Vista 20p with Interface setup

Smart Home Integrations Hubitat
88

 I wanted to add to this post to thank Archie Johnson and Jason H, and to add what I've learned.

Archie got me most of the way there (on another thread), and Jason's post got me working. I never would have thought to do what Jason described, but my setup has been working for 2 days now. Thank you, Archie and Jason!!!


I'm going to repeat a lot of what Jason posted, but I'm hoping the why I lay it out will be slightly easier to follow, a little more granular, and the HA info helps move people a little further.

My Equipment:

  • Legacy:
  • Vista 15p
  • (2) 4219 Expansion boards (A and B)


Konnected Equipment:

  • (2) Alarm Panel Pros (APP1 and APP2)
  • 4 Interface boards (A, B, C, D)


Important Note:

  • My Keyswitch is on Zone 1 of the Vista 15p


Konnected Hardware Configuration:

  • Ribbons, Switches, and Jumpers
  • APP1 is connected to Interfaces A (Exp 1) and B (Exp 2)
  • APP2 is connected to Interfaces C (Exp 1) and D (Exp 2)
  • The switch on APP1 is set to Out 2
  • The jumpers on Interfaces A and B are set to NO


Power:

  • Ground on Interfaces A and B are running to screw 4 on the Vista 15p
  • VREF on Interfaces A and B are running to screw 5 on the Vista 15p
  • Ground on Interfaces C and D are running to ground on Expansion 4219 A
  • VREF on Interfaces C and D are running to 12v DC on Expansion 4219 A



I won't go into detail on where each standard zone connects, but I'll detail the ones involving outputs and the key switch:

Interface A:

  • Relay 1 connects to Vista 15p Zone 1/Screw 8 with a wire and a 2K EOL resister
  • Relay 2 connects to Vista 15p Zone 1/Screw 9
  • IN connects to APP1 Out 1


Interface B:

  • Zone 1 connects to Vista 15p Output 17
  • Zone 2 connects to Vista 15p Output 18
  • Relay 1 connects to Vista 15p Zone 1/Screw 8 with a wire and a 2K EOL resister
  • Relay 2 connects to Vista 15p Zone 1/Screw 9
  • IN connects to APP1 Out 2


FYI:

  • APP2 and Interfaces C and D are used just for sensors


Important:

  • Vista 15p Screw 8 connects to Vista 15p Screw 9 with a wire and a 2K EOL resister


Vista Programming:




Miscellaneous Notes

  • Expansion 4219 B is on the other side of the house (to save from running cable all the way across the attic)
  • Since I couldn't use the short ribbon cable provided by Konnected in the accessory box to connect the zones from this expansion board to Interfaces C and D, I ran a Cat 6 23/4 solid-core cable to where my Konnected boards were
  • It's working just fine



Home Assistant Configuration
First you'll configure each I/O, then you'll configure each sensor in greater detail. I've grouped it by each physical contact so it's easier to substitute for your physical configuration

Interface B Zone 1 is seen as Zone 7 in HA

  • Configure I/O, choose binary sensor
  • Configure Binary Sensor: type is door, leave "Invert the open/close state" unchecked
  • When it's open, your alarm is armed (it does NOT specify whether it's set to Armed/Home or Armed Away)


Interface B Zone 2 is seen as Zone 8 in HA

  • Configure I/O, choose binary sensor
  • Configure Binary Sensor: type is door, leave "Invert the open/close state" unchecked
  • When it's open, your alarm has passed the warning beeps and gotten to the point where your siren is making sweet music for bad guys (run!)


APP1 Alarm1

  • Configure I/O, choose disabled


APP1 Out 1 (this is my Arm/Stay)

  • Configure I/O, choose switchable output
  • Configure Switchable Output:
  • Output when on = high
  • Pulse duration = 2000
  • Pause between pulses = <blank>
  • Times to repeat = <blank>
  • Configure additional states for this zone = no


APP1 Out2/Alarm2 (this is my Arm/Away)

  • Configure I/O, choose switchable output
  • Configure Switchable Output:
  • Output when on = high
  • Pulse duration = 1000
  • Pause between pulses = <blank>
  • Times to repeat = <blank>
  • Configure additional states for this zone = no



Additional Notes:

  • My Vista was originally configured for Auto-Stay. That means if you enable Arm/Away, but no door sensors open and then close before the alarm is fully enabled (during countdown), the alarm will automatically arm to STAY mode at the end of the countdown because it assumed you didn't leave
  • So if for any reason you want to arm while away from home, and none of your doors open then, close, you will not get the coverage you want
  • This can be disabled by going into the Vista installer mode and change *84 to zero
  • The way the system is configured above, HA won't show you whether your system is armed in Stay or Away mode. For me, the switch on the app doesn't stay in position
  • I am considering a solution of an automation that goes something like this for situations where the alarm is enabled from the keypad: If the alarm is armed, but not from HA, and the door did not open in X amount of time, then the Alarm is in stay mode



I had hit a wall after following Nate's tutorials to the letter and not having success, so I reached out to Konnected support. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like the support was moving in a helpful direction. So, I really hope this helps someone, even a little bit, and saves time and stress. That being said, the credit goes to Archie and Jason. Good luck to you!