On Tuesday 13th September we attended the FIM Expo at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff where most of the major manufacturers were showcasing parts of their product portfolio. These events are always a great opportunity to keep abreast of industry developments and network with our key partners.
This year we used the opportunity to interview Tom Halden from Morley-IAS, Robert Quinn from Sygno-Fi and Jeff Pinkest from C-Tec and here’s what they had to say.
Tom Halden on the Morley-IAS Max addressable panel
Hi, I’m Tom Halden over at Honeywell Morley-IAS. I’m here today showing off the new Morley MAx Panel that will be eventually replacing the old ZX.
With the new Morley MAx, you have options of a single-loop, two-loop, four-loop, six-loop, or eight-loop using the System Sensor protocol, the Apollo, and Hochiki protocol.
It has CAN bus networking technology, so it has faster networking capabilities and upload loading of configs. It’s full touchscreen, color-coded with green for okay, yellow for fault, and red for alarm. It’ll take you straight into the zone LEDs of the device that’s gone into fault or alarm, giving the end user easier reading of the fire panel itself.
We’re really looking forward to the official launch which is scheduled for Q4 of this year!
Robert Quinn on the Sygno-Fi wireless system
Sygno-fi by Eurotech is a revolutionary wireless product because it has 60 pairs of communication channels. 8 pairs are for the network infrastructure and 22 pairs for the field devices, meaning that it is scalable across larger sites without the need for manual channel separation. It is an open-protocol wireless product, with various strong panel integrations and partnerships, we are looking to really bring out the features of Sygno-fi with panel integration. The other feature is that it is seamlessly hybrid between hard-wired and wireless. Each wireless system (translator and series of associated expanders) can facilitate up to 128 devices with 240 devices per loop, so that smooth synchronization on the outputs across a hybrid job, again, puts Sygno-fi ahead of the rest.
Sygno-fi is also a great system for engineers. The combination of the modern survey kit and SygNEX, the QR code-based configuration software is truly game-changing for our customers with both having the ability to generate PDF reports. All of the audiovisual devices on the Sygno-fi range are EN54-23 approved as well and it’s seamlessly integrated and identical to the hard-wired equipment.
It’s paired perfectly with our Toccare touchscreen panel. The Toccare range has three panel variants, all with the ability to choose between Argus and Apollo protocol out of the box. The Toccare Lite, 120-device panel, which is non-networkable. The Toccare mini, which is a dedicated single loop 240 device dedicated networkable panel. And then the Toccare panel which is a 1 to 9-loop expandable panel. What that means is that the Toccare range is fit for any application with its unique aesthetic. The Toccare Mini and Toccare panel also can take up to 15 repeaters per panel without requiring a network card in the panel itself.
Jeff Pankhurst on the CAST by C-Tec addressable system
CTec’s CAST system is a revolutionary new soft addressing system supporting 255 addresses on the loop. We do two versions, either the XFP or the ZFP panel. The XFP comes in one or two loops whereas ZFP comes in one, two, four, and eight loops. Full cause & effects available on the ZFP as well as the XFP (slightly less on the XFP).
CAST has new devices including optical, heat and multi-detectors. All of our VADs are EN54 part 23 certified. Regarding interfaces, we offer a full range, I/O units, main switching units, and zone monitor units. Also the I/O unit is programmed to be a switch monitor.
The heat detector is programmable so you can change the heat mode if required. This helps minimise the stock installers may need to carry on their van.
Soft addressing makes life a lot easier. Install all your devices, make sure the system is fault free and then simply assign your devices from the panel meaning you don’t manually address them. No risk of double addressing as the panel will tell you exactly how many devices you’ve got, their type and assign addresses to them. Following this setup you had a one-out, all-out system, which is perfect for many smaller system.
CAST has faster reactions to fires as most other loops pole devices singularly so it can take a long time to get around that loop. CAST poles 16 devices at a time with an interrupting bit. This means any fire signal automatically calls the pole back to this block to see where the fire is rather than, like on many systems, continue to travel around and only recognising the fire when it eventually comes around to that device.
Finally we also offer Cast Pro devices which includes a combined optical, heat, CO, voice & VAD on a single base.
