🔍 Key Concepts

• Initiating devices vs. indicating devices in an automatic fire alarm system • How an annunciator cabinet/panel receives and displays alarm signals • Difference between a test function, a manual station, and an automatic detector

💭 Think About

• Which components in a fire alarm system are designed to START (initiate) an alarm condition that the annunciator will display? • Does operating a test push button usually cause the panel to behave exactly as in a real alarm, or does it sometimes simulate or limit certain functions? • Would the annunciator respond only to automatic detection, only to manual operations, or to any input that puts the system into ALARM condition?

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which listed items are initiating devices that send an alarm signal to the panel. • Consider whether the test push button is meant to verify alarm indications on the annunciator or only internal circuitry. • Ask: in a typical shipboard system, what inputs would the annunciator cabinet be designed to show as a fire condition to the watchstander?