Get zone list on Vista 20se?


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Old 05-20-15, 05:23 PM
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Get zone list on Vista 20se?

Hi there!

I have bought a house with an alarm system installed. It's labelled as an ADT Safewatch Pro 2000, which the FAQ helpfully identified as an Ademco (now Honeywell) Vista 20se. It is long out of contract.

I have followed the directions here to get to programming mode, get and reset the installer code, and set the master user code to something I know. That was well documented here, and I really appreciate, so now we can shut the alarm off if some dingbat arms it. I also cleared the phone numbers to keep it from bothering ADT, and set the "single button alarm" to false, so it takes a code to arm it. (I also replaced the battery, but that was pretty obvious.)

Thank you for all the excellent information you've collected here. It made this possible.

Is there a way to get a clear list of the zones defined on the alarm, and what their settings are? Preferably to also show the nicely defined textual names the zones have defined? (Someone set all that up on this; very clearly done.)

How can I tell what the system has defined?

Also, I can't figure out how to open the motion detector. It's in "check" state, and has no light - I bet it's battery is dead. How do I get into it? There's a panel on the top which reveals... nothing.
 
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Old 05-20-15, 06:57 PM
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If you have the alpha keypad, and can see actual zone descriptors, then it's easy enough to go back into programming and step through the zone programming to get the details.

Do you have the Vista 20se install/programming manual?

For the motion detector look around the edges of the housing. There is a small slot that you use a small screwdriver to pop the shell open with. Be gentle-ish, the plastic sometimes becomes brittle with age.
 
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Old 05-20-15, 08:47 PM
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Happily, I do have the two-line alpha keypad. Both keypads in the house are the two-line ones, which is great. They're the vertical ADT branded ones, but they have two lines of text and work.

I do have the manual. I couldn't have done several of the things I've done without it. I see some folks here find the manual less than helpful, but I worked with hybrid phone systems in the '90s and they have a very similar feel. The manual and I get along fine.

What I haven't seen is how to step through the list... just go into *56 and enter every zone number? I guess there's only a hundred... Is there a more clever way?

I'll have another look at the motion detector. The plastic is, indeed, getting brittle. I may see if I can low-ball a replacement or two. There was an "upstairs motion sensor" that was in the check state, but we couldn't find it. Eventually, I deleted the zone to shut it up.

Thanks for the quick reply!
 
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Old 05-20-15, 09:37 PM
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The best way to find the zone labels is one by one thru the *56 programming and * thru to zone descriptors and press 1. Record and then # then * thru the next.

Other option is open each door or device and record what zone it opens on the keypad. Might need a helper for the motion detectors and then you are only going to find the ones that you know are there, ex: If there are glassbreaks or hiding window sensors, ect.

It is faster to skip thru the programming rather than walking back and forth thru the entire house.
If you are lucky, you might find a written list on the keypad door or paper left inside the control panel box from the original installer.
 
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Old 05-22-15, 03:47 PM
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I'll give the *56 a walk through and see what's listed there.

Oh! The tip of looking inside the panel door was a good one! The devices all appear to be there, written in Sharpie. The serial numbers for the wireless are taped next to the entry. Apparently there was a set of wireless keyfobs we never got - I think I'll be deleting those! There's also at least one thing I have no idea what they're talking about and the motion detector I can't find. It's helpfully labelled "upstairs".

There's also a phone number - don't know who, but probably the ADT installer - and a date, 23 April 2001.

Interestingly, almost everything is wireless. The only hardwired connection appears to be 01, the front door. Nice to know the battery won't die, because I still can't find that sensor.

For a fourteen year old system it seems to have remarkably few problems. New batteries all around and to replace a missing magnet (some double-sided tape got tired, I suspect) will have it running again. There's been a little remodeling since then, so a couple windows aren't protected, too, but adding a couple more 5816's will fix that.

Is it worth considering fire or CO alarms? I see they're available... will they work as expected with a panel this old?
 
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Old 05-22-15, 07:56 PM
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Honeywell/Ademco has not substantially altered the 5800 series wireless protocols since they introduced it. With very few exceptions all of the new devices will work with your current receiver, so long as it's not filled to capacity. (is the last letter of your wireless receiver model number a L, M, or H? 8, 16, & 24 zone capacity on your base system model)

Look carefully at the door frame. Under the paint you should see a small round circle, with a matching one on the door edge. That's the door contact and magnet.
 
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Old 05-22-15, 09:52 PM
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Looks like an H - yay, 24 zones! Of which I think we're using eleven. And what look to be seven unused wired zones.

A surprising number of things connected to the terminal/keypad connections, but that's how all the add-ons (the 5882, the 4285, etc.) all connect, isn't it? I hope to add two more panels, or perhaps move one of the existing ones, but all that means is running some wire about, which I can handle.

I would never have recognized the door sensor, but that found it. It's been painted over and hardly visible. The wiring must all be hidden under the moulding and probably drops right down into the basement. The front door appears to be the only thing hard-wired on the system.

Fascinating! I'm really enjoying getting this working.

Thanks for all the information!
 
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Old 05-22-15, 10:07 PM
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Your wireless receiver, 5882-ENH will actually hold 64 zones.

Your alarm panel, Vista 20se, however will only accommodate 30 of those wireless zones. Total capacity of 38 zones with the 8 on board wired.
 
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Old 05-23-15, 12:08 AM
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All The Things

I went through *56 and found everything, and *82 to see what they were labelled. I had found everything associated with a sensor, but there were a couple of surprises.

Zone 9 lists as being in no partition - it's a dash instead of 1. Everything else is 1. It's type 05, "Trouble Day/Alarm Night", and the input device shows as "In: L", with further information of "--:--". What is "In: L", and what device is zone 9? Is it just a gap before the wireless starts?

I also found the buttons for the keyfobs. Three zone entries there, with the same device on different loops. Two of them. I see different report codes there; is that so the reports to the office can tell which fob was used? As I don't have the fobs, I'll be removing these zones. It frees up six for other things, too.

I also found it interesting that not all the doors were marked entry/exit. Some of them (the sliding glass doors, for instance) make sense, because you can't lock them easily from outside. But a couple of them surprise me, because I would expect to leave through that door and they're just marked "perimeter". The front door is marked entry/exit, even though it's nowhere near a panel. It isn't Entry/exit #2, with the longer delay, either. Am I missing something, or is that a little odd?
 
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Old 05-23-15, 04:21 AM
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Actually, no. A Vista 20se has 24 wireless zones with a H model receiver: http://www.reedsecurity.com/pdf/Vista20SEUserManual.pdf

The zone _numbering_ goes to 31.

It's not unusual for an ADT install of that era to have just the one entry/exit door (and that was the door the original owner specified). They probably have the entry and exit delays set long enough that it's not an issue (30-45 seconds is longer than most people really grasp...)

You can always change the zone type on the other door zones, since you have an alpha keypad.

Zone "9" is not a real zone on this model. It is used to monitor the status of the expansion boards, like the wireless.
 
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Old 05-23-15, 12:21 PM
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I had seen that this model says 24 wireless devices, and up to 32 zones. I now see the reference to zone 9 being used to monitor the wireless interface itself. It is, if you look closely enough, in the manual. As most things are, so far.

Do I understand right then that the zone numbering in my configuration is:

1 - 8: Hardwired zones on the board.
9 monitors the wireless interface
10 - 34: 24 wireless zones

If a 4219 or 4229 expansion is used to add more wired zones, would those come in at 9-16, and move the wireless zones further down? I presume that the higher wireless zones would be inaccessible due to the limitations of the 20se itself. If you really needed that many zones, you'd need the more capable alarm.
 
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Old 05-23-15, 03:46 PM
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That's it in a nutshell. Just remember, this was an older model, and the wireless devices were relatively expensive, when it was introduced, so 24 wireless devices was a _lot_ back, then.

The current model; the Vista 20p, has a much higher zone capacity with the same wireless receiver.
 
 

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