HELP!! Cable Identification Question - Montana Owners Club

VanMan · 10-10-2009, 04:20 AM

OK - this is NOT an RV question, but I'm sure someone here will have a suggestion. In our stick house I have several TV antenna cables running from various rooms (wall connections) to a "box" outside. The idea was whenever the DW decided to rearrange furniture, I'd have connections on all possible walls. In this junction box, I have a splitter. The idea was to simply disconnect the no longer wanted cable and attach the one wanted. Each connection inside and each wire outside were numbered with little tags. Well over the years some of the outside numbers fell off and I can no longer tell which is which. I spent several hours the other day trying to systematically find the one I want using the DishNet receiver. This was very frustrating since you never know how long to wait for the receiver to "acquire" the signal. I never found it. Now I'm suspecting a bad connection or cable also. Is there some way to easily find which cable goes to which connection? Maybe using a AA or 9V battery on one end and a volt meter on the other? Any ideas?

bncinwv · 10-10-2009, 05:34 AM

How about putting the Dishnet receiver on the incoming line at the splitter box with a small TV to aquire the signal, then start swapping and labeling the lines on the outlet side of the receiver. That would take the initialization an acquiring signal part out of hte loop anyway. Just a thought.
Bingo

NCFischers · 10-10-2009, 05:55 AM

You could take a short piece of cable and strip one end. Twist the braid around the center wire. Put a connector on the other end. Get a connector (CATV wall plates have this connector) and screw the cable into one of your leads. Now you can use an ohm meter and find the other end of that lead.

DnDatGrdJct · 10-10-2009, 05:58 AM

Had the same issue. I went to Lowe's and purchased a Multi-Purpose Lan Tracer for about $35.00. It works not only on LAN lines but also phone, cable and any non energized wires. The one I bought was the Sperry ET4220L model. Lowe's had several types beside this one. It has connections for the various connectors and you put the transmitter part on one end and then go the the other end of the wires with the receiver. When you have the correct line it warbles.

When Dish came to the house to change a line they had one like this and really worked well for him so rather than being totally frustrated I invested in one.

Hope this may give you an idea.

Dean

VanMan · 10-11-2009, 07:12 AM

Thanks all - I may just invest in that tracer because I've had similar issues with phone lines not working when it rains. I've rewired them several times and even left a couple disconnected to avoid the problem.

Waynem · 10-11-2009, 07:26 AM

The cheapest is as NCFishers stated. Just get a small wire jumper cable and short between the coax shield and the center conductor then Ohm the line for an "open." Just do one at a time and hope you have no shorts in any others.

Edited: Actually you want to check twice. Once will be with just the cable disconnected. You should see no reading between probes (Ohms). Then, Short the ends and make sure there is no "Open." If a center conductor happened to break you would not have continuity in the line, and no signal, or fuzzy signal.

VanMan · 10-11-2009, 01:28 PM

That's only going to work for the "incoming" cable with a signal, though, right? I'm looking for the end of a "dead" cable. That's why I thought maybe there was a trick with a small battery to "energize" the wire or something.

H. John Kohl · 10-11-2009, 03:53 PM

You have two different actions going on.
First is identifying each cable and renumbering.
Using the shorting mention described by Jim and mentioned by Wayne is the cheapest and easiest.

Before you put the shorted end on any of the cables check them all for a short to see if that is your bad connection. Then Short a cable and find it on the other end and mark them.

Finding the bad connection is basically the brute force of a light tug test then a twist to see how they feel.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

NCFischers · 10-11-2009, 04:48 PM

Vanman,
As an old retired phone guy, check all the wiring connections and make sure there isn't any phone wire laying on the ground and not supported. Conductors in phone wiring are very thin and they are sensitive to moisture. The slightest bit of corrosion can cause problems in a damp environment.

VanMan · 10-12-2009, 04:11 AM

Jim - that's exactly what the phone issue was. NOT being a phone guy, I buried regular phone wires to my RV site, my workshop, and an outside deck site. I realized the error of my ways every time it rained!!. Those are no longer connected at the box!!

John/Jim, I'm still confused. Does my ohm meter (el cheapo from Harbor Freight) provide energy from the 9V battery in it when doing an Ohm check?

H. John Kohl · 10-12-2009, 04:24 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by VanMan

Jim - that's exactly what the phone issue was. NOT being a phone guy, I buried regular phone wires to my RV site, my workshop, and an outside deck site. I realized the error of my ways every time it rained!!. Those are no longer connected at the box!!

John/Jim, I'm still confused. Does my ohm meter (el cheapo from Harbor Freight) provide energy from the 9V battery in it when doing an Ohm check?

Yes the VOM in Ohms mode provides the power to check the resistance of the item between the two probes. by shorting the other end of the coax it becomes a continuous wire and has a low resistance.

pvcoach · 10-12-2009, 03:23 PM

If shorting the center conductor to the ground shield doesn't work or is not conclusive, I have solved this same problem by connecting the center conductor to a long return wire and using a VOM to check for continuity back at the source between the center conductor and the return wire. One side of a long extension cord works great if you have one.

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