Catherine A. Remley

Development of Laboratory Test Methods for RF-Based Electronic Safety Equipment: Guide to the NFPA 1982 Standard

We discuss a variety of standardized test methods that have been developed to assess radio-frequency personal alert safety systems (RF PASS) that are used as “firefighter down” beacons. The test methods found in this document represent five RF PASS deployment conditions: a highly reflective (high multipath) RF environment; a prescribed amount of attenuation in a pointto-point communication link; a multi-hop reception path; in-band wireless activity; and temporary exposure to high-power, in-band RF interference. The tests and corresponding data are based on current RF PASS frequencies: 450 MHz, 900 MHz, and 2.4 GHz. The test environments, tests, and measured data are discussed in detail to accompany the National Fire Protection Association’s standard “NFPA 1982: Personal Alert Safety Systems.”