COMMERCIAL PAGING AND MUSIC SYSTEMS

NBFAA CEU# 96-0344 CARL FOUTZ

PURPOSE OF SOUND SYSTEM

ALLOWS AUDIO SIGNAL TO BE REPRODUCED AT HIGHER LEVEL FOR DISTRIBUTION INTO OTHER AREAS.

TYPES OF SYSTEMS

PAGING

ALERT OR NOTIFICATION

BACKGROUND MUSIC

LOW LEVEL AUDIO FOR "ATMOSPHERE"

FOREGROUND MUSIC

HIGH LEVEL AUDIO FOR "ENTERTAINMENT"

HOW DOES IT WORK?

INPUT DEVICES (MICROPHONE, MUSIC SOURCE) SEND LOW LEVEL SIGNAL TO SIGNAL PROCESSOR
SIGNAL IS PROCESSED (AMPLIFIED, EQUALIZED, MIXED) AND SENT TO OUTPUT DEVICES OUTPUT DEVICES DISTRIBUTE SIGNAL TO OTHER AREAS AT HIGHER LEVEL

HOW DOES IT WORK?

INPUT DEVICES

SIGNAL PROCESSOR OUTPUT DEVICES

UNDERSTANDING SOUND LEVELS

WHAT IS A "dB"?
DECIBEL, A RELATIVE MEASUREMENT FOR SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (LOUDNESS)

TYPICAL dB LEVELS
RESTAURANT NOISY OFFICE SUPERMARKET QUIET OFFICE WHISPER DIESEL TRUCK @ 50' CONSTRUCTION SITE

CONVERSATION

10 dB

20 dB 40 dB

60 dB

80 dB

100 dB

120 dB

(THRESHOLD OF HEARING)

0 dB

140 dB
(THRESHOLD OF PAIN)

dB AND DISTANCE

EACH TIME DISTANCE FROM SPEAKER IS DOUBLED THE dB LEVEL IS REDUCED BY 3/4X (75%) LOSS OF 6dB OF POWER EACH TIME DISTANCE FROM SPEAKER IS HALVED THE dB LEVEL IS INCREASED BY 4X GAIN OF 6dB OF POWER

DISTANCE EFFECT ON dB

4 FEET

8 FEET

16 FEET

90 dB

84 dB

78 dB

AMPLIFIERS

OHMS VS. WATTS

OHMS

SPEAKERS RATED BY OHM LOAD SPEAKERS MUST BE BALANCED TO KEEP SYSTEM OHM LOAD CORRECT

WATTS

SPEAKERS ARE RATED BY WATTAGE IS TOTALED TO DETERMINE AMPLIFIER LOAD BALANCING LOAD NOT REQUIRED

25V OR 70V SPEAKER LINES?

COMMERCIAL PAGING/MUSIC SPEAKERS RUN ON 25V OR 70V SPEAKER CIRCUITS

70V CAN RUN 8 TIMES THE DISTANCE OF 25V ON THE SAME GAUGE WIRE

25 VOLT WIRING DISTANCES

WIRE TOTAL WATTAGE GAUGE 1W 5W 10W 25W
22 AWG 1000 5000 8000 300 200 70 300 200

50W 100W 40 100 150 15 50 70

18 AWG
16 AWG

1000 500 1800 800

70 VOLT WIRING DISTANCES

WIRE TOTAL WATTAGE 10W GAUGE 1W 5W

22 AWG 10000 12000 14000 3000 7000 2000

25W
600

50W 100W
400 150

18 AWG
16 AWG

5000

1800
2500

800

400

12000 7000

2500 700

SPEAKER WIRING

RUN IN PARALLEL
T-TAPPING IS PERMITTED KEEP BLACK (COMMON) AND WATTAGE TAP (COLORED) WIRE ON SAME CONDUCTOR THROUGHOUT

SUGGESTED SPEAKER LOAD ALLOWANCES

AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL
QUIET (50-70dB) NOISY (74-85dB) VERY NOISY (86-96dB)

CEILING
1/2 TO 1 WATT 1 TO 2 WATT 2 TO 4 WATT

HORN/BOX
1 TO 5 WATT 5 TO 10 WATT 10 TO 15 WATT

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AMP POWER & SOUND PRESSURE

2 WATTS = + 3DB 4 WATTS = + 6DB 10WATTS= +10DB (TWICE AS LOUD AS 1 WATT) 20WATTS = +13DB 40WATTS = +16DB 100WATTS= +20DB (FOUR TIMES AS LOUD AS 1 WATT) 200WATTS= +23DB 400WATTS= +26DB 1000WATTS=+30DB (EIGHT TIMES AS LOUD AS 1 WATT)

DISTANCE EFFECT ON dB

4 FEET

8 FEET

16 FEET

90 dB

84 dB

78 dB

AMPLIFIER SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS

WATTAGE REQUIRED?

SPEAKER LOAD

INPUTS REQUIRED?

MICROPHONE, MUSIC, TELEPHONE

SPECIAL FEATURES

EQUALIZER, TALKBACK, ZONING

MAXIMUM SOUND, MINIMUM SMOKE

ALWAYS SIZE THE AMPLIFIER TO THE SPEAKER LOAD, NOT THE SPEAKER LOAD TO THE AMPLIFIER!

CEILING SPEAKER CONSIDERATIONS

SPEAKER PLACEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

AMBIENT (BACKGROUND) NOISE LEVEL

DISTANCE TO TARGET AREA APPLICATION

PAGING OR BACKGROUND MUSIC

CEILING SPEAKER SPACING

CEILING SPEAKERS SHOULD BE SPACED AT TWO TIMES (2X) THE CEILING HEIGHT

SPEAKER SPACING == CEILING HEIGHT X 2

SPACED EQUAL TO CEILING HEIGHT (1X) FROM WALLS

SPEAKER SPACING-TOP VIEW

1X CEILING HEIGHT

2X CEILING HEIGHT

SPEAKER SPACING-SIDE VIEW

2X CEILING HEIGHT

CEILING HEIGHT

ON CEILING SPEAKERS...

BACKGROUND LEVEL MUSIC/NORMAL PAGING NORMAL CEILING SPEAKER SPACING (2X) FOREGROUND LEVEL MUSIC/NOISY AREA PAGING HALF NORMAL SPACING (1X) TWICE AS MANY SPEAKERS REQUIRED

SPEAKER MOUNTING

PLENUM CEILING

MAY REQUIRE PLENUM CABLE OR CONDUIT

BACK BOXES

MAY BE REQUIRED ON PLENUM OR PLASTER CEILING

TILE SUPPORT

RECOMMENDED ON DROP CEILINGS

SETTING CEILING SPEAKER WATTAGE

BLACK IS COMMON

WATTAGE SET BY COLORED WIRES

HORN SPEAKER CONSIDERATIONS

PAGING HORN COVERAGE

40 FEET

30 TO 120 FEET
(DEPENDING ON AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL)

HORN FORWARD PROJECTION

AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL
QUIET (50-70dB) NOISY (74-85dB) VERY NOISY (86-96dB)

SQUARE FT. PROJECTION COVERAGE

120 FEET 60 FEET 30 FEET 5000 S.F. 2500 S.F. 1250 S.F.

DISTANCE EFFECT ON dB

4 FEET

8 FEET

16 FEET

90 dB

84 dB

78 dB

STAGGERED PATTERN

ALL HORNS FACING SAME DIRECTION

OPPOSITE PATTERN

HORNS FACING OPPOSITE DIRECTION NO OTHER HORNS FACING INTO THESE

IMPROPER HORN LOCATION

NEVER!
CAUSES CANCELLATION AND DECREASED INTELLIGIBILITY!

SETTING HORN/BOX SPEAKER WATTAGE

WATTAGE TAP SET BY ROTATING SWITCH OR SETTING DIP SWITCHES

BOX SPEAKER CONSIDERATIONS

WHEN TO USE BOX SPEAKERS?

MUSIC ONLY OR PAGING WITH MUSIC APPLICATIONS

PROVIDES BETTER QUALITY SOUND FOR MUSIC THAN HORNS ONLY HALF THE COVERAGE OF HORNS

BOX SPEAKER COVERAGE

20 FEET

15 TO 60 FEET
(DEPENDING ON AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL)

BOX FORWARD PROJECTION

AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL
QUIET (50-70dB) NOISY (74-85dB) VERY NOISY (86-96dB)

SQUARE FT. PROJECTION COVERAGE

60 FEET 30 FEET 15 FEET 2500 S.F. 1250 S.F. 625 S.F.

SYSTEM WIRING

PAGING AND MUSIC SOURCE WIRING

MICROPHONES

INDIVIDUALLY HOME RUN TO AMPLIFIER 2C OR 4C (PREFERRED) SHIELDED CABLE

MUSIC SOURCES

INDIVIDUALLY HOME RUN TO AMPLIFIER 2C SHIELDED CABLE

WIRING
BLACK (COMMON)
2C OR 4C SHIELDED
AMPLIFIER MICROPHONE

MUSIC SOURCE

2C SHIELDED

WATTAGE TAP(COLORED)

SPEAKER ZONE PAGING

AMPLIFIER

ZONE PAGING MODULE

SPEAKER

SPEAKER

PAGING INTO DIFFERENT AREAS (ZONES) BY SWITCHING AMPLIFIER OUTPUT TO DIFFERENT SPEAKERS

AMPLIFIER ZONE PAGING

AMPLIFIER #1

ZONE PAGING MODULE

AMPLIFIER #2

SPEAKER

SPEAKER

PAGING INTO DIFFERENT AREAS (ZONES) BY SWITCHING MIC OUTPUT TO DIFFERENT AMPLIFIERS

SPECIAL APPLICATIONS

TELEPHONE PAGING
TELEPHONE KSU

AMPLIFIER
ISOLATION/MATCHING TRANSFORMER SPEAKER

AMPLIFIER CONNECTED TO PAGING PORT OR UNUSED C.O. LINE ON THE PHONE SYSTEM

TALKBACK PAGING
TELEPHONE KSU

TALKBACK AMPLIFIER C.O. LINE PAGING INTERFACE TALKBACK SPEAKER

AMPLIFIER CONNECTED TO UNUSED C.O. LINE ON THE PHONE SYSTEM TALKBACK AMPLIFIER REQUIRED