A cost effective system for testing smoke detectors and determining and
communicating the operating characteristics thereof, advantageously uses
existing circuitry components in a secondary communication function. With
this arrangement, a low powered RF reporting signal is transmitted from
the smoke detector and can be received within several feet of the
detector. Preferably the RF signal is produced by a pulsed input signal
provided to an existing coil which is part of the circuitry used to
produce and/or report alarm signals. A receiving arrangement is also
disclosed which can be located in close proximity to a smoke detector
which has been activated to report the operating characteristics thereof.
These characteristics can then be analyzed to determine whether preventive
maintenance is appropriate.
