This study guide is intended to aid applicants who are experienced in the field of electricity /electronics and/or mechanical/hydraulic principles in their preparation for entry-level examinations.  By no means is this study guide intended for individuals who have not completed some form of formal technical training through a trade school, college or military training; nor should this guide be used as a sole preparation guide for examination purposes.  This guide is divided into three sections: electrical/electronics studies, mechanical/hydraulic studies, and sources of reference material.

Electrical / Electronic Studies

Ohm's Law

• Demonstrate the ability to perform calculations to determine the unknown electrical quantity when given  two of the fundamental values of electricity.

Fundamental Values of Electricity

• Be well versed with electrical prefixes and have a basic understanding of voltage, current, resistance, and power as well as their units of measurement and abbreviations.
• Be able to calculate electrical power in watts and combine Ohm's Law and Watt's law to find unknown currents, voltages, resistance, and power.

Basic Instrumentation and Measurements

• Demonstrate the ability to use common test instruments as well as interpret scale values on digital meters and interpret linear and nonlinear scales on an analog meter.
• Demonstrate the ability use an oscilloscope and to interpret a waveform pattern, i.e. determine the voltage and frequency using an oscilloscope display.   Understand the terminology associated with test instruments.

Basic Electrical Circuits

• Be able to identify various types of electrical symbols and common circuit devices.
• Be able to identify various types of resistors and their color code.
• Understand the relationship of cross-sectional area and length of a conductor as they relate the current in a circuit.
• Identify the three basic circuit configurations; series, parallel, series-parallel and be able to perform circuit calculations to solve for an unknown electrical quantity, i.e. determine voltage drops, current values, and wattage values.

Sources of Electricity

• Understand the differences between primary and secondary cells.
• Distinguish between series and parallel connections.
• Calculate the outputs of batteries in series and parallel.
• Identify other sources of electrical energy.

Motors

• Understand the operation of various dc motors.
• Understand the operation of three phase motors.

Transformers

• Understand the operation of a transformer.
• Identify types of transformer losses.
• Be able to calculate the various values of currents and voltages in transformer circuits.

Alternating Circuits

• Be able to calculate various levels of ac voltage, i.e. peak to peak, rms, average.
• Understand the time relationships of an ac waveform, i.e. quarter-wave, half-wave, full-wave.
• Understand the difference between direct current and alternating current.
• Be familiar with reactive components, i.e. capacitors and inductors, and understand how they respond in both a dc circuit and an ac circuit.
• Be familiar with formulas associated with calculating the transient response time of both an RC and an RL circuit.
• Understand resonant frequency and how it affects various RCL circuits.  Calculate a resonant frequency.

Semiconductors

• Understand how N-type and P-type materials in a semiconductor conduct electricity.
• Be able to apply the principles of both forward and reverse biasing.
• Identify and understand the operation of various types of semiconductor diodes.
• Understand the operation of a half-wave and full-wave rectifier.
• Understand power supply filtering.
• Identify and understand the operation of the bipolar transistor.
• Identify and understand the operation of several common thyristors.

Digital Circuits

• Convert decimal numbers to their binary equivalents and binary numbers to their decimal equivalents.
• Identify various types of logic gates and their associated truth tables.
• Be able to apply knowledge of basic logic gates to determine the output of a simple logic circuit.
• Understand the difference between digital and analog devices and their signals. Identify different types of logic families.

Mechanical / Hydraulic Studies

Basic Hydraulics (Fluid Power)

• Have an overall understanding of hydraulic systems.
• Be able to apply the principles of Pascal's Law in analyzing hydraulic systems.
• Be familiar with Bernoulli's Principle as it applies to hydraulic systems.
• Understanding the characteristics of hydraulic fluid.
• Distinguish the difference between hydraulic fluid and specific gravity.
• Be aware of the relationship between hydraulic fluid and viscosity.
• Understand how hydraulic pressure is measured.
• Realize the purpose of relief valves in a hydraulic system.
• Realize the purpose of filters in a hydraulic system.
• Be aware of how contaminants can affect a hydraulic system.
• Be familiar with the purpose of reservoirs in a hydraulic system.

Basic Mechanics

• Have an adequate understanding of the laws of mechanics (e.g., friction, equilibrium, inertia)
• Comprehend the principles of applied forces.
• Be familiar with the principles of absolute and atmospheric pressure.
• Possess an understanding of the different types of gears, chain drives, belts, and bearings and their applications.

Reference Materials

Books

• Electricity and Electronics by Howard H. Gerrish, and William E. Dugger, Jr., published by Goodheart-Willcox Company Inc. - ISBN 1-59070-207-7
• Industrial Maintenance by Michael E. Brumbach and Jeffrey A. Clade, published by Thomson-Delmar Learning - ISBN 0-7668-2695-3
• Electrical Motor Controls by Gary Rockis and Glen Mazur, published by American Technical Publishers Inc.  - ISBN 0-8269-1207-9
• Solid State Fundamentals by Gary Rockis, published by American Technical Publishers Inc. - ISBN 0-8269-1634-1

Websites

• All About Circuits
• MIT Electricity and Magnetism Video Lectures
• MIT Physics I: Classical Mechanics Video Lectures
• Wake Forest University Physics Demo Videos