State of the Art Alarm systems

The newest thing in state of the art alarm technology is now the capability of being able to arm/ disarm and control system thru your smart phone plus get text messages as to what is going on in the system and also being able to receive video from cameras on the property. These fee based systems are available for many systems on the market and the one I now use and offer is from Honeywell / Ademco Security and is known as "Total Connect " www.mytotalconnect.com
As you can see in the picture on my android smart phone I can also access it thru my Lap top or any other internet connected device like a I Pad I have full control of the alarm system at WAVL 910 AM where I am the broadcast engineer .
It alerts me when we loose power, or T1 lines audio signal or tower lights etc are out. Plus I can control doors , gates and transmitter etc. plus view the stations exterior cameras which watch the property. It saves me many trips up per week up to Apollo Pa.
The system is simple to use and costs about $10-30 per month extra on your security/monitoring bill depending on how many times you use it and what services you are using.
The system works using either or both a GSM based Cellular or Internet hard wired communicator which is attached to the control panel. The Total Connect system works in conjunction with Honeywell Alarmnet service. www.alarmnet.com Which offers a secondary path or primary monitoring of you alarm system against phone lines being cut.
Besides Honeywell . Alarm.com offers this service to GE security controls as does Napco for there's and also Tellular whose system will work with all panels. Check with your security provider to see if they are affiliated with any of these programs if you are interested.
have a loved one with medical condition or elderly parent or have latch key kids who come home before you do from work your worried about then the text alerting and cameras could be perfect for your busy day,with out having to constantly snoop on them and make them feel like your invading there privacy. Check it out.

Be careful refurbing old Generators in Schools they could be putting out 120 Volts of DC Power not AC

About 20 years ago a customer of mine bought an old school building and there had been numerous tenants and work done in it. In the basement was an old emergency generator set. The owner said to me you like to tinker with this stuff why don't you see if you can get it to work . Well I check everything out and find there are 2 dead battery's wired in series making it a 24 volt starting system and it needs spark plugs etc. So I get the set ready to use.
The owner fires the generator up and it comes on line only one problem There is smoke in the hall we turn off the generator and we find one of the emergency lights which has a back up battery pack has burned up.
Thats strange I wonder if where over voltage I pull out my rugged Square D Wiggy tester to check what voltage is coming out when the DC- Direct Current flag indicator comes up . Hey wait a minute this generator should be putting out 120 VAC- Alternating Current like all the other ones I have worked on.
Wrong after extensively looking it over and finding prints I find out this generator puts out 120 volts DC not AC For what ever reason it seems generators in schools in PA. where designed for DC power when running in emergency mode not AC.
Well then how did the light bulbs in the signs work ? How can they be AC power one minute DC the next which is what you read when you test them? Well the bulbs are standard Edison based incandescent bulbs and Incandescent bulbs can work with AC or DC So when the generator is not working the buildings 120 VAC power feeds them when the power goes out and generator comes on there feed with 120DC
power in this case with a Shunt Wound DC generator . But Why?
To this day I have not been able to get a good explanation why this was done and the very serious danger this poses to any one remodeling and operating a business in an old school here in Pa. is very real because typically these old exit signs are replaced with modern ones which have transformers and electronic boards and when you hit them with the DC it fries them and they can explode and catch fire.
If any engineer can explain to me why such a dangerous practice was allowed with little to no warning of these systems changing voltages I would really like to know why it was done and why more warnings where not posted.To warn school janitors changing the light bulbs especially since I have found these generators in other schools where the 2 light bulb signs have 1 socket AC only and 1 socket is AC/DC during an emergency the right AC/DC bulb only comes on.
Since many of these schools where built from early 1900's -40' this way there is really no one around to talk to who knows about it.

Old School Fire Alarm Technology

When I went to grade school in the 1960's and the Fire Alarm went off a very loud bell would sound and beat out a code where it had activated such as 2-2-1 or 2-2-3 and by counting the beats you knew which manual station had been activated. If your school had a really sophisticated system it would also have in the lobby a cabinet with a paper tape punch that would punch out that code to tell arriving firefighters exactly which station was activated. If it was a false alarm they would then have to go to the station with a key and open it up with a key usually shaped like a triangle on the end and rewind it and replace the breakable glass if it had this feature. the tape system also would have to be rewound. This was high tech fire alarm technology in the 60's .which some times these systems might have a mechanical heat detector and possibly a primitive photoelectric duct detector
But soon a modern revolution with electronics would evolve and things would change for ever how we would protect people. These old tape systems are all gone for the most part with only a couple still in use in buildings where systems have not been upgraded and will soon only be seen in museums. But wow it was something to see the systems operate back then what a technological achievement they where. On my Face Book page I have many different pictures of old Fire and Burglar alarms and your all welcome to look.

Fire Alarm bells a relic whose time has come

The Fire Alarm Bell at one time almost every Fire Alarm and Burglar Alarm utilized them they where loud and efficient and as you can see in the picture to the left just sat there quietly awaiting its duty above the fire panel waiting to be activated.
well that's the problem while the bell is sitting in standby as low as this one is when it was examined I found that some one had stuck a piece of gum under the clapper keeping it from operating properly.
in some cases I have found the entire gong loosened or even removed and missing worse yet is when people paint the gongs despite the do not paint sticker and it deadens the sound,the unfortunate problem with bells is they can be easily tampered with and you do not know they have been unlike Fire horns and strobes which can be tampered with but not as easily.
At This point I only have a couple customers with bells and they are high enough up they can not be easily messed with but all the lower ones have been replaced because of the danger of some one tampering with them.With all the new technologies out there bells have all but become obsolete except for use for alerting when stand alone sprinklers activate which are not attached to a fire system Which now many modern codes are calling for Horn strobes and the occasional existing old fire system which should be being updated. Yes at one time everyone knew what the bells stood for when you practiced a fire drill at and marched to its beat. This is where March time encoding came from when in old AC only Fire Systems you would count the bell beats to tell where an alarm was coming from such as 3-2-2 or 3-1-2 etc
it would tell you where the alarm had activated but with modern remote annunciators now with English language bells are no longer needed. But there still something about the bell on a responding fire truck that still comes to mind when I was a kid. plus hearing bells go off at the fire station but today they are a relic and only a couple manufacturers even make them any more.

Lead by Example The Fire Service fails the test

Here in Pa. at least 2-4 times a year you will hear of a Fire Station catching fire and in many of these cases there is absolutely no Fire Protection systems protecting the Fire Stations at all not one Sprinkler Head not one fire alarm system not even a simple 120 volt ac single station smoke detector absolutely nothing and over a million dollars in equipment often times much more can be lost let alone the cost of replacing the buildings and in some cases fireman are staying overnight as well with nothing protecting them, but the fire service wants you to put in smoke detectors and now sprinklers in your new home. I was recently at my nieces graduation held at her dads fire hall station combo and there is not one smoke detector or sprinkler to be found in the building I was even hard pressed to find a hand fire extinguisher except for in the kitchen which has a hood that is completely out of code and still using dry powder not K Chemical new hoods use.

While I have been in stations old and new which have everything imaginable to protect there equipment and firefighters who may bunk there over night. it is by far the exception not the rule
If we in the fire service are going to insist that the public follow the rules then why do I time after time here complaints from fire fighters they do not want to follow it.
Sorry but if your going to insist the public follow it that means you to. But in the mean time another station will go up in flames this summer some where in Pa.
If the fire service wants respect from the public then do so by leading the pack not insisting your exempt because your firefighters. The fire service has been and will always be its own enemy as long as it fails to lead.

When is a Fire System too old to be passed? It depends

I was recently called to evaluate a Fire Alarm system in an old office building to determine if it still functions and could be used to properly protect the building. It was a 30 year old Fire-Lite 112 Miniscan and even thou it still functions I said no it should be replaced.
The reason is because over the last 30+ years I have seen numerous times where these panels have stopped operating all together and never gave indication there was a problem. Not a good thing especially since I ran across 2 more of these systems being used in Old personnel Care homes which are being turned into homes for at risk youths which are required to be monitored for fire and trouble signals and since these panels do not have a built in trouble relay for monitoring and the trouble relay adapter is no longer made and panels supported they need replaced Period.
now I am not picking on Fire-Lite there are also 2500 series Edwards panels I have seen with this same problem and refuse to pass them as well. The whole problem is many of these older panels are now starting to have problems as there electronic components like capacitors start to corrode and go bad. Back then panels where mostly hand built and soldered not like today where it is all done by robots. Also back then they did not understand Power spikes and surges as well and the panels where not well designed against these problems. Now sure you could hire any other alarm company to come in and they will certify the panel fine and dandy but there techs. do not have the master level skills and trouble shooting experience I have to see these problems
and too many alarm company's and there employees just do not give a dam in quality of there work they perform they just slap an inspection tag on it and collect there money. But in the end if the system fails and there is a catastrophe who pays.
But lets look at realty most electronics are good for 10-20 years and yes some can go much longer with proper care etc. But when it comes to life safety why would you take the chance.
This is not like a radio or TV not working some ones life is on the line, and If you would Contact manufacturers about these panels they would also agree they have served there purpose as well as they have not supported them for many years now.It is time to retire them to a museum.

An Engineer is an Engineer ? Wrong

When people hear the word Engineer they often think of a Civil Engineer who builds infrastructure or a Train Engineer who drives a train but there are many types of engineers which requires differing levels of education, license and certifications.

There are Professional Engineers which are mainly White Collar positions and require a 4 year college degree and additional training under a licensed engineer if you want to be able to put the letters PE behind your name which means you are a registered design professional with one or more states.
These types of Engineers are as follows Electrical, Mechanical , Fire Protection, Civil and other specialty areas such as RF, Electronics, Pressure etc.
You may not in many states call or advertise your self any of these types of engineers unless you have completed at the minimum a 4 year college degree and graduated. and can only call your self a Professional Engineer or PE Unless you have taken and passed numerous tests administered by a states licensing board.
In the case of my installing fire Alarms I am required to use the services of a design professional and have that drawing stamped by an engineer or architect. who is registered as a design professional here in Pa. If the system is required by code. If it is not a required system I am allowed to design them myself but if it veryhigh risk or large job I get a professional engineer involved regardless.

Now along with these very high level of education degrees there are also High skills designated engineers as well and some do require license or certification as well to perform there jobs / But they are of the Blue Collar trades. Including

Operating Engineer- Some one who operates Heavy equipment such as bull dossers ,high lifts etc. Typically this person is a member of a Operating Engineers Union

Stationary Engineer - Some one who operates large scale Boilers and Chillers in large buildings

Broadcast Engineer - Some one who maintains and repairs RF broadcast faciltys such as Radio and TV stations

Sound Engineer- Some one who operates large electronic mixing boards to produce recorded music usually in a studio

Train Engineer -some one who operates and drives the train

Sanitary Engineer - some one who operates waste water treatment plants.

and you will often hear the words Sales Engineer this is specially trained salesman who designs for customers customized applications of products. How ever some states restrict the use of the word engineer to strictly recognized trades or professionals and discourage the use of the word to be used otherwise. The more correct word to use would be designer not engineer. and this is very important because when you call your self an engineer you leave your self open to liability for any thing you design . In fact here in Pa. there have been several prosecutions of those who called themselves engineers and where improperly using a deceased engineers stamp or other wise using a stamp with out permission.
So if you are calling yourself an engineer and do not have the required training or certifications
you can be in for big headaches. and as you can see the field of engineering is very vast indeed.