New products for the marine market include the Marine version of the fire market's favourite Roshni Low Profile (RoLP) Sounder, the Marine Flashni combined Sounder Beacon, the patented low-current Electronic Solenoid Bell, the Marine 6 Inch Motorised Bell 24V DC, Marine Solista Maxi LED beacon, and the IP66 rated Marine Asserta 110dB-120dB sounder and sounder beacon variants.

One of the most trusted fire protection manufacturers, Apollo is renowned for the reliability of its products and leads the field in providing a product lifetime guarantee. For the potentially dangerous and hard-wearing marine market, the added value of this assured level of quality is obvious.

Warren, who joins Apollo from sister Halma company Crowcon Detection Instruments Ltd., is a graduate in Applied Mathematics with extensive experience of both successful business management and the fire industry. He has previously held the position of Managing Director at Fire Fighting Enterprises Ltd., and before that at Cerberus UK - where he first encountered Apollo in a professional environment, as a competitor.

Talking about his appointment, Warren said: "Apollo has an enviable reputation for industry-leading product development, exceptional customer service and business growth, and I am excited about the opportunities we will have to both continue and build further on these proud traditions in the future. Apollo is clearly a company with the people, facilities and values to back up its reputation, and I'm delighted to now take on the challenge of taking us to the next step - both as a business, and for our customers' benefit."

The Open-Area Voice Sounder and Sounder Beacon are designed to provide clear instructional messages within a fire system, offering six distinct messages and seven volume levels. The devices can be used in applications to ease confusion for the public, instructing them in a concise and intelligible manner on what emergency action should be taken in case of a fire.

Both products offer high volume and enhanced capability of up to 15 tone/message pairs, which reduces the risk of audible alarms being ignored.

Richard Bramham, Marketing Director for Apollo, explains: "With the pressure of modern lifestyles and the constant changing of fire regulations, voice sounders are becoming increasingly common. This is particularly the case for public buildings, tourist attractions and shopping centres, where visitors are likely to be unaware of the specific fire signals."

The new products, which only operate with the Discovery protocol, offer a number of practical benefits including:

• 6 messages and 7 volume levels
• Software-defined group addressing with up to 16 group addresses
• Alarm switching by individual device, by group address or of all devices on loop
• Independent control of sounder and beacon
• Isolator status information
• Set-up and testing of devices at point of installation
• Optional noise pollution feature; automatically silences after 20 minutes
• Class change bell tone
• Red or white options

In total, over 600 Apollo XP95 devices were installed at the 120,000 square feet single storey site, which also incorporates a 500 square feet mezzanine level.

Within the warehouse facility, over 600 Apollo XP95 devices are arranged in 40 zones and are controlled by two 5 loop Morley control panels. 15 Apollo interfacing devices enable the fire system to interact with other building systems, including the sprinkler and air handling units, the security system, door access controls and the fire suppression systems. It was essential for the solution to offer both audible and visual alarms to cover the aisles between the racking systems.

The Apollo fire detection system, which operates a 'one out all out' evacuation sequence, was designed to meet the BS5839 L1 fire protection requirements. The XP95 range of analogue addressable fire detectors provide an alarm facility that automatically puts an alarm flag on the data stream and reports its address when the pre-set EN54 thresholds are exceeded. 

Tel Fisk, Director of Fisk Fire Group Ltd, says: "We only ever recommend open protocol products and in this case, our client specifically requested that Apollo devices were to be used in the new warehouse facility. Waymade Healthcare Plc has chosen Apollo products throughout all of its buildings for the past eight years and, based on previous positive experience, the company was keen to ensure that Apollo's solutions were used in the new warehouse."

Paul Pain, Head of Security and Building Management at Waymade Healthcare Plc, adds: "There are a number of particular considerations that have to be made when providing fire detection in such a facility so it was essential to choose a system that would meet our specific requirements and ensure the safety of the staff and the site. We're very familiar with Apollo's products so they were the natural choice for us when reviewing our fire detection requirements for our new warehouse storage facility."

Ulster Museum is acknowledged as one of the UK's finest, having won the Art Fund Prize in 2010 for the museum within the UK that best recognises and stimulates originality and excellence. The museum is home to a number of collections that represent Northern Ireland's history, varying from fossils and archaeology to world cultures and art. Two of the museum's prize pieces are Takabuti, a seventh century BC Egyptian Mummy, and Peter the Polar Bear. Peter shot to fame when the museum's night watchman reported hearing unusual noises coming from the preserved and stuffed bear. The museum also houses the most complete real dinosaur fossil on display in Ireland in the form of the Edmontosaurus skeleton and some of the finest examples of Celtic design from the Iron Age period.

As part of the refurbishment, a new extension was added to the original museum, which is a listed building. The central feature of the new extension is a 23 metre high atrium area which houses the giant 'Window on our World' display tower. This state-of-the-art attraction rises up through the museum's four levels and houses the most iconic objects from across the museum's diverse collections. As well as containing many exhibits that are of high financial and sentimental value, the recently refurbished museum also boasts three new learning zones, 33 galleries and exhibition spaces and a restaurant.

There were a number of factors that had to be taken into account when designing the fire detection system. Given the diverse nature of the facilities, the client required a fire system that was reliable in a range of different environments. In addition there was a need to be able to protect a large number of visitors of all ages, many of whom would not know the building layout or fire evacuation drill. As well as being able to protect a large number of people in a challenging environment, a reliable voice controlled evacuation system was necessary in order to communicate with those who are unable to understand the traditional alarms, whether due to a disability or because of language barriers.

Approximately 500 Apollo analogue addressable XP95 detectors were specified to meet the main fire protection requirements, with the system based around a Kidde Vega panel that controls 24 zones. The specification required a large number of interfaces to be incorporated into the system, for example to control the display lighting, audio and visual display features and the museum lifts in the event of an emergency.

Geoff Dougan, of Eurotec Safety Services, said:

"Apollo's XP95 range gave us the product choice and flexibility to meet the specifications of this application. It is well proven in the field and the reliability of Apollo systems is one of the main reasons why we have been using their products for more than 20 years."

Within a year of re-opening following the refurbishment, Ulster Museum had welcomed 500,000 visitors, making it Northern Ireland's busiest visitor attraction.

For orders required before this period please ensure your purchase order reaches us by the following day and time. 

UK Orders                  10:00 a.m. on 23rd December

Export Orders            12:00 noon on 16th December

We would like to thank you for your continued business during 2011 and wish you and your colleagues a prosperous 2012.

West Sussex County Council headquarters consists of a main five-storey building and seven satellite buildings. One of these is Edes House, a Grade I listed building that was built in 1696. The Georgian building was bought by the County Council in 1916 and used as council offices until the building of the present county hall in 1936. Today, the house is still used for County Council meetings during the day and is open for a variety of artistic, ceremonial and cultural activities at other times.

Other buildings at the headquarters are host to the council chambers and administration buildings, the County Council Emergency Management centre in the basement of the main building and a main server room. Each of these locations had very different requirements and Southern Fire Alarms Ltd recommended an Apollo-based detection system that was designed to meet L2 standards as required by West Sussex County Council.

More than 700 Apollo devices were installed alongside an existing fire alarm system, which needed to be retained until the new system was tested and commissioned. Advanced Electronics MX4000 panels are used to control the new fire alarm system. David Fell, System Sales Consultant at Southern Fire Alarms Ltd, explains: "For this installation we had a number of situations where specialist devices were required and Apollo was able to meet our demands. West Sussex County Council required an open protocol system. Apollo technology was chosen as it offers a great deal of flexibility when considering maintenance and, if required, spare parts are easily available."

The fire detection system had a number of specific requirements, which Apollo technology was able to meet. For example, fire detection was required in the building's attic spaces to supplement the existing smoke detection. Apollo's Discovery carbon monoxide detectors were chosen to operate where the ceiling construction consists of multiple beam structures. As well as being able to operate in one of five response modes, Discovery detectors also incorporate drift compensation, which reduces the likelihood of false alarms as the detector can adapt to dirty or dusty environments.

The council chamber, Chief Executive's office and entrance halls presented a very different fire detection challenge. The installation of hard-wired devices would have caused unacceptable damage to the decorative design on the walls and ceiling, so Apollo's XPander range of wireless detectors were chosen. Designed for use in areas where hard-wired fire detection is impossible or impractical, XPander devices are also a good option for listed buildings, which may have strict rules regarding alteration to the original fabric of the structure. In these circumstances, channelling and wiring for traditional fire detection can cause damage to the interior during installation.

Specialist fire detection was also required in the county hall's generator oil store room. Due to the volatile nature of the room's contents, care needed to be taken with the fire detection that was installed. Electrical equipment for use in such areas must be designed so that it cannot ignite a flammable mixture, so Apollo's XP95 Intrinsically Safe (IS) detectors were recommended. The range has been specifically developed for use in hazardous areas.

XP95 interfacing devices were installed to connect the fire detection system to a number of the other building systems, including the air handling unit, gas shut off and access control. As part of the fire system specification, Southern Fire Alarms also provided a bespoke panel and Apollo sounders in case of a bomb alert.

Educational establishments may typically consist of a number of buildings that are spread across a site, such as sports centres and exterior classrooms. Linking these buildings back to the main fire detection system can be expensive or impractical depending on distance and the large amount of cabling required. Apollo's wireless XPander range solves this problem.

The extended XPander range includes two new products and now consists of an optical smoke detector, a multisensor smoke detector, heat detector types A1R and CS, a wireless base, a manual call point, a sounder and a sounder beacon and Single and Dual Input/Output Units. The complete range has been granted the new wireless link fire standard EN54 Part 25, which is the standard for European-compliant radio products.

XPander has an updated 31-device loop interface and connects to an XP95-compatible control panel via an interface which is wired to the loop. No special adjustment or programming is required and the devices are recognised by the control panel simply as another detector connected to the system. The detectors are multi-state in that they report normal, fire or fault states to the radio base, which transmits the information to the interface. The radio bases and signalling devices are addressable and use a pre-set analogue value to report via the XP95 protocol. In addition to 'normal' and 'fire' signals, the bases can also indicate a low battery, a dirty detector, detector tamper and low signal strength fault conditions.

The OpenConnect Gateway is effectively a 'plug and play' device that can be incorporated into a fire control panel design, relaying information from the panel into the BMS using standard protocols such as BACnet™, Modbus® or LonWorks®. This gives both system integrators and end users the advantage of utilising an intra-system communication architecture between both environments, while maintaining the integrity of each system independently. The benefits include faster response times, coordination strategies, and utilisation of pre-planned and/or pre-programmed evacuation procedures in case of emergency or times of failure. Because the gateway is an integral part of the fire control panel, it is also simple to install and configure reducing the associated time and costs when implemented into projects.

At the heart of the hardware is the Tridium JACE®, designed in conjunction with the well-established Niagara AX Framework®, to provide easy physical integration to a host of established networks. The versatility of the OpenConnect standard allows participating fire panel partners to adopt and seamlessly integrate their equipment into building monitoring, automation and control systems using the gateway. Through its Panel Partnership, Apollo has already worked closely with leading panel manufacturers to develop panel-to-BMS interfaces, and will continue to do so as future licensed partners come onboard and develop suitable connections to the gateway hardware.

The new gateway will be available in four base models that reflect the number of configured points exposed within the BMS environment (200, 1600, 12000 and 25000). Each OpenConnect Gateway includes two standard Ethernet ports, an RS232 port, and a 15V DC input. Additional plug-in I/O slots are also available if needed for other connectors, such as LON adapters.

To learn more about the OpenConnect Gateway module and Apollo's full range of fire detection, visit www.apollo-fire.com, or e-mail infous@apollo-fire.com.

The device provides a monitored input circuit for connection to dry contacts, as well as a 120V, 4A rated dry relay contact output. Mounted in a plastic fascia plate for use with 4 inch square or 2 gang electrical back boxes, the unit's red LED flashes when polled by the fire panel. The LED changes to solid red to indicate an active output.

The loop powered design eliminates the need for additional power supply and minimizes installation wiring. Its 120V, 4A rating enables switching of the mains voltage, with reduced installation costs when interfacing directly with mains fans and dampers. The XP95A 120V AC Input/Output module is approved to UL and ULC standards.