Comments on: “Old School” IBM Fire Alarm System

By: SimplexTech

SimplexTech — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

We set off the …
We set off the smoke detector above the 4004 panel; I think the guy with me ack’d it right away and reset it (obviously I wasn’t watching what he was doing.) The IBM system runs four rounds. If the alarm is still present after the last round, it goes another four rounds and will continue until the initiating alarm is reset (it’s a latching system.)

By: weatherdan882002

weatherdan882002 — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

How is the 4004 …
How is the 4004 setup to operate? I only hear it beep twice, and it only activates long enough to make the IBM panel do 4 rounds of code. Are you guys resetting the 4004 as soon as it alarms, or is it programmed to do that?

By: Abercr0mbie4life

Abercr0mbie4life — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

that looks so …
that looks so over-egineered, even for 1955.

By: weatherdan882002

weatherdan882002 — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

It’d be neat if the …
It’d be neat if the new system were bell/strobes, and the bells were single-stroke and the NACs the bells are on would be coded to march time. It’d be pretty similiar to this system here…

By: elliottveares

elliottveares — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

why was some of the …
why was some of the realys doing nothing and what are the two long tublar things by the mechanical timer.

By: cartoonyboy

cartoonyboy — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

It would be …
It would be interesting if a modern horn was used with that…

By: LanceFishman09

LanceFishman09 — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

Ding Dinging
Ding Dinging

By: weatherdan882002

weatherdan882002 — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

My ES had IBM bells …
My ES had IBM bells (6″ and 8″, but only the 6″ ones worked) and it did 4-4 as well, but it was at a slower pace than this. I miss not hearing that…

By: SimplexTech

SimplexTech — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

No, you are looking …
No, you are looking at the panel.

By: SimplexTech

SimplexTech — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:58:20 +0000

What horns! I hear …
What horns! I hear bells.