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Author: Grayson Evans

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Article Title Author Company eMag Issue Article Synopsis
More Test Equipment in Your Pocket Grayson Evans Training Reels Tip of the Month

Dec 2010

 Well, it's been awhile since my last TIP. Sorry for the very long delay but there have been BIG changes since that last TIP that got me totally preoccupied. The problem was I completely ran out of TIP ideas, so I needed some fresh input. What better way  than to start a new custom installation business from scratch. But since starting a CI business in the U.S. has gotten too easy and boring (and the market a bit saturated), we decided to do it in someplace more challenging. It came down to Afghanistan,  Antarctica, or Turkey. Airfares were cheaper to Turkey. So after a year of hard work, the Europe/Middle East office of Training Reels/Training Dept. Seminars is now open for business, AND we're the proud owners of Cinema@Home in Ankara, Turkey (the capital). We even have a backlog of home theatre/custom installation work. This should definitely generate a lot more TIPS!
Job Site TIPS Grayson Evans

Mar 2009

 I’ve seen so many installation crews waste so much time on the job over the years, that I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of time and frustration elimination suggestions for this month’s TIP. Since I’m so disorganized, I’ve made most of these mistakes myself, even the safety related ones, so I speak from some experience. Hopefully you can pick up a few tips and save yourself some grief. The most important tips I can pass along about the job site concerns safety. The job site is definitely dangerous and almost everyone I know, me included, has had some injury while working on the job, especially during the prewire construction phase. I have had a co-worker seriously injured and many of my friends in the industry have related stories of serious accidents, including deaths. It’s a common problem and I hate to say I don’t see much being done about it. So my number one TIP: BE PREPARED.
A "Cedia" Low-Voltage Initiative Proposal Grayson Evans www.trainingdept.com

Jan 2009

 Somewhere in the mid 1980’s, the NAHB Research Center in Washington was run by a guy I knew (whose name I can’t seem to dig up) who had a wacky vision. His idea was to reinvent the way electrical power was distributed throughout the home. They called it Smart Home (not to be confused with the Disney movie of the same name or other stuff that uses that name now). I think it was the first use of the name.
Network Attached Storage (NAS) On a Home Network Grayson Evans Training Reels

Nov 2008

 This month's TIP covers the use of Network Attached Storage (NAS) as part of a home network. It's simple; if you're installing a data network as part of your custom install, then you should be installing a NAS device as part of that network. It is so beneficial, relatively low cost, and easy to incorporate, I can't imagine any reason not to include it. And, I promise, your customer will wonder how the family lived without it.
Tubes You Can Use Grayson Evans Training Reels

Sep 2008

 This is based on a tip I got from someone at the CEDIA EXPO show. Each year, BES Manufacturing does a retrofit contest in their booth. The contest consists of fishing a cable between two (of several) locations in a wood frame “set” in the booth. The best time of the day wins a prize. One of the fishing tasks requires feeding a ballchain down a wall cavity and retrieving it from a hole in the bottom of the cavity on the opposite side.
Getting VoIPed on a Home Network Grayson Evans Training Reels

Sep 2008

 I get most of my ideas for tips from what you don’t know much about. In each of my home network courses, I always spend a little time on how to provide VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone service to the customer via the home network. If you’reinstalling home networks, VoIP is a no-brainer. It turns out that most of you don’t knowor understand the service and what an advantage it can be for the customer. It isn’t something you’ll make a lot of money on the hardware or the VoIP service*, so you haveto charge for it as a design service.
Getting Serious About Energy Management Grayson Evans Training Reels

Sep 2008

 This TIP is a little different. it’s not a how-to tip, it’s a “get you thinking” tip. It’s about a technology opportunity that has been a personal interest of mine for a long time: solar energy generation at the home. This stuff has become very interesting lately and worth your time to take a look.
RF Distribution TIPS Grayson Evans The Training Department

Aug 2008

 Installer/designers seem to associate the word “modulator” with “crummy picture”. This is undoubtedly due to a bad experience in the past.
Retrofitting in Insulated Walls Grayson Evans The Training Department

Aug 2008

 Drilling up or down, or fishing cable in insulated walls is an inconvenience but nothing
Cable Labeling TIPS Grayson Evans The Training Department

Jun 2008

 Every cable that you install on a job MUST be labeled. No excuses. Labeling will not only save you lots of time on the job site, but will greatly reduce frustrations of troubleshooting and service
The A/V Troubleshooters Grayson Evans The Training Department

Apr 2008

 This article is a great troubleshooting tip based on the “tool of a thousand uses”, the good old tone generator, tone detector.
802.11 Debugging Made Easy Grayson Evans The Training Department

Dec 2007

 This article covers 802.11 installation and troubleshooting tips for the professional custom electronics installer, but is applicable to any wireless network installation done professionally.
Magnetic Personality Test Leads Grayson Evans The Training Department

Aug 2007

 The test leads will stick to pipes (for a ground), screws, speaker terminals, tools (to allow the tool to be a test lead), chassis, racks, car bumpers, and other test leads.
Off-Air Antennas and an Alignment Grayson Evans The Training Department

Jun 2007

 It was usually acceptable to align an off-air antenna for NTSC analog signals by simply looking at the screen while someone moved the antenna for best picture and minimum “ghosting”. Unfortunately, this technique will not work for DTV.
A Solution to the NID Nuisance Grayson Evans The Training Department

Apr 2007

 NIDs (Network Interface Devices) are usually on the outside of the house mounted near the electrical service entrance. A typical structured cabling installation needs TP cables (2 CAT5s) to the telco or cable box and 1 or 2 coax cables (2 RG6s) to the cable box from the distribution center in the home. So someplace the cable has to pass to the outside of the house.

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