Lineman
---EDIT---
As an afterthought
U.S. Air Force 11 years 6 month and 4 days but who's counting A.G.E. ( Aerospace Ground Equipment )
Waukeska Alaska - 3 years Prime and Stand by power - Almost all VHP 16 cylinder with one on the sixth floor of the federal building in Anchorage.
NC Machinery - Anchorage, Ak. -Cat dealer - heavy equipment
Moved to Va.
ClearMoore - site development heavy equipment mech SUCKED!!! Owners moto = run it til destruction and that only happened in the field when 1.it was raining or 2. when it was 100+ degrees and everybody else was at home
Current -I tell everyone I'm a lineman just cuz it's easier than trying to explain what a Sweep Tech FNT II ( Field Network Tech II) Basically I use a spectrum analyzer all day long working on MER/BER ( Modulation Error Rates/ Bit Error Rates ) C/N ( Carrier to Noise ratios ) which all begins on a fiber backbone and fiber is BORING!!!!!
“Basically, sweeping is the process of injecting a signal across the entire frequency spectrum of the cable plant
(at) the headend and then using a sweep meter to balance the actives to design specifications and to measure the
frequency response throughout the entire system. The sweep technicians will start at the node and then move to
next active in line and continue until they reach the end of line. In addition to checking and documenting
frequency response, sweepers will also check system voltage, operating voltages of the actives and document any
design variations. Most of the systems will require the sweep technician to repair any problem they may find”.**
The term “optimize” is fairly easy in most cases because cable systems typically are drafted onto maps and those
maps are wonders to behold.***I could also go on for another one hundred pages talking about cable maps as well.**
Seriously, I’m that crazy about maps but will try holding this to a few lines.
Most of the info on cable maps is derived from two basic sources:**Geographical data typically provided by the
folks who built the power and phone networks and your system’s Design Criteria, AKA Design Engineering
Notebook.**Equipment vendors and system designers typically work together to load criteria into the design
software based on performance minimums your engineer’s want to see at the last tap.**In a nut shell if your
sweep techs are not adhering to the design criteria, that’s a problem because doing so is your best bet for getting
the most out of your network.**Assuming you cannot lay your hands on a copy of the criteria for your network it’s
not the end of the world.**Most of the info one needs to optimize a cable system can be derived from the map
data alone but typically there’s a gem or two in the criteria that can’t be pulled from most maps so it’s nice to
have both.
Finally, proper padding and equalization, alignment for overall sweep response, and thorough documentation,
complete the picture for optimization.
The term “isolate” is also fairly simple to define.**Believe it or not there are only a handful of issues we typically
run into in the field.**Bad cable, poor splicing, poor balancing, malfunctioning equipment, design errors, water in
devices and cable, and locations not built to the map.**Of course all of the above can be expanded on for pages on
end but suffice it to say these are the basic problems, often occurring in combinations between two given
locations.**When someone hands in a poor sweep trace, or low inputs to a given active, or low outputs at a given
end of line tap, it should be accompanied by documentation as to the cause.