This isn’t an overexaggeration when I say that so many of you have been asking about extra study materials other than simply watching/listening to this podcast. I feel you! I’ve had a hard time navigating everything that’s available while also trying to figure out what CTS study methods work best for me. So, you’re going […]

She’s baaaaaaack! By “she” I mean me and by “back” I mean ready to study and take the CTS test (again)! That’s right people; I failed on my first try. But I’ve taken some time, collected my thoughts and in season two, I’m making sure to study the right things, build a test-taking strategy and […]

In today's Study With Steph episode, Jay Rogina from Spinitar jumps on a call with me because we are talking about site surveys! If you consider yourself a good integrator, you'll know the importance of a job site evaluation and what can go wrong if the evaluation is done the wrong way. Jay walks me through safety protocol, interpreting different plans and more. Enjoy!

Let's talk about gathering customer information. It's an important part of specifying any room — you have to know what the customer needs. Of course, gathering info requires a certain level of communication. What are the best ways to communicate with a customer or client? What questions do you ask to properly find out what the customer needs from the space and from the technology? How has COVID-19 affected these conversations and meetings? I invited my new friend Jeremy Caldera, senior vice president of Pearl Technology, to chat with me and answer the above questions. This episode is helpful if you need some real-life examples to go with Chapter 11 in AVIXA's CTS Exam Guide, or if you just want to brush up on tips for communication and executive-summary making. Enjoy!

In the latest episode of Study With Steph, I invite Pete Putman (just in time apparently since he announced his retirement the week after we recorded) to chat with me about wireless radio systems. As you may have learned from Gary Kayye’s Rants & rAVes episode, Pete has had a long and fruitful career in the AV industry, but he got his start in radio! (He even got kicked out of college for it …… kind of. More on that in the episode.) Pete helps me learn about transmitting and receiving waves, allocation of frequencies and all about antennas and why different types matter. If you’re someone who’s interested in this subject and wants to learn more about having fun with antennas ..... antennae??? (the CTS Exam Guide doesn’t go super in depth about this subject), I’ve also included the YouTube video he references. Check it out and enjoy this episode!

*Lizzo voice*: Y'all been waiting for this one! Every time I've asked someone for study tips for the CTS test, the first thing I've heard is "learn Ohm's law." So, being the physics-averted person I am, I avoided it like the plague for as long as possible. But I'm back. I'm ready to learn. Jim Maltese from Level 3 Audiovisual was kind enough to join me in this episode (he's also teaching a CTS-D prep course at InfoComm this year). So without further ado: Let's learn about electrical systems and Ohm's law; it's not as scary as it looks! P.S. If you're still having trouble with Ohm's law after checking out this episode, check out Tom Kehr's recent article. I also found it to be a tremendous help!

Control systems — they’re such a mystery to me. What are they about? What can they do? What do they want? Steve Greenblatt of Control Concepts, Inc. sits down with me to discuss just that. So — if you need help studying: commands versus functions, how a CPU communicates, types of control systems, etc. this is your episode! And — yes, my shirt does say “millennial trash,” thank you for asking. P.S. Giveaway alert! We’re giving away 50 special “Study With Steph” T-shirts. If you’d like one, fill out this form! Thank you for listening and — as always — send me your questions about any portion, send me your ideas for future guests and let me know how I can continue to help you study for the CTS exam!

It's time to talk about the way we connect. No, not with one another. I'm talking cables and the things at each end you use to plug them into stuff. If you've ever wondered what a Phoenix connector is, why wires and cables are NOT interchangeable terms and why building an AV rack the proper way will save you in the future, this episode is for you. My new friend Hope Roth joins me this week to help me get all this straight — and to show me that I knew a lot more of this than I thought I did. Also, somewhat unrelated, but I was accepted into the "AV Install Nightmares" Facebook group, so I will be relating everything to posts from that from now on. Thank you and enjoy.

In today’s episode of Study With Steph, I catch up with my pal, Justin Kennington, to help me with networks. We answer the following questions: What is a network? Why does topology matter? What the heck is up with Ethernet (I previously thought it was just a cable. It is not just a cable.) For clarification purposes, I’ll note that Justin doesn’t have a CTS certification, but I thought he would be the perfect person to walk me through this chapter because he’s 1) funny 2) way smart and 3) a blast to talk to. Enjoy us going over networks between fits of laughter, #AVtweeps! As promised, below you can check out a picture of the Open Systems Interconnection model. We touch on this a few different times, so feel free to follow along using this. The OSI model is also mentioned in Chapter Six of the CTS Exam Study Guide, so feel free to follow along there as well. "File:Tun-tap-osilayers-diagram.png" by Ikluft is licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0. If you have read the entire networks chapter and still need a little help conceptualizing the concepts, Justin recommends checking out the SDVoE Academy and logging into a few of the courses there. (I have an account and can agree that the courses are pretty helpful!) Check that out here.

I took a few weeks to rearrange my episode structure, and now I am back here with all of you — and I am ready to learn! If you're still following the CTS Exam Guide, I'm so sorry that the chapters no longer match the episode numbers. I will let you know we are still on Chapter 5 — I just thought it would make sense to split them into an episode only on light and an episode specifically on video. That was my long-winded way of saying welcome to the episode on video! I invited my new friend Karl Rosenberg on with me, and he is just the dude for the job (as the mid-Atlantic regional application specialist for Extron and with 32 years in our industry — y'all can rest assured he knows his stuff). Karl also conducts Extron training in both the U.S. and abroad — and he's taught technical courses at almost every stateside trade show you can think of. Buckle up, #AVtweeps. This is a fun one.