8
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 1982
ETA WAGE SURVEY 1982
Results of Electronic Technicians Association's 1982 Wage Survey
were produced from 316 member return forms. Those responding were
in the following positions:
EMPLOYED TECHNICIANS
76%
SERVICE BUSINESS OPERA TORS
17%
MILITARY ELECTRONICS PERSONNEL
9%
ELECTRONICS TEACHERS
8%
STUDENTS
6%
AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME for all classes:
$23 ,310.~
AVERAGE TIME working as a technician:
16.23 years
AVERAGE SALARY EXPECTATION - by 1987
(5 years) $32,100.00
SALARY RANGE was from a low of $9,360.00 for a beginner tech
with 6 months experience working on video equipment in a consumer
electronics shop to $50,000.00 for a radio officer working 6 months a
year on an oil company ship.
TECHNICIANS SUPPLEMENTING their income with part-time
jobs comprised 11 % of respondents.
30% of the respondents were expecting to CHANGE JOBS, using
ET A's job listings and employment program.
ELECTRONICS INSTRUCTORS' wages ranged from a low of
·$19,000.00 to a high of $30,000.00. In most categories, those with
upper wage levels indicated they were also involved in some type of
director or management duties.
ELECTRONICS INSTRUCTORS averaged $22,810.00 per year.
Instructors responded to the question "How much more money do you
feel you should be making right now considering the training you have
had and the work you do?" with an average of $8,500.00.
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOP-OWNERS averaged
$21,667.00 in annual income with a wide difference separating the
lowest and highest. The lowest was $11,500; however, this owner also
worked on a secondary project netting an equal amount. The highest was
$36,000.00 from the owner of a multi-shop business.
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOP-OWNERS had the largest
difference between what they now earn and what they felt they should be
earning, indicating on the average that they should be making $14,125.00
additional.
In addition to shop-owners and electronics instructors, responding
members worked at the following technician jobs:
Coordinator AudioNisual Technical Services, Oklahoma State
University
Two-Way Radio Technician
Owner - Photographic and Electronic Repair Shop
USAF - Radio Relay Tech
Technical Assistance for Surface Radar and Radar Indicators in Navy
Ships
U.S. Government Civil Service - GS-10
Cable Shop Supervisor - Seismic Cable Communications
Chief Warrant Officer - U.S. Coast Guard
Supervisor of Electronics - Nebraska Methodist Hospital
Electrical Engineering Student
Research Electronics Technician - Oil Field Well Logging Service Co.
Biomedical Electronics Technician
Microwave Technician
Test Engineer
Audio Bench Technician - TV Technician
Terminal Technician
Service Manager and Video Systems Engineer
Electrical Maintenance Supervisor
Field Service Engineer
Industrial Electronics Tech - Repair and Calibrate
CB/Auto Radio Repair Tech
Shop Manager - Amusement Games
Regional Service Manager - National Electronics Firm
NC Technician - Industrial
Test Module Technician
•Students were not included in the wage.figures where their primary job
was outside of electronics.
CHOOSING LOCATION SPEAKER SYSTEMS
By Charles Maier, Chuckie Wuckie Enterprises, N.E. Philadelphia, PA
There are many locations where a jukebox's speakers will not fill the
room with sufficient volume or there is a separate room that your
customer wants sound in. In these instances, remote speakers are
attached to the machine. The output of the amp is designed to deliver its
maximum power into a specific load, the load being the speakers. The
speaker load must match the amp's design or power will be wasted. Or
worse, the amp may be damaged. Two speaker systems are in common
use today - the low impedance or 8-ohm system and the high-
impedance or 500-ohm system, which is sometimes called 70-volt or
constant voltage.
Most jukeboxes have taps that permit the coupling of multiple 8--0hm
speakers to the machine. As 8--0hm speakers are paralleled, their load
changes and the jukebox must be adjusted for this. This is accomplished
by a transformer in the juke that matches the load to the amp. Always
take the time and follow the manufacturer's instructions when installing
this type of speaker.
The high impedance system is used for very long runs or to simplify
the speaker hook up. In the 8--0hm system, using a # 20 wire, you have 2
ohms for every hundred feet of two wire. For example, if you had to run a
speaker 200 feet away, you would have 4 ohms of wire and 8 ohms of
speaker. Not only does this change your match to the amp, but you lose
½ of your power ( 4 of a total of 12 is wasted) to the wire. To avoid this, a
transformer is used to take the output from the amp up to a 500-ohm
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70-Volt
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match and then run practically any length of wire you need to another
transformer at the speaker. You would have to run 3000 feet of wire with
this system to lose even 10% of your power. Another advantage of this
system is the ease of adjusting sound levels for different areas or rooms.
On the speaker's transformer are different taps marked in watts. The
higher the watts, the louder that speaker will be. Just add up the number
of watts being used and follow the instructions for the jukebox. Be careful
not to exceed the maximum that the machine can supply. There will be
special connections on the back of the machine for this system. You see
now why it is important to know what type of speaker that you are
connecting. Also remember that you cannot have an 8--0hm speaker and
a speaker with a 70-volt transformer on the same piece of wire. You may
use them at the same time, but separate wire must be used as they go to
different taps on the machine.
Once again, the advantages of70-volt are long wire run and matching
quantities of speakers at different volume levels. The disadvantages are
frequency loss in the transformer and that the upper wattage level is
usually limited to 10-1 S watts per speaker. Another advantage of the 70-
volt system is that the market seems to provide a line of inexpensive 70-
volt speakers, while the low impedance speakers tend to be larger, more
elaborate, and also more expensive.
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Transformer Network in Machine
TYPICAL SPEAKER INSTALLATION SYSTEM (One Channel Shown)