Help Finding a Panel under $200

You would typically have 120 Volts AC (60hz) coming into the panel power supply which gets converted into either 24volts DC on higher end panels and 24volts FWR (basically crappy dc) on lower end panels. On a code compliant system you would usually have 2 12 volt batteries connected directly to the panel board to get 24vdc backup power. You don’t need batteries but most panels give you a trouble without batteries.

Batteries connected to the main panel board


120 volts AC going into the power supply

Some panels output12 volts but those are not very common from my experience

I have another Question about Panels:

Are Most (Including the Federal Signal Panel) capable of setting Alarms to Code 3 or March Time?

Code 3 is mostly a newer thing, late 90s or later so any modern panel should have it but I doubt most old panels would have it. March time has been a thing for a while so a lot of both new and old panels have it. But many old panels only do continuous so I recommend looking at the manual of any panel you’re trying to get.
(Not a huge expert on panels so correct me if I’m wrong)

What Model is the Pyrotronics Panel?

I found this which looks to be the same panel.
34a4f3b83eef1055c93cd18a170a8250e86422781e907d06329da39d90b67b17.pdf (997.3 KB)

Considering how old this panel looks and the fact that the manual is dated 1995 i doubt it can do code 3.

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Given temporal 3 was mandated the year after that, you may be right.

The Autocall panel takes two 120 VAC circuits, operates on 24 VDC and requires two 12 volt batteries in series as backup. May be able two jump one 120 VAC to handle both power inputs. The panel will provide March Time and Temporal Three, but is very limited on other programming.
The Pyrotronics panel is a CP2HA. I also have several CP-35.

Two 120VAC circuits? Why: was it made for 240VAC applications?

Do you mean that it outputs 24VDC? (on both the zones & NACs)

Not 240 VAC, but two separate 120 circuits. One 120 VAC for system power and the other 120 VAC for supervising power. I would have to verify on the Autocall panel but most fire panels I’m familar with operate on 24 volts for the NAC outputs but also have about 24 volts on the initiating circuits for supervisory.

That’s odd if you ask me: what does that supervising power even do?

Yeah: most modern ones do have 24VDC as their output voltage (as that seems to be the universally agreed-upon voltage nowdays): older ones of course used anything from 6VDC all the way up to 120VAC!

Just wondering how much are you selling the Autocall Panel for?

I’ll give it to you, but it may take some time for me to remove it. Keep in mind it may not work or be the easiest panel to start with.

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Oh my goodness! I am so glad and thankful for you and glad for this fire panel forum and their’s someone so helpful and kind as you to help me!

Just an observation, i find it interesting that panels under 200$ are really hard to find in the US but you can find an addressable panel for roughly $200 in Europe

Differing economics I guess.

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