Why Is My VISTA-128BPT Armed Stay After Arming Away From TC2?

Your VISTA-128BPT is Armed Stay after Arming Away from Total Connect 2.0 because Auto-Stay Arming is enabled. Firmware Version 10.0 of the VISTA-128BPT System had an error that prevented Auto-Stay Arming for TC2 from being disabled. This error was since fixed in Firmware Revision 10.4.

Auto-Stay arming is a protective feature that tells a system to Arm Stay rather than Arming Away if no Entry/Exit Zones are faulted during the Exit Delay countdown. Your VISTA-128BPT is Arming Stay after you Arm Away from Total Connect 2.0 because Auto-Stay Arming is enabled, and you are not onsite to fault an Entry Exit Zone during the Exit Delay countdown. Auto-Stay arming is enabled per zone in the Vista-128BPT, so there is not a single programming location you can disable to turn the feature off.

The good news is that if no zones are assigned the Auto-Stay feature, then there is no issue. Even if the keypad display says that the panel has armed Auto-Stay, all zones will still be armed. However, if you have zones with the Auto-Stay attribute enabled, and you want to Arm Away remotely using Total Connect 2.0, then you will have an issue on a VISTA-128BPT running revision 10.0. If you want to Arm Away, you must disable Auto-Stay Arming for each zone with the attribute enabled. If you do not know how to disable Auto-Stay Arming, please consult the VISTA-128BPT Installation Manual.

Unfortunately, Firmware Version 10.0 for the VISTA-128BPT System is missing a key feature. With this feature missing, it is impossible to tell the system to ignore Auto-Stay zone settings when arming remotely via TC2. In other words, any zone that is enabled for Auto-Stay Arming will always be bypassed when Arming Away from Total Connect 2.0, unless you activate an Entry/Exit Zone during the Exit Delay Countdown. Obviously, activating an Entry/Exit Zone will be impossible if you are trying to use Total Connect 2.0 remotely to set your system to Arm Away while you are off-site. Users must not enable the Auto-Stay Arming feature for any zone that they want to not be bypassed when they Arm Away using Total Connect 2.0. Any zone with this feature enabled will always be bypassed when arming from TC2 in panels with this firmware version.

However, there has since been a fix to this error. Firmware Revision 10.4 for the VISTA-128BPT fixes this problem so that there is an option within device programming for disabling Auto-Stay Arming for particular device addresses. This way, you can disable the Auto-Stay Arming feature for the device address associated with Total Connect 2.0. You should check to see what Firmware Version your VISTA-128BPT is running to find out if you need to upgrade to a newer revision.

To check the firmware, open the panel's metal enclosure, and remove the large silver plate guard from the board. You will need a screwdriver to do this. Then look for a smaller rectangular black chip underneath the cover. This is called a PROM Chip. You should see the Firmware Version written on this PROM Chip. If the PROM Chip indicates that it is Version 10.0 for a VISTA-128BPT, then you should upgrade to the latest version.

Alarm Grid does not sell the PROM Chip upgrade for the VISTA-128BPT. Any user who needs to upgrade the firmware for their VISTA-128BPT should contact their alarm monitoring company. Alarm Grid monitored customers should contact us at support@alarmgrid.com to inquire about getting a newer PROM Chip. We can only assist monitored customers in this regard. If you are monitored by a different company, you should contact them for further assistance.

If you have obtained a new PROM Chip for your VISTA-128BPT, then replacing the old one is very easy. Make sure to shutdown the system completely by unplugging the transformer and disconnecting the backup battery before beginning. Start by taking off the silver cover plate. You can use the metal end of a binder clip to carefully pry the old PROM Chip off the board. Then snap the new one in its place by pressing straight down. Be careful not to bend any of the chip's prongs. Make sure it is nice and secure.