10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The CBTE exam has 50 questions and runs 3 hours.
These 10 free CBTE questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Broadcast Television Engineer blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
After isolating all identified feeds to an 800 V DC transmitter supply and completing its prescribed capacitor-discharge procedure, a qualified engineer measures zero volts on the bus. The tester worked on a proving unit before the measurement but now also reads zero on that known-live proving unit. Before anyone touches the bus, the engineer must:
Correct answer: A - Treat it as energized and repeat verification with a proven, suitably rated tester.
Restricted roof access is proposed as the basis for applying occupational RF-exposure limits to a roofing contractor. The contractor will work unescorted for several hours, has no RF-safety training, and does not know how to reduce or avoid exposure. Under FCC rules, which classification applies?
Correct answer: A - General population/uncontrolled, because awareness and control of RF exposure have not been established.
During an 8-VSB transmitter test into a rated dummy load, increasing exciter drive produces progressively less additional RF output. MER at the amplifier output deteriorates and spectral shoulders rise, although the exciter signal remains clean. Reflected power is unchanged, and the measurement receiver is within its linear input range. The readings point to which fault?
Correct answer: B - Gain compression in the RF power-amplifier chain
Following replacement of an analog audio patch cable, a mono announcer feed duplicated to the left and right program channels sounds normal when either channel is monitored alone. Summing the channels to mono nearly removes the voice. Their levels match, and their waveforms align in time but have opposite polarity. Where should troubleshooting begin?
Correct answer: C - Inspect one channel of the replacement cable for an XLR pin-2/pin-3 reversal.
A de-energized coaxial feeder is being tested from its entrance with a time-domain reflectometer. A strong reflection returns 400 ns after launch; cable velocity factor is 0.80. Use 3.0 x 10^8 m/s for propagation in vacuum. Access points are 24 m, 48 m, 60 m, and 96 m along the cable. Which access point should be inspected first?
Correct answer: B - The access point 48 m along the cable
An IPv4 multicast video receiver works immediately after joining a group, then loses the stream when its switch membership entry expires. Rejoining restores video for another interval. The source and receiver are on the same VLAN; unicast control remains reliable and there is no congestion. Packet capture shows membership reports but no periodic membership queries. Which configuration change addresses the missing function?
Correct answer: D - Enable an IGMP querier for the media VLAN.
A remote interview feed has the correct raster and frame rate for the studio switcher, but its timing drifts relative to house reference. The feed is otherwise valid, and a cut to it disrupts the switcher output. A spare frame synchronizer is available; the remote source cannot accept house reference. How should the feed be brought into the live production?
Correct answer: D - Frame-synchronize it to house reference and verify audio-video alignment.
A 30-second commercial arrives as uncompressed audio with no loudness metadata. A full-program BS.1770 measurement gives -19 LKFS integrated loudness and -8 dBTP true peak. The station requires -24 LKFS and a maximum true peak of -2 dBTP, and permits transparent gain correction. Which preparation meets both requirements without changing the mix dynamics?
Correct answer: A - Apply 5 dB attenuation, then verify loudness and true peak over the complete spot.
In an ATSC 1.0 8-VSB receiver test, added noise increases the pre-Reed-Solomon error rate. No uncorrectable transport packets or picture breakup are observed. What do these results establish?
Correct answer: C - Error correction remains effective, but clean output alone does not quantify the remaining reception margin.
Ultrasonic interference reaches an audio ADC through inadequate analog input filtering and aliases into the wanted audio band. The sample rate must remain fixed. Why can filtering only after conversion fail to recover the original wanted signal?
Correct answer: D - The alias can occupy the same sampled frequency as genuine audio.
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