Cable Tracker

wrote:


How to do it? The good ol' fashioned way, which I described in an
article some time ago, is to use a continuity tester. That is, a
hunka wire long enough to run from here to there, a couple of
flashlight batteries, and a flashlight bulb. You know you've found
the correct lead when the bulb lights up. I even described a do-it-
yourself tester based on an old-style Navy flashlight.

I built a continuity tester years ago when I was doing a lot of electrical
work on the bonanza. Rather than a flashlight bulb, I used a 99 cent buzzer
from radio shack. I found that with my head stuck up in the innards of the
panel, I couldn't always see a light bulb. I could, however, always hear
the buzzer.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Boise, ID

On Jan 1, 3:10*pm, Frank Stutzman wrote:

I built a continuity tester years ago when I was doing a lot of electrical
work on the bonanza. *Rather than a flashlight bulb, I used a 99 cent buzzer
from radio shack. *I found that with my head stuck up in the innards of the
panel, I couldn't always see a light bulb. *I could, however, always hear
the buzzer.
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Dear Frank,,

An audible continuity tester has many advantages over the simple
Blinking Light, in the article I posted. The only advantage to the
one I described is that it uses parts you already have in your kit
(ie, your flashlight).

As a point of interest, the Wire Tracker under discussion here
incorporates a light-type continuity tester in its transmitter.
Simply set the switch to 'CONT' and use the red & black alligator
clips (crocodile, for the Brits :-) The multi-color LED will show
green when you have a good circuit.

But it doesn't stop there. The 'Cable Tracker' (it's given name) has
a circuit within the tranmitter module specifically for telephones.
With the RJ-11 connector plugged into a telephone outllet, the
transmitter module will tell you if the line is clear, if you've
reversed the green & yellow leads, if the line is busy or if the line
is being dialed. I think this is worth mentioning because 2009 will
probably be the year during which the telephone system as we know it
will be replaced by the cable system most of us have installed for our
COMPUTERS. I believe it's called the 'ooma' system. It allows you
to make telephone calls as easily as your computer connects to distant
terminals... AND FOR THE SAME COST. This will probably see a lot of
people tinkering with their telephone systems -- and finding a device
such as the Cable Tracker to be quite useful in that regard.

-R.S.Hoover