Jack20 Wrote:Hello to all.
This is my first ever post although I registered quite a while ago, reason being I read somewhere that the forum is strictly for people who want to take the test and at that time I wasn't planning to.
lately I have been dreaming of moving to a possible career in system engineering / design in railway signalling although I am not too confident about it as to when and whether at all I can achieve it (I am about to be 45!).
To start with, I plan to take the the IRSE Examination. With an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree that I obtained 21 years ago it is not hard to guess that I would have forgotten a lot of it.
So before I took the plunge I wanted to brush up any of the basics that may be needed to understand the textual matter contained in the signalling textbooks.
Any help or advice shall be welcome.
The reason for this Forum is primarily for people wishing to study for IRSE Exam but certainly not exclusively to those intending to do so this year or next.
For the signalling papers at least you will need almost nothing of that listed; it'd go right over the heads of the vast majority of signal engineers!
Ohm's Law. Kirchoff's Law and Newton's equations of motion and elementary algebra are essential (for certain modules) but you'll need very little else (I find it surprising that so many of today's graduates seem to struggle with what I call "O level / first year A level maths".
That is not to say that there may not be elements of your more advanced knowledge for which there may be some use, but you'll find the exam is far more about a) RAILWAYS and THEIR OPERATION, b) THE CUSTOMS & PRACTICES OF SIGNALLING, c) ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT than academic knowledge.
System engineering and project management should put you in a good position for tackling modules 1 (the compulsory one) and 7; you'd then need to decide which of the other more detailed knowledge modules you'd be best doing.
PJW