BDA Proposal

[EM36]

So I'm still wanting to research this some more...RSI bda is ul2524 certified. I'm not sure about others and want to look at this closer. I think this is what the guy was telling me a few weeks ago though.

 

[EM36]

FIPLEX is UL2524 nothing about this other standard.

• PS700 and PS800 High capacity versions (64 channels) • UL2524 2nd Edition Listing with SGS, Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) approved by OSHA for UL2524 • IFC 2015, 2018, 2021 Edition • NFPA 72 2013 Edition, NFPA 1221 2016 2019 Edition

 

[EM36]

So 60950UL is the older standard, it covered fire alarms specifically but not bda...

 

[Keith]

The thing that you need to watch here is many inspectors and the like will have no idea of WHAT certification the equipment actually needs. If it's got a certification stamp on it... it must be good. Even if that is a certification that it will hurt if you drop in on your foot. The CCR's (Cheap Chinese Radios) are a perfect example of this. The bear a FCC ID on them.... but it's for either a different radio, or it's for the battery or the charger or anything but the radio. I ran into this with a BDA unit that was sent to us for review as a demo. First issue was it had a power cord. Regulation required hardwired to a dedicated circuit. Second issue was no battery backup. They said you just needed to plug it into a UPS. Of course the box wasn't NEMA 4 But it was painted RED. When the rep came in... it was sort of high comedy. I gave them a full list of the issues,,, he immediately ask what unit we had seen. I told him and he got on the phone and gave several people hell about sending that unit out at all. Turned out it was a first (and failed) attempt to get into the market. They have since designed and built newer units that do meet spec. As a side note, there are a TON of trunk slammers out there that are trying to get into the business because as discussed before.... there is a LOT of money to be made with DAS. The issues got so bad locally that the city I do most of the business in wrote their own version of the code requiring some very specific requirements for training and that you be a registered vendor of DAS equipment that is reviewed by the city communications group before you can install systems. I am actually working on installing a system in a firehouse for that city right now. We use Bird equipment almost exclusively, with a Westell unit here and there. And I do enough business with Bird that they know me by name. We actually had an issue a few years back with the new units that were generating very intermittent alarms that were so quick that the unit wasn't even registering them, but the alarm was seeing the alarm relay close and the panel was showing it. I worked with the development team to make changes to the firmware of the units so it would require the alarm to be active for 10 seconds before it would close the alarm relay. That cured all the issues. They have been good to work with and I have never had anything bad to say about them.