Actually, there's no need to carry the DS7000 around. I did that and accidentally broke the antenna which, as you can tell, is very poorly made. That set me back in my installation for a while.
If you leave the DS7000 in "install" mode, assuming it can pick up the RF signal from the window/door sensors you're installing, it will add them one by one (in order of activation). There's no need to go back and forth to the DS7000. If you accidentally activate a sensor (by pressing the test button or opening the contact) more than once, the DS7000 will only pick up the signal the first time, which is nice. Also, when in "install" mode, the DS7000 will "ding" each time you add a new sensor.
By the way, breaking the antenna on mine was actually a good thing. I have a larger home (3000 sf with more than 16 windows/doors) and, all along, I was planning on hiding the DS7000 in a closet in my bedroom. Well, with the stock antenna, it would have never worked.
When the antenna broke, I replaced it with (as I had already commented) one side of a rabbit VHF antenna. Now, I can even reach the sensors from my garage windows, which are about 5 walls and more than 100 feet away from the DS7000. BTW, the new antenna is a GE "color tv antenna model TV24706."
Now, I have the DS7000 mounted and well hidden in a closet, where I installed a new AC outlet, a new phone jack, and a new cable outlet along with my 16 wired-camera surveillance DVR, my cable modem, my VoIP adapter, and my (2) wi-fi routers - all connected to a UPS. That way, in case of power loss, I can now have at least 1 1/2 hrs of alarm, internet, surveillance, and phone coverage.