End to End beams solve Line of Sight problems

End to End beams have a very similar performance to Reflective beams and can be used in the same areas. They are best suited, however, to areas where either the ‘Line of Sight’ (clearance around and down the beams path) may be too tight for a Reflective beam to align, or there may be windows which allow lots of sunlight into the area which is to be protected.

The End to End beam consists of a Controller, a Receiver (RX, connected to the Controller) and a Transmitter (TX). Two power supplies may be needed (depending on the distance covered) for the Controller and RX and for the TX. End to End beams can be used to cover distances from between 5 and 120M. Some Controllers can support a pair of beams, each with its own Fire and Fault relay.

As with all beams, the TX and RX should be mounted onto a solid structure which will not move. If, however, only one solid structure can be found, the TX should be mounted to that, as the RX is less susceptible to building movement.

For an End to End beam to align, all that is required is that the TX can ‘see’ the RX. In practice, this means that the beam can pass through gaps as small as 10cm, which a Reflective type cannot. This is because any IR signals from the TX which are reflected back to the TX do not affect the alignment of the beam. On a Reflective type, reflected IR can cause alignment failure. It is very important to note that if the End to End beam is being aligned through a 10cm gap, the objects that the beam passes through must not move. Anything moving into a beam’s ‘line of sight’ can cause the signal to change and this can lead to false alarms or faults.

Another benefit of using End to End beams is that some have Ambient Light Cancelling Technology. This means that the beam detector will not false alarm (which other beams can do) if the sun shines onto the RX part of the beam (TX is not affected by sunlight). This makes this type of End to End beam suitable for Atriums, Airports and other areas which have a lot of glass.

As we have seen, the End to End beam, if installed correctly, can be used in areas where Reflective beams may not be suitable or in areas where beams in general may have not been considered.