Bird
Manual 7-9619-1
08/21/18
Page 3
DESCRIPTION
The Bird NFPA Alarm Panel is a signal booster
alarm status annunciator that provides a conve-
nient means of monitoring your signal booster
alarms from a reasonably nearby location such as
a security desk or main lobby desk located in the
same building as the signal booster. The alarm
panel is capable of monitoring the five required
NFPA alarms including; Signal Booster Failure,
Loss of AC Power, Antenna Malfunction, Low Bat-
tery Condition, and Charger Failure.
The NFPA Alarm Panel can be used with any Bird
Signal Booster that uses Form-C relay contacts to
announce NFPA alarm conditions. The connection
between the signal booster and the alarm panel
box consists of a twisted pair of wires for each
monitored alarm function. In addition, the alarm
panel requires a DC operating voltage of +12 VDC
to +24 VDC.
INSTALLATION
The following sub-sections of the manual discuss
general considerations for installing the alarm
panel. All work should be performed by qualified
personnel. Bird provides the alarm panel only, the
customer is responsible for supplying cabling as
well as the alarm panels DC operating voltage.
Installing the Alarm Panel
The alarm panel is designed to be wall mounted
and has a built-in mounting flange on the top-rear
and bottom-rear of the box. Each flange has two
screw holes and all four holes should be used
during installation to insure the box is fastened
firmly. Place the panel in a convenient viewable
location. There is no audio indication from the
panel so the panel needs to be placed such that a
change in the color of the LED’s can be easily
noticed.
Figure 1
shows the mechanical mounting
details of the alarm panel enclosure.
Signal Lines
With the panel box installed run a twisted pair for
each monitored alarm function from the inside of
the alarm panel box to the inside of the signal
booster. The terminal connectors in the alarm
panel can accommodate wire gauge between 16
and 28. For ease of installation it is recommended
that CAT 6 STP (shielded twisted pair) or even CAT
7 cable be used to carry the alarm information from
the signal booster to the alarm panel box.
One of the important considerations when installing
the twisted pairs for signal lines is noise on the
lines which may cause false alarm indications at
the alarm panel. Using good quality cable with suf-
ficient shielding is important. Also, when laying the
cable run avoid running it next to the buildings AC
wiring or near strong noise sources like motors.
Because the alarm panel signal inputs are MOS-
FET the twisted pairs do not carry current and the
physical distance between the signal booster and
the alarm panel can be considerable, several thou-
sand feet comfortably when using Cat 6 or 7 cable.
If your installation requires the distance between
the signal booster and the alarm panel to be
greater than several thousand feet consult with the
factory before running the signal cable. The wire
gauge and shielding used for the signal lines will
determine the workable distance, thicker wire gives
greater distance but can be cost prohibitive.
Inside the alarm panel enclosure the twisted pairs
must be connected to the appropriate terminals at
Figure 1:
Alarm Panel mounting dimensions.
30303 Aurora Rd. Solon, OH 44139 Tel: 1-440-248-1200 [email protected]
www.birdrf.com