cables & dials test

[mattybristol]

Evening gents & ladies;

this is something that has bugged me since i did the dials test a few months back, basically i made a complete arse of it

i passed the dots test & "glop" test with flying colours so i'm slightly perplexed why i failed this, i'm hoping someone who knows or has recently done the test explain it to me.

as i recall, there was a dial with 4 different colour shades of grey & white with numbers over the top in a semi circle and a pointer. i seem to recall you had to put them in order of priority.

can someone explain exactly how they did it or have i mis-understood completely.

I feel pretty foolish to be honest, but i intend on applying again at some point

Thanks

 

[GadgetMan]

Been a while since I did mine so can't remember the exact details however I do remember flying through them as they were pretty easy once you knew what to look for.

Did the assessor not run through a couple of examples first to ensure everybody understood exactly what it is they were suppose to do?

 

[mattybristol]

He may well of done, and i think i understood but obviously not! - i hate failing at tests and this has bugged me ever since

i'm kind of hoping someone can explain it here

 

[youngboy]

He may well of done, and i think i understood but obviously not! - i hate failing at tests and this has bugged me ever since

i'm kind of hoping someone can explain it here

just waiting for the result's now.

 

[mattybristol]

Four dials, four different shades, priority is decided by the different shades. This priority is fine until two dials are of the same priority shade then you refer to the numbers on the outside of the dials the lower number always takes priority over the higher number. That's how i understood it mate just waiting for the result's now.

good luck for your results!

just to be clear - the shades dicates the priority irrelevant of the number, until you come to 2 of the same shades, then it will be the one with the lowest number?

 

[youngboy]

good luck for your results!

just to be clear - the shades dicates the priority irrelevant of the number, until you come to 2 of the same shades, then it will be the one with the lowest number?

That's the way I interpreted it mate !! And to be fair I didn't think it was as easy as what a lot of people say but we're all different, and have different skill levels. I did 28, whether that's enough who knows ??

 

[mattybristol]

That's the way I interpreted it mate !! And to be fair I didn't think it was as easy as what a lot of people say but we're all different, and have different skill levels. I did 28, whether that's enough who knows ??

indeed, when i took the test i think i was too slow, just couldnt work it out quickly enough maybe or over cautious possibly? who knows

i think from memory i couldnt sort out the shades and probably confused myself - can you remember if they were very similar in shade?

 

[youngboy]

indeed, when i took the test i think i was too slow, just couldnt work it out quickly enough maybe or over cautious possibly? who knows

i think from memory i couldnt sort out the shades and probably confused myself - can you remember if they were very similar in shade?

The highest priority is white followed by three slightly different shades of grey.

 

[mattybristol]

The highest priority is white followed by three slightly different shades of grey.

thanks, you've been very helpful
hope your test results are positive, let us know how you get on

when will you hear?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
just having a read back through, where does the pointer fit in to all this with regards to priority?

 

[Flyboy]

youngboy - are you sure white is first, I thought it was last. I know I did it right on the day.

matty - when you say "where does the pointer fit in to all this with regards to priority?" Is that a serious question? If it is and you don't know what the pointer is for then it's clear where you messed up.

 

[mattybristol]

it was a serious question when i typed it but thinking about it now it must be the pointer in the most dangerous segment with the lowest number is priority?

 

[Bun]

From my recent test white is lowest priority im pretty sure with very dark grey 1st.
Ignore the numbers if 1 pointer goes to each different segment
Numbers only come into it when 2 pointers are in same segment and then the 1st priority will be the lowest number

 

[youngboy]

youngboy - are you sure white is first, I thought it was last. I know I did it right on the day.

[

You might be right there mate !!

 

[carlejo]

white is the priority and is furthest to the left, think of an empty fuel tank gauge.

Then its a light shade of grey, followed by a darker one, and then then darker again.

The pointer will point to each of the 4 dials, with the white one(furthest left) being the priority...... if there are 2 pointers(pointing in separate dials) pointing to same shaded area, white for example, then you would have to see which pointer is pointing to the lowest valued number and that's the most important.

I recently done the test and passed with a good grade..... I only completed 18 dials, I concentrated on accuracy....HTH

 

[mattybristol]

white is the priority and is furthest to the left, think of an empty fuel tank gauge.

Then its a light shade of grey, followed by a darker one, and then then darker again.

The pointer will point to each of the 4 dials, with the white one(furthest left) being the priority...... if there are 2 pointers(pointing in separate dials) pointing to same shaded area, white for example, then you would have to see which pointer is pointing to the lowest valued number and that's the most important.

I recently done the test and passed with a good grade..... I only completed 18 dials, I concentrated on accuracy....HTH

thanks for the reply, a fuel gauge is a great analogy

Its interesting that 18 answered got you a pass, well done to you

 

[carlejo]

When I did the tests 2 weeks ago, the assessor gave clear instructions on what to do and asked a few times if we all understood

Then we were given a 2 examples to do just to "get into it".

If you didn't listen to the instructions or didn't understand them, then you should have asked...... it is important after all that you can listen to basic instruction and understand it, sorry to be blunt, but you must listen
cheers
Carlejo

 

[mattybristol]

yes i completely agree, i'm hoping i get another oppertunity

have you been offered a position?

 

[carlejo]

Mine is with a different TOC.

I'm waiting for a call now for structured interview and medical :roll:

 

[mattybristol]

Mine is with a different TOC.

I'm waiting for a call now for structured interview and medical :roll:

well, i wish you all the best

 

[carlejo]

Thanks mate

 

[Flyboy]

So we now several different answers. Beardfoot thinks it's dark grey first and white last, carlejo is fairly sure it's white first followed by increasingly darker shades of grey, with white always on the left, and Youngboy thinks it's the same but isn't 100%.

Oh boy!

I still think it's light grey, grey, dark grey, white, in that order.

carlejo - I don't get what you say about white always being on the left as every dial contains all 4 different colours and shades.

matty - just to clarify, it's pretty much as Youngboy said earlier, the pointer indicates the priority of the dial by whichever colour segment it falls in. If I take my ordering as being correct, then if the pointer is in the light grey segment then that dial is first, followed by the dial that has the pointer in the grey segment, followed by the dial that has the pointer in the dark grey segment, and finally the dial that has the pointer in the white segment. Only when the pointer is in the same coloured segment on 2 different dials do you need to look at the numbers to decide the priority, with the lowest number having the higher priority.

Each dial relates to a different system - power, lights, heating etc. (someone please remind me of the other one) and that forms the answer to the question.

I know I did it right on the day, but with varying answers popping up here I've now lost the plot in regard to remembering the order of the colours!

 

[youngboy]

I know I did it right on the day, but with varying answers popping up here I've now lost the plot in regard to remembering the order of the colours!

It is confusing mate, the woman from OPC who did our assessment walked round whilst everyone was attempting the practise question's anyone (and there was a couple) who had done them wrong she went through the process with them one on one until they understood. I got both practice ones correct so hopefully did it right also. If not then it's my own fault

 

[Flyboy]

I was there at the same time as you I think - Thursday afternoon, and I saw her do that too.

 

[carlejo]

I can only tell you the test I took 2 weeks ago and that it how it was explained

White is the priority and is furthest to the left, think of an empty fuel tank gauge.

Then its a light shade of grey, followed by a darker one, and then then darker one again.

The pointer will point to each of the 4 dials, with the white one(furthest left) being the priority...... if there are 2 pointers(pointing in separate dials) pointing to same shaded area, white for example, then you would have to see which pointer is pointing to the lowest valued number and that's the most important.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

So we now several different answers. Beardfoot thinks it's dark grey first and white last, carlejo is fairly sure it's white first followed by increasingly darker shades of grey, with white always on the left, and Youngboy thinks it's the same but isn't 100%.

Oh boy!

I still think it's light grey, grey, dark grey, white, in that order.

carlejo - I don't get what you say about white always being on the left as every dial contains all 4 different colours and shades.
matty - just to clarify, it's pretty much as Youngboy said earlier, the pointer indicates the priority of the dial by whichever colour segment it falls in. If I take my ordering as being correct, then if the pointer is in the light grey segment then that dial is first, followed by the dial that has the pointer in the grey segment, followed by the dial that has the pointer in the dark grey segment, and finally the dial that has the pointer in the white segment. Only when the pointer is in the same coloured segment on 2 different dials do you need to look at the numbers to decide the priority, with the lowest number having the higher priority.

Each dial relates to a different system - power, lights, heating etc. (someone please remind me of the other one) and that forms the answer to the question.

I know I did it right on the day, but with varying answers popping up here I've now lost the plot in regard to remembering the order of the colours!

There were 4 dials

Power
light
heating
coolant

I'll try and do a sketch, unless someone else can, I'm not good with pc stuff, but i'll have a go

 

[Flyboy]

carlejo - we differ on the order and that's ok, but it's when you say that white is always on the left that is confusing me as every dial contains all 4 colours, so white is on every dial.

Of course we did the test for different TOCs so there may have been a genuine difference in the tests.

 

[Daniel84]

I found them quite easy and managed to finish in the time given, I think there were 50 or so and I got a very good pass, I think the only way you would struggle is if you did not quite understand the exercise, but who knows.

The one I failed on was a tick box exercise which seems impossible to fail and only DBS use as far as I know. Most people would probably look at that and wonder how you could fail it, but it must have come down to misinterpretation on my part.

 

[carlejo]

it's worked but small for some reason

Just pretend that the yellow section is GREY as it couldn't do it properly!!



Now, the white section ANY dial would be the priority as it's the furthest left.

Furthest section right in ANY dial is least priority.

first dial is A, second B, third C, and fourth D



Now the yellow line is the "pointer" and you have to look where the priority is.

In this example (the highest priority) the pointer is pointing to the white section in dial A

There are 2 pointers, pointing in the same section on the next 2 dials, but you have to look for the lowest value

One is pointing at 22 and one at 40, so the next most important is B(heating) as it's the lowest and pointing to 22.... the next is dial C(lighting) as its pointing to 40....... and the least priority is dial D(coolant)

so the multi choice answer would be

A B C D

I hope that explains it

 

[Flyboy]

Thanks for clearing that up carlejo, looking at your example I can certainly see that your explanation makes sense.

However, what is apparent from your example is that our test for FTPE last week was very different; there was no black segment at the bottom, the 4 coloured segments formed the entire dial and differed in size and order such that in one dial white may have been adjacent to light grey and in another adjacent to dark grey. The greys weren't always in order either.

 

[carlejo]

Yes you're probably correct about the whole dial being complete circle and then being sectioned into 4 different shades. It's just I'm not good at drawing stuff on a pc!! Lol

 

[Flyboy]

You did a better job than I could've done.