How Do I Adjust the Default Screen On an Alpha Keypad For a VISTA-20P?

You can adjust the default screen on an Alpha Keypad for a VISTA-20P by accessing [*82] of Programming, entering [1] for question one, then [1] again for question two, then either [11], [12], or [13] depending on the keypad's partition, entering the Custom Word, and pressing [8] to save.

Below you will find the step-by-step process for making a custom word or phrase display on the top line of an alphanumeric keypad screen. This is sometimes referred to as the "Ready Screen" for a VISTA System's keypad, and the default message is shown in the image above. When you create the custom word or phrase, keep in mind that there is a sixteen (16) character limit. Each partition can have its own custom message. Once you save the custom word or phrase, it will be displayed on any Alphanumeric Keypad assigned to the corresponding partition, assuming the partition is in a "Ready" state. Whatever word or phrase you set can be changed at any time by repeating these steps.

Complete the following steps to adjust the default screen on an Alphanumeric Keypad for a VISTA-20P:

1. Enter Programming. Begin from the main screen of your keypad. Enter Programming with the command [Installer Code] + [8] + [00]. The default Installer Code on a VISTA-20P is 4112, and if you keep the Installer Code at its default as is recommended, then your entry will be [4112800]. You can verify that you have successfully entered Programming on an Alphanumeric Keypad because it will display "Installer Code 20" on the screen.

2. Navigate to Alpha Programming. After you have entered Programming, provide the command [*82]. This will take you to a screen that shows "Program Alpha? 0=No, 1=Yes". This is where you want to be.

3. Continue to Custom Words. The Custom Words subsection is within Alpha Programming, so you should choose Yes by entering [1] at the current screen. Then you will be asked "Custom Words? 0=No, 1=Yes", and that is where you want to go, so press [1] again to continue to the Custom Words section.

4. Choose Custom Word. Now the system needs to know which Custom Word you are programming. The prompt will show "Custom? 00". To change what is displayed for a keypad's default screen, you need to set the Custom Word for the partition associated with that keypad. There are three (3) possible partitions that a VISTA-20P Keypad could be associated with. If your Alphanumeric Keypad is on Partition 1, enter [11]. If the keypad is on Partition 2, enter [12]. Or if it is on the Common Lobby Partition, enter [13]. Remember that this is a partition-wide setting. By changing Custom Word 11, you will be changing the display for all Alphanumeric Keypads assigned to Partition 1. Changing Custom Word 12 will change the display for all keypads assigned to Partition 2, and so on. After entering the Custom Word number for the proper partition, the cursor will begin blinking in the first slot of the second line.

5. Enter Custom Word. This is the moment you have been waiting for - where you actually construct the customized word or phrase that you want the keypad to show on the top line of the "Ready Screen". You will build the word or phrase one (1) character at a time, save the entry, and then exit out of Programming entirely so that you can see the word or phrase in action. Again, don't forget that you only have a maximum of sixteen (16) character slots to work with.

To enter a character, press [#], followed by its associated two-digit number. This number can be as low as [32] for a blank space, or as high as [90] for the letter Z. For reference, letters of the alphabet start at [65] for A, and continue one by one until you reach [90], which is, of course, Z. If you wanted the letter A, you would enter [#65]. For B, you would enter [#66]. For C, you would enter [#67]. And so on.

After you enter a character, you then want to save and move to the next character slot. You can do this by pressing the [6] key. But let's say you make a mistake, and you need to backtrack to a prior entry. In that case, you can press [4] to move back a slot. To clear an entry, you can press [#32] for space

Once the desired custom word or phrase is entered, press [8] to save and apply the change. For the complete list of possible character entries see the following chart. Notice how the potential entries are organized from the lowest two-digit programming number (32), all the way to the highest (90).

To enter "ALARM GRID" like we did above, you would enter [#65 + 6 + #76 + 6 + #65 + 6 + #82 + 6 + #77 + 6 + #32 + 6 + #71 + 6 + #82 + 6 + #73 + 6 + #68], followed by a single entry of [8] to save. After the entry of the final letter, rather than pressing a [6] again to advance the cursor, you press [8] to save the entire entry. You may notice in that entry that the [#32] entry isn't actually for a real character, but rather for a blank space. We could have just skipped that entry by pressing [6], which would have left that slot empty and moved the cursor one space to the right. However, we wanted to show that the blank space still counts as a character, so we opted to include it.

6. Exit Programming. After you save the entry by pressing [8] you will be taken back to the "Custom?" screen. Here, you must enter [00] to back out of the Custom Word subsection. At the "Program Alpha?" screen, enter [0] for No. Finally, press [*99] to safely exit Programming without being locked out. You will return to the main keypad screen, only this time your newly programmed word or phrase will be waiting there to greet you.