Heard a young tech say panel programming is 'just following prompts'

I was at a supply house pickup Tuesday and some kid maybe 25 was telling his buddy that programming DSC panels is basically like setting up a streaming account now. Made me think about how we used to have to jumper terminals and count beeps to set zones. Took me an hour to program a basic 4 zone back in 99. Has anyone else noticed the new guys skipping the basics because the apps do everything?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah_webb6d ago

Honestly I just kept an old 8320 in my truck to teach guys the basics.

keithharris6d ago

The "just following prompts" thing misses the whole point of why we learn the fundamentals in the first place. When I walk into a job with an older panel that has no LCD or a fried main board, all those app shortcuts don't mean a thing because I still need to know how to hardwire zones and program by DIP switches. The apps are great for speed, sure, but they're never going to replace knowing what the system is actually doing behind the screen.