The bench test 2: Future benchmark

An example of this is the CQR Ceqmet (pronounced 'seck-met') an external self-actuating sounder which has the European CE mark and complies with BS4737 clause 8.2.

It is an impressive product at an equally impressive trade price of around £60 + VAT, and comes with a manufacturer's guarantee of two years.

The sounder operates at a high volume, using two rear-facing piezo transducers inside an internal steel shroud, with an integral strobe light flashing through a coloured lens in the front of the stainless steel cover. A number of useful self-diagnostic functions are included.

The entirely metal construction gives the Ceqmet a good weighty feel – the backplate and internal shroud being constructed from 1.2mm galvanised steel, and the front cover from 1.2mm polished stainless steel. The unit can be mounted vertically, though it is designed to be fitted horizontally with the front cover hinged on from the top.

An inner, removable steel cover, designed to resist foaming and gross attack, contains all the essential wiring and working parts, with the exception of the anti-tamper microswitch and the strobe bulb. The latter device flashes through the blue lens, along with two diagnostic green LEDs.

The strobe lens looks identical to that of its CQR stablemate, the Integra. It is quite a dated look, and the team felt the overall design of the Ceqmet is somewhat let down by this arrangement - the trend for latter day external sounders is the 'panoramic' or external wafer style flashing light.

The internal box cover can be made to sit horizontally as a handy tray for holding lid screws, screwdrivers and the like. That sort of design costs nothing but shows a manufacturer who is committed to making meaningful improvements for installers.

Inside the internal cover, the SAB module is the same as that fitted to CQR's Cequra Plus sounder. It is conformally coated to resist corrosion, and has a replaceable 7.2v NiCad battery which is securely cable tied to the back plate. Three diagnostic LEDs are provided for the installer's benefit. The red LED shows the battery is under charge, and the two green LEDs give various combined flashing permutations to warn of component failure and anti-tamper switch status.

The integrity of the bell trigger wire can be monitored by installing the (supplied) 1 kOhm resistor shunted across +ve hold off and the -ve applied trigger output within the control panel. A break in the trigger wire then causes the Ceqmet to enter a tamper warning mode until the link is restored.

In addition to the usual five-wire panel to SAB connection, two extra terminals are supplied on the SAB. The first is a -ve return to the control to give warning of any SAB system failure, the other a +ve applied pulse to give a manual piezo/strobe test – ideal as a user set confirmation.

Installers need to select either SAB and SCB mode, the latter still requiring a traditional negative applied trigger but taking its power from the on-board NiCad rechargeable battery. In an SAB type alarm condition, the total current consumption from the control panel was found to be slightly less than the manufacturer's specification, at 480mA.

The strobe light, rated at 1W output, gave enough illumination to be seen through a dark blue lens during daylight. The diagnostic LEDs however, could not effectively be seen from any distance, though their illumination was more pronounced in darkness. Perhaps a clear lens and red LED set-up would be more effective to view diagnostic lights.

The sounder is rated at 118 dB at 1m, and is selectable to run at two discernibly different frequencies. This enables the unit to differentiate between alarm and tamper warnings.

Programming
A limited amount of programming is available to the installer by cutting five different coloured wire links. These allow for a selection of three, ten or 20 minute cut-off times, and to change the operating mode from SAB to SCB. Some customisation of the flashing LEDs and the sounder tone can also be achieved by the same method.

Although using wire links is obviously an inexpensive way to achieve a degree of programmability, these particular links are so short that it would be unnecessarily difficult to change the settings at some later date. Note to CQR – make the links much longer! (As Anne Robinson might say: "coloured links, you are the weakest link – goodbye".) All the instructions for installation and trouble-shooting are contained on both sides of a single A4 sheet. The information is clearly laid out and written in good English, with headings to show the technical specification, installation instructions and wiring requirements.

There is also a summary of the features available, and a matrix which illustrates the cause and remedy for six different types of flashing LED indication.

The telephone number for technical help is shown on the instruction page, together with a fax number if required. The technician we spoke to was knowledgeable and helpful, and showed admirable patience when confronted with both reasonable and (deliberately) stupid questions.

Who are our experts?
Security Installer's testers are not full-time members of staff. They are independent working installation engineers with many years of practical experience on the tools. Their identities are unknown to the manufacturers of the equipment they test, and the manufacturers are not allowed to see the report before publication.

Our experts write for the installer, not the manufacturer. However manufacturers have, over the years, changed the design of a product to take account of our criticisms, which are made constructively and impartially.

What the manufacturer says …
The design brief was for a no-nonsense affordable metal external sounder with integral strobe, and a specification suitable for a wide variety of applications.

The backplate is manufactured from 1.2mm galvanised steel, the cover from 1.2mm stainless steel. The electronics are further protected by a 1.2mm galvanised inner cover that covers not just the PCB but also the twin piezos and rechargeable battery. For ease of installation, the inner cover can be hooked onto the top of the backplate into specially designed slots.

The inner cover then acts as a tray which the engineer can use to hold his screws, screwdrivers and cutters.

The Ceqmet is protected by a single three-way tamper switch. Reliability is already built in with the electronics used in our Cequra Plus, and comes with an array of optional features. During initial installation, the installer can connect the rechargeable battery without any hold-off voltage being present. When the tamper switch is closed an audible tone is heard, providing confirmation that the tamper switch is closed correctly. When hold-off voltage is applied, it exits the engineer mode and operates as a normal SAB. To give added protection, the siren trigger wire is monitored. If cut, the Ceqmet will emit a tamper alarm sound until either the connection has been remade or the in-built timer has stopped the siren from sounding.