George Brown PLC Programming Training

Anybody been thinking about buying their training software or taking the class? They say you dont need a electronics background but I'm not so sure...I think it would take me several lifetimes to learn it. Anybody interested in the new 3rd edition of the plc textbook?


If anyone is interested, please pm me. -Thanks

George Brown College PLC course

Good morning:

I am familiar with the GB PLC course. It certainly does not require an electronics background as prerequisite for taking the course. For a basic course, it is reasonably organized and presented. There are a couple of places where the computer-assisted demonstrations are a bit nerdy and the documentation is just flat wrong. Some of the graphics and text are somewhat "canned" and are a bit simplistic. However, over all... the course does give a good overview of PLCs and languages. They even throw in a bit of robotics at the end. If you purchase the course, I strongly suggest you purchase the hard bound textbook that goes with it. The book is in much better detail than the computer video program. Though a bit expensive ($1700 I think), it can serve as part of an evaluation/training for anyone who is new to PLCs. Faculty assistance is available and they generally respond to email questions and/or phone chats quickly. Let me know if you have further questions.

goodday.chuck

Rather than spend months taking one of these courses, why not spend two weeks of your life at a manufacturer's school?

For instance, an AB 2-week course brings you from zero to gallop. Of course, they don't have time to teach you everything, but a lot of this is self-initiative. You can't keep going back to the school for every question, eventually you have to use alternative learning methods. (I'm fond of the 'well duh! I shoulda known THAT' method, myself)

Another advantage to an accelerated school is that you don't lose that "first weeks basics" knowledge by the end of the class... based on some of the threads popping up on here, that's a common occurence.

Rather than spend $1700 on the course, I would spend the money on a real PLC, a bunch of lights and push buttons, maybe a few analog devices, and teach myself the basics. Assuming you have any mechanical and logical aptitude at all (more important than electrical apptitude, imho), you will pick up on it quickly. You could then plan on taking a more advanced course later, which would be better money spent.

I teach this stuff and have taught both types of classes, 1 or 2 nights a week or an intensive 40 hour class. The feedback from students indicate that so much material is thrown at them in the 40 hour course that they do not remember the first day and a half.

The every day or several nights a week course allows time for the material to soak in.
Take a class at the local votech or something, then buy a little Micro and play with it at home. You may be suprised at how much you learn.
Good luck

I couldn't agree more, I by no means am a programmer but 2 yrs ago I bought a copy of 500 and a slc 500 brick on ebay and this year have programed three small PLC's at work one RSview 32 project and will do a panelview plus in a month or so.

If you get a micrologix ten point PLC then you can get a free copy of logix 500 to program it.

Then ask somebody here for a project to get you started.

Clint

I, too, teach industrial instrumentation and control.

I agree with Gas's caution on intensive courses. Those who think that consecutive 8 hour days is suitable for continuous instruction are many, but in reality only 1 in 1,000 has the concentration and drive to maintain a pace through the entire day. I can see sutdents' eyes glaze over after lunch, when I get gigs to do whole day courses.

The factory or intensive 3 day/5 day courses are great for those who have already background in control, particularly for those familiar with brand A, and want to learn brand B. (I'd love to have someone pay my tuition to one or more).

A community college level one PLC course costs about $600 in our area and the twice-a-week evening courses are paced so that most attendees can handle the load and come out with decent discrete ladder programming skills. The classroom setting provides instruction, feedback and hands-on.

The Buy-a_PLC-learn-at-home is a also a great idea if one is self motivated enough to stick it out without the enforced discipline of class attendance.

Dan

I am an instructor, and I teach PLC and HMI classes. As long as the material is designed properly, with breaks, exercises, and keeping the students involved properly (as anyone who's attended a Train the Trainer class should be able to do), there is nothing wrong with a 3-day vendor training class.

In fact, I've been asked numerous times to combine my 3-day PLC and 2-day Advanced PLC classes into a week long boot camp by customers. I've had customers also ask to spend 3 days on PLC and then 3 on HMI, so they stay over a weekend and learn 2 weeks in a row. Obviously for travel expenses, this is a win-win situation for customers.

I love them all...

The crash courses are great, I have gone to AB’s, Mitsubishi’s, AMK’s and have had people go to others (Ron Beaufort’s) these are great for the person with some experience, I don’t think you have to have a ton but you will get more out of a course such as this, if you have some experience, they are very fast pace and intense.

The night/tech classes are perfect for the beginner, I have been to many also, that can and needs to take a little more time in soaking up the lessons, they have a little more time to do more of a one on one... but they are also usually larger classes.

If you have the money.. take everyone that you can that way you will not go wrong, I have never heard of too much schooling

i am 3 chapters away from finishing the course.(should be done in a few days) its really been a great learning experience IMO. If nothing else, the textbook is a great resource to double check things and i think the "re-read" value is very high. I just finished number systems today and it kicked my butt for a little while. WHile i would love to attend classes across the united states, i don't have the time or resources to do that.

Overall i highly recomend the course even though some of the questions are questionable. I got one wrong today because the answer was 8 and i wrote eight. still passed it easily but its just one of those things that make you say, agghhhh.

kurt.brinker said:

I got one wrong today because the answer was 8 and i wrote eight.

Click to expand...

Surely you jest.

That is sooooooo military mickey mouse chicken....

Dan

danw said:

Surely you jest.

That is sooooooo military mickey mouse chicken....

Dan

Click to expand...

i wish i was.


To represent the decimal number 18 in BCD code, it would


be necessary to use ------ digits.


Your answer: eight



Correct answer: 8