The secret is to buy a little equipment; take a little training, buy a
little more equipment, then take a little more training, and then take
some more training. Repeat.
The more sweep gear (TSCM specific equipment) you own in relationship to
non-TSCM test equipment, then less you know about sweeps. Backup, and
read this until you fully understand what this means. This one tidbit of
wisdom will save you at least a million dollars.
Your equipment priorities should be as follows:
1) Sweep vehicle,
2) Ladders,
3) Lights, Cords, Power Strips,
4) Lights, lots and lots of lights,
5) Basic hand tools to take virtually anything apart,
6) Basic power tools to take things apart such as electric screw drivers,
7) The best handheld digital voltmeter you can find,
8) The best handheld, high performance oscilloscope with a bandwidth of
over 200 MHz,
9) Handheld microwave spectrum analyzer that covers to at least 3 GHz,
and with a DANL (preamp off) of -120 dBm or better.
The second round of test equipment is a wide range of:
10) antennas, adapters, cables, cords, carry cases, and things that you
need to obtain to let things talks to easy other, or which allow you to
move or transport what you have up to this point. Then you purchase some
really
11) high end, high performance spectrum analyzers and service monitors,
but ensure that these are only the ruggedized units that can take a
beating in the field.
Your third round equipment is:
12) full suite of telephone test equipment to include cable tracers,
TDRs, cable scanners, and things used to test and analyze wires,
telephones, phone lines, but not actual TSCM equipment.
Essentially, at this point you are obtaining everything that you need to
own to work on wiring. Only after this point do you purchase sweep
gear.
You must have redundancy in all of your tools and equipment. At a minimum
you need at least two of every tool and instrument you have, and the
function of every tool and instrument must overlap with the functions of
others.
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James M.
Atkinson
Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island
Group
Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue
#291
Web:
http://www.tscm.com/
Gloucester, MA
01931-8008
E-mail:
mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmatkinson
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No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the
enemy until it is ripe for execution. - Machiavelli, The Prince,
1521
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:24 CST