When DC-2000 detects this alarm, it will not attempt to communicate with the ANSI
meter in an effort to conserve battery power.
Immediately after the call, the DCM-200 will enter an emergency low-power shutdown
mode to conserve power. When the AC power has been restored, the unit will wake up
and resume normal operations. After 5 full minutes of the AC power being restored, the
unit will call in to report an "AC-ON" condition.
When the DCM-200 calls in to report a power failure it will also measure the backup
lithium battery voltage. If it has reached a low level the DCM-200 will report a "LOW
BATTERY" alarm along with the "AC-OFF" alarm. See Section-8 about replacing the
battery. Normally the battery should last 8-10 years if no emergency calls are ever
made. In areas that suffer from frequent outages the battery life will be greatly reduced.
Contact Metretek for the availability of replacement batteries or ones with greater
reserve capacity.
7.11 Over-the-Air Firmware Updates
The DCM-200's program ("firmware") can be changed once it is installed in the field
without the need for a site visit. Chapter-5 describes how to initiate an "over-the-air"
programming operation.
When the DCM-200 and the DC-2000 system are connected, the new program is broken
down into smaller packets and sent to the unit. The unit stores each packet into a
temporary memory area until all packets have been received. If an error occurs or a
network connection problem occurs, the packets are discarded and the original program
remains in effect.
After the entire program has been received and the communications session has been
successfully terminated, the packets are permanently programmed into the processor's
memory. During this time the red and green LEDs blink each time a packet is
programmed, and the entire process may take up to 1 minute to complete. The new
program is then executed, starting with a unit reset and followed by a call-in to report the
reset condition (the unit must be configured to originate calls for this to happen). Failure
to receive a call from the unit in a reasonable amount of time may indicate that the
download operation was not successful. This may require a site visit to correct the
problem.
Downloading a new program does not affect the configuration data. Likewise new
configuration data can be downloaded without affecting the program.
7-9
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