Sorry, I had to revise it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d-mY1t1B_I
Do you remember what the MT’s are set to?
Here’s revised info about my old high school’s fire alarm system. They have three of them throughout campus (they’ve got three buildings: a main building wiht Green, Red, Azure and Yellow sections, a Gymnasium building and a Fine Arts building. Built in 1970, Brockton High School still has many of its old fire alarm system components intact. The panels were old-looking Simplex panels, and the main building has a new, large FCI panel and next to it are the older panels/annuciators (with “TERMINAL CABINET” labeled on them. Each main entrance to one of the sections has a large black case with an Atlas Alarm Co. label (they work on the alarms at this school) and “FIRE ALARM TERMINALS” on it. Same case for the old Simplex panels in the Gym building, never saw the ones in the Fine Arts Building. I assume the FCI panel in the main building also operates the other systems in the other buildings, but they are not linked together. For instance, there was a false alarm in the Fine Arts Building once, but the fire alarms in the main building did not go off.
The signals are mostly Simplex 4040 horns (4040s are relabeled Federal Signal Vibratone 350s) behind the red flush-mount FG grilles. One of the 4040s in the gym building does NOT have a flush-mount grille, so this is how I found out what kind it is. The swimming pool also has what is probably either a newer-grille Federal Signal Vibratone or a Simplex 2901-9806 behind the FG, probably added in the 1980s or early 1990s. Most of the ceiling-mounted initiating devices are old metal Chemtronics heat detectors, but one hallway between the Yellow and Red buildings has a newer System Sensor 2451TH smoke detector. And one hallway in the Yellow building had a 9-volt First Alert smoke!
The pull stations are mainly Edwards 270-SPOs (pretty weird to see Edwards pulls with a Simplex system), but there are a few Simplex 4251-20 T-bar pulls scattered around as well (most likely installed in the late 1970s or the 1980s to replace broken 270-SPOs). The TV studio, that is, the new TV studio added in 2003, has an FCI dual-action pull station and two System Sensor SpectrAlert horn/strobes.
Those 4040s were the loudest fire alarms I ever heard throughout my school career, I must add.
And for those who are interested, we used a time tone system (with a newer Simplex time-control device in the main office). A classroom in the Fine Arts Building (formerly the old TV Studio) has a red Simplex bell in it. However, they told me that it was part of an old burglar alarm system they installed when it used to be the TV studio.
At my school, the alarms are as follows.
In the hallways, there is one type of alarm. I have know idea who makes it. I will describe it and if anyone knows who makes it, please tell me. The alarm is square. The grill on the speaker is shaped like a bullseye with an X going through it. The strobe is white and is attached on. The strobe is slightly slanted forward and the “FIRE” lables are sticky notes on the sides of the strobes. One of the key things about it is that the company lable says “Loudspeaker” on it. Is this a company name? I have only seen these alarms some places. Sometimes they are attached to strobe plates. I once saw one on a Simplex 2903 strobe plate. These alarms are also found at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and on some sets of TV shows. The ones at the MFA are mainly different but the strobes on most of them are identical to the ones at school. Some of the ones there are exactly the same. I’ve seen older “Loudspeaker” alarms at some other places with old strobes on them.
In some of the big rooms at school like the gym, cafeteria, aduitorium, library, band room, and boys locker room, the alarms are Simplex rectangular speaker/strobes. The “Loudspeaker” alarms sound the same as the Simplex ones.
In the classrooms, the alarms are ceiling mounted. The two units in each room are Simplex rectangular remote strobes next to a “Loudspeaker” alarm speaker only (kinda wierd that there are two units). In the offices, there is only the strobe. The “Loudspeaker” alarms are found in some rooms as well. Some of them have broken down. The replacements are Simplex rectangular strobes with partial outlet covers. This has led me to believe that the “Loudspeaker” alarms have been disconinued. On the outside of the school, the alarms are older Simplex speakers next to strobes (I think the strobes are SpaceAge Electronics). All of the pull stations at school are Simplex push in, pull down T-Bars.
Welcome to the forums!!
If you take some pictures we will be able to tell you better.
Bullseye with an X?
With one of these strobes?
The speaker is the same shape, but it’s red. The strobe is a newer looking strobe that is slightly slanted forward. But otherwise, it looks just like that. One other difference is that the lable on that alarm says “Federal Signal”, but the ones at school say “Loudspeaker”. The company is Federal Signal, right? But anyway, thanks for your help.
P.S. I would have gotten a photo at school, but I didn’t want to get caught. If you want to see the alarm, watch High School Musical. The alarms on the set look just like the ones at school. I will try to get a screenshot.
Simplex often distributed Federal Signal fire alarm products from the 1960s to maybe the early 1990s. Their 4040 horn was a relabeled Vibratone 350 (with the older-style grille), and their 2901-9806 horn was a relabeled Vibratone 450 (new-style grille).
Is this it? (Strobe)
Yes, put that on a red version of the bullseye speaker and you have the alarm. I also saw today at school what I think was a fedsig symbol on the label. That is probably the company and the alarm is probably discontinued.
They were at a school I went to for a summer programThey talked,but since they looked just like federal signal 450’s,I thought they would be an ultra loud buzz.i figured it was an upgrade untill I heard the speaker.
I was just searching the web and found this picture from google images located on ebay.
This is the speaker and strobe together. The only slight difference is when these alarms are mounted on the wall they have the small rounded corner mounting brackets. I believe these alarms are the Federal Signal 50GC or something like that.
Is it a newer Simplex system, due to the push-in-pull-down T-bars (a.k.a. the 2099-9756 or 4099-9003)? I know new Simplex systems use either their own signals, or ones made by Wheelock or Gentex. I’ve never heard of a newer one using Federal Signal before. Usually it’s the pre-1990s systems that did so. When I went to high school, they had Simplex 4040s, which were essentially re-branded Vibratone 350s.
One strange thing I forgot to mention about my schools fire alarms is that the builders intigrated a “phone ringing” noise into the P.A. system. It is completly separate from the fire alarm speakers where the slow whoop and voice evacuation are heard. On the outside, you can’t here the phone ringing because there are no P.A. speakers on the outside of the building.
The alarm sounds like this:
Whoooooooooooooooop!
Whoooooooooooooooop!
At the same time, the P.A. speakers make this noise:
Dingalingalingalingalingalingalingalingalinga (Trying to impersonate a phone ringing noise)
At some point in the middle, the slow whoops stop while the phone ringing noise continues (since it is separate from the alarm) and the voice evacuation message plays. I don’t know what it says since the phone ringing noise and talkative kids add a lot of background noise.
After the message, the slow whoops and phone ringing noise continue until silenced. I think there is acutally a way to silence just the slow whoops while the phone ringing noise and strobes keep on going. I’m not sure weather the phone ringing noise can be silenced while the strobes and slow whoop continue.
Overall, the fire alarms at school are very wierd.
Does the voice message go…
[quote] Attention. Attention. Attention. An emergency has been reported. All occupants walk to the nearest stairway exit and walk down to your assigned re-entry floor or main lobby. Do not use the elevators. Walk to the nearest stairway. [/quote]Probably, since it’s a Simplex system. The Simplex message is a man’s voice. I’m not sure whether it’s a man’s or a women’s voice. I will listen more carefully next time.
What panel is it? I’m guessing a 4100 or a 4100U. The junior high school near my house has a Simplex 4100U voice-evac panel with TrueAlert speaker/strobes and the same kind of T-bar pulls you mentioned. They also have TrueAlarm smokes as well.
The school building was finished in 1997. I don’t get many chances to see the pannel since it’s in the office and I have a hard time telling pannels apart. One thing I can tell you is that the slow whoops sound just like the ones in weatherdan’s videos.
What is the size of the school? Depending on the size of the school, odds are, it’s a 4100, because the 4100U produces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbb9bjJSreU this slow whoop instead of the one we’re familiar w/…
I think I like that version of the whoop tone better than the one from the 4100
The Edgar B. Davis elementary school, which I only gave a brief mention in this thread, I will describe with more detail. I went here for kindergarten, and again for a summer school program in 2000.
Built in 1974, the school has, to my knowledge, a Simplex 2001 panel, replacing a 4208 or similar model. There is a graphic annuciator at the main entrance, obviously a later installation (since Simplex did not make graphic annuciators in the 1970s). The signals are mainly Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 light plates that do not have “FIRE” on the lens, including a bizzare install job with one of them involving a 4051 on two backboxes mounted into the 4050-80 plate. In the main gym, one of the signals has a SpaceAge Electronics retrofit plate with the V33 light, and another like that is in the small gym. I do not know the horns in those SAE retrofits, but I’m guessing they are Simplex 4051s. Many of the pull stations are Simplex 4251-30 T-bars (the 4251-30 is the “break-glass” version), and a few of them are newer Edwards 270-SPOs. I don’t remember what the ceiling-mount initiating devices are. (EDIT: Now I know; they were Chemtronics heat detectors). There were also some small Simplex test stations scattered around campus near 4051/4050-80s that did not have a pull station underneath. These test stations were also later installations.
The system is set to 20-BPM March Time, and the lights flash in time with the horns. In the library, the lights do not flash. This is because it’s so loud in the library it caused the lights to malfunction, if I remember correctly. One test-switch didn’t work, and a 4050-80 plate did not have the red lens on it. I wonder if these problems had been repaired since?
A new wing added in 1996, which has two classrooms, has Wheelock MT-24-LSMs that are most likely connected to a separate small panel. I have no idea what the pulls are, but I’m betting they are generic T-bars since the new wing at the Downey elementary school had those.
And for those interested, the school bells were gray six-inch Simplex bells, installed behind gray grilles. These bells were LOUD, with a capital L! The gym had three ten-inch Simplex bells (behind silver grilles), and outside was four ten-inch bells (also behind grilles) and one of them was plated up. These bells, as well as the fire alarm system, are still there today.
So there you go.