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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)

FlyingGamecock

Well-Known Member
Ok to clarify, "set the dials before it ever says what the emergency is" so it will tell us either on the screen by alerting us via flashes or through the audio headset. So say the order is Fire, Engine, Prop Malf. So we immediately set the appropriate knobs for that Fire emergency. Then immediately proceeded by pressing the clutch to reset and adjusting the knobs for the Engine emergency, and so on. Lastly, what do you mean don't let the screen ever flash red, when and why would it do that?
I believe it will also say somewhere on the bottom of the screen which emergency it is, but just listen to the headphones to be sure.
 

elariosa95

SNA (A-Pool)
Lastly, what do you mean don't let the screen ever flash red, when and why would it do that?
The screen begins to flash red to let you know you only have a few seconds to clear the emergency. Not clearing it in time and/or not using the right procedure obviously will not give you points, so you'll want to clear it accurately as fast as you possibly can.

The sim also won't tell you if you performed the right procedure, so you'll want to have the procedures written down beforehand
 
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Before the emergency section begins, it will give you the instructions on how to clear the emergencies. That is the same order you will be given the emergencies in the test. When an emergency occurs, it will notify you through the headphones. If you do nothing, the screen will flash red to indicate that your time is almost up to clear the emergency. For the sake of the example, let’s assume it’s 5 seconds after the audio tells you what the emergency is. But since you know the order and wrote down the instructions, you can preset the knobs. So when the audio comes up telling you there is an emergency, your knobs are already set and you can hit the clutch to clear it in about 1 second. So your screen will never flash red because you already had the knobs set.
Ok, this is good to know I feel this is the one section I just want to understand well prior to going in so thank you. So say the order is Fire, Engine, Prop. So once you press the clutch after the fire procedure, you should immediately press the clutch again to clear out(correct?) and prepare for the engine, before it even says in the headphones essentially, since you can only preset the knobs after you have completed the fire procedure. So once you press clutch after completing your first EP, does it preset to neutral level for you or not? I've noticed someone say "remember to press the clutch after you’ve adjusted the knobs!!!"

I also don't know if people in the past decide to ignore tracking just for a moment to complete the EPs, I don't know if that harms your score. Since people always say for the audio part, listen over tracking, I wonder if the same thing applies to EPs too.

Just want to clarify - Fire: Low Low Clutch ( In Yellow Part), Engine: High High Clutch (In Red Part), Prop Malf: Neutral, High (Green, Red)
 
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FlyingGamecock

Well-Known Member
Ok, this is good to know I feel this is the one section I just want to understand well prior to going in so thank you. So say the order is Fire, Engine, Prop. So once you press the clutch after the fire procedure, you should immediately press the clutch again to clear out(correct?) and prepare for the engine, before it even says in the headphones essentially, since you can only preset the knobs after you have completed the fire procedure. So once you press clutch after completing your first EP, does it preset to neutral level for you or not? I've noticed someone say "remember to press the clutch after you’ve adjusted the knobs!!!"

I also don't know if people in the past decide to ignore tracking just for a moment to complete the EPs, I don't know if that harms your score. Since people always say for the audio part, listen over tracking, I wonder if the same thing applies to EPs too.

Just want to clarify - Fire: Low Low Clutch ( In Yellow Part), Engine: High High Clutch (In Red Part), Prop Malf: Neutral, High (Green, Red)
I only pressed the clutch to activate the emergency procedure once I received the warning. So during the whole test I clicked it 3 times. But yes prepare the knobs before the warning comes up that way you only have to hit the clutch.

I believe it does not reset the knobs back to neutral (because the physical knobs are turned on the joystick so if it reset to neutral the knobs would be out of calibration).

Also you can preset the first emergency too. I did. I just set the knobs to the first emergency given in the instructions. But make sure to listen just in case its not that emergency.
 
I only pressed the clutch to activate the emergency procedure once I received the warning. So during the whole test I clicked it 3 times. But yes prepare the knobs before the warning comes up that way you only have to hit the clutch.

I believe it does not reset the knobs back to neutral (because the physical knobs are turned on the joystick so if it reset to neutral the knobs would be out of calibration).

Also you can preset the first emergency too. I did. I just set the knobs to the first emergency given in the instructions. But make sure to listen just in case its not that emergency.
I really appreciate the feedback! It's good to know that you pressed the clutch a total of 3 times then. I think I was just confused about when the test goes from one EP to another and how the test reads that, whether it's automatically or if you have to actually initiate that by clicking the Clutch back to back (one for the actual procedure and the second to reset).
 

willowmaverick

New Member
I only pressed the clutch to activate the emergency procedure once I received the warning. So during the whole test I clicked it 3 times. But yes prepare the knobs before the warning comes up that way you only have to hit the clutch.

I believe it does not reset the knobs back to neutral (because the physical knobs are turned on the joystick so if it reset to neutral the knobs would be out of calibration).

Also you can preset the first emergency too. I did. I just set the knobs to the first emergency given in the instructions. But make sure to listen just in case its not that emergency.
When presetting for the emergency, and all knobs being at neutral, does the test give you the information to know what the effect is when turning clockwise or counter clockwise?
 

Prox

SNA Pro-Rec Y
Hey guys checking in as I've just taken the ASTB

Scores 61 7/7/6

Better than I expected on the OAR but was really looking for 8's on the PBM

Here's my little blurb on the test

Prep: Originally planned to take the first test cold but about three weeks prior decided that that wasn't in my best interest. Was on vacation for the first two weeks prior and picked up the Barron's book and ASTB prep app. Studied those for about an hour every other day (Note on the prep app i did occasionally find some wrong answers in the math and mechanical practice tests so double check your work on there). About a week before I did an hour every day and like 4 hours on the weekend days.

Math: I found this easier than expected. Lots of probability problems and exponents. Stumbled on a few trig questions. Test crashed once here, proctor came and reset it where I left off. Finished with 20 min on the clock.

RCT: More difficult than expected, dry material as others have described. Test crashed here about the same amount of time in as the math test. Reset. Finished with 5 min on the clock.

MCT: Mostly conceptual, one calculation question about levers. Did not study much because I work as an engineer and have a STEM background and use these concepts every day. Finished with 15 min on the clock.

ANIT: Airplane/Skydiving/Paragliding background. The questions were simpler than most of the study material I had. Also all conceptual with the exception of one question about fuel weights.

NATFI: Really did not like this section as it felt like there was no good answer 90% of the time. What i did pick up on is that a lot of the questions are repeated in such a way as to validate your previous responses or not. I assume if you just follow your morals you will be fine here.

PBM:
-UAV
ASTB Prep app helped a lot here. I didn't use the paper compass trick because it felt too slow to me. Practicing at the app I got pretty good at transposing the compass in my head and on the actual test missed 2 but had all the response times <2.3s

-Stick and throttle portion
Here I screwed myself over with the Jantzen because I had the Y axis binding backward. I thought based on what I've read here that it was a "Push forward and the pip moves up" situation. That was not the case on my test. I had spent about a week with the sim programming my brain to work like that with a thrustmaster joystick I have and basically had to throw all that out the window. The listening and EP (WRITE THEM DOWN) sections are pretty straight forward and I completed those with no hang ups other than jumping the gun once on the listening and pushing both buttons.
 

elariosa95

SNA (A-Pool)
-Stick and throttle portion
Here I screwed myself over with the Jantzen because I had the Y axis binding backward. I thought based on what I've read here that it was a "Push forward and the pip moves up" situation. That was not the case on my test. I had spent about a week with the sim programming my brain to work like that with a thrustmaster joystick I have and basically had to throw all that out the window.
If I remember correctly, the calibration section right before the actual test has you push down to go up and pull back to go down. The actual test simulates flying by making you push forward to go down and pull back to go up.

A lot of FPS games with planes (e.g. Battlefield, etc.), also simulate this. The best case would be using Microsoft Flight Sim if your graphics card can handle it lol
 

Prox

SNA Pro-Rec Y
If I remember correctly, the calibration section right before the actual test has you push down to go up and pull back to go down. The actual test simulates flying by making you push forward to go down and pull back to go up.

A lot of FPS games with planes (e.g. Battlefield, etc.), also simulate this. The best case would be using Microsoft Flight Sim if your graphics card can handle it lol
I used to play flight sims on the regular so I think that helped with instinctually switching back to the push down go down scheme. Unfortunately it took me the first tracking test to get used to it again and I think that might’ve dragged my scores down a bit. Currently on the fence about taking the astb again since I know I can improve my scores but don’t want to sacrifice the OAR score. SNA is the primary goal and my scores don’t seem super competitive but people have been selected with lower by the looks of it. I may just put in for SNA for the first board to see what happens and do SNA/SNFO for the one after that assuming I don’t get selected.
 

Anthony2000

PRO-REC Y SNA
Awhile back I compiled all previous questions people have talked about on this forum and I can’t seem to find the doc I made…

Does anyone have anything similar they’d be willing to share? Thank you.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
So I have a Officer Recruiter and then the processor of packets. The processor said it can take up to 2 months to get an approval. That it has to go through several levels of command.
The process is outlined in the PA and it is not difficult at all, if it takes 2 months it is because they are being slow.
 
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