GAI-Tronics 700 User Manual

Pub. 42004-139D

GAI-TRONICS® CORPORATION

A HUBBELL COMPANY

700 Seri es

Page/Party

Confidentiality Notice

This manua l is provide d sole ly as an operatio nal, installation, and ma inte nance guide and conta ins
sensitive business and t e chnical informatio n tha t is confidentia l and pr opri et ary to GAI- Tronics. GAI­Tronics retains all intellectual property and other rights in or to the information contained herein, and
such information may on ly be u sed in conn e ction with the operatio n of you r GAI-Tr onics p rodu c t or
system. This manu al may not be dis clos e d in any form, in whole or in pa rt, direct ly or i ndir ectly, to a ny
third pa r ty.

General Information

The GAI-Tronics Page/Party® System is a modular industrial communication system incorporating from
two t o poss ibly hundreds of sta tions. Avai labl e i n sev e ral f orms, each stat ion includes a han dset, two
amplifiers (one for the handset and the other to drive one or more paging speakers), associated controls,
and a paging speaker ( usually mounte d sepa rately). All s tatio ns ar e wired in par allel and additiona l
stations may b e added at a ny time.

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Systems

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A GAI-Tronics Page/Party
station locations carefully, taking convenience, accessibility, and personal safety into account. The
quantity and location of paging speakers must be carefully considered, particularly in areas of high
ambient noise or reverberation. The speaker amplifier built into each station drives one horn-loaded page
speaker. If additional paging speakers are needed, separate speaker amplifiers can be added to the
system. In quiet areas, such as offices, several paging speakers can be connected to a single station.
Please refer to Pub. 42004-135, Speaker Installation, or consult with a GAI-Tronics sales representative
for additional system planning information.

All units a re wire d in parallel. Good planning will minimize th e cable required f or eac h installat ion.
GAI-Tronics Corporation can supply multi-conductor cable designed especially for this application. The
number, size and color-coding of conductors are listed in the accompanying system connection diagrams.
Standard cable has 600-volt insulation and is UL-rated for power cable tray use. Additionally, for ease of
installation GAI-Tronics’ cable is color-coded to match the termination points in our enclosures. The
maximum standard cable length is 5250 feet (1600m) from the Line Balance Assembly systems. For non­standard ca ble, please contact a GAI-Tr onics representative.

The cable described above includes conductors to provide ac operating power to each station. All stations
operate from a common source, enhancing reliability, particularly if no other ac load is placed on the
circuit breaker or branch line feeding the system. This configuration also allows easy transfer to an
emergency power source in the event of power failure. However, if preferred, each station may be
individually powered from a nearby nominal 115 volt, 50 or 60 Hz single phase outlet.

System layout should be planned in advance of installation. Select handset

GAI-Tronics Corporation P.O. Box 1060, Readi ng, PA 19607-1060 USA

610-777-1374  800-492-1212  Fax: [phone]

ISIT WWW.GAI-TRONICS.COM FOR PRODUCT LITERATURE AND MANUALS

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GAI-Tronics 700 Series Page/Party

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Systems Page: 2 of 10

Installation Procedure

Step 1 — Electrical Noise Consideration s

When planning your system, consider the following suggestions to avoid electrical noise caused by slip
rings and silicon control rectifier (SCR) power supplies.

Slip Rings - Use a ra dio fre quency (RF) alterna tiv e and avoid using slip rings as audio co nductors . Slip

rings ar e a sour ce of el ect rical noise an d a re not reliable.

SCR Power Supplies - If the Page/Party

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system will be installed in areas where SCR power supplies
ar e u sed to p ower motors or oth er heavy equipme nt, consider using o ne or all of the followi ng fou r
recommendat ions to reduce el ectrical noise.

1. Separation—Locate the Page/Party

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system cables as far as possible from the SCR power supply
input or output cables. Electrical coupling between cables is reduced by the square of the distance
between the cab les.

2. Shielding—Use shielded (armored) system cables if the cable must be run in the same bundle or cable

tray with the SCR power supply cables. Shielded cables reduce capacitive coupling between SCR

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power supply cables and Page/Party

3. Isolation—Two methods of power source isolation can be used to avoid electrical noise:

A. Use a low capacitance (primary to secondary) isolation transformer between the Page/Party

and the ac supply to the SCRs. This electrically isolates the Page/Party

audio cables.

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system’s ac power from the

system

noise generated by the SCR on the ac power feed. Also use an isolation transformer to isolate the
Page/Party

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ac power from an ungrounded ac power source. Note: The neutral side of the

transformer ou tput must be ground e d in al l instances.

The size of the isolation transformer should be based on the number of amplifiers used in the system.
If ten or less amplifiers are used in the system, a 500 VA transformer is sufficient. If 11 to 20
amplifiers are used in the system, select a 1000 VA transformer. For systems with more than 20
amplifiers, the transformer should be sized to accommodate a load of 50 VA per amplifier.

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B. A battery powered 24 V Page/Party

system can be used as an alternative to the standard 120 V ac
system. In this instance, the battery/battery charger provides isolation from the SCR noise on ac
power systems. Cable shielding and separation as mentioned above still apply.

OTE: Avoi d bat tery cha rgers tha t utilize SCRs in their design.

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Pub. 42004-139D

GAI-Tronics 700 Series Page/Party

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Systems Page: 3 of 10

Step 2 — Mounting of Station and Spea ker Amplifier Enclosure

Each Page/Party® system station includes a plug-in amplifier, that mates with a fabricated steel, cast
aluminum, or molded reinforced non-metal lic en cl osu re. Each enclosure provides a t erminal strip for
connecting inter-station cable. Enclosures are packed separately from the plug-in amplifiers at the
factory, allo w ing the amplifiers to remain p rotected w hile t he enc losures are installed and wired —
particularly important during system installation in areas under construction.

The 16-gauge steel enclosures do not provide any openings for conduits or cables because the location of
these wil l vary w ith each instal latio n. Dr ill or punch th e n ecess ary openings b efore mount ing the
enclosure. Loc at e the ope nings either along the top o r bo ttom of th e enclosure a nd near the rea r s u rface.
Avoid the top center because of possible interference with the plug-in amplifier receptacle. A drill
template is supplied with each enclosure.

Cast aluminum enclosures are drilled and tapped on the top and bottom for specially-designed hub plates.
Unless special arrangements are made, the enclosures include plates for single 1¼-inch conduit. Plates
for single ½-inch or 1½-inch, or dual inch are available. The molded enclosures are supplied without any
conduit op enings. Sealed threaded hubs, su ch as M yers “S cru-tite”, ar e reco mm end ed. A dr il l template is
supplied with each enclosure.

CAUTION

Use caution when drilling holes to avoid damaging internal electrical components and wiring.

Suggested mounting height for all station enclosures is 54 inches (137 cm). Subsets used with remote
subset amplifiers are supplied with 8-foot (244 cm) cables. Enclosures for remote subset amplifiers must
be mounte d within r each of the 8-foot c abl e. Desktop or desk-ed ge stations enclosures are often mounted
in the knee-well of the desk.

Step 3 — Mounting of Line Balance Ass embly

Eac h G AI-T ronics Page/ Party® system requires one line balance assembly. Its function is to properly
load the page and party line circuits. When using GAI-Tronics standard cable, select a location that is:

• near the elect rical center of t he system

• adjacent to an indoor station in a relatively quiet area

• no more than 5250 feet (1600m) from the most distant station

For larger systems or when using other types of cable, contact a GAI-Tronics representative for further
information. The line balance assembly has one electrical adjustment that must be made while using a
station (see below). The following is the preferred method for mounting the line balance assembly:

1. Suspend the assembly from the lower side of the indoor wall station using a 1-inch conduit nipple

(not supplied).

2. Connect one twisted pair wire for the page circuit and another for each of the party lines between the

terminal blocks of the line balance assembly and the associated indoor wall station.

3. Make the wiring connections between the 305 Series Line Balance Assembly and the Model 702 and

703 Indoor Wall Station enclosures in accordance with the wiring diagrams at the end of this
publication.

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