Re: How does one find employees, including trainees?

Tommy is not wrong you Fat-Fuck. He wrote: "using that information from the meter implies an understanding of the concepts behind numbers" ... which is bang-on, 100% correct. What use is the data gathered from a test instrument if one has no idea of how to utilize it?

Will someone please bump this so Fat-Fuck will see it please? I want him to answer "What use is the data gathered from a test instrument if one has no idea of how to utilize it?"

I long since forgotten Ohms law and I do know how to read a meter, I bet most people here are the same way

Well, just because he knows how to use a scale doesn't mean he knows how to lose weight. :-)

LOL!!!

I thought Ohm's law had to do with Yoga chanting. And enough of this meter bullshit. We're in America. It's called YARDS. God damn canucks with their bootleg math.

Mark Leuck wrote:

Wrong again. Even if I didn't know how the tachometer works (actually, I'm not 100% sure how it works) I still know from reading the manual that I'm supposed to keep it under 7,000 rpms. The same is true of the tire gauge. I know the tires can fail early if left underinflated. I'm not certain why but I read the manual and I believe what it says. So I keep the engine under 7,000 rpms and I make sure the tires are properly inflated. My bike seems to appreciate it. :^)

Hmm. Now you're changing the focus (taking lessons from Olson?) to dodge the fact that you're wrong. I didn't say he doesn't need to know what an Ohm is. I said he doesn't need to know Ohm's law.

I've been "getting by" just fine for more than a quarter century in this business. So far I've rarely used Ohm's law to calculate anything. In fact, the most recent time I used it I made a mistake but it didn't affect anything other than my pride. :^)

No - for starters you have to know TWO variables before you can use the formula.

And for finishers, you have to need to know the remaining third. If what you need to know is right there on the meter display, you aren't using the formula.

If you want to know the current, and you read the resistance and know the voltage, then you are using ohms law. But most people would simply measure the current, unless it would be difficult to do so.

If you look at the meter, see 2 ohms, and decide that given the length of the wire runs that's reasonable - YOU ARE NOT USING OHMS LAW.

What kind of hourly rate can a competent security technician earn these days?

I always got the impression, they don't earn much. ( < 35K/yr)

cs snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

Excuse me??? I thought the Bass-onova was your specialty. Take credit where it's due, Robert.

What part of the country are you from or are outside the US?

Installers make more than 35K. Some piece workers can make up to 70-80K if there is enough building going on and they are willing to work alot of hours. A "Competent" service technician, for burg, on a 40 hour week can earn around 50k with benefits. A fire technician will probably earn more.

Forgot to add. Don't let an installer convince you they are a technician without proof of competentcy. Because they know how to install a system (even properly), does not constitute being a technician. Hell, they might even need to know Ohm's law to get the big bucks.

Depends on how "competent" they are. We pay union rate even though ours isn't a union shop plus bonuses (profit share). Typically around $40 -

45K per annum (but that's Canadian dollars which used to translate to about $21.35 US). ;-)

It seems around here (Edmonton, Canada) most techs aren't paid much.

Is there a shortage of good security technicians >> What kind of hourly rate can a competent security technician earn these >> days?

I'm in Canada... (Edmonton).

I've always considered moving to a security alarm installer career because I love working with security, fire alarm systems... and other auxiliary type systems (ie: nurse call, card access, CCTV). I've been installing security alarms selectively since the 80's and the reason I did them selectively was that I only did it part time, since my full time job was an electrician. I left electrical back in 95 to enter into a computing career... however still install the systems, as people ask me to.

The reason I haven't gone into it as a full time career, is because I'm female and and I didn't know how well it would work having me wander into unknown customers homes... but then again maybe I am just a bit cautious. On the commercial side, I'd have no problems.

Bob Worthy wrote:

Being cautious is smart, but that is with anything. I have employed female techs in the past. It is not uncommon, anymore, to see females in the trades. If you worked on construction sites as an electrician, you would have been in a far more sexually discriminatory atmosphere than any alarm job. In *most* residential installations, you are dealing with the lady of the house anyway. If there were to be any question, the employer should team you up with a working partner anyway. Systems Intergration maybe an area that would suit you and your comfort level. Pays well too.

I was lucky as an electrician. Although I had wide varying experiences, whenever "finer" tasks came up that required "neatness" my bosses usually asked me to do them. Construction sites are definitely the worse though for harassment.

What is systems integration?

Bob Worthy wrote:

Simply put, taking combinations of different systems, ie, CCTV, Access control, security, energy management systems, lighting control etc, networking them together so they act as one large system working together and usually controlled through computer software. Home automation is another name for the same in the resi market.

What's the exchange rate now? 12-14% I heard.

Norm

I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?

Like i said difference between memorizing and understanding. memorizing a "go,no go" reading is not using the law, but using a meter should imply an understanding of the principles going on behind the readout.