Honeywell VISTA-20P Ademco Control Panel, PCB in Aluminum Enclosure

I purchased this ststem to replace a Brinks BHS-3000 reusing all of the exsting sensors. I added a 6160 keypad and a 747 siren. Programming via the keypad was a little tricky at first, but is extremely simple once you get the hang of it. Highly recommended.

I bought this box (on Amazon) as a kit along with many of the other pieces I needed to construct a full system. I have a background as both a computer software and hardware engineer. I installed my own professional system in a different house many years ago. Even with my background, it still took me numerous hours to setup and program this system, along with a few questions in an alarm forum. The system I installed years ago had a computer interface with a program specific to the unit I had. That was a much easier setup. All of my programming was on the 6160RF keypad. The is a new keypad out (6260) which is supposed to have some programming aids built in, but I could not find anyone who had actually used one. The documentation is helpful in some areas and non-existant in others. Again, this system is sold expecting that it will be installed by a professional alarm installer. It is a good piece of hardware, but there are much better choices for a total novice. If you are getting one, here are my recommendations: 1. Get the RF option on the keypad even if you think you will not need any RF devices. The difference in cost is small and you will likely find out later that you do want one or more RF sensors. 2. Get a 7 ah battery rather than the 4 most people include in the kits. It will take longer to die of old age and last longer under load. Again the cost difference should be small. 3. Get an outside horn (#702). The Wave2 that most people sell is not fully weather proof and is not loud enough to wake up the neighbors. Use the Wave2 inside as a second horn. 4. Include fire detectors in your system. If you have both burg and fire, you will get a very large discount on your homeowners insurance. My discount pays for all my monitoring costs. Also it is good protection to have the fire department called if there is a fire when you are not home.

Compared to my old alarm system, the Vista 20P has proven to be much more reliable. Im using it with a 6160RF keypad / transceiver, which is centrally located within the house. For entry detection, I use four door-mounted wireless 5816s and six 5800PIR wireless motion detectors, which have operated flawlessly thus far. No missed transmitted signals and no false alarms. I was having to put up with those occasional problems on my old system, but no more. The Vista 20P control panel and associated accessories seem to be well designed and reasonably priced. Mine did come with a 4AH battery, but I had already ordered a Yuasa NP7-12 7AH battery, so I used it instead. I added a 4204 relay board inside the 20P cabinet so that I could disable two garage door openers and light up an alarm status LED when the system is armed. Everything works well. I agree with the previous reviewers comment about not for the amateur because of the steep learning curve when programming the 20P system. I am a previous hardware engineer with some software experience. I did a lot of Honeywell document reading and some internet searching to learn how to program the system, but once the proper commands were entered, everything works as it should. Not all of the programming info is located in a single document, so one must search. After finishing the programming, including authenticating ten detectors and four wireless key fobs, I have a high level of confidence in this Honeywell system. It is interesting to watch the 6160RF alphanumeric display while others are tripping the motion detectors and opening doors. It displays the customized zone name in addition to the zone number, which is a nice touch. My main suggestion for improvement would be to offer a simple step-by-step guide for programming, contained within a single document.

Broken seal, missing parts, box looked used, finger prints on cover and missing transformer.

Panels work and Im happy. Great deal. I will buy more.

I bought this to replace a VISTA-15P that was locked to a security monitor service provider. This VISTA-20P is 100% compatible and the switch over went without a hitch. Now I switch service providers any time.

So my Journey began with an old Brinks / ADM system that got reset and I couldn’t find installer codes to recover. It was 25 years old anyway. I wanted to keep my existing wired sensors including C0 detector but I also wanted to be able to expand the system by adding zones. The Vista 20 P was just the thing. I was able to replace the old Brinks BHS3000 system by simply swapping the boards within the enclosure. Yes they were the exact same housings. This kept me from having to pull back all the wiring and feed them into the new enclosure. This allowed me to simply disconnect each wire, one at a time, and re land it on the Honeywell board. Took me a total of 20 min. For good measure the enclosure door was a perfect swap so all the labels are correct. That was the easy part.... Then came programming. With the included manual and quite a bit of help from YouTube, the system is now working. It takes a bit of patience to learn how to read the manual. The YouTube videos provided a great deal of clarity. I used a 6160RF key pad to allow for wireless sensor expansion and remote key fob use. After About three hours I had it working at least as well as my old system. There are some tricks to it like in zone 1 you have to use one of the included terminating resistors if you plan to use it for a door or window switch. Also if you want the zone chime to work on the doors or windows only, you have to create a “Zone List” which has to be Zone List #03. Spent at least an hour figuring that one out. Wouldn’t have put so much time into that one item but my wife and kids like having the door chimes. Bottom line is the system upgrade cost me approx $140 with one keypad (I’ll be adding more later) and it was actually more capable than what I had expected. Keep in mind it’s designed for a professional installer so don’t expect plug-and-play but once it’s up and running it’s a solid, scaleable system. I’ll write more as I take advantage of the features.

Item is as expected.

Great product fast shipping

Everything worked and programmed easily. Will buy again.