The new features that Tannoy has introduced on QFlex deliver more resolute safety and monitoring facilities, making it fully compliant in any life safety or mass notification environment. In addition QFlex has been weatherised for outdoor or harsh environments without compromising on the product's sleek aesthetic, making it suited for large scale transport hub applications such as within airport terminals and major train stations.
Among the key improvements on this front are the addition of Pilot Tone Detection capability, Sentinel SM1 System Monitor and certification to IP53 standards. An external pilot tone can be used to check the integrity of the cabling and audio signal path between the source and each QFlex loudspeaker, meeting any requirement of BS5839. Presence of the pilot tone can be checked in software or hardware. Input switching is also possible, should primary input fail (pilot tone not detected), giving full system redundancy.
For large networks, Sentinel System Monitor provides a complete system-wide fault monitoring and reporting solution for mission-critical applications. Sentinel keeps a watchful eye on the audio system, and if required, any controlling PCs. Problems are reported both via relay contacts to the main monitoring panel in your system as well as being shown on Sentinel's front panel display. Multiple Sentinels can even monitor each other and the same network simultaneously for systems that require dual-redundant monitoring.
For applications utilising existing front end constant voltage systems, a new 100v interface is available, allowing for integration into existing constant voltage systems by stepping down signal from 100v/70v to line level.
QFlex has been certified for water and dust protection to IP53 standard by leading test house, Intertek. This offers complete protection from the amount of dust that would interfere with the operation of the equipment and protection from sprayed water, and since the QFlex enclosure is constructed entirely from aluminium, corrosion is not an issue.
System connectivity has also been enhanced with QFlex now being capable of receiving and transporting digital audio via AES3 stream over long distances. A new VNET/AES break-in interface is available from Tannoy, allowing the VNET network and AES3 to be transported on the same CAT5 cable.
All of these improvements are now available as standard with any QFlex system, except the constant voltage step-down interface and AES break-in interface which are customer specified options.
(Jim Evans)
