Re: DSC 3060 ..... garbage!

[NickMark <nmarkowitz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday, November 5, 2012 11:11:11 PM UTC-5, Jim wrote:
> I don't use DSC equipment. Only if it's a takeover and most times, even t=
hen, I'll replace it. I only have a few of them out there.  The reasons I d=
on't use them are important to me but something just happened with one of t=
heir radios that really pissed me off.
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> About 2 years ago, I did a job for a client who only wanted cellular conn=
ection to central ... no land line. So I asked around about a good product.=
 The DSC 3060 was recommended by a couple of people so, even though I don't=
 like DSC, I got one and installed it. It went in pretty easy, just sending=
 CID. It's worked reliably for the past two years.=20
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> HOWEVER!!!! after the recent storm here on the east coast, I get a call f=
rom the customer that the panel is showing fail to communicate. The custome=
r had lost power long enough so that both the panel battery and the 3060's =
battery had died. The 3060 idiot light is blinking twice which indicates ( =
get this ) either a non existant battery or an unregistered SIM card. (Uhhh=
 WHAT!) Well, anyway, The power has been back up for a couple of days. So I=
 read close to 13vdc at the disconnected battery leads and 12.5vdc at the d=
iconnected battery terminals even with a brief 10 ohm load on it. So I call=
 DSC technical support. He asks me what version the 3060 is I tell him (G24=
 ?) Anyway he says=20
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> " OH yeah that's the one that that had that problem."=20
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> " What problem?" I ask.=20
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> "When it loses all power and comes back up, the unit fails ..... but we f=
ixed that in the latest revision."=20
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> "So now I have to buy a new one? =20
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> "Yep"=20
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> "So your telling me that you have a product out in the field that has thi=
s known flaw in it and you're just leting them sit out there until their wa=
rrantee is up and when dealers call in with the problem they've got to buy =
a new unit?"=20
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> "Well I think we put out a notice about it."=20
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> The rest of the conversation took just a few minutes, all of which I hope=
 they really do have a recording of. Obviously he hung up before I ran out =
of breath.
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> All in all, it simply confirms my convictions about why I don't use DSC e=
quipment.=20
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> I might also say that when they first came out with the earlier 3055, I i=
nstalled one as a favor to someone who wanted an evaluation to see if it ha=
d any problems so he could decide if he wanted to distribute them. This was=
 my first attempt at using the "new" type of radio. What I mean by that is,=
 up until then, I always used backup radios, sending both landline and radi=
o 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 bo=
th signals at the same time. They said that it couldn't be done. I asked ab=
out not having some way to make sure the unit could transmit an alarm signa=
l and they said that the supervisory signal was the test. I said that a sup=
ervisory signal is not an alarm signal. Anyway, without their help, I found=
 out that I could set it up to send simultanious signals .... just not full=
 data.=20
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> 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 h=
ad a  problem and where "on hold" and were not going to be available for aw=
hile. As it turns out it was because it was discovered that even though the=
y could send supervisory signals ... the units were not sending alarm signa=
l when the land line failed.    Soupprise! Soupprise!
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> I don't know what you all think about it but I'd like my "backup" communi=
cators to send a signal every time a land line signal is sent. Not have it =
sit there for years, if the phone line never goes down, just sending superv=
isory signals and never once sending in an alarm signal.

I stopped using DSC back in 80;s when they started the shit with keypads wh=
ich where not interchangeable when i had a pc 3000 die and went to replace =
it with a newer one I was not going to replace 4 keypads also.