[HamWAN PSDR] CAT5 cable tester

Fri May 29 13:44:13 PDT 2020

I bought one of these many years ago when I was building many custom length
cables.  I will swear by it, and I've never had a bad cable that tested
good.

https://www.flukenetworks.com/enterprise-network/network-testing/CableIQ-Qualification-Tester

It's pricey, but it meets all your requirements and to boot, it's quite
rugged, mine has fallen from a 12 foot ceiling joist to the concrete below,
bounced once, and shows nothing but a couple scratches on one corner.

 -Chris

On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 1:37 PM Aaron Spangler <aaron777 at gmail.com> wrote:

> BTW I learned a long time ago the reason why tdrs are so expensive is
> because of the cost of certification of each device. (think human hours)
>
> On Fri, May 29, 2020, 1:34 PM Aaron Spangler <aaron777 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I made a simple one the other day. It can do LF/MF(not UHF+)  style TDF
>> if you push it in code. That's how I found the wires were continuous but
>> paired wrong in one cable. See
>> http://www.kg7bhp.org/2020/05/simple-tdr.html
>>
>> One could expand on that. I just threw it together after a bit. There are
>> some mods we could do to test the shielding for common mode currents. But
>> it the package would need to be cleaned up rather than in breadboard form.
>>
>> On Fri, May 29, 2020, 1:21 PM Steve <stevewa206 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Also, when I had to use shielded cable....buying tested pre terminated
>>> is also a good way to go if you know the distance  and have the weather
>>> proof shells that can accommodate it.....   sometimes can’t be done.
>>>
>>> Steve
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 1:18 PM Darcy Buskermolen <darcyb at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Correct, STP = Shielded Twisted Pair, vs UTP un-shielded twisted pair,
>>>> which is what you normally see in everyday ethernet cable.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 1:15 PM Kenny Richards <richark at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Darcy - For those of us not in the know, what does "STP" stand for?
>>>>> I'm guessing it has todo with testing the shield termination?  (Google
>>>>> failed me trying to look it up)
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Kenny
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 1:07 PM Darcy Buskermolen <darcyb at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes such a device does exist,  they are going to be $$, a fluke or
>>>>>> lantech unit will be well north of $1000.00 per test setup. STP make the
>>>>>> options less readily available.  You certainly want something more involved
>>>>>> than a simple cable map function.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If STP can be removed from the must-have list, then
>>>>>> https://pockethernet.com/ is a decent value proposition
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 12:51 PM Steve <stevewa206 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Maybe get Fluke to donate?  Anybody have connections or work for
>>>>>>> them?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Just a thought.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Steve N0FPF
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 12:37 PM Bart Kus <me at bartk.us> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> HamWAN is in the business of deploying lots of long CAT5 cables,
>>>>>>>> terminated by amateurs, in remote locations.  We often have a hard
>>>>>>>> time
>>>>>>>> getting the terminations right.  In the worst cases, the problems
>>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>>> only discovered once the cables are installed on a tower, and need
>>>>>>>> to be
>>>>>>>> re-terminated up there.  A method of testing the cables before
>>>>>>>> installing them would save us headaches and speed up deploys.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Can someone volunteer to lead an effort to research the market and
>>>>>>>> select an appropriate cable tester?  HamWAN would then purchase at
>>>>>>>> least
>>>>>>>> 2 of these, and keep them with folks who are doing site deploys.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Here are some requirements I'd like the tester to meet:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 0) The tester is a reliable quality device.
>>>>>>>> 1) Ability to detect proper shield termination, since we use
>>>>>>>> shielded
>>>>>>>> CAT5 to keep RFI down.
>>>>>>>> 2) Ability to report performance characteristics of the cable,
>>>>>>>> beyond a
>>>>>>>> simple pass/fail LED.
>>>>>>>> 3) Ability to operate in rainy conditions.
>>>>>>>> 4) Battery powered, preferably rechargeable.
>>>>>>>> 5) UI friendly to color-blind people.  :)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Additional requirement suggestions welcome.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> --Bart
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>> PSDR at hamwan.org
>>>>>>>> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Pardon the brevity, sent from a mobile device. So there.
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>> --
>>> Pardon the brevity, sent from a mobile device. So there.
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
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>
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