Some of us remember what it was like 40+ years ago. We were paid crazy wages because of the CATV boom the during Satcom 1 era. There were many more jobs than men to fill them. All was good, pay wise. Contractors would go into a bar and hire anyone that would follow them out the door, regardless of their skill set. Some had never climbed a pole before. Some had never had a job outside the farm before. Some were just drunks and outlaws (literally). Very few had any sort of education beyond high school and a lot of them didn't even have that. But they could sure build OSP fast and accurate.
Some of these CATV linemen morphed into a technician job with training from a person who was trained by a person who was trained by a person who only knew the levels should be 42 on channel 2 and 48 on channel 36. But had no understanding of why those levels were chosen. None of them looked at any other channel on the meter. None of them understood RF. Most could barely read a volt meter. Sometimes the new CATV system was built from a napkin design or none at all. The average age of all employees for the company I worked for, 40 years ago, was in the mid 20s. The oldest was in his young 40s, including the big boss. Every system was a stand alone system with a stand alone headend. Every town you worked in, you would have to ask what the headend output was and the trunk amp and line extender levels, etc. because they were all different. Headend outputs varied from a flat, tilted to even a stair step output. You never knew until you asked or looked for yourself.
I remember when a Tektronix salesman came in to demonstrate equipment to CATV technicians. He was surprised that no one knew what he was talking about when he talked about baseband video, harmonics, distortions, carrier to noise, etc. My point is that most entered the CATV world with out ever choosing it as a career path or any formal training. It was just an exciting, fun, high paying job 40 years ago. That changed after everything was built and bean counters took all the fun out of it.
I came from the broadcast and two-way radio world. I was shocked to say the least at the way things were done. In the broadcast & 2way world, all connectors were wrench tightened, water proofed and taped. Log books were maintained of levels and repairs. We were formally educated and trained on the equipment we were working on. We were required to have an FCC license to work on any thing over a certain power output. We had to take a 4 FCC test to be able to work on a broadcast AM, FM, or TV transmitter. When we did, we logged our work and included our FCC license numbers on any report.
You have to remember 40+ years ago most phone companies were monopolies and were regulated. They were guaranteed a profit. The saying "Its only money" was used by many phone companies. Phone companies all had new trucks & equipment. They paid their employees well. They paid their contractors well. They would hire engineering companies to do detailed staking sheets that were almost a photo of the area. The engineering company would order the equipment & materials and resell it to the phone companies at a profit. The phone had universal standards that they all adhered too. Everything was over built to be as reliable as possible. All because it was only money. So they could afford everything and anything.
Then came the CATV companies..........and bean counters. Especially after dish and video stores competed for the video dollar. That is when the squeeze really came to the contractors and subs. CATV was never regulated like phone. Their profits were earned the hard way not guaranteed.
Now it is a business rather than a way of life. Bean counter have taken the money and fun out of it. Some of us made it, some of us didnt. That's how I see it.
