Specifications

8
RADIOLINK - FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
It is a totally new concept enabling smoke alarm systems to be interconnected without the need for
cabling between the alarms. Instead, a radio signal is used to trigger all the alarms in the system.
The Ei141, Ei144, Ei146, Ei161, Ei161R, Ei164, Ei164R, Ei166 and Ei166R smoke and heat alarms
can all be used with an Ei168 base to make a RadioLINK system. These all require a mains supply
to them. The Ei405 and Ei405TY are battery operated alarms, these contain all the RF components
and do not require the use of an Ei168 base.
The Ei168 RadioLINK base requires a mains supply to each of the alarms in the system. The power
supply can be taken from a convenient light pendant, with a permanent live feed, to where the
alarm is to be sited. The Ei405 and Ei405TY don’t require any cabling as they are battery powered,
but they will not be suitable for use in new build and most tenanted properties.
There are significant savings to be made, mainly in time, but also in materials.
a) There is no need to feed the wiring from one alarm to another. This can be very time consuming
and can cause problems with tenants not wanting to have trunking running up walls and across
ceilings. There is no need to lift floorboards either. Both of these points mean that damage claims
to floors, carpets and decoration are minimised, if not eliminated.
b) Less cable and trunking is required so further reducing costs.
A radio signal is sent when the test button is pressed, or the alarm senses smoke. This is received
by all the RadioLINK alarms in the system and they will also sound.
The frequency and duration of the RF signal used by the Ei RadioLINK system meets strict European
guidelines. These are designed to eliminate interference. Interference cannot be completely ruled
out but it is our experience that hard wired cable connections are far more likely to be affected by
interference than RadioLINK will be.
There have been problems with doorbells using RF causing interference with other doorbells of the
same type. These problems were mainly due to there being only a few codes available that the
user could choose from. This made it very easy to select a code that was used by a neighbour. The
consequence was that when one doorbell was pressed, a number of them sounded! This cannot
happen with RadioLINK because each alarm base has a unique code that is set at the factory. The
code cannot be repeated so interference is eliminated.
1. What is
RadioLINK?
3. Do I have to
wire the alarms
at all?
4. What benefit is
there in
RadioLINK if I
still have to
connect them to
the mains?
5. How can the
alarms
interconnect
without a cable
connection?
6. Will interference
from other RF
devices be a
problem?
2. Which alarms
can be used
with radioLINK?