Some of the first pstats that we received with prodigy when the pmc2 and plx2 were out, we had to have ac power applied to them to get them to work. We would use a security transformer to bench test them and program. You may have a older model, just a suggestion I know we had the same issues with them at first and that's what we did and still do to this day. It's good to know that the new ones are working on batteries now.