Going for it

[Squintz]

Today is the day. At 5:15pm I will be siting at a table in a very quiet room taking a 4 hour electrical exam. The converted over to the 2005 NEC which means when I got the notice in the mail 2 weeks ago I had to hurry up and order my NEC 2005 code book. I actually spent about 4 entire days reading that entire book making sure I know where everything is. The exam is open book and calculators are allowed. Here is what the notice said:

Dear Sir:

This is to notify you that the electrical examination which you made application for will be hel at 220 South Main Street, Bel Air, (2nd Floor Electrical Services), and is scheduled for:

DATE: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 Time: 5:15pm

The test is an open book, 4-hour written exam based on the N.E.C., Ohm's Law, Electrical Theory, and mathematics associated with the electrical trade and field work.

1. Small, non-programmable calculators or slide rule may be used.
2. Only the current edition of the NEC may be used.
...
4. In general all code questions and answers are based apon the NEC and not exceptions in his answerm he must list the exception article subsection and exception number.
5. No Talking
...

So I am scared as hell right now. I know my Ohm's Law, I can figure out the code book, but the electrical theory and mathematics related to electrical field have me a little worried because I have not had much time to review any of that stuff and I am not sure what the math will involve. Wish me luck.

 

[un-wired]

I'm betting you will do great, most people don't do half the prep work you've done.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Just remember if you forget something, you can derive anything from the equation e = mC**2!

HEHE, good luck Squintz!

 

[Guy Lavoie]

And don't forget the trick question they'll pop on you: In what year was ohm's law passed?

 

[electron]

Freudian slip?

This is to notify you that the electrical examination which you made application for will be hel at 220 South Main Street, Bel Air, (2nd Floor Electrical Services), and is scheduled for:

But I am sure you will pass, good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Squintz]

Well, I feel a little better about those two topics I mentioned. I just took Mike Holts online quize for electrical theory and electrical math and I scored 25/25 on the first and 25/27 on the second. 100% and 93% isnt too bad. I just hope the question are worded similar.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Good luck!

 

[electron]

well, how did it go?!

 

[MarkT]

Good Luck!

 

[Squintz]

It was pretty darn hard. It was a 50 question multiple choice test. About the first 15 questions were very simple and then it got into questions that I just could not find the answers to in the book. Then the last 20 questions were math and were pretty simple. I counted up the ones that I was confident about and I figured I got atleast 35 out of 50 which would be a passing score. The other question I tried to take an educated guess at but I reall did not have a clue. One of the questions was under what circumstances can you run ac and dc in the same raceway. I could not find the answer for the life of me. The other questions that threw me off were questions about 50 volts or less. One of those questions was what it the smallest allowable wire for a 50 volts or less lighting system. I guessed 14 because it is the smallest wired allowed for 120/240 and there was another question on the next page that talked about 50 volts or less which did not list the smaller 16AWG wire.

So I don't feel very confident but it is possible that I passed. A lot of the quest threw me off because they were not really related to the type of work I was going to be doing. I was told I was only allowed to change out existing devices which I thought meant that I would not have to know anything about running wires in raceways. Guess I was wrong.

 

[Steve]

Well, maybe they gave you the wrong test, so if you passed it you will have a higher level of license.

 

[Squintz]

I thought that at first but then I read the title of the test which said in big bold letters "Limited Home Automation Exam". And as I walked through the door the guy said..."Oh your the one we wrote the special test for". So I am pretty sure it was the right test and they were really just testing me to make sure I was not an idiot.

 

[Squintz]

BTW, they said that they will grade them at the next meeting which is the first wednesday of each month. So I should get my results sometime in Feb.

 

[MarkT]

The hard part is the waiting on the results! We'll be waiting to see what happens. Best of luck.

 

[Squintz]

AND THE RESULTS ARE IN!
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Drum ROLL
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I Passed my exam!


I have 90 days to send get insurance and send my information back to get an official "Limed Home Automation License" for Harford County MD.