I have a Flyron FN-BC20 MP3 board that I’m using as a message & tone generator on my Silent Knight 5208 FACP. NAC 2 on the panel is connected via a relay to Input 1 on the board, which is for the fire alarm message. I have 3 manual toggle switches connected to the next 3 inputs, for all clear, severe weather, & testing messages. (though I can add more if I want since the board has 20 channels) There’s a relay on the board, which activates whenever any of the 20 audio channels are activated. It has 2 built-in 15 watt amplifiers, (each with their own pair of audio output terminals, one of which the setup’s fire alarm speaker is connected to) & an external amplifier can be connected to it via headphone jacks on the board, which will shut down the on-board amplifiers automatically. Here are my questions about this kind of setup:
#1: So far I’ve restricted myself to using a Simplex 2902-9713 LifeAlarm speaker as it’s the only speaker in my collection that can be set for 15 watts, the exact wattage output of the board. Can I safely use lower-watt speakers without fear of damaging either the speaker or the board? (theboginator told me that as long as the speaker isn’t set to draw more watts from the board than it can supply & the board doesn’t output too much voltage that everything should be fine, but I don’t know the voltage output of the board)
#2: Could I, in theory, connect an actual fire alarm voice evac amplifier with attached microphone to the board via the headphone jack, hook the speaker to the amp’s audio output terminals, wire the board’s onboard relay to the “PTT” input terminals of the amp, (which would allow the board to broadcast messages & tones over the speaker through the amp) & also be able to use the microphone connected to the amp to talk over the speaker?