Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:14 am

its been a long time and a few failures, and a lot of money out of my pocket, but i finally passed the damn test.

the test is designed for you to fail.. they ask questions bout equipment we never saw or used, antiquated stuff, and stuff you can't really find info on.. but they say this is stuff were supposed to know. Ya, right..

the city pays up to 2x, if we want to go again, then it comes out of our pocket.
last year i spent 250.00 on the test, this year the doubled it 500.00

not to include travel expenses ( rental car, gas, food, hotel etc )

i basically figure that it came down to 8-9 dollars a question ( 100 questions )

i told them how i felt about them doubling the cost of the test, i could understand 100.00 or so, but not double. i said, either way..pass or fail i was not going to come back any more. you all got enough of my moneys already.

but since i passed, i can now get a 5% raise at work.. comes to about 40.00 extra a week.
will take a long time to recoop my expenses...lol
but i did not give up.. i wanted to not fail again.. i am finally glad i passed it..

MicroRem · Post by **MicroRem** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:01 pm

Congratulations Dac!!!!!

Lenp · Post by **Lenp** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 3:42 pm

Dacflyer,
Congrats on your accomplishment and I am glad your employer recognizes the value of your labors.
I know the IMSA is related to to specific knowledge related to traffic signals, but there is/was a CET program years ago for more general knowledge. It seemed to be a money hole and most employer's could care less if you were certified or not. When everything in electronics was centered around the broadcast industry, a FCC certifications was golden, but now it appears to be out of the mainstream. Unfortunately the electronic technicians prostituted themselves by being represented as a 'Hobby' activity, so many people did not understand or appreciate the serious work, study and investment to become proficient in a quickly evolving technology. I was often asked "Do you still mess around with radios and TV's", and that says it all.

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:42 am

thanx guys,,

jwax · Post by **jwax** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:58 am

Congratulations dacflyer!
Like Lenp says, certifications usually mean something only to some people, but your persistence says more about yourself than that piece of paper.
It gives you "mobility" in the job field also, and your current employer knows and hopefully appreciates that. Looks great on a resume too.
Are you done getting certified, or are there more levels to go for?
BTW, I took my General Class ham license test twice to pass, and my FCC 1st Class I think three times! Not an "A" student, but a "P" one (persistent)!

jwax · Post by **jwax** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:04 am

Delete- Double posted.

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 9:57 am

ya, i think i am maxed out on certifications..
except for the typical annual safety certifications etc..

sghioto · Post by **sghioto** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 11:44 am

Congrats and nice going dac.

Steve G

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:46 am

thanks again

gerty · Post by **gerty** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 10:51 am

Had to go look that one up. Used to work on traffic lights 25 yrs ago, wasn't aware there was a certification for this. I'm sure they are much more complex than they were back then. It's a small town, we had a few Eagle boxes with some sort of plc, and a lot of motorized cam switches.
Congrats!

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:37 am

thanks...
i never worked with any of the electromechanical stuff, seen a few pix of them,,

the unit you worked with that has the programmable EEPROMS was probably the LC-40 unit..
i hated them damn things.,..they were on the way out when i get here, i think we had about 6 units total left, the rest we had were econolites ASC-2100 series
see it here ------> http://www.mystockphoto.com/photograph/ ... ht-1495236

and the Transyt 1880E controller, both you had to fat finger in all the information, could not down load to them now like you do with the Safetran 2070 controllers, easier controller to navigate also.

Transyt 1880E ----> http://s1207.photobucket.com/user/MVL90 ... c.jpg.html

Safetran 2070 controller ----> http://safetran-traffic.com/index.php/p ... lers/2070/

gerty · Post by **gerty** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 9:23 am

None of that looks familiar. We had individual, external loop detectors for each loop. We also had Conflict Monitors hard wired to the outputs in the event of a 4 way green. Conflict monitor would shut down the controller and go to a mechanical 4 way yellow flasher.

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 11:29 am

Indeed old school stuff for sure

)

dacflyer · Post by **dacflyer** » Wed May 13, 2015 7:34 am

got my certificates in today, so it's all official now

MicroRem · Post by **MicroRem** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:17 pm

Congrats Again!

Tom

T&L Publications

Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

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Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

Re: Finally passed my IMSA Level III bench test ! ! ! ! !

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