Lesson 1/Learning Event 7
upon reassignment to different stations. He cannot rest upon the knowledge
that "this is the way we did it at the other station."
Learning Event 7: TEST INSTRUMENTS USED IN TECHNICAL CONTROL FACILITIES
A technical controller facing a combined patching bay line-up in a
large facility looks into a bewildering array of jacks for all circuits
leading into and out of the station. The number of jacks usually runs into
the hundreds. Not only must he know the type of signals to expect in each
jack, but he must also know the type of instrument to use in measuring the
signal parameters. Although the technical controller will see and sometimes
use many types of test equipment, he usually uses certain basic types. The
less-often-used test sets are reserved mostly for troubleshooting and
circuit conditioning, tasks that are not normally the province of the
technical controller.
His principal task is to determine which circuits
meet minimum standards, and to route traffic through them.
His secondary
task is to investigate the causes of circuit failure, but not to perform the
correction. His normal work requires his complete attention. The military
occupational specialty (MOS) structure calls for equipment repairmen and
circuit conditioners to correct equipment and circuit deficiencies.
a. Basic Test Instruments. Most technical control facilities have an
extensive complement of instruments. Some of them are used by the technical
controllers for routine operations, and others are reserved for repairmen
and circuit conditioners. The three basic test instruments most often used
by the technical controllers are the decibel (dB) meter, signal generator
and DC milliammeter.
A list of the most important basic test instruments
used by the technical controllers includes the following.
(1) Volume-unit (VU) indicator for measuring the level of either speech
or steady-tone VF signals.
(2) Zero-center-scale
milliammeters
for
measuring
direct
current
in
telegraph circuits.
(3) Loudspeaker set with amplifier to monitor and determine the presence
of VF signals.
(4) Signal generator to provide test signals at various frequencies.
(5) Decibel meter to measure precise levels of VF signals.
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