING DEVICES:
Spectalert Advance ceiling mount horn/strobes
Salvation Army:
Panel:
Silent Knight branded panel (unknown model)
Silent Knight 5860R Annunciator (that was screaming a “NAC error” when I was shopping)
Initiating devices:
Silent Knight BG-12s
Signaling devices:
Wheelock ceiling mount AS horn/strobes
Food-Lion:
Panel: Fire-Lite MS-5-UD or a 10-UD
Annunciator is a ANN by managers office doors
Initiating devices:
Fire-Lite-BG-12 with key lock
Fire Sprinklers
Signaling devices:
System Sensor Spectralert advance ceiling mount horn/strobes (white version)
(also worth mentioning is that the men’s restroom is accessed by going through an staff only stock room… Smh…)
Wal-Mart:
Panel: Radionics of sorts
Initiating devices:
Radionics T bars
Signaling devices:
Spectralert Advance red ceiling mounts
An old cotton mill in Ranlo, NC. now used as a Thrift shop/ multiple purpose office:
Initiating devices:
None seen
Panel:
Unknown, Very unlikely
Signaling devices:
Edwards adaptahorns scattered about the poles and trusses.
What color are the Adaptahorns and are they A/C or D/C?
[quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=85711 time=1577213323 user_id=18]
What color are the Adaptahorns and are they A/C or D/C?
[/quote]
Grey. A/C or A/C I don’t know.
If they were gray then most likely they were A/C and I’m not sure if they were fire alarms.
Over the summer, my family was driving through southeast Wisconsin when there was a tornado warning. Needing to get off the highway and find shelter, we found an elementary school that was doubled as a tornado shelter. The 1960s-era elementary school looked like it had seen an HVAC upgrade or similar work done in the late 00s/early 10s as the building had a modern dropped ceiling and lighting, although everything from the ceiling down still looked fresh out of the 60s. Presumably from that HVAC upgrade, the building had a Notifier ONYX-series voice-evac capable panel of some kind with Notifier NBG-12 pull stations and Notifier NP-100 addressable smoke detectors. The notification appliances were all System Sensor SPCSW speaker/strobes and SCW strobes. The only area that had wall-mount devices as far as I could tell was the gymnasium, which had System Sensor SPSR speaker/strobes (they actually might have been white now that I think about it… I can’t remember).
The University of Calgary has many interesting systems. I’m only gonna list 2, because many systems are identical.
Kinesiology A:
Panel: Simplex 4100ES (located at main entrance, replaced an Edwards 6500)
Pulls: mix of 1960s Edwards 270-SPOs, Simplex 2099-9754s and 4099-9001s
Alarms: Edwards 360 Flush-mount Adaptahorns
Kinesiology B:
This is a good example of most of the systems here.
Panels: Simplex 2120 (main panel, located at main door)
Simplex 4100U (controls some detectors, added to bring system up to code)
Pulls: Simplex 4251-20/30
Alarms: Simplex 2902-9734 Lifealarm speakers
The system is voice evac, and supposedly does the default whoop and message.
Here’s 2 airports with rather interesting systems.
The Calgary International Airport has two buildings with separate systems. The international terminal, built in 2017, has a Simplex 4100ES Voice Evac system. I am not sure where the panel is located. Pulls are 4099-9004CA, and alarms are Truealert Speakers and speaker strobes. (4906-9153/9154, 4902-9721/9717)
The domestic terminal, built in 1977, has a much more interesting system. The panel is also a 4100ES, located at Departure Door 1. Pulls are the same, but the signals are Simplex 2901-9724 bells on Wheelock RSSP strobe plates. I have heard this system go off. First stage is 20BPM March Time, and second stage is code 3. There are also some 4904-9101 strobes scattered around.
The St. John’s International Airport has an addressable Notifier system, most likely a 2018 NFS2-3030C. The pulls are a mix of Notifier T-bars (rebranded RSG) and FM-955s. The alarms are basically a spectralert family reunion. Horn/strobes and strobes of every mount and version you can think of. P2Rs, P2CWs, P1224MCs, and S1224MCs.
Mount Holly Gun and pawn:
Napco Security Panel
Silent Knight 5104B Fire alarm communication panel
ELK SS30 Siren next to the mash of panels
Sonitrol Security panel
remote CO detectors EVERYWHERE
Smokes are System Sensor i3s.
Sonitrol Motion detectors
Sonitrol Keypad
Outside is a ELK-150RT outdoor siren
Large telephone blocks tied to system scattered around place
About 7 doorbells of random brands
Brown and black box on wall that says “TELEPHONE”
Kidde Smokes
YYC Fire Alarms, Do you have a photo of the Simplex 2120 at your college? They’re my favorite panel.
REGAL Cinema in Lowell, NC Shopping center:
Panel:
Unknown but most likely a Radionics with a SAFEPATH
Initiating devices: BG-12s or(?) Radionics T bars (I will find out as I will be there tonight)
Signaling devices:
Wheelock Speaker/strobes in halls and a Federal Signal AM300 Speaker above projector screen window
Books-A-Million in same SC:
Panel: Silent Knight 5700 with 2 NAC Extenders
Initiating devices: SK Sigcom T bars (one in front stupidly flushed into the wall, good luck resetting that thing) and Sprinklers
Signals: Wheelock MTS and RSSs.
Party city in same SC:
Sprinklers
Silent Knight 5104B
[quote="Fire alarms are cool" post_id=85787 time=1578007725 user_id=4187]
REGAL Cinema in Lowell, NC Shopping center:
Panel:
Unknown but most likely a Radionics with a SAFEPATH
Initiating devices: BG-12s or(?) Radionics T bars (I will find out as I will be there tonight)
Signaling devices:
Wheelock Speaker/strobes in halls and a Federal Signal AM300 Speaker above projector screen window
Books-A-Million in same SC:
Panel: Silent Knight 5700 with 2 NAC Extenders
Initiating devices: SK Sigcom T bars (one in front stupidly flushed into the wall, good luck resetting that thing) and Sprinklers
Signals: Wheelock MTS and RSSs.
Party city in same SC:
Sprinklers
Silent Knight 5104B
[/quote]
(update as I went tonight)
REGAL Movie Theater:
Panel:
Notifier ONYX and a ADEMCO Fire/Burg woth a ADEMCO 747
Initiating devices: System Sensor 2400s and NBG-12LXs with stoppers in cinema theaters
Signaling devices: Wheelock Bullhorns in theaters and Wheelock ET Speaker/strobes while wheelock speakers are in offices
Remote microphones in offices
Dollar Tree in Franklin Square:
Panel: Grinnell/Radionics panel
Initiating devices: Grinnel RSG-RMS-1T-KL pulls with sprinklers
Signals: Wheelock AS Horn/strobes with Wheelock NS horn/strobes in most areas
And also a SPECIAL device.
Drumroll please.
-boom-boom-boom-boom-
A SIMPLEX 2901-9838 WITH 4903-9101 STROBE PLATE!!!
sadly it is most likely disconnected
R.I.P.
Also. This gives me the idea that the Wal-Mart that “always had a radionics system” thing is NOT TRUE as now I realized that there are random rectangle boxes on the walls that could have housed the signals!
Except that the horn you said was in a DOLLAR TREE and not Wal-Mart unless I’m not reading it correctly.
Well. The building shares the same systems as everyone else in the mall. So I just guess as Walmart DOES have random rectangular boxes on the walls
Adding on that. The strip center went through 3 main “phases”. First phase was 1989 to sometime in the mid 1990s. This phase contains the Simplex 2901-9838s on Simplex 4903-9102 light plates. Then phase 2 in 1996 or 7. This included the NS horn/strobes and also the AS horn/strobes that cleared out most of the horn/light plates but a tech left one in the dollar tree. Then the “Boring” phase came in. This welcomed the Spectalert Advance Ceiling mount horn/strobes with some classics. And the Radionics leftovers from the 90s