DSC 3060 ..... garbage!

[Jim <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

I don't use DSC equipment. Only if it's a takeover and most times, even the=
n, I'll replace it. I only have a few of them out there.  The reasons I don=
't use them are important to me but something just happened with one of the=
ir radios that really pissed me off.

About 2 years ago, I did a job for a client who only wanted cellular connec=
tion to central ... no land line. So I asked around about a good product. T=
he DSC 3060 was recommended by a couple of people so, even though I don't l=
ike DSC, I got one and installed it. It went in pretty easy, just sending C=
ID. It's worked reliably for the past two years.=20

HOWEVER!!!! after the recent storm here on the east coast, I get a call fro=
m the customer that the panel is showing fail to communicate. The customer =
had lost power long enough so that both the panel battery and the 3060's ba=
ttery had died. The 3060 idiot light is blinking twice which indicates ( ge=
t this ) either a non existant battery or an unregistered SIM card. (Uhhh W=
HAT!) Well, anyway, The power has been back up for a couple of days. So I r=
ead close to 13vdc at the disconnected battery leads and 12.5vdc at the dic=
onnected battery terminals even with a brief 10 ohm load on it. So I call D=
SC technical support. He asks me what version the 3060 is I tell him (G24 ?=
) Anyway he says=20
" OH yeah that's the one that that had that problem."=20
" What problem?" I ask.=20
"When it loses all power and comes back up, the unit fails ..... but we fix=
ed that in the latest revision."=20
"So now I have to buy a new one? =20
"Yep"=20
"So your telling me that you have a product out in the field that has this =
known flaw in it and you're just leting them sit out there until their warr=
antee is up and when dealers call in with the problem they've got to buy a =
new unit?"=20
"Well I think we put out a notice about it."=20

The rest of the conversation took just a few minutes, all of which I hope t=
hey really do have a recording of. Obviously he hung up before I ran out of=
 breath.

All in all, it simply confirms my convictions about why I don't use DSC equ=
ipment.=20

I might also say that when they first came out with the earlier 3055, I ins=
talled one as a favor to someone who wanted an evaluation to see if it had =
any problems so he could decide if he wanted to distribute them. This was m=
y first attempt at using the "new" type of radio. What I mean by that is, u=
p until then, I always used backup radios, sending both landline and radio =
simultaniously. When I discovered that the 3055 only trasmitted an alarm if=
 the land line failed, I questioned DSC tech support about how to send both=
 signals at the same time. They said that it couldn't be done. I asked abou=
t not having some way to make sure the unit could transmit an alarm signal =
and they said that the supervisory signal was the test. I said that a super=
visory signal is not an alarm signal. Anyway, without their help, I found o=
ut that I could set it up to send simultanious signals .... just not full d=
ata.=20

The hook to this story is .... that sometime after I installed this unit, I=
 received notice (by word of mouth from another dealer) that the 3055's had=
 a  problem and where "on hold" and were not going to be available for awhi=
le. As it turns out it was because it was discovered that even though they =
could send supervisory signals ... the units were not sending alarm signal =
when the land line failed.    Soupprise! Soupprise!

I don't know what you all think about it but I'd like my "backup" communica=
tors to send a signal every time a land line signal is sent. Not have it si=
t there for years, if the phone line never goes down, just sending supervis=
ory signals and never once sending in an alarm signal.