🔎 Signal Tracing
The real troubleshooting skill the Associate CET exam tests: a system is broken, you have a limited number of probes, and you must half-split — probe the middle, decide which half holds the fault, repeat — rather than checking every stage in order. Read the symptom, pick where to probe and what to measure (signal, DC voltage, or resistance), then call both the faulty stage and what went wrong.
Signal Tracing & Fault Isolation
A system is broken — but the fault could be a dead stage, a stage starved of supply voltage, a stage that's still passing a weak or distorted signal, or an open/short you can only see with the right meter. You get a limited number of probes, so you can't just check every stage in order. Read the symptom, pick where to probe, and choose what to measure (signal, DC voltage, or resistance). Then call both the faulty stage and what went wrong. This is Associate CET competency 21.x (signal tracing, half-split, choosing the right measurement) — the real troubleshooting skill.