Equipment & Troubleshooting Flashcards
7 cards from real CBT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Equipment & Troubleshooting flashcards as text
A digital audio workstation outputs audio with periodic clicks and pops that correlate with hard drive activity. What is the MOST likely cause?
Answer: Insufficient CPU priority or audio buffer underruns caused by disk I/O contention
When disk I/O competes with audio processing for CPU resources, the audio buffer empties faster than it is filled, causing dropout clicks and pops.
A television transmitter's ATSC signal shows elevated shoulder levels on the spectrum analyzer just outside the 6 MHz channel. What is this a symptom of?
Answer: Transmitter nonlinearity causing spectral regrowth (IMD)
Spectral regrowth outside the channel bandwidth is caused by intermodulation distortion (IMD) from nonlinear amplification in the transmitter's power amplifier.
Which piece of equipment in an analog TV plant generates a stable reference signal used to synchronize all video sources?
Answer: House sync generator (SPG)
A sync pulse generator (SPG) distributes a stable black burst or tri-level sync reference throughout the facility to synchronize all video equipment.
A technologist finds that an SDI signal passes correctly through a short cable but fails over a 100-meter run. What is the MOST likely cause?
Answer: High-frequency cable loss causing eye pattern closure at the receiver
Coaxial cable attenuates high frequencies; at 100 meters the serial digital signal's eye pattern may close enough to cause bit errors or signal loss.
What does the term 'group delay' refer to in the context of broadcast transmission equipment?
Answer: The variation in propagation delay across different frequencies through a filter or circuit
Group delay is the rate of change of phase with frequency; non-constant group delay causes different frequency components to arrive at different times, distorting the signal.
A broadcast technologist is troubleshooting an audio console where one channel's fader has no effect on the output level. After confirming the channel is properly assigned, what is the NEXT logical step?
Answer: Test the fader itself for mechanical or electrical failure using a multimeter
If routing and assignment are confirmed correct, the fader element (a resistive component) should be tested for continuity and proper resistance variation across its travel.
A facility is upgrading from HD-SDI to 12G-SDI for 4K UHD transport. Which characteristic of the existing coaxial cabling is MOST important to verify?
Answer: Cable impedance and high-frequency loss characteristics at 12 Gbps data rates
12G-SDI operates at much higher frequencies than HD-SDI, so the existing cable's attenuation and return loss at those frequencies must be verified to ensure reliable transport.