Course description
The NCTI System Technician course provides foundational information that can help accelerate a broadband cable technician’s career path advancement. One of the courses included in NCTI’s Master Technician certification, the System Technician course, is intended to elevate the student’s understanding of how hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) network equipment operates down to the component level. The student will study principles of amplitude, frequency and phase modulation, which remain integral in modern digital modulation schemes. The course covers the basic circuits that are within most equipment being serviced in today’s broadband cable networks, power supply and amplifiers. Amplifier operations in broadband cable network applications is first described before a detailed explanation of how to align HFC distribution amplifiers is presented. Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM), a feature of DOCSIS 3.1, is explained along with the basics of spectrum analyzers and network sweeping. The course also includes a description of the equipment and techniques used for underground construction. The value of this foundational information becomes apparent when the broadband cable technician successfully troubleshoots and resolves escalated problems.