Devices with size variations

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve always found it fascinating when there are multiple size variations of a similar device (aside from the common examples like horn vs. speaker/strobe and various gong sizes on bells).

  • The Space Age AV-32 and AV-34
  • The Simplex 4251 chevron and the 4252/4263 Π-bar.
  • Other coded/non-coded pairs like the Edwards 1251 and 270

Foreign alarm companies often have different sizes of sounder. Stahl/Clifford & Snell has the Y03 (medium), Y04 (small), Y05 (large), Y08 (extra large), and Fulleon has the Roshni, Symphoni, and Asserta.

Which other ones can you think of?

The new L-Series A/Vs, they come in both standard and “compact” sizes.

Though to be honest its kind of hard for me to tell the difference.

There is Eaton’s Planète BAAS SA which has such size variations, for those who don’t know what a BAAS (acronym of “Bloc Autonome d’Alarme de Sécurité”, which roughly translates to Autonomous Security Alarm Bloc. I’m going to refer to them as ASAB (not ASAP, jokes aside) in this post for clarity) is… Think of it as a self-contained FACP (with an built-in NA) that can be linked to other ASABs.

The BAAS Sa-ME variation (mod# NUG31185 for the flash version and mod# NUG31184 for the non-flash version):

and the Planète BAAS SA A/B Class (mod# NUG31182):

I had another exemple in mind but don’t really recall it for the moment.

1 Like

I also find devices with size variations to be quite fascinating. Here are two examples I’ve seen:

Mirtone 73303

Notifier NFM-950B and FM-955

1 Like

I can’t believe I forgot the L-Series.

And thanks! I was looking for those pull stations. Never saw them in person, so I assumed one was just a little bit wider. I didn’t realize how different they were.

The difference in size between the two Notifier pull stations is indeed striking. I had seen FM-955s in person before, but it wasn’t until I purchased one that I realized how massive it really is.

Speaking of the L-Series devices, there was also a compact version of the “classic” SpectrAlert horn/strobe:

The compact version of the “classic” is quite rare to see. They look quite nice, it’s a surprise that there aren’t more out there in the field (I’ve only seen them in one place before). This one is quite interesting especially as it is a transformation of the standard “classic” that could be done while being installed, though it seems like a few extra steps need to be taken for this to happen (not to mention, a potential extra expense). The installer simply needs to break off the four tabs that would otherwise cover the screws. Additionally, a separate plate would have to be purchased, potentially adding to the cost of the installation.

Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see a model that can be transformed like this. Not sure if anyone knew about how it could be done, but is still fascinating. It can also be found in the manual for the “classic” devices, if anyone is curious.

I’ve seen Gentex Commanders be mounted without backplates, especially Commander 1s.

I never knew that a Classic SpectrAlert could be mounted without the plate that it comes on.

That’s quite interesting! I did not know about the modification/installation process for these devices.