NAPCO StarLink MAX2 supervised dual path cellular fire alarm system communicators.
NAPCO is happy to announce that StarLink MAX2 fire communicators now support the industry’s first and only Supervised Dual Path, Dual Cellular Carrier commercial fire communication service.
The new Super DualTM UL 864 10th edition listed service provides two fully supervised cellular reporting paths (AT&T and Verizon), as an alternative to traditional cell/IP dual path reporting. This new dual path cellular feature eliminates the ordeal of getting permission from your subscriber’s IT dept. to run a CAT5 cable and plug your IP communicator into their network when dual path reporting is required. It also addresses AHJ concerns related to incompliance with NFPA 72 2022 Section 26.6.3.13 for the required 24 hours Secondary Power, which most often cannot be properly verified for IP reporting through the subscriber’s network.
Super Dual service allows both cellular carriers to be fully supervised, as per NFPA 2013-2022, with each carrier supervised within not more than 6 hours:
NFPA 72 2016 Edition
26.6.3.4 Multiple Communications Paths. If multiple transmission paths are used, the following requirements shall be met:
(1) Each path shall be supervised within not more than 6 hours.
(2) The failure of any path of a multipath system shall be annunciated at the supervising station within not more than 6 hours.
(3) Multiple communications paths shall be arranged so that a single point of failure shall not cause more than a single path to fail.
(4) The failure to complete a signal transmission shall be annunciated at the protected premises in accordance with Section 10.14.
By design, the StarLink Fire MAX2 Super Dual service plan will transmit a supervisory signal through each carrier, alternating AT&T and Verizon, every 3 hours. Upon failure of either cellular carrier, the system will continue operating on the remaining carrier, will report the trouble to central station and locally annunciate the trouble.
The MAX2 series supports the following service plan types, making it the ideal choice for any commercial fire communication application:
- Traditional sole path cellular only (AT&T / Verizon) communications.
- Traditional dual path cellular (AT&T / Verizon) and IP communications.
- New Super Dual supervised cellular (AT&T and Verizon) dual path communications.
