DSC Power 1832 Alarm Systems

Click here to view the DSC Power Series Spec Sheet / Comparison (Opens in new window)

Here is a DSC Power Series User Manual for this system. (Opens in new window)

The DSC PowerSeries Power 1832 is the mid model in the PowerSeries line. It is a great choice for most average sized homes or small businesses. The 1832 is the most popular of the PowerSeries panels. The PC1832 panel has 8 onboard hardwired zones. The panel can be expanded up to 32 total zones. This can be done using PC5108 zone expander modules. The PC5108 adds 8 hardwired zones. With 3 of the PC5108 boards you can reach the max of 32 hardwired zones. But the PowerSeries is a hybrid system that can be expanded to support wireless devices as well and can have all 32 zones be wireless or any combination of hardwired and wireless up to 32 total zones. To add wireless capability the system needs to have a wireless receiver module attached. This is most commonly done with the RF5132 wireless receiver module. It can either be added as a standalone module or as a built-in component in a keypad as in the RFK5500 or RFK5501. Remember that while it is convenient and budget-friendly to have the wireless receiver built into the keypad, it will also limit you on the placement of the wireless receiver to where you need to place a keypad and not necessarily in a very ideal location to receive signals from wireless devices. This is often not an issue though.

Also onboard the 1832 panel, DSC has included 2 PGM outputs. PGM 1 is a low-current output that can handle 50mA. PGM 2 is a high-current output that is limited to a much higher 300mA of current. The PGM outputs are useful for many things, but they are generally used for smoke detectors. If you need additional PGM outputs DSC has two modules that can be added to the system for the purpose of expansion. The first is the PC5208 which adds 8 additional PGM outputs that are current limited to 50mA. The other is the PC5204 power supply module. This module not only adds 4 high-current PGM outputs, but also acts as an additional power supply that adds an additional 1 amp of power. The PC5204 does require its own power transformer (PTC1640) and backup battery (BD412). 

The PC5204 can be used just to provide power for components. The PC1832 panel is limited to a total of 700mA between the Aux+ and keybus terminals which can be quickly eaten up. A PTK5507 touchscreen keypad is a fairly power hungry device that requires up to 300mA of power. Just that one component takes up nearly half of the available power on the main panel. You can see how you can quickly you could need to provide additional power when you take into account a communicator, motion detectors, smoke detectors, keypads, and other powered components. Many installations with a PC1832 will not require an extra power supply, but it is definitely something to watch for. 

DSC has packed the ability to handle 4 partitions on the PC1832. So if you wanted to be able to arm a few different areas separately; maybe a shop, office, and main home for instance; you could. This gives you the ability to monitor lower traffic areas or separate buildings or even different areas within one building without having to arm the entire system. The best part is that if any one partition is put into an alarm state, the entire alarm system will follow suit: all sirens and communications will occur as normal.

DSC has put together 3 kits for their most popular PowerSeries panel. The first kit is the Kit32power5CP01NT. This is the most budget friendly of the 3 kits. Like all of the kits it comes with the 1832 board and cabinet, 15 watt surface mount indoor siren, and RJ31X telephone jack and cord set. This kit comes with a BD412 4 amp hour, 12 volt backup battery. DSC has also included their LC-100-PI motion detector. This motion detector uses passive infrared to detect motion. It can also ignore most pets up to 50 pounds. The last item included in the kit is the PK5501 fixed message LCD keypad. This kind of keypad is often best used as a secondary keypad. Although the keypad helps keep the price of the kit down, it can make programming and troubleshooting much more difficult because it does not show as much information as a full alpha numeric keypad such as the PK5500.

The second kit that DSC has put together for the PowerSeries Power 1832 is the Kit32-219CP01NT. This kit also has the basics included with the 1832 board and cabinet, 15 watt surface mount indoor siren, and RJ31X telephone jack and cord set. This kit has a BD412 12 volt, 4 amp hour backup battery. The final part is a PK5500 programmable alphanumeric LCD keypad. This kind of keypad is great for doing your programming and troubleshooting as it can actually give you a custom display that can show much more information than the PK5501 style keypads. Additionally, this keypad can quickly give you access to any partition on your system. And it can of course allow you to assign labels to zones. 

The third, final, and most popular PowerSeries Power 1832 kit is the Kit32-219CP01NT. This kit is in many ways a mirror of the first kit. It comes with many of the same components: 1832 board and cabinet, 15 watt surface mount indoor siren, RJ31X telephone jack and cord set, BD412 backup batter, and LC-100-PI motion detector. The difference is that this kit comes with the RFK5500 LCD keypad. This keypad is part of the 5500 line of programmable alphanumeric keypads. And it also has a built-in RF5132 wireless receiver that will instantly upgrade the PC1832 to have the ability to add DSC’s 433MHz one-way wireless sensors.

Note: Kits are specially priced and individual kit pieces may not be returned for refund.