Bosch Security DS160 PIR Request to Exit Detector, w/Sounder

The DS160 request-to-exit detector runs on 12 to 30 VAC or VDC, so it drops onto either a 12V or a 24V access control supply with no separate transformer. Current draw is 39 mA at 12VDC, which is small enough to sit on the same supply as the mag lock or strike it releases. Since it accepts AC or DC, you don't have to match the supply type either.

The DS160 carries two Form C relays, so one set of contacts can break power to the mag lock or strike while the second reports to the access control panel or alarm zone at the same time. Form C means each relay gives you common, normally open and normally closed, so you can wire either a fail-safe or a fail-secure leg without adding an interposing relay. Relay action is timed, adjustable up to 64 seconds, which is how you set how long the door stays released after someone approaches.

Coverage is an 8 by 10 foot pattern of passive infrared detection, which is sized to sit above a single door leaf and pick up someone walking up to it from the secure side. It is a request-to-exit pattern, not a room detector, so on a wide pair of doors or an unusually deep vestibule you should plan on positioning it to cover the approach path rather than expecting it to blanket the whole opening.

Several direct alternatives in the same duty. The Alarm Controls SREX-100 is an infrared request-to-exit motion sensor with an adjustable time delay, so it covers the same job of releasing a lock on approach. The Securitron XMS is another request-to-exit motion sensor. The Camden CM-RQE70 Series is an adjustable infrared REX sensor running on 12 to 24V, which matches the DS160's supply range closely enough to drop onto the same power. Detex MN01 and MN02 Series use dual-pyroelectric detection, a different sensing element from a single-element PIR.

No. The DS160 is a request-to-exit detector, meant to release an electric lock on an access controlled door when someone approaches from the secure side. Automatic door activation and presence detection is a different device class with different safety behavior. For sliding and folding automatic doors use the MS Sedco DH100-CT, an activation and presence sensor built for that application, or the DH-400 combination motion and presence sensor for automatic doors. If the opening calls for microwave activation instead of infrared, the MS Sedco MicroStar-M is the microwave motion sensor for automatic door activation.

The Securitron XMS is a request to exit motion sensor covering the same job as the DS160 - releasing an electrified lock or mag lock when someone approaches the egress side of the door. The Alarm Controls SREX-100 is another infrared request to exit motion sensor with an adjustable time delay, which parallels the DS160 adjustable timer. The DS160 itself runs on 12/24 VAC/VDC and uses passive infrared detection with two Form C relays and a timer adjustable up to 64 seconds, so if your control panel needs two separate dry contacts, confirm the relay count on whichever peer you move to.

They are not the same device. The MS Sedco DH-400 FRM-AI is a combination motion and presence sensor for automatic doors - it is built to activate and safety-monitor a powered operator, and the MS Sedco DH100-CT FRM-AI is similarly an activation and presence sensor for automatic sliding and folding doors. The Bosch DS160 is a request to exit detector: it uses passive infrared with two Form C relays and a timer adjustable up to 64 seconds to release a lock and shunt an alarm point on egress. If your opening has a door operator that needs activation and presence coverage, the MS Sedco units are the family to look at; if the door is manually pulled and locked electrically, stay with a request to exit detector.

The Locknetics EMS-100 exit motion sensor ships with ceiling and surface mount adapters, so it can be dropped onto a ceiling tile grid or a soffit ahead of the opening instead of sitting on the door header. The Bosch DS160 covers an 8 by 10 foot pattern and is a header-style passive infrared unit. Where the header is glass, full-lite, or already crowded with a mag lock and closer, the EMS-100 mounting adapters are what get the detector positioned.

The sounder version gives you an audible annunciation at the door itself, which is what you want on a door where you need to know someone has requested exit, or where local policy calls for a warning at the opening. On a straight electric release in an office corridor the sounder is often unwanted noise, so this is a choice worth making per opening rather than standardizing across a building. The detection and relay behavior is the same either way: PIR sensing with two Form C relays on a timed output.

Walk test indication comes from a high efficiency LED and light-pipe, which is readable from any angle and at any mounting height, so a single tech on a ladder or standing on the floor can confirm the pattern without a second person watching a panel. There is also a remote LED walk-test control: a switched input enables or disables the LED without opening the housing, so you can leave the LED off in normal operation on a customer-facing door and turn it back on for service. An alarm memory feature latches the alarm LED so you can see after the fact that the detector fired.

Bosch's First Step Processing is what does it. The detector responds virtually instantly to a human target instead of waiting to accumulate several detection events, which matters on a REX because a person reaching the door before the mag lock drops will push on a locked door. FSP does that without giving up false alarm immunity to non-human sources, so you are not trading nuisance releases for the speed. The trigger is also selectable, letting you set the detector's response for the opening rather than accepting one fixed behavior.

For a ceiling application, look at the Locknetics EMS-100 exit motion sensor, which ships with both ceiling and surface mount adapters. That matters on openings where there is no usable header above the frame, or where a deep transom puts a frame-mounted detector too far off the approach path.

Release time is adjustable up to 64 seconds on the DS160's timed relay output. That range covers a normal 5 to 10 second egress release on an office corridor door and stretches long enough for a loading dock or a door where someone is pushing a cart through. You set it at the detector, so the timing does not have to come from the access control panel.

The Bosch DS160 carries an operating temperature range of -29C to +49C (-20F to +120F) and is a commercial grade device, which covers an unconditioned dock vestibule or a garage stair door in most of the country. Among request to exit peers, the Securitron XMS and the Alarm Controls SREX-100 are the other request to exit motion sensors to price against it for that kind of opening; confirm each one's own temperature rating before you commit to the cold side of the building.

No - the detection technology differs and that changes where each one belongs. The MS Sedco MicroStar-M is a microwave motion sensor with HPR for automatic door activation, so it senses motion by radio energy and is aimed at triggering an operator. The Bosch DS160 is passive infrared: it detects the heat signature of a person crossing an 8 by 10 foot pattern, with First Step Processing for fast response to human targets without giving up false alarm immunity. Microwave energy passes through glass and drywall, which matters if there is a vestibule or a corridor on the far side; PIR sees only what is in front of it.

The Detex MN01 and MN02 series are passive infrared motion sensors with dual-pyroelectric detection, which is the closest peer on sensing method for a spec that calls for a dual-element PIR head. The Bosch DS160 is also passive infrared and adds First Step Processing for near instant response to human targets while holding false alarm immunity to other sources, plus an alarm memory feature that latches the alarm LED. For a facility standardizing on one detector across many openings, those two are the PIR pair to compare head to head.

The Alarm Controls SREX-100 is an infrared motion sensor for request to exit with an adjustable time delay, which covers the basic case of unlocking on approach and holding the release long enough to clear the door. The Bosch DS160 goes further with two Form C relays, a timer adjustable up to 64 seconds, a sounder, remote LED walk test control through a switched input, and a light pipe LED readable from any angle at any mounting height. If your panel needs one contact and nobody is going to use a remote walk test, the SREX-100 is the leaner box for the opening.

The DS160 detector housing is grey. On an opening where the surrounding hardware and frame are dark and the sensor needs to disappear, the Camden CM-RQE70 Series is offered in a white or black housing, which is the practical alternative when appearance at the head of the door is part of the spec.

The DS160 is a commercial-duty device, and it is the standard type of detector used on access controlled egress doors in offices, schools, healthcare and multi-family. What makes it workable for standardizing across a facility is the wide input range of 12 to 30 VAC or VDC: one part number works on whatever supply voltage each opening already has, so you are not stocking two versions of the same sensor.