Napco PCD3000 Quickloader Software
MrGo...@swbell.net
Robert L Bass
MrGo...@swbell.net said:
:
: Anyone have a copy that you can email to me? I Ordered it from my =
: distributor, but it'll take a week to get here. Thanks.
I have it and will be glad to e-mail it to you. Please send me an e-
mail with the following subject line: "SEND NAPCO SOFTWARE" and I'll
get it to you in a flash.
Blue Skies,
Robert L Bass
=========================>
Bass Home Electronics
80 Bentwood Road
West Hartford, CT 06107
voice 860-561-9542
fax 860-521-2143
http://www.BassHome.com
alar...@BassHome.com
=========================>
John Stephens
I have been lurking here for some time and have thoroughly enjoyed you
informative posts. In any case, I have a Napco Gemini 3200 panel and
need the software which makes it possible to program it from a Pc
through the serial port. The panel is currently programmed(the hard way)
and includes a PC mini connection to my HA pc(running Cyberhouse). As I
anticipate adding more keypads and wireless devices, I want to avoid the
pain of having to set these up through the key pad again. I'm not sure
if the current thread is about this same software, if so, I'd also like
a copy. If it's something I need to buy, PLS advise.
Regards,
John Stephens
Robert L Bass
John Stephens wrote:
>
> Robert,
>
> I have been lurking here for some time and have thoroughly enjoyed you
> informative posts. In any case, I have a Napco Gemini 3200 panel and
> need the software which makes it possible to program it from a Pc
> through the serial port. The panel is currently programmed(the hard way)
> and includes a PC mini connection to my HA pc(running Cyberhouse). As I
> anticipate adding more keypads and wireless devices, I want to avoid the
> pain of having to set these up through the key pad again. I'm not sure
> if the current thread is about this same software, if so, I'd also like
> a copy. If it's something I need to buy, PLS advise.
This is the same software. You may contact me via e-mail for a free
copy of the software. The Cyberhouse interface, which Napco calls a
PCI-MINI, is also used for PC programming (uploading / downloading) of
the Napco Gemini control panels. It plugs directly into the 9-pin
serial port on a lap-top or PC.
BTW, I have a client who has run a 6-conductor wire (22/3pr) from his
alarm system master control to a jack behind his computer desk. He
plugs in the short, modular cord that came with the PCI-MINI and can
program, monitor, diagnose and operate his system from the PC in his
office. Since this is independent of the telco connection, which uses
an RJ-31X jack, the central station monitoring is unaffected by this.
In effect, his PC becomes a "keypad" and a window into the operation
of the Napco security system. Neat, huh?
There are several software options for the Napco Gemini series. These
include the up/download software (free from my store), a Home
Automation software/hardware interface ($$) and the Napco Gemini
Developer's Kit ($$). These last two offer respectively the ability
to interface to packages like cyberhouse and the ability to design
your own PC-based or SBC-based home automation system. The
Developer's Kit includes the low level protocols which the Gemini uses
to communicate with its outboard components, like the touchpads, zone
expansion boards, multiple output relays, X-10 outputs, etc.
AFAIK, Napco Gemini is the only large format (8-96 zones) security
system currently offering this level of developer support. There is
information on these products on my Web site and also on Napco's
site. Their site is at <http://www.napcosecurity.com> and mine is
listed in my signature lines below.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Robert L Bass
==========================>
Robert L Bass >
Bass Home Electronics >
80 Bentwood Road >
W Hartford, CT 06107 >
>
alar...@BassHome.com >
http://www.BassHome.com >
>
860-561-9542 Voice >
860-521-2143 Fax >
==========================>
RLB
aa-2@_no.spam.deltanet.com wrote:
>
>> Robert Wrote:
>> This is the same software. You may contact me via e-mail for a free
>> copy of the software.
>
No they are not. There are two software packages which I give away
free. The Napco rep authorised me to give the software away. He is
fully aware of this and actually asked me to do so.
The DSC software package is more difficult to use. It requires a
printed manual as the command structure and user interface is not
intiuitive like that from Napco. I simply have my distributor ship
the DSC software product to my clients and to other dealers who
request it. They do this for me since I buy a large amount of
equipment from them.
I thought we discussed this some months ago, AA-2. Perhaps it was
someone else who asked at the time.
aa...@_no.spam.deltanet.com
In <34BFE7FB...@BassHome.com>, Robert L Bass <alar...@BassHome.com> writes:
>John Stephens wrote:
>>
>> Robert,
>>
>> I have been lurking here for some time and have thoroughly enjoyed you
>> informative posts. In any case, I have a Napco Gemini 3200 panel and
>> need the software which makes it possible to program it from a Pc
>
>This is the same software. You may contact me via e-mail for a free
>copy of the software.
I'm just curious, since I don't use either Napco or DSC:
Are the software products of these manufacturers "freeware"?
Or is there some sort of license agreement involved? Putting it
another way, would either of these manufacturers object to your
distributing free copies of their software to anyone who asks?
Tony Golden
aa-2@_no.spam.deltanet.com wrote in message
<69ovu6$ini$1...@news01.deltanet.com>...
I was told by my distributor that, at least with Napco, there is no
licensing agreement necessary and that it is "permissable to
freely distribute the software to any authorized installer of the
product". I would assume the same applies for DSC.
Robert
Tony Golden wrote:
>
> I was told by my distributor that, at least with Napco, there is no
> licensing agreement necessary and that it is "permissable to
> freely distribute the software to any authorized installer of the
> product". I would assume the same applies for DSC.
Since the distributors ship the DSC software (which they get free)
with the system upon request, I usually only need to make a phone
call. You are right about the Napco software. Napco's reps encourage
distribution of the up/download program.
missil2
Mr. Bass, I also received a copy of the software from you which made my
life a lot better as far as security system concerned. Now my next
question about the programming software: the programming screen sometime
tells me that it could not use all the advance features on my panel. is
there a newer version of this software to complement the newer version of
the control panel?
Thanks
Timothy
p.s: just put in another order please watch for it.
Robert L Bass <alar...@BassHome.com> wrote in article
<34BFE7FB...@BassHome.com>...
> John Stephens wrote:
> >
> > Robert,
> >
> > I have been lurking here for some time and have thoroughly enjoyed you
> > informative posts. In any case, I have a Napco Gemini 3200 panel and
> > need the software which makes it possible to program it from a Pc
> > through the serial port. The panel is currently programmed(the hard
way)
> > and includes a PC mini connection to my HA pc(running Cyberhouse). As I
> > anticipate adding more keypads and wireless devices, I want to avoid
the
> > pain of having to set these up through the key pad again. I'm not sure
> > if the current thread is about this same software, if so, I'd also like
> > a copy. If it's something I need to buy, PLS advise.
>
> This is the same software. You may contact me via e-mail for a free
Mark
As Mr Bass has already said, the software is actually newwer than the
panel being downloaded which is why you get the message, Many
companies change model versions which are usually minor updates or bug
fixes.
For instance I never knew there were so many Ademco Vista-10 updates
until I checked out their Compass Downloading software (which is btw
excellent)
Mark
Hard to say since for instance you can download C&K's freely from the
web but Ademco requires password access AND has their software on a
special web page.
Nick
BTW I agree, yes the Ademco's Compass downloading software is nice.. But I
had a few questions about using it recently with a Vista-20HWSE and the tech
support person I talked to was useless, nothing new there. On the up side
Ademco's customer service group out of Kentucky is GREAT! I called them
recently for some help on a couple of items and was pleasantly surprised by
their commitment and follow through. Real quality customer service from
Ademco, now how about that.
Nick
Robert L Bass
Mark wrote:
>
> As Mr Bass has already said, the software is actually newwer than
> the panel being downloaded which is why you get the message, Many
> companies change model versions which are usually minor updates or
> bug fixes.
>
> For instance I never knew there were so many Ademco Vista-10
> updates until I checked out their Compass Downloading software
> (which is btw excellent)
Side note #1: There's a new Windows version of the Ademco Vista
software. It's about 1/3 the cost of the MSDOS-based Compass package.
I have it on order. I'll post a review in the NG after I get a chance
to check it out.
> "missil2" wrote:
>
>> Mr. Bass, I also received a copy of the software from you which
>> made my life a lot better as far as security system concerned.
>> Now my next question about the programming software: the program
>> -ming screen sometimes tells me that it could not use all the
>> advanced features on my panel. Is there a newer version of this
>> software to complement the newer version of the control panel?
As Mark mentioned and as I replied earlier, this is just the result of
publication dates of the software vs the panel version. Nothing to
worry about.
>> p.s: just put in another order please watch for it.
Side note #2: Thanks for the kind words AND the order, Timothy. This
is especially pleasant reading since I had previously made a mistake
causing a delay in this gentleman's shipment. If I recall correctly,
this makes the fourth order. Pretty soon I'm going to have to hire
Timothy as a paid installer. <g>
Blue Skies,
Robert L Bass
========================>
aa...@_no.spam.deltanet.com
> On the up side
>Ademco's customer service group out of Kentucky is GREAT! I called them
>recently for some help on a couple of items and was pleasantly surprised by
>their commitment and follow through. Real quality customer service from
>Ademco, now how about that.
Ademco...in Kentucky...gee, wouldn't that be the old Blue Grass Electronics
group they bought?
No New York attitude in Kentucky, right?
Nick
Did I missed something here I thought we were talking about Ademco's
Compass Downloader software package which was designed for the MS Windows
3.x, 95, and NT platforms. Ademco had a version of their VLINK download
software available for use with MSDOS. But VLINK and Compass are two
completely different software programs. Did Ademco have a MSDOS version
of Compass?
Nick
LOT SYSTEM
Nick,
I have called Ademco Tech Support numerous times & have always been treated
with respect. They are very knowledgeable and they helped me out of alot of
jams. I don't know which center you called, however I always call the NY
center, because they know their products.
Nick
ALARMIN,
The new Ademco Compass Downloader has a provision for adding modems that are not in
the pre installed modem list (which is still the same 10+ year old ones). The
program documentation states that this feature is for Ademco's future support of
additional modems but the feature is functional and provides several large fields
for entering modem command strings. This is separate from the pre installed modem
selections. I do not know how well this all works, I use a couple of old Hayes at
the office for downloading. I will be giving this a try soon because I need to get
this new software on my laptop and want to use the internal modem card.
Nick
ALARMIN wrote:
> This may be "a little" off subject but ..... I install much more Napco then
> Ademco ... And would probably use more of their product if I didn't have this
> problem.
> I have not used the Ademco downloading program for one reason. That is ... Even
> though I can dowload Napco, Apex, FBI, DSC with my internal Cardnal modem (with
> some "string" changes or tweeking here and there) the Ademco downloader does
> not allow more than a five or six position change in the modem setup string. I
> therefore can't get my modem to set up to be compatable with the protocalls
> necessay to download. Tech (ha) support (ha) tells me I MUST purchase an
> external Hayes compatable 1200 baud modem. This doesn't make sense to me ....
> Why should I purchase an outdated modem just so I can have the "capability"
> (not the necessity yet ... but maybe someday) to download eight or ten panels.
>
> It really annoys me that "the largest alarm manufacturer in the world" seems to
> be the furthest behind in this regard. I spoke to the person who created the
> downloading program and he agreed that it was a problem but he was limited by
> the fact that the architecture of the microprocessors that are in the Ademco
> panels was about eight years old and didn't allow him the leeway necessary to
> do some of these things. This occured about a year ago with VLINK ver3.0.
>
> Has anyone had similar problem and been able to solve it.??????
> Is anyone using any other modem then what Ademco says you need? etc etc
ALARMIN
Mark
I hate to tell you this but about all the alarms out there require old
Hayes or Practical Per. 1200 baud modems, the reason is simple, to
keep the price of the panel down and the main thing is that speed is
not important, accuracy is, their view is that a 1200 baud modem is
more accurate than say a faster one
that is starting to change tho, I see more and more packages
supporting slightly higher baud rates
Mark
No. Compass is new, Vlink was/is the dos downloader
One minor problem I see with Compass is that I see no support for XT
and older panels that I saw before in Vlink
aa...@_no.spam.deltanet.com
>I have not used the Ademco downloading program for one reason. That is ... Even
>though I can dowload Napco, Apex, FBI, DSC with my internal Cardnal modem (with
>some "string" changes or tweeking here and there) the Ademco downloader does
>not allow more than a five or six position change in the modem setup string. I
>therefore can't get my modem to set up to be compatable with the protocalls
>necessay to download.
Actually, the Vlink package can hold a modem setup string of about 16 characters.
The problem you have is not related to the setup strings, but rather the
design of the modem. Apparently, all except the latest Ademco panels
communicate at 75 baud. In these days of 28.8K modems, it seems that
modem manufacturers don't bother building in the 75 baud capability
any more.
Tech (ha) support (ha) tells me I MUST purchase an
>external Hayes compatable 1200 baud modem. This doesn't make sense to me ....
>Why should I purchase an outdated modem just so I can have the "capability"
>(not the necessity yet ... but maybe someday) to download eight or ten panels.
>
It made sense back when Ademco first began to build downloadable panels,
because the Hayes 1200 was the industry standard of the day. 300 baud
modem chipsets were too expensive relative to the cost of the alarm panel,
so Ademco and other manufacturers had the control panel CPU do the
serial communications directly, thereby saving on parts cost. However,
this meant they had to slow down the data rate, hence the 75 baud.
And we've been cursed with the "backward compatibility" problems
ever since.