Study With Steph – rAVe [PUBS]

It’s time for the episode that you’ve all been requesting … AV Math! And because this requires a lot of writing and graphics, I’ve included all of those below. So do feel free to give this episode a watch, and let me know if you have any questions or want to work through anything together — let me know, and I will try my best to help! Also, thank you to Rebecca Sullins for helping me as my guest on this episode!

P.S. Also let me know if there are any other of my notes that will be useful for you guys to see too.

Check My Math – And my favorite mnemonic device for Ohm’s law, courtesy of Chuck Espinoza.

Full Ohm’s Law Wheel (complete with what each variable measures):

One thing about Luke Jordan? He gives great advice. Whether you’re studying to get your CTS for the second time like me or it’s your first time studying, he’s been there. So enjoy this episode as I pick his brain about what I should spend time doing the second time around and about some best practices and study tips. So sit back, relax and check out the latest episode of Study With Steph.

This isn’t an overexaggeration when I say that so many of you have been asking about extra study materials other than simply watching/listening to this podcast. I feel you! I’ve had a hard time navigating everything that’s available while also trying to figure out what CTS study methods work best for me. So, you’re going to love this. The AVIXA Women’s Council has created a study group — and you don’t even have to be a member to join! Check out this episode where women’s council co-chair Tammy Fuqua gives me the lowdown on what the study group will entail.

By the way, you can sign up to join here — it’s completely virtual! https://forms.office.com/r/i4yUTFYfLF

She’s baaaaaaack! By “she” I mean me and by “back” I mean ready to study and take the CTS test (again)! That’s right people; I failed on my first try. But I’ve taken some time, collected my thoughts and in season two, I’m making sure to study the right things, build a test-taking strategy and pass it this time around!

Chuck Espinoza of AVIXA and Jeremy Caldera of Pearl Technology join me on this episode — they taught the CTS prep class I took at InfoComm 2021 and they were nice enough to come back on the show and chat with me about some pointers regarding jumping back in to take the test a second time. If you’re in the same boat, check out this episode for study tips and more!

In today’s Study With Steph episode, Jay Rogina from Spinitar jumps on a call with me because we are talking about site surveys! If you consider yourself a good integrator, you’ll know the importance of a job site evaluation and what can go wrong if the evaluation is done the wrong way. Jay walks me through safety protocol, interpreting different plans and more. Enjoy!

I invited my new friend Jeremy Caldera, senior vice president of Pearl Technology, to chat with me and answer the above questions. This episode is helpful if you need some real-life examples to go with Chapter 11 in AVIXA’s CTS Exam Guide, or if you just want to brush up on tips for communication and executive-summary making.

Enjoy!

If you’re someone who’s interested in this subject and wants to learn more about having fun with antennas ….. antennae??? (the CTS Exam Guide doesn’t go super in depth about this subject), I’ve also included the YouTube video he references. Check it out and enjoy this episode!

*Lizzo voice*: Y’all been waiting for this one!

Every time I’ve asked someone for study tips for the CTS test, the first thing I’ve heard is “learn Ohm’s law.” So, being the physics-averted person I am, I avoided it like the plague for as long as possible. But I’m back. I’m ready to learn. Jim Maltese from Level 3 Audiovisual was kind enough to join me in this episode (he’s also teaching a CTS-D prep course at InfoComm this year). So without further ado: Let’s learn about electrical systems and Ohm’s law; it’s not as scary as it looks!

P.S. If you’re still having trouble with Ohm’s law after checking out this episode, check out Tom Kehr’s recent article. I also found it to be a tremendous help!

Control systems — they’re such a mystery to me. What are they about? What can they do? What do they want?

Steve Greenblatt of Control Concepts, Inc. sits down with me to discuss just that.

So — if you need help studying: commands versus functions, how a CPU communicates, types of control systems, etc. this is your episode!

And — yes, my shirt does say “millennial trash,” thank you for asking.

P.S. Giveaway alert! We’re giving away 50 special “Study With Steph” T-shirts. If you’d like one, fill out this form! Thank you for listening and — as always — send me your questions about any portion, send me your ideas for future guests and let me know how I can continue to help you study for the CTS exam!

It’s time to talk about the way we connect. No, not with one another. I’m talking cables and the things at each end you use to plug them into stuff. If you’ve ever wondered what a Phoenix connector is, why wires and cables are NOT interchangeable terms and why building an AV rack the proper way will save you in the future, this episode is for you. My new friend Hope Roth joins me this week to help me get all this straight — and to show me that I knew a lot more of this than I thought I did.

Also, somewhat unrelated, but I was accepted into the “AV Install Nightmares” Facebook group, so I will be relating everything to posts from that from now on. Thank you and enjoy.