From: '''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk   
      
   On 10/12/2025 11:32, Don Y wrote:   
   > On 12/10/2025 4:13 AM, Martin Brown wrote:   
      
   >> Most annoying thing is on cold winter nights when the battery terminal   
   >> voltage gets low they will emit a very short 120dB peep every few   
   >> minutes that is impossible to locate reliably so you have to go around   
   >> and stand under each one waiting for it to do it again.   
   >   
   > For something as ubiquitous and ESSENTIAL, there doesn't seem to be   
   > much GOOD thought going into their design!   
      
   They are cheap and cheerful consumer products (even the expensive ones).   
   >   
   > There's a way to "silence" our alarm -- but, ask me if I remember how...   
   > Damn thing can talk so why can't it TELL me how to silence itself when   
   > it starts screaming?   
      
   ISTR that in the Three Mile Island disaster they spent the first fifteen   
   minutes of the emergency trying to silence all the different damn alarms   
   that made it impossible to think in the control room. Only once they had   
   the noise under control could they communicate with each other across   
   the room. It was part of a human factors course on best practice   
   interface design with good and bad examples.   
      
   Aircraft have got much more sensible warning and alert systems making   
   the simplifying assumption that the pilots don't want to die.   
      
   > Attempting to remove power requires you to remove the unit from its   
   > mount (which tends to be over the heads of many folks); hold the unit   
   > in one hand (constrained by the length of the pigtails that connect   
   > it to the household wiring) and release the mechanical "catch" that   
   > secures the mains connection to the device; remove that connection;   
   > open the battery compartment (which is not mechanically possible while   
   > the mains connection is in place) and remove the batteries.   
   >   
   > And, HOPE that the unit you've dissected is the one responsible for   
   > initiating the alarm!   
      
   One in our village hall went rogue last week. I needed my apple picking   
   tool to remove it from the ceiling. It was so loud that I didn't want to   
   get any nearer to it! It had a sounder disable switch on the back.   
      
   Again battery fail in the cold weather but instead of an annoying bleep   
   it went off as if there was a fire. Luckily the neighbour is deaf!   
      
   --   
   Martin Brown   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)