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RDB85

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I’m just after a tool that my uncle used to measure cable lengths. The device goes into the conductors and then gives you a reading. Any idea what it is and where I could buy one. I would try google but I’m not sure what the device is, and my uncle bought it a long time ago.
 
use MFT. measure R1+R2 and calculate the length using the mohms/m for whatever the cacble csa is.
 
use MFT. measure R1+R2 and calculate the length using the mohms/m for whatever the cacble csa is.

I would have to save for a MFT. I was a handy little device as he used it for T&E etc. Just wish I knew what it was called.
 
a multimeter would do the job close enough. i have in my kit a low ohms meter, reads to 3 dec places. that might be what he had.
 
I think you are looking for a time domain refectometer, they are used for locating faults in underground cables and for checking the length of cable on a drum, they are usually a bit more expensive than mft though.
 
I used something like this as an apprentice as the company was pretty OCD on how much cable was used on jobs.
It was a proper piece of kit, and gave the readings as metres, not ohms and you had to convert.
That was for a 2nd year apprentice. The 1st years had a crazy set up where you ran the cable from one drum to another through a mechanical measuring device.
 
+1 for the TDR
Sends a pulse down the cable, times how long the reflection from the other end takes to come back. IF you know the NVP (Nominal Velocity of Propagation) for the cable, then it's a simple time*speed=distance calculation. However, that's a big IF - I strongly suspect that for most power cables it's never specified. For the data cables I've installed so much of, it was part of the cable spec, around 0.7c IIRC. If you have a reasonably long piece of cable (such as a new drum) then you can test that and work out the NVP for that type of cable and it'll be near enough for similar types.

And +1 for a decent one making an NFT look cheap ? However, if you keep an eye out, you'll see used network cable testers come up on well known tat bazaars - I picked up a Fluke DSP-100 with smart remote for a good price some years ago, and whilst not doing up to date tests for network cables, it's still a really useful bit of kit for checking and fault finding.
 

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