Fermax 9641 MDS Digital Display Module for Marine Door Entry Panels

Please note: this is a non-returnable item (excluding faulty goods)

The Fermax 9641 is the MDS Marine digital display module, a spare-part display unit for inclusion in Marine door entry panels running on the MDS Digital System.

This is a component, not a complete system. What it fits is the whole of the buying decision. Fermax describes the 9641 as a display module of spare parts for inclusion in Marine door entry panels and the MDS Digital System.

In an MDS digital panel it takes its place alongside the 4+N amplifier module and a BUS2, VDS, MDS or DUOX digital keypad module. The module carries a high contrast backlit LCD of two lines at sixteen characters per line, with an adjustable backlight, and it is what a visitor actually reads at the door. Its job is twofold.

It lets a caller search the electronic directory of residents using the panel's browser buttons. It also shows communication status while a call is in progress. A call to a home can be placed in two ways.

Key the code assigned to that home and press the bell key, or find the entry in the electronic directory with the browser buttons and press the bell key. Fermax's own spare parts catalogue lists this item as code 9641, MDS Marine display.

Key features

• Two line, sixteen character display: the module carries a high contrast LCD of two lines at sixteen characters per line, which is what a caller reads while using the panel.
• Adjustable backlight: the display is backlit and Fermax states the backlight level is adjustable, so it can be set to suit a dark lobby or a bright street frontage.
• Electronic resident directory: callers can search and view the list of residents on the screen using the browser buttons rather than needing to know a code in advance.
• Two ways to call a home: a caller can key the code assigned to the home and press the bell key. The alternative is to find the entry in the directory with the browser buttons and press the bell key.
• Communication status on screen: the module displays communication status information during a call, so a visitor can tell what the panel is doing.
• MDS Digital System module: it is built for the MDS Digital System, where an MDS digital panel comprises a 4+N amplifier module, this display module and a BUS2, VDS, MDS or DUOX digital keypad module.
• Marine panel fitment: Fermax specifies it for inclusion in Marine door entry panels, and lists it in its spare parts catalogue among the Marine panel spares.
• Published module size: Fermax gives the module dimensions as 105.2 mm wide by 95 mm high, so the aperture in the panel can be checked before ordering.
• Supplied as a spare part: this is sold as a replacement or service item for an existing panel rather than as a complete door entry kit.
• Built for the Marine range: Fermax describes Marine as its anti-vandal panel line, made in 2.5 mm thick stainless steel and specified for corrosive, humid and demanding atmospheres.

Use cases

You buy this when an existing Fermax Marine entrance panel on the MDS Digital System has lost its display and the rest of the panel is sound. The screen may have failed, gone dim, been damaged in an attack on the panel, or been water-damaged on an exposed frontage. Replacing the display module keeps the amplifier, the keypad module and the stainless fascia in service.

That is a very different job from replacing a whole entrance panel and reprogramming the system. It is also the part to hold as a spare on estates, student accommodation, seafront and dockside blocks, and other exposed sites. On those sites a panel takes weather or abuse, and a dead display means residents cannot be called at all.

Before ordering, confirm two things on the existing panel. It must be a Marine panel rather than another Fermax panel line, and the system must be MDS rather than VDS, BUS2 or DUOX. Fermax publishes separate display modules for those systems and they are not interchangeable.