In my search for more information on Harrington systems, I found myself on the Potter website. In a similar way to when I saw the news about them using Eluxa devices, I saw the news banner for this and thought it was pretty cool.
As you would expect, it works with the Potter IPA and AFC lineups. More surprisingly, it also works with their PFC-4064 modular conventional panel and ARC-100 addressable releasing panel. The PFC-4064 has already been widely considered among industry professionals as one of the best, most advanced, and most capable conventional panels available today, but now it will be even better.
Another interesting thing about it is the way it connects to the panels. It doesn’t connect like your typical annunciator. Instead, it connects over Ethernet either directly to a panel, or as a network node.
Interesting how it works with multiple lines of panels, since usually that isn’t the case.
Wouldn’t be so sure of that considering it has only 6 zones by default whereas others like the Silent Knight SK-5208 have a full 10 by default, but alright.
Might be better than serial (at least if modern annunciators still use serial) since Ethernet might allow for faster communication & more data between the panel & annunciator.
The PFC-4064 is a much more modern panel. It supports modern features, like a built-in IP communicator and/or email notification system over Ethernet and the internet. I would say the biggest benefit is support for Potter P-Link. This is a communication circuit that can support zone expanders (up to 192 IDC circuits at max), annunciations, communicators, and specialized cards that provide both NACs and IDCs.
Alright…those last couple things are neat though, especially since not every panel has NAC cards like that (heck the only one I really know of that does is the Simplex 4005: according to documentation it can support up to 32 NACs, which is honestly insane!).
