CAV Wrap-Up

I had a blast over the duration of my internship. I met a lot of great people that made the job a ton of fun. I even got to work closely with a couple of DSU graduates, Jake Killoran and Nathan Fields.

My DSU Buddy

I learned a few things while interning, like how to read blueprints and network schematics, the correct way to run wires through different building materials, even how to terminate different types of cables the most complicated but fun for me was CAT5 and of course the correct way to cleanly wire TVs and Speakers.

System Schematic...very confusing.

I am thoroughly grateful for the opportunity that the fine people at Commercial Audio & Video gave me. I can only hope that this internship will bring me a Job with Commercial Audio & Video after graduation.

Commercial Audio & Video Week 3

Week three started and ended just like any other week. We moved job-to-job almost everyday sometimes going to several different job-sites in one day. Its nice being in one location all day for a couple of days at a time but I almost prefer going from jobsite to jobsite. It makes the day a bit more exciting. We went from one job where we would install several speakers and then move onto the next to mount a TV which only takes a couple hours once the wiring is said and done.

TV to be mounted in Rock Rapids

It was nice one day making the drive to Rock Rapids Iowa just to install a speaker and mount a huge TV at a bank. Once we got there it took about 4-5 hours to complete with pulling wire to where it needed to go. With the drive that added a couple of hours which turned an easy job into an all day affair.

Sensor for the Truck-Stop

We had to install the a first for the company which was a scanner system for a truck-stop in Sioux Falls. Was pretty system as we were just replacing current sensors with new ones.

Just Nate being a Ninja installing sensors

The back of the van was always cram packed full of stuff and was almost impossible to find anything without removing everything from the van. Was actually quite the pain.

Our Messy Van

And after a TV is mounted it is damn near impossible to see where to plug things in so we take a lot of pictures up close behind the TV to get a glimpse at where things need to go (if we were smart we would look before we mounted it.)

We get a lot of pictures like this when trying to hook up TVs

Commercial Audio & Video Week 2

So this week was pretty mellow compared to rushing from job to job last week. I found out that we were not as done as I had previously thought with The Pourhouse. So for the start of this week we went back in install Subwoofers and a surveillance system. The subs go up just the same as all of the other speakers that I have installed since I have started this. And the surveillance system besides the computer in the back that I had nothing to do with was very similar to speakers. We ran a bunch of wire to the pre decided upon positions for the cameras and then mounting the cameras. After all cameras were mounted we then went back to position them to face in the appropriate direction and then focus on the right area.

The rest of the week was pretty lame just pulling wire in different locations around Sioux Falls and driving around. All in all it was a pretty relaxed week.

I always forget that this is an internship and not an actual job so I forget to take pictures occasionally so I only have the one this week. But its very complicated.

Commercial Audio & Video Week 1

Commercial Audio & Video Week 1

Well the week started off with some good news. That the first two jobs I was going to be working on were in Madison so I wouldn’t have to drive to Sioux Falls every morning, at least for a few days.

So Monday morning I met a technician at Montgomery’s Furniture in Madison. The goal was to hook up two additional speakers in the budget center, a horn and volume control in the warehouse, one outdoor speaker, one speaker in the soon-to-be conference room, and a priority volume control for the speakers around the front counter.

So we started with the speakers in the budget center and that wasn’t too difficult at all. It was just mainly positioning the speakers to blanket the room in a consistent level of sound. The rest was just running speaker cables so they were well hidden. Next came the conference room, the outdoor speaker,  and the Warehouse which were the same as before, just placing a speaker and running cable. The Warehouse all needed the volume control knob which we just tied into the system where the main line entered the warehouse. The Priority control was much similar just had to isolate the two speakers in front from the rest and gave them their own control knob.

Next we moved to a different job which was at the DSU Alumni Foundation Office. What we did there was sound masking which is just placing speakers in the drop ceiling where they are not visible to everyone and then placing a rack in a back maintenance room to generate the sound as well as provide power to the speakers. The hardest and most time consuming part of this process was running the speaker cable from room to room through the drop tile. This job only took us Wednesday and then another hour Thursday morning.

          After we finished that job Thursday morning we drove to Sioux Falls were I met Nathan Fields on the next job site after a quick pit stop at the Commercial Audio & Video office.

The next job site that I worked on for the rest of the week was located at The Pourhouse which is a new bar and kitchen opening in Sioux Falls this upcoming week. By the time I got there all of the speaker cable as well as the CAT5 was pulled to where it needed to be. So all that was left was correctly routing the rack in the back office area as well as wiring the speakers for sound and mounting and wiring the many TVs around the bar. I believe there was about 20-25 speakers, 21 46” TVs, and 2 75” TVs. All in all it was pretty simple. Just terminating CAT5 cable in order to run video and IR to the TVs and then stripping and connecting speaker wire to the speakers and 4 of the TVs so they are able to send out sound to their respective speaker zones. All in all it was a very busy 48 hour work week but I enjoyed every minute of it.