Like the security systems of many aging homes, my security system was exclusively wired. For cost savings, I had dropped our security company contract several years back, but had maintained the system for personal use. Though minimal, the system still worked and accomplished everything that I needed.
Prices in wireless home automation have declined recently and products are now available for the average homeowner to use. However, my old Honeywell Ademco Vista 10SE alarm control panel, installed circa 2000, only supported wired components. Thus began my odyssey into upgrading our security system.
At the end of the project when everything was working, I realized that the entire project would have been much easier with better documentation of the programming process. Hopefully, what follows will help the next intrepid installer to move more quickly and sure-footedly through the process.
I opted for a minimal, but expandable, installation as a base. This will allow for expansion as
new functions are needed. All components came through Amazon to my doorstep. I ordered the following:
This is a basic installation. Once this is up and working, various communicators, more keypads (wired or wireless) and wireless components may be added.
Before touching anything, get out your phone and snap pictures of the inside of the control panel and wiring. Shoot from many angles because one angle may be better than another for seeing a particular wire. Make sure that you can see any numbers printed below the circuit board contact points (the row of screws). In the picture here, the numbers can be seen along the slim green strip of circuit board below the contact points.
You will also need to gather the following tools for your physical installation:
You may also need:
Labeling your existing wiring is the most important step. Be sure to disconnect the power from your control panel before beginning.
I found two types of labeling helpful. First, label the cables. You will see clusters of 2, 4 or 6 thin wires enclosed together within a plastic cover. This is a multi-strand wire, otherwise known as a cable.
Using masking tape for temporary labels, label each cable with:
Finally, label each individual wire within a cable with the current control panel connection number.
Important: before you restore power at the end of your physical installation process, all masking tape labels must be removed. The individual wire labels should no longer be necessary, so may simply be removed and not replace. The cable labels should either be removed or replaced with permanent plastic labels (Brother P Touch or some other type of electrical wire label).
The nice people at AlarmGrid did an excellent job of creating videos which go through the physical replacement of an old hardwired alarm panel with a new Vista 21iP. The same steps apply to installing a Vista 20P with two small exceptions. First, there will not be any lights on the Vista 20P when you power it up. Second, the Vista 30P will not have an ethernet port on the panel.
I recommend watching all the videos in sequence first before touching anything. Then, watch each video as you complete that step of the replacement process.
The cabinet for my existing Vista 10SE was identical to the new cabinet which came with my Vista 20P. I was happy to reuse the existing cabinet and simply switched out the circuit board. A wiring diagram is attached to the inside of the cabinet door. If you reuse the old cabinet, remember to swap the old cabinet door for the new cabinet door so that you have the new wiring diagram. Do this by simply sliding the the door upwards to disengage the hinges and remove. Reverse the process to attach the new cabinet door.
So, you’ve installed the new hardware. Now, you need to tell the alarm system what components are connected (door contacts, windows contacts, motion detectors, heat detectors, etc.) You also need to tell the system how you want it to behave. Do you want the doors to chime when they are opened? What codes do you want for enabling/disabling the system? Do you want your alarm to beep to indicate that it is armed?
This is really where the documentation is very reference-oriented rather than “how-to.” There are so many options, but most can be ignored because the default value are fine. The basic programming required to get your system up and running is described below.
We will use a very typical two-story home example. There is a front door, back door and door from the house into the garage, which we will call the "garage door". These are all on the first floor of the house. There are various windows on the first floor and on the second floor. Additionally, there is a single motion detector on the first floor.
The zones for the example are wired as follows:
Before you begin programming, you need to write out certain details for each zone that you will program. There is an intricate worksheet included in the back of the Vista 20P “Programming Guide”, but I would like to offer a far more simplified format.
For each zone, simply list the following on a sheet of paper:
The sheet for our example looks like this:
Zone |
Type |
Descriptors |
1 |
01 (primary entry/exit) |
085 057 (front door) |
2 |
01 (primary entry/exit) |
089 057 (garage door) |
3 |
03 (perimeter) |
060 085 217 (downstairs front windows) |
4 |
03 (perimeter) |
060 013 217 (downstairs back windows) |
5 |
03 (perimeter) |
207 217 (upstairs windows) |
6 |
04 (interior follower) |
060 131 052 (downstairs motion detector) |
To enter programming mode, enter your installer code followed by 800.
4112 8 0 0
If successful, your keypad will respond with
Installer Code 20
Any other response means you were not successful. See the “Gotchas” for idea.
Using the handy zone details sheet that you wrote out, you program the zone details one by one.
To exit programming mode, enter *99
You may also exit using *98, but this will lock you out of programming from the keypad until you enter using the “backdoor”. Please read over the “Gotchas” that deal with *98 before using it.
The clock is set after you exit programming mode using your master code.
Enter your master code.
#63
Date and Time is displayed.
Enter *
Enter digits for hour and minutes.
Enter 1 for PM or 2 for AM.
Enter digits for year.
Enter digits for month.
Enter digits for day.
Enter *
The default system master code is 1234. The system master code is different than the installer code. Each has different authorities. You can think of the system master code as the primary homeowner code for arming and disarming the system. In addition to the system master code, you can create other codes for children, cleaning or service personnel, etc. Refer to page 38 of the “Programming Guide” which came with your Vista 20P for information on programming other codes.
Enter the current system master code (default is 1234)
Enter 8 0 2
Enter new system master code.
Enter new system master code a second time.
You can also change the system master code by using the installer code if you don’t know the current system master code. However, that method does not require confirmation of the new system master code (entering it the second time), so you have the possibility of making a data entry mistake and not knowing what the new code is. To use this alternate method, refer to page 38 of the “Programming Guide”.
That is all you need to basically get the system functioning. Everything else is fine-tuning. To make any additional changes, simply enter programming mode, program the data and exit programming mode (using *99).
There are two other common items that you might want to change. I like a chime each time a door or window is opened. You must enable this in the program so that the user (you) can activate it on the keypad later. (The chimes are then activated or deactivated by giving your master/user code and pressing keypad button 9 which is labeled “chime”. This is handy for turning off chimes if a baby is napping, etc.)
The second item is whether there is a confirmation sound when the system arms.
So, I entered programming mode by entering 4112 8 0 0
Prompt: Field ? Enter: *26 which is for chime-by-zone.
I entered 5 7 * to indicate that I want chime-by-zone enabled and low battery chiming enabled.
Prompt: Field ? Enter: *38 which is for confirmation of arming ding.
Enter: 1 *
Prompt: Field ? Enter: *99 to exit programming.
And, there you have it! You should have the basics of your prior hardwired system re-established using these steps. And, now you are ready to branch out into adding new wireless keypads and devices.