Device to detect CAT6 with signal ?

thedoc46

thedoc46

thedoc46

Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2003
Posts
5,995
Location
Expat in the USA
OK, I have a bunch of cables up in my attic. One of which i need to cut into, and split out an extra 8 cables using a POE switch for a security system.

Problem is I don't know which one...... the wires come in thru a sealed hole, and then go out thru a sealed hole... I can put a tester at each end, which will tell me what cable it is at each end... But when they're in the attic, i have no idea which one is which.

I know electricians can clamp on a wire to see if there's current. Does anyone know of a similar device for CAT6, being that its such low voltage ? I could put a constant data use from one of them, and test away.

I have a wire doing nothing that's fed to the outside.. This is the wire that i need to find, but when i'm in my attic, there's a bunch of them for me to chose from.
 
Unplug. Put a small voltage on any pair and then use a multimeter at the other end to detect which. The tricky thing is getting the voltage into the plug. 9v battery with croc clips or something.

I'm not sure if using constant data would be easy to detect. I suppose if all others were disconnected a multimeter may pick up the difference across a pair. Ethernet uses low voltage, 1v or less so should be detectable as a definite non-zero value.
 
Last edited:
Look on Ebay for a telephone/RJ45/RJ11 tracker/tracer. I got one a few weeks ago for work so I can see which cable goes where when it disappears through holes. You plug a cable into one of the testing devices, this produces a tone. You then use the other device to touch the probe onto a cable. When you touch the probe onto the cable that the other device is on, you hear the tone.

The device is about £15-16 and they are orange. At least the one I got was. :D
 
MarcLister said:
Look on Ebay for a telephone/RJ45/RJ11 tracker/tracer. I got one a few weeks ago for work so I can see which cable goes where when it disappears through holes. You plug a cable into one of the testing devices, this produces a tone. You then use the other device to touch the probe onto a cable. When you touch the probe onto the cable that the other device is on, you hear the tone.

The device is about £15-16 and they are orange. At least the one I got was. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks this sounds like what i'm after.
 
el'cheapo version
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Telephone...682?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20de4cb9a2

To use this, I'd make a short 6inch cable with an RJ45 end on it, then strip some of the copper cables and connect them up to the red/black ends, then connect that end into your wall port.

Then track the cable with the toner.



This more expensive one comes with an RJ45 end

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RJ-Tool-T...701?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c4722ce75

Disconnect all switches and devices before using tools like the above. You could damage any connected equipment
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom