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Finally passed my CCTV exam after two failed attempts — here's what worked

by Ravi S. 35 views3 replies
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Ravi S.OP
May 27, 2026

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it — I failed this thing twice before I finally passed last month. First attempt I went in thinking my field experience would carry me, scored a 68 and needed a 70. Second time I studied the wrong stuff and landed right back at 68. Frustrating doesn't cover it.

What actually changed on attempt three was finding a decent CCTV practice test that actually mirrored the real question format. The NICET-style wording throws you off if you're not used to it. I also stopped trying to memorize everything and started understanding the why behind camera placement, signal loss calculations, and coax vs. fiber decisions. Spent about 40 hours over six weeks — heavier on the last two weeks.

Biggest surprises on the actual exam: more questions on documentation and inspection procedures than I expected, and the lighting/lux math came up multiple times. Anyone else currently grinding through this? Happy to share what sections I focused on.

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Sofia R.
May 28, 2026
The documentation questions are underrated — I see a lot of people skip that section thinking it's common sense. It's not. NICET has very specific expectations around as-built drawings and inspection reports. I passed on my first try but I'd say 15% of my exam was administrative/documentation stuff. Definitely worth building that into your exam tips checklist before test day. Good breakdown overall though, sounds like you finally cracked the right approach.
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Tyler B.
May 28, 2026
Congrats on passing! I'm scheduled for mine in 8 weeks and honestly your post hit close to home. The signal loss and dB calculations are killing me right now. My study guide barely explains the formulas before throwing practice problems at you. Did you find any specific resource that broke down the math in plain English? I've got solid hands-on experience with IP systems but the analog/coax stuff feels like a different world.
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Preethi N.
May 28, 2026
Two failed attempts and you came back for a third — that's the real win here. Most people quit after the second. The lux/lighting stuff tripped me up too. Quick tip: memorize the minimum illumination values for different camera types cold, don't try to reason through them under pressure.

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