DSC PowerSeries NEO Accessories & Expansion

The DSC PowerSeries NEO line control panels are modular. The main control panel, while it is the main brain of the system, only gives the basic capabilities of the NEO. There are numerous other features and areas that can be expanded to meet the needs of your particular location without requiring you to buy components that you don’t need and won’t use.

 One of the most common ways that the NEO panels are accessorized is with hardwired zone expanders. The main control panel will only have 6 (HS2016) or 8 (HS2032, HS2064, and HS2128) hardwired zones onboard. But they can all use the HSM2108 zone expansion module to add 8 more zones per module. Depending on the number of zones that you need to hardwire or the number of zones that the NEO panel that you have can handle, you can add numerous HSM2108 modules.

 Another very common module is the HSM2HOST9. This is a wireless transceiver module that allows you to begin adding DSC’s PowerG wireless components to the system. This can be wireless sensors such as the PG9975 door/window contact, or a HS2LCDWF9 wireless keypad, or a PG9901 wireless indoor siren to name a few. PowerG is a huge upgrade over the previous wireless technology that DSC used. It has a lot of great features that make it one of the best wireless security technologies available including: 128-bit AES encryption, signal hopping, adaptive power transmission, and a maximum open air range of 1.24 miles.

 There are various communicators that you can use with the NEO. While the NEO does have a built-in phone dialer to call to a central station, many people no longer have an active landline if they even have one at all. In those cases a different form of communication would be required unless the system is just being used as a local alarm sounder. Some of the communicators also allow for additional features such as self-monitoring and remote control. The Alarm.com communicators (CD8080VZ and 3G8080AT) are very popular options. They offer a huge amount of flexibility because they have features that allow for self-monitoring, central station monitoring, or both. They also can be used with select Z-Wave devices to add in home automation as well.

 Depending on the number of powered devices on your system you may exceed the current that the panel is able to provide. In these cases the HSM2204 is a common solution. It will need to be used in conjunction with its own backup battery and PTC1640. It will add additional current along with 4 more high current PGMs.