Thread: Cable Tester

I'm in search of a better designed cable tester, specifically for NL4/NL8. There are a few things on the market which do NL4 like the Rat NL4 sniffer/sender, and the Rolls Cable Scanner, but they only do up to NL4 (and Cat5/6 for the Rolls), and there are a few quirks I don't like about the Rolls (you can't see what is happen if you play wiggle the cable just right game at all times).


I've come up with an idea (and pending sleep/vs prototyping, having a unit in my hands in the upcoming weeks) that will test up to 8 pin cable (well any size really), and act as a sender/reciever with 2 units for installed cable and the like.

Runs off of a 9v, uses a 317 power regulator down to +3-5v, has 16 led (transmit/recieve x 8) and works as thus:

8 position switch routes V+ to any 1 transmit pin through a SPDT relay to switch the outgoing voltage from - to + and out to an outgoing LED board and XLR/NL4/NL8/CAT5-6 connector

Comes back in an incoming connector and each pin has its own relay. If there is a positive voltage on a pin, the relay opens up and lights its corresponding LED, if it has a negative voltage, it does nothing.

Here's the fun trick. Remember that the outgoing relay switches from V- to V+ depending on which pin you select with the switch. That V- is the return path of the relay after a diode so you can use 2 units to test an installed (or ends very far away) cable. The only caveat with as a sender/reciever, if all pins are tied together, it won't work as there is no V- return path to the sender.


Any thoughts or have I just inadvertantly recreated someone elses product already? (Schematics to follow if it doesn't already exist)


BRad

Originally Posted by Brad Harris

I'm in search of a better designed cable tester, specifically for NL4/NL8. There are a few things on the market which do NL4 like the Rat NL4 sniffer/sender, and the Rolls Cable Scanner, but they only do up to NL4 (and Cat5/6 for the Rolls), and there are a few quirks I don't like about the Rolls (you can't see what is happen if you play wiggle the cable just right game at all times).


I've come up with an idea (and pending sleep/vs prototyping, having a unit in my hands in the upcoming weeks) that will test up to 8 pin cable (well any size really), and act as a sender/reciever with 2 units for installed cable and the like.

Runs off of a 9v, uses a 317 power regulator down to +3-5v, has 16 led (transmit/recieve x 8) and works as thus:

8 position switch routes V+ to any 1 transmit pin through a SPDT relay to switch the outgoing voltage from - to + and out to an outgoing LED board and XLR/NL4/NL8/CAT5-6 connector

Comes back in an incoming connector and each pin has its own relay. If there is a positive voltage on a pin, the relay opens up and lights its corresponding LED, if it has a negative voltage, it does nothing.

Here's the fun trick. Remember that the outgoing relay switches from V- to V+ depending on which pin you select with the switch. That V- is the return path of the relay after a diode so you can use 2 units to test an installed (or ends very far away) cable. The only caveat with as a sender/reciever, if all pins are tied together, it won't work as there is no V- return path to the sender.


Any thoughts or have I just inadvertantly recreated someone elses product already? (Schematics to follow if it doesn't already exist)


BRad

brad,
you looking for some like this:
Attachment 2401
it's from Palmer, named MCTXL
... and yes it works fine

Haven't see that one. But is it an auto cycle like the Rolls? Can you use it to test installed cable where the ends are in 2 different locations?

I've just got my crackberry which is having issues looking at palmers stuff.

BRad

That Palmer MCTXL cable tester is not distributed in the US as far as I can tell.