ace20019 Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 I'm looking for a good cable tester for my project studio. Basically something that tells me whether my cables have shorts or are bad and stuff like that......any suggestions?
Midimonk Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 I used to use a unit by Eb-Tech, i cannot recollect what the model name was but it was very good. hope this helps monk I cannot be bought, and I cannot be threatened. But if you put them both together then I'm your man!"
Franknputer Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 Why would you want to test a good cable?? :confused: Oh...wait... I have a Whirlwind cable tester, which has worked well for a long time. [img]http://www.capitalcommunications.net/accessories/WRLTESTER.jpg[/img]
ace20019 Posted January 15, 2003 Author Posted January 15, 2003 Is that to say that the whirlwind is crappy? And secondly, around how much do these cost?
Midimonk Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 the Eb-Tech is called the Swizz Army it costs about 120.00.There are cheaper ones,i think even radio shack has a decent one. I cannot be bought, and I cannot be threatened. But if you put them both together then I'm your man!"
strat0124 Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 How bout a multimeter..... Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
fantasticsound Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 A multi-meter is not particularly useful for cable testing. Among other things, it's difficult to test for slight intermittancies caused by damaged cable, and it's impossible to test all 3 leads of an XLR under real world conditions. You need to plug the cable in to know if the pins are in proper contact with the receptacle. [img]http://www.ebtechaudio.com/swizz.jpg[/img] [url=http://www.ebtechaudio.com/swizzdes.htm]The Ebtech Swizz Army Tester [/url] has several features others don't. It has separate LED's that will light and stay lit if ANY intermittancy is detected. (While the main LED's may relight so quickly you don't see the intermittancy there.) It generates 1kHz and A = 440Hz test tones. With a shorting adapter, which is easy to build, you can test cables [i]in the wall[/i]. This has been particularly useful in allowing me to test snake channels and long, individual runs of cable without moving them. The only thing missing from it are Speakon receptacles. Adapters can easily be made for that purpose, however. For 2 years I've owned the Swizz Army Tester. I brought it to the Persian Gulf and it performed flawlessly in 110 degree fahrenheit heat and a sandstorm. The Ebtech is over $100. I hate to mention this, but Behringer outright stole their design and there is nothing a small company like Ebtech can do about it. They didn't even bother to change the physical layout! Just the color. I know nothing of the Behringer's reliability, but it does cost about [i]$50[/i]. I'd prefer you support Ebtech... but it's your money. It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd
Franknputer Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 Cool! the place where I 'borrowed' the Whirlwind picture had it for $66, which is about average I think. (I seem to recall paying around $70.) The extra facilities of the EbTech unit would be very handy, though, and I think they'd make up for the difference in cost.
not Cereal Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 "please, for the love of god, let the boy test your cables!" [img]http://adamsandler.jt.org/andrea/SNL/he/he5.jpg[/img]
where02190 Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 Both the ebtech and the Whurlwind one are good units. the advantage over a multimeter is phase testing. It's easy to get things backwards with a meter and not realise you are metering the wrong pins, with a cable tester it's a no brainer, you jsut plug the thing in. They also make great third hands for repairing cables. I put my whirlwind in a small vise that is attached to my soldering bench, plug in the connector to be soldered and have at it. Hope this is helpful. Hope this is helpful. NP Recording Studios Analog approach to digital recording.
fantasticsound Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by where02190: [b]...I put my whirlwind in a small vise that is attached to my soldering bench, plug in the connector to be soldered and have at it. Hope this is helpful.[/b][/quote]Ooohhhh!!!! Great idea, but I think I'll mount some old XLR panel mount connectors on a block of wood. I wouldn't trust putting [i]any[/i] appreciable heat on the Ebtech. I'm no slouch at soldering, but I wouldn't want to take the chance. It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd
strat0124 Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by where02190: [b]Both the ebtech and the Whurlwind one are good units. the advantage over a multimeter is phase testing. It's easy to get things backwards with a meter and not realise you are metering the wrong pins, with a cable tester it's a no brainer, you jsut plug the thing in. They also make great third hands for repairing cables. I put my whirlwind in a small vise that is attached to my soldering bench, plug in the connector to be soldered and have at it. Hope this is helpful.[/b][/quote]However, the cable doesn't care what phase it is, its just conducting. Banana plugs...just turn them around 180. The thing I'd check if phase were a problem, would be aligned to the speaker components/internal connections. Also unless its an XLR or a stereo phono plug, most have two conductors. I routinely test cables of every kind with a 77AN Digital Multimeter set on the diode setting, so I can hear a beep when it finds continuity, without having to check the visuals of the meter. Intermittent shorts or opens in the cable can be checked just by manipulating the cable around and about while checking continuity. The only thing I'd see a cable checker as a huge plus, is if it did a megger like check, to look for those annoyances of intermittence. Plus it gives folks not used to operating test equipment an easy and fast means of checking cables. Good idea overall. Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
Jode Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 I usually plug my bass in at a gig in front of about 800 people to find out whether a cable is any good. That's the best place to find out if it's going to fail. "I had to have something, and it wasn't there. I couldn't go down the street and buy it, so I built it." Les Paul
Franknputer Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 Man, multimeters suck for testing XLRs. The female end is easy, but you have to really watch where you're placing the probe on the male end. Plus, as you (sorta) said, you can't really continuity check them, either - with a cable checker, you can flex the cable around & find small, intermittent shorts - not so with a multimeter (unless you have 3 hands!). They're not so bad with 1/4 cables, and if all I had to test were those then I might not spend the extra $$ - but for XLRs (and MIDI, I see, with the EbTech) it's vital.
strat0124 Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by ChristopherKemp: [QB]- with a cable checker, you can flex the cable around & find small, intermittent shorts - not so with a multimeter (unless you have 3 hands!).QB][/quote]OR...if you have industry standard multimeter (like my Fluke) with quality leads with interchangeable lead ends, so you can attach roach, I mean, alligator clips on them! :) Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
Franknputer Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 Yeah, but even with alligator leads it's still tricky not to short the lead against another pin, or the outer casing of the XLR. Another thing - you can only test 1 pin at a time, whereas with the cable tester you do all three at once. That is a huge time saver when you're checking 40-50 cables in a trunk, or going through a 48 channel snake. Of course, you can't hold a joint with a cable tester... :freak:
where02190 Posted January 17, 2003 Posted January 17, 2003 Also it is easy after a long day of soldering to put the leads on backwards with a meter, whereas the connectors on a cable tester only go one way, no way to accidentally reverse. I have the wood block with the XLR's as well, but for TS and TRS it's easier I find to have the connector in a horizontal position. I've been doing this for decades and have no problems with my cable tester and heat. Hope this is helpful. Hope this is helpful. NP Recording Studios Analog approach to digital recording.
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