Ideal offers the Test-Tone-Trace Kit, which the company says gives “network installers and technicians all the tools they need to accurately identify wiring errors within virtually any type of voice-data-video [VDV] applications. Neatly packaged in a custom carrying case, this all-in-one solution performs the essential cabling test functions required in the security, data/network, and AV markets at a fraction of the price of buying testers and tools separately.”
The Test-Tone-Trace Kit allows a technician to perform the following cabling test and troubleshooting procedures.
- Verify if new VDV installations are wired correctly
- Troubleshoot existing VDV wiring installations
- Locate hard-to-find cables
- Test and identify all common errors in modular plug/jack terminations that lead to slow/no connections—shorts, opens, miswires, split pairs and reversals
- Verify patch cables for proper wiring and continuity (RJ45, RJ11, F, BNC, RCA)
- Identify shielded and 568A-to-568B uplink cables
- Identify a single cable within a bunch of cables
- Tone and trace entire cables, select pairs, or individual wires within a cable
The Ideal VDV Multimeter Tester is the kit’s centerpiece. “This versatile, handheld tester features an LCD screen to display pass/fail results and notification of wiring errors, which require repair,” Ideal said. “Its built-in tone generator has four distinct tones that can be used to trace coax, RJ45 and RJ11 cables, plus any de-energized copper cable including speaker wires, alarm cables, and electrical wires.”
An included amplifier probe detects tone signals generated from the VDV Multimedia Tester for cable identification and location. Other accessories are a built-in F port (coax), RJ11 port (phone), RJ45 port (data), and additional coaxial adapters to test BNC (security) and RCA (AV) coaxial cables.