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recommendations on tone tracer and handset?

hi all,

i work as a systems admin but occasionally need to troubleshoot ethernet and telephone runs. i am looking for recommendations on a decent tone tracer and lineman's handset that isn't going to break the bank. right now i am using a lowend Test-Um toner, and the sensitivity isn't great and i made my own handset out of an old phone. the Test-Um toner is RJ-11 or alligator clips only. the facility that i work at often has really messy and poorly installed wiring and punchdowns. in some cases they have split the 4 pairs of CAT5 for telephone/telephone or telephone/data....so it would be really nice if i could find an adapter that can tone out any set of pairs from a RJ-45 or RJ-11.

any advice would be appreciated.

best, alex

Reply to
putt454
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Unfortunately, you get what you pay for.

In regard to toning, I recommend you purchase a low end data tester that has tone capabilities.

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has a good selection of low end stuff. A quick review and the LanRoamer looks like it will do the trick for $100.00.

I suggest a data tester because many of the toners out there are for telco and don't work well on data cable. The situation gets much worse when your trying to tone a cable connected to a switch. With a home-made adapter, you can use the same tool for toning voice cables.

In regard to a probe, almost any probe with work with any toner, but again the quality is all over the board. My probe has a filter switch and volume control. If you can afford it, I recommend you get something like it. The filter helps when I'm near stuff that's putting out a lot of noise. The volume control is normally on high, but it's nice to be able to turn it down in a quite setting (like that ever happens :)!

Butt sets aren't cheap. When I started out, I built my own, just like you have. But, there comes a point when you have to break down and bite the bullet. Compared to some other tools I use far less, it was cheap at $200.00.

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google

thanks so much for the recommendations. much appreciated!

take care, alex

Reply to
putt454

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