Ex-burglar alarm, Margate • Starting today, a few ex-alarms for the wiring cognoscenti to guess. This was found on a run-down 1970s shopping parade and may well be as old, seeing as it actually houses a bell. • Spotted: All Saints Avenue, Margate, Kent, CT9, England, 2014 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Thanet North
Burglar Alarm Britain 
OK……Considering it is in Margate and from my own knowledge I would guess that this is an old Standfast alarm. The actual bell box looks like an old Radiovisor bell box, used in London predominantly by Banhams many moons ago. Red Banham Radiovisor bell boxes were used by Banhams on some properties, but they normally used the white version but I still think this in a Standfast bell for the following reasons. Every Banham Radiovisor bell I ever took down had a Tann bell in it, not like this one, which has a Friedland bell, in addition, Banhams used Magnetic Reed Switches for the lid and wall tamper detection, and as can be clearly seen here, this bell has a micro switch, although I can just make out the reed switch on the PCB immediately in front of the relay. Therefore, I can be sure that the actual SAB Module is a Radivisor SAB Module in a Radiovisor bell box. (Banhams, many many many moons ago used the Radiovisor Monive control unit and suspect that Standfast may have done so as well)
Wow. I doff my cap to you, Sherlock.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
lol……I could be totally wrong.
I agree that it could be a Radiovisor box because Standfast fitted lots of that type in Kent. Although in the early 70s the lid tamper was held in by the lid fixing screw, which was very long so the bell would ring as long as it took to undo three and a bit lid screws to enable you to swing the lid round. These did give a problem with expansion and contraction of the screw due to temperature change during the day and would slip of the tamper switch and activate the bell then the customer could not stop the bell ringing, so perhaps Radiovisor modified the design later on or it could be a Radiovisor copy. Also the wiring looks a bit Heath Robinson to me and from memory Radiovisor used encapsulated module similar to the ones in their control panel.
We are going back 40 odd years so it’s all a bit fuzzy.
What kind of sab is it
Can you help me please with a project
Judging by this comment you clearly know more about the sab than I do. One thing that bugs me though is why would that have a reed switch on the board when there’s a micro switch right next to it also does the 12 volt charge even you know became you can’t charge 12v with 12v and this being installed in the 70s the output of alarm panels would be 12v . please get back to me cus I am very curious to what the sab is and if its possible to make one using a relay
The Good Old Red Alarm Box with a Bell not many left !!
What help would you like?
I need you to tell me as much about this pcb as possible because I am trying to make an alarm just like this
Hi. Just di an internet search. Found a great book that will tell you everything you want to know. Its on Amazon for less than a pound. Follow this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0750635460/ref=sr_1_3_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1483562148&sr=8-3&keywords=Vivian+capel
Do you know where I could get like a relay like this
Just did a quick google search. SAB modules are hard these days to purchase on there own as most if not all sounder snow come please with the SAB mode, however, RS components sell one (http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/security-alarm-control-panels/2991380/). I hope this helps.
What size are they?
What type of alarm are you trying to make, how much have you made so far.
Do you know how I could make a sab exactly like this one shown here with both reeds using an 8 pin relay
Hi. Having removed a few Banham Bell boxes over the years using I am aware that Banhams had a magnet screwed to both the bell box cover and to the wall. The SAB had two reed switches, one held closed by the wall magnet and the other held closed by the box cover magnet. I presume that Micro switch was fitted simply because this installer didn’t want to use magnets and for no other reason. Most control units, then and now provide an output of 13.6 volts DC and are capable of charging a 12 volt lead acid battery. I confirm that it is quite simple to make an SAB module using a couple of relays – but remember4, you must fit some diodes to prevent back feed. I hope this helps.
The problem with using a battery that size, if the bell self actuates and has no cut out which it probably didn’t have one in those days, it would ring for days if fully charged.
And also the fact that it can blow up spewing acid
Do you know how I could make a sab like this one using a relay. If you have Skype I could explain this more clearly
Just realized the battery is a 6v and the box is a modern alarms post office bell box that BT used to fit and over complicate
What makes you think that? The battery shown in the picture is a 12 volt 7ah. Never ever saw Modern Alarm use that type of bell box. Up until recently the Post office installed there own alarms. There in house company was ‘Romec’ (Royal mail engineering company)
Modern alarms put the bits in using a radiovisor box then gave them to the post office where that got BT to fit them but that needed the box to go to the phone line so BT would over complicate the wiring inside the box. And if it was 12v it wouldnt be the same size of the bell
Ummmmmmm. Not sure I fully understand your post. As far as I am aware the Radiovisor box came as a complete unit with the guts inside as per the picture. There were many firms that used this box. My reference in previous posts regarding Banham’s using magnets to keep the rear reed switch and the front reed switch closed may have been unique to Banham’s with everyone else having the micro switch version as shown in the picture. Believe me, the battery shown is a Yussa 12 volt 2.6 ah battery, I made a typo in my previous post by referring to it as a 7ah battery. I have also seen these bells fitted with 12 volt 1.9ah battery’s. The Friesland 6″ underdone bell was a 6 – 12 volt operating unit however, the actual bell pre dates me and may have been a 12 volt (only) operating unit.
If you have a phone than you might know how frustrating it is to read a comment than have it so small that I can’t make out what your saying so I’d you can just email me because its hard to see what your saying when the comments are bugged
This comment section is messed up
Hi since we have talked I’ve finally built the bell box!
I’m really happy with the way it turned out aswell.
But I was wondering if I could send you a picture of the bell box I’ve made and tell me if any thing is out of place. Since you’ve taken down a radiovisor
Hi. Yes, please send your picture to me at andyg@aaisecurity.co.uk
Just sent you the pictures
Id hate to do your head in again about this but was this a SAB module or more like a SCB module?
Also how many terminals was on the radiovisor circuit board?