Course description
The NCTI Service Technician course provides the broadband technician with fundamental knowledge of the broadband coaxial cable distribution network and its operation between the distribution taps and fiber nodes. After an overview of hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) network operation and best practices, the student is reintroduced to the basics of electricity and Ohm’s law in resistive circuits. The course examines inductance and capacitance, and how they relate to impedance, reactance and resonance in the properties of coaxial cable and their applications in HFC network equipment. This course also describes how to attach hardline coaxial cable to equipment, splice cables together and common types of passive devices that are used within the network. Line extender and distribution amplifier operation, the composition of diodes and transistors and their basic applications, how to use a time domain reflectometer (TDR) to diagnose and find damaged cable, and signal leakage and prevention are also covered.