Need help identifying strange strobe/sounder alarm

[Despina83]

I've been curious for years about the fire alarms in the Wyoming, Michigan Meijer store (54th and Clyde Park). I posted about them on another discussion board but no one had any idea what they might be. They're large red strobes with built in sounders. They look a little bit like these, but fatter and with a different base and more tapered at the ends:



The sound they make is different to anything I've ever heard...a bit more like something they might have in Europe or something. It sounds like WAHWOW, WAHWOW, WAHWOW, WAHWOW. The only thing I can compare it to is the constant background sound in this music clip (noticable after 7 seconds in): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekPaYGVLifY. Not exactly like that, slightly faster paced, but it's the only thing I can compare it to. The strobe blinks off and on while it sounds (on at every "wah").

If anyone lives in the Grand Rapids area, go take a look. There's five of them in the store. Three emergency exits have them mounted above the doors (the one I saw going off last week was in health and beauty care) and two that are seemingly randomly placed in grocery. The store was built in the 70's, I believe, so these could be very old alarms. I'm really curious as to what they are or if anyone knows of an alarm that sounds like what I'm describing. When it went off when I was about five years old it scared me so bad I've actually had recurring dreams about it ever since. But they're actually not all that loud. I've seen ONE of these strobes at the Cascade Meijer, and for some reason that one is in frozen foods.

On a side note, the 54th st/Clyde park Meijer also has an amber colored strobe up near guest service. It seems like this went off a lot when I was a kid, but I have no idea what it's for.

[jkvernon]

Sorry for hijacking the topic but our Meijer has white System Sensor MASSs with green strobes. Under each individual alarm is a push button labeled something like "press here for customer service." I've never bothered to push the button nor have I ever heard them used.

I know this doesn't answer your question but I figured it was interesting.

[Despina83]

FINALLY I have some photos:









So what can you guys tell me about this strobe/sounder? Can anyone tell what company made it? Maybe somebody recognizes the logo on the label on the first pic.

[EL1998P71]

By the shape of the Logo, looks like Tripp Light or Tri Lite.
Tri Lite has triangles, Tripp Lite had the Circles.
Tripp lite doesn't make lights anymore, just power inverters.
So my guess is Tri Lite bought their stuff.

[Despina83]

Interesting...but it looks like the Tripp Lite logo is just two circles, and the logo on this alarm is longer, with one square and two circles. But it does look close...hmm. I'm trying to find out if they made strobe/sounders, not just strobes. EDIT: Okay, actually, I think the square is probably where it shows the number of volts. Look at the logo on the alarm on this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/Tripp-Lite-Model-FF ... 563f773ba4

[EL1998P71]

That's just a strobe light in your photo and is the same as the TRI LITE.
And next to it is a standard ceiling speaker.

The TRI LITE is just a rebranded TRIPP LITE beacon.
Lights are rebranded all the time.
If you think there's more to this, take some aspirin. Your just going to give yourself a headache. (just how I am interpreting your post)

[Despina83]

They're not just strobes, they're sounders too. That's why I'm so curious about them. The freaky sound they make is like no other alarm I've heard before.

[Allertor113]

They're not just strobes, they're sounders too. That's why I'm so curious about them. The freaky sound they make is like no other alarm I've heard before.

It could be that because they don't have horns(sounders) in them they play generic alarm sounds over the speaker to the right of it.

[Despina83]

Well, I don't know much about these things but couldn't that strobe be a sounder too? Or are you sure by looking at it that it's not? I considered before that the alarm sound comes from the generic speaker next to them, but could there be a setup like that? Those speakers are all over the store and of course they play music, pages, etc. Would they be able to play the alarm sound only in the speaker next to the alarm that's going off? Would there be some sort of alarm that's inside the speaker and music just plays through it unless the alarm is going off? Now I wonder if the music even comes through the speakers that are beside the alarms. Interesting. So I wonder what kind of device generates that sound, because it sure is unique.

[Allertor113]

Well, I don't know much about these things but couldn't that strobe be a sounder too? Or are you sure by looking at it that it's not? I considered before that the alarm sound comes from the generic speaker next to them, but could there be a setup like that? Those speakers are all over the store and of course they play music, pages, etc. Would they be able to play the alarm sound only in the speaker next to the alarm that's going off? Would there be some sort of alarm that's inside the speaker and music just plays through it unless the alarm is going off? Now I wonder if the music even comes through the speakers that are beside the alarms. Interesting. So I wonder what kind of device generates that sound, because it sure is unique.

It is possible that the strobe is a horn too, and if they aren't the store owner would just play an alarm sound over the speaker system instead of music.

This video is some-what of an example, these speaker strobes are designed to do voice alerts/evacuations, but you can use a computer or something with audio editing capabilities and make it play different tones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMFyYjLzELE