Loop Explorer V4.93

The last major release of Loop Explorer was Version 4.90, which was distributed to all registered users during March 2008 and featured in “In The Technical Loop - Issue 25” in April 2008.

In September, an interim update of Loop Explorer (4.92) was released, which had some enhancements and new features, as explained in “In the Technical Loop - Issue 30.
As part of our ongoing development, we have recently issued another interim version (4.93), which has the following additional revisions;

Panel Settings - Disablement Cause and Effect processing
In the Panel Settings screen, there is a new checkbox, labelled 'Ignore Global C&E Disablement'.
When this option is selected, the panel will not display or process Disablement Cause and Effect events that originated from other panels on the network that do not have any effect on that panel.
This option prevents the “disablement cause and effect active” messages being seen on panels that are not affected by the cause and effect and this only applies to networked systems.

Panel Settings – Syncro ASM Marine panel
In the panel settings screen for the Syncro AS panels, there is a new “Marine Mode” checkbox.
When this checkbox is selected, the 2 panel sounder circuits will operate using an “Abandon Ship” pattern upon the evacuate event. This abandon ship pattern comprises of 7 short rings, followed by a single 10 second long ring then a 2 second rest, in a repeating pattern.
Under a fire event, alert event or any other cause and effect control of these two sounder outputs, they will continue to operate either continuously or pulsing 1 second on / 1 second off as normal.
For non-marine applications, this option must be deselected.
The Marine Mode facility is supported on Syncro AS panels firmware version 5.24 or later.

Hochiki CHQ-POM output configuration options
The Hochiki CHQ-POM output configuration settings screen has been simplified and another feature has been added.
When the output is configured as 'Output Normally On' and with the 'Drop on Reset' option selected, the output duration will allow the “reset off” time to set in the range from 10, 20, 30 Seconds, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 minutes.
The default value of 5 Seconds is set for compatibility with earlier releases.

Please contact any member of Technical Support department if you require and update to this version of Loop Explorer. We will require your contact details and company details in order to validate eligibility for this upgrade before we can issue the CD or e-mail the upgrade files to you.

Supplementary information on Loop Explorer V4.90 is given in Issue 25 of In the Technical Loop and may be downloaded using the following link:

Details of the V4.92 improvements are given in Issue 30 of In The Technical Loop and may be downloaded using the following link:

Download the Syncro ASM Marine Manual:

Loop Offset Facility

A standard feature of panels in the Kentec Syncro range is the option to configure loops with an offset facility.
Under default conditions, each detection device is designated by the following parameters;
Panel number (1-64), Loop Number (1-4), Address (1-254 dependant upon protocol)

Therefore in a networked system, there is the potential for the system to have multiple “Loop 1” loop allocations, with the only difference being the panel address. This may be confusing, especially if the multiple panels are in a single building or if there is an older multi-loop panel being replaced by a networked Syncro system.

To accommodate systems where individual loop numbers are required, a loop offset configuration option is available in the panel configuration options.
When selected, the first loop on the panel will be offset to the next incremental loop number, based on the last loop number of the previous panel.
Therefore on a system comprising of 64 x 4 loop control panels, it is possible to have individual loop numbers from 1 through to 256.

Such is the flexibility of the Syncro network configuration that if the loop offset option is not selected on a panel; the loop count will revert back to loops 1-4 for that panel.
This accommodates networks where, for example, one building of 12 loops is networked to another building with 8 loops. In this case, building A will comprise of 3 panels, with the loop offset option selected on the second and third panels. The first panel in Building B will not have the loop offset option selected, thus reverting the loop count to loop 1-4. The second panel in building B will have the offset selected to give loops 5-8.

When the loop offset is selected, the unique loop references are used in all event activations, event logging and menu navigation – this is entirely transparent to the end user.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a system is configured with loop offset on 2 loop Syncro panels (or single loop Syncro AS panels) in the network, then if there is any possibility that future additional loops are going to be added to these panels, they should be included at the outset – even if no devices are installed.
If the loops are added at a later stage then all following offset loop numbers will be shifted by the number of loops added, which means that installation drawings and detection device labelling will be incorrect.

Download the Syncro Manual:
Download the Syncro AS Manual: