snobumPE
Super Awesome Contributing Member, Cartographer
Here are my thoughts from having just passed. Everyone is different. Find what works for you. Just wanted to get this out now before I do a brain dump and forget it (also known as go to the bar). Below is my story:
I took electronics twice. First time I got 45/80. I had studied a lot the first time but didn't study the right things. I was surprised how much certain topics showed up (like antennas). The biggest problem for me was lack of information about the test and review materials. Everyone takes the power exam so there is a TON of information out there for that. Also, what I do doesn't fit neatly into one of the three tests.
After I failed, I did end up taking a review class online (Illinois Institute of Technology). The price was steep, and I probably wouldn't have taken it if I didn't know my company was going to pay for it. I wouldn't say it was the best, but it helped me stay on track. It did help me understand some topics better than my own studying though (like modulation).
References:
1) As I went through, I wrote down anything I thought that was important, including examples that showed key topics well. I realized I had a lot of good references, but couldn't spend too much time shifting between them all. I pretty much just scribbled them down and put them in a pile. A few weeks before the exam, I went through and organized the notes by topic and realized how much I had actually done. I re-wrote all the notes and put them into a 3-ring binder, separated into sections with a topic index as the first page that lined up to the tabs. Re-writing everything kept things fresh, and helped me remember where things were.
This was easily the thing that saved me the most time. It allowed me to get through the things I knew quickly and save valuable time to look up stuff I didn't. There were maybe 3-4 questions in the morning and afternoon each that all the time in the world wouldn't have helped, but I could spend the time to make an educated guess. When I didn't do this the first time around, I felt very rushed. This time, I almost felt like I was in control of the time.
2) NCEES sample questions - a must have. Questions in here are closest to the real thing and actually helped me during the exam. I went through every question and when I didn't understand a solution would look up any material I could find on the topic (such as noise figure - I had NEVER used that before).
3) Everyone's Favorite: the Electrical and Electronics Reference Manual (EERM) - Definitely the most complete guide for this exam. It's not perfect and leaves some things out, but also a must have. Become familiar with it's structure and learn to use the index. The sample problems and test that go along with this are just ok.
4) Kaplan Review Books - I didn't like their sample questions at all. There was one thing in there that happened to be on the test that wasn't anywhere else. Dumb luck that it happened to be in the index and scored me one point. Seems to have a lot of errors though, so be careful.
5) College Textbooks - I'll admit the first time I re-opened these books, you could see the blank stare on my face. But when I needed specific information, it would start to come back to me. I think subconsciously, having used the books before, it was something more familiar so it helped quite a bit. Especially for semiconductors, FETs, and BJTs.
6) Along with #5, get a good circuits book - preferably one that you've used before. It's 25% of the exam. Also make sure you have a good reference for pi-pads (a, b, g, h, y, and z parameters). I didn't realize how necessary it was. It's the first sample question in the NCEES book and I happened to ask someone about it and they gave me a good reference for it (Electric Circuits by Nilsson and Riedel).
OTHER THINGS THAT I USED:
1) FE Reference Tables: Someone else I know took the tables, cut them down to what he thought was important, and added key formulas. It helped me out a little, and I think it was his way of doing what I did for #1 above.
2) NEC: Though not necessary, it did help me answer 1 or 2 questions.
3) Irvine Institute of Technology Books - They were written for the old, written exams. They personally did not help me. Some people swear by them but I think they are mostly power people. Again, I wouldn't have bought them if work wasn't paying.
MY PERSONAL TEXTBOOKS (though I recommend you use ones you are familiar with):
Circuits Book: Introduction to Electronic Circuits, 5th Edition, Dorf and Svoboda.
Microelectronics/Digital Components Book: Microelectronic Circuits, 5th Edition, Sedra/Smith
Logic Book: Contemporary Logic Design, Katz (Not the greatest in my mind, but something I was familiar with)
I also had control system books that I had left from college, but didn't really use them. I felt the topics I needed to know for control systems were well covered in other books (like the EERM)
If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to PM me. I'm gonna try and stick around these boards, even though I'm done!
I took electronics twice. First time I got 45/80. I had studied a lot the first time but didn't study the right things. I was surprised how much certain topics showed up (like antennas). The biggest problem for me was lack of information about the test and review materials. Everyone takes the power exam so there is a TON of information out there for that. Also, what I do doesn't fit neatly into one of the three tests.
After I failed, I did end up taking a review class online (Illinois Institute of Technology). The price was steep, and I probably wouldn't have taken it if I didn't know my company was going to pay for it. I wouldn't say it was the best, but it helped me stay on track. It did help me understand some topics better than my own studying though (like modulation).
References:
1) As I went through, I wrote down anything I thought that was important, including examples that showed key topics well. I realized I had a lot of good references, but couldn't spend too much time shifting between them all. I pretty much just scribbled them down and put them in a pile. A few weeks before the exam, I went through and organized the notes by topic and realized how much I had actually done. I re-wrote all the notes and put them into a 3-ring binder, separated into sections with a topic index as the first page that lined up to the tabs. Re-writing everything kept things fresh, and helped me remember where things were.
This was easily the thing that saved me the most time. It allowed me to get through the things I knew quickly and save valuable time to look up stuff I didn't. There were maybe 3-4 questions in the morning and afternoon each that all the time in the world wouldn't have helped, but I could spend the time to make an educated guess. When I didn't do this the first time around, I felt very rushed. This time, I almost felt like I was in control of the time.
2) NCEES sample questions - a must have. Questions in here are closest to the real thing and actually helped me during the exam. I went through every question and when I didn't understand a solution would look up any material I could find on the topic (such as noise figure - I had NEVER used that before).
3) Everyone's Favorite: the Electrical and Electronics Reference Manual (EERM) - Definitely the most complete guide for this exam. It's not perfect and leaves some things out, but also a must have. Become familiar with it's structure and learn to use the index. The sample problems and test that go along with this are just ok.
4) Kaplan Review Books - I didn't like their sample questions at all. There was one thing in there that happened to be on the test that wasn't anywhere else. Dumb luck that it happened to be in the index and scored me one point. Seems to have a lot of errors though, so be careful.
5) College Textbooks - I'll admit the first time I re-opened these books, you could see the blank stare on my face. But when I needed specific information, it would start to come back to me. I think subconsciously, having used the books before, it was something more familiar so it helped quite a bit. Especially for semiconductors, FETs, and BJTs.
6) Along with #5, get a good circuits book - preferably one that you've used before. It's 25% of the exam. Also make sure you have a good reference for pi-pads (a, b, g, h, y, and z parameters). I didn't realize how necessary it was. It's the first sample question in the NCEES book and I happened to ask someone about it and they gave me a good reference for it (Electric Circuits by Nilsson and Riedel).
OTHER THINGS THAT I USED:
1) FE Reference Tables: Someone else I know took the tables, cut them down to what he thought was important, and added key formulas. It helped me out a little, and I think it was his way of doing what I did for #1 above.
2) NEC: Though not necessary, it did help me answer 1 or 2 questions.
3) Irvine Institute of Technology Books - They were written for the old, written exams. They personally did not help me. Some people swear by them but I think they are mostly power people. Again, I wouldn't have bought them if work wasn't paying.
MY PERSONAL TEXTBOOKS (though I recommend you use ones you are familiar with):
Circuits Book: Introduction to Electronic Circuits, 5th Edition, Dorf and Svoboda.
Microelectronics/Digital Components Book: Microelectronic Circuits, 5th Edition, Sedra/Smith
Logic Book: Contemporary Logic Design, Katz (Not the greatest in my mind, but something I was familiar with)
I also had control system books that I had left from college, but didn't really use them. I felt the topics I needed to know for control systems were well covered in other books (like the EERM)
If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to PM me. I'm gonna try and stick around these boards, even though I'm done!
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