How to Trace Coaxial Cable with ONLY a Multimeter
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- Klein Multimeter on Amazon: amzn.to/3VkQgBD
This DIY tutorial video will show you how to trace or map coaxial cable in your home using only a multimeter and tin foil. I needed to map about 12 coaxial cables in my house and I didn't want to buy an expensive coaxial cable tracer tool. I already had a multimeter so this method was easy and saved me money. The idea is that you create a closed circuit using tin foil and your multimeter. You'll use the continuity mode on the multimeter to test each coaxial cable for the closed circuit you've created.
#coaxialcable #DIY #Howto #multimeter #video #youtube
I have 15 years of experience in electrical and NEVER knew about the tin foil trick. I just used this in my mom's house to identify a coaxial cable in her living room, and it worked perfectly. Thank you!
Thanks! I'm glad it worked for you
Really?!
@Peter_Riis_DK Yes, it works. Try it yourself.
Trust me dude I’ve been doing it for about a good three years strong often on and you’re not missing anything. Because that is the longest way to Matt coaxial cable all you need is the toner in touch and go toner where you don’t have to worry about tvOS work of adding for Yulin touching to ins and then going downstairs and check another two wins where the touch and go Turner will automatically detect call Dee Ave home about you just having all the collector cables
The easiest way that I have found is if you get one of those toners from Cline do you attach the receiver on one end and take your wand go downstairs and just tap all the coaxial until you get a beep
This is an excellent video! Very handy trick. I'm going to send this video to the cable guy who keeps running cables all over the neighborhood outside from the utility box into/across people's yards into their living rooms cause the utility box is a rats nest.
I have no words man how simple a trick this is and yet my smooth brain could have never imagined it. Thank you so much for sharing this buddy!
Sometimes the least technological method is the easiest and the cheapest. Great job!!
Genius way of keeping it simple! A low-tech solution to a high-tech problem.
This was unbelievably helpful. Thank you.
I was a CATV contractor back in the day, late 80's - early 90's. This is what we used when coming to a large prewired facility, home and/or apartment building with zero identification of the cabling. We took a green LED, inserted the positive (+) lead into an F-81 barrel connector and the negative (-) lead shortened and placed it touching the outside of the connector. Then inserted the LED inside of an RG-6 connector where the dielectric typically resides. Lastly, a short piece of coax cable, a 9-volt battery with the braid connected to the neg (-) of a 9V battery harness , and the stinger (center conductor) of the cable to the pos (+) of the battery harness. Tape the battery to the cable neatly with electrical tape and secure the connections and wrap with tape. Finally, terminate a coax connector to the other end. You then take the battery end of your new tool, snap the battery harness connector to the battery, screw into any faceplate. Then go to the head end and start inserting the unmarked cables into the F-81 end of your new tool. When you select the line with the 9V, the LED lights up.
Wow. Sounds complicated but I'd like to see it.
@@therenodummy Yes, may sound complicated but actually very easy and takes about 5 minutes to make one. I still have my original one somewhere, saw it not too long ago. I'll see if I can locate it.
You can also determine the length and integrity of the outlet by using a 75ohm terminator instead of the aluminum foil. A 100’ outlet will read 79ohms as RG6 picks up roughly 1 ohm per 25’ of coaxial cable length.
That's a great idea as well. Not everyone has terminators but if you did that'd be a great method. Thanks for the input.
Thanks awesome info I'm going to use this method in my RV.
Thank you for saving me from purchasing a coaxial tester! You the real MVP!
This worked like a charm! I have 9 cables going into a box outside and only need 1 connected, and this helped save me a ton of time. Thank you so much for making this video!!
Wow, how ingenious! Three Years ago we moved into a large two story house. I believe that a coaxial cable runs from where a tv antenna use to be, to our television in our TV Room. Now I know how to test the continuity of the coaxial cable. I will have to go into the attic when colder weather arrives in South Texas. Thank you!
I'm in Alabama. So I feel you on waiting until cold weather!
Worked to identify coax cables from 1970 in my house. Thank you!
I would first test to see if any are shorted before doing the test.
Yeah, outstanding vid, delivery, job in general.
The foil trick is what I was looking for. Now I can proceed with the MoCA setup. Thank you!
Nice tip using aluminum foil to cause the short circuit (closed loop) to test for continuity. I'll have to try this on my various cables thru the house...
This is so simple yet so smart thank you for this I just got a house and there is so many coaxial cables in here and it’s too hot to go up in the attic this makes it so much easier to see what cables are actually outside for internet
Thanks! My house was the same way. Tons of unlabeled cables!
@@therenodummy Hi, I see the orange clip you use to name, lable the cable. What is that? Could you please tell me the product brand or Amazon link? thanks and best wishes
@@huy3148 here is the link but it looks like they're not available right now www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H26CHGJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This was a great, clear, concise video that solved my problem. Thank you!
Perfect! Didn't want to buy a tool I would only use once.
Great. Glad it helped.
@@therenodummy it worked amazingly. Was moving a modem to a different room and didn't want to trace lines. Thought I messed up at first because it worked on the very first cable I tried. But just got lucky I guess. Definitely remembering this little life hack and will pass it along. Thanks again.
Awesome and simple trick just answered my question! Clear and concise video!! Good job!
Thanks for the info! Appreciate people like you on CZcams that guide us thru situation like this one!
Good job! When the Cable company came over and hooked me up cable service through my router and modem (using smart TVs) I had a cable connection in every room and they all worked. I had just bought the house and the inspectors checked them. I also had a multiple connector amplifier in my attic where all the cables converged and connected. I even had cable out to my pool area. I could have a tv in any room I wanted. The cable guy CUT all of my cables in the attic. He went to the wall jacks and cut the cables and removed the connectors so there were just holes. He took the amplifier with him when he left. I got crappy service with the cable company and they kept raising the prices every few months. So I bought a large digital antenna. I live in an area where you can get about 25 channels for free via antenna. However, all the cable ends will now have to be repaired and I will have to map all of those cables. You just made the job tenable.
Wow. That'd make me so mad. Well I'm glad this helped a little
@@therenodummy You could, instead of using a piece of foil, get yourself a coaxial splitter and then take your spare small coaxial cable and hook it to both outputs, then put the cable you're trying to find into the input.
Thank you so much!!! This was so simple, and I already own a couple of multimeters.
You’re a genius!!! This saved me hours of hassle. Thanks!
Thanks I was going to use a jumper wire with alligator clips but I think the aluminum ball will be a lot easier
Yes, tx. Will use this to sort all these cables that era giving a crazy headache !
Excellent idea, I was dreading having to buy a special tool. Thanks for saving me some $$!
I'm glad it helped
Dude fantastic! 🔥 Edit, worked like a charm!
RG6U 75 ohm TV cable has a steel center conductor that is copper coated it's not solid copper.. Now this trick will help you trace down lines to their destinations but it will not show you if the cable is compromised which will affect things like internet service to a modem. Chances are the cables will be fine thopugh but if you have any issues with signal quality then you may need to replace that run or move your equipment to a different jack
this is exactly what I was looking for! thanks!
Just did this and it worked perfectly! Thank you
Yesssss!! Never even thought about the ball of aluminum foil..1/2 way thru finding/labeling all of mine!
Awesome. Glad it helped
Thank you! Great video! Saved my butt trying to map RG6 cable in my motorcoach
That's awesome!
I just bought me a Channel Master Antenna w/the Mounting Pole, Mounting Bracket & the Amplifier, so tomorrow I will try to do the cable tracing. Thank You for your Video.
Great. I'm glad it helped! I hope your install went smoothly.
Wow! I didn't know ANYTHING about cable let alone how 2 do this!!
Thank you for 5 sharing this video
Great. I'm glad it helped!
Very clever. Thank you!
Worked great! Thanks a lot!
Thank you for this very super useful video
Thank you great video. Been trying to figure this out for a long time 👍
You're welcome!
This is clutch. Thank you!
Dude. Great job. Thank you so much for something so easy.
I'm glad it helped. Please subscribe
This is the genius hack I've been looking for. Thank you 👍👍👍
Great. Glad it was helpful!
Brilliantly made video helped me so much, thank you.👍
Awesome. Thanks for the kind words.
Very simple and helpful. Thankyou
Good to hear. Thanks!
I'm going to try this tomorrow. Thanks!
Let me know if it worked for you
Great video - exact info i needed.
I'm glad it helped.
Thank you so much.
Thanks you just saved me 50 bucks....I was all set to buy an ADM
That's great!
Thanks, this method was super helpful
Glad it helped!
I am so glad I found this. Now that I know which cables lead where, does anyone have advice on selecting an amplifier? When I tested with an HDHomeRun/antenna instead of using this method, it couldn't find any channels at all. The Mohu amp I had laying around didn't do squat either. Is this a different type of amplifier? $50 Televes Distribution something something? TIA
Great idea
Incredible!
Great video Sir.
Great video...this should solve my problem
very helpful, thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
👏👏👏You *just won yourself a new subscriber👏👏👏👍
Ha. I'm glad it helped
@@therenodummy my landlord got a old appartement building and and ask me 2 days a go to fix the cable in one of the unit, wen i wen to look for the cable entry point... i saw around 5 different cable in the unit and maybe around 12 going to the dmx tower for the old tv air antena and 4 going to the cable company box. so I will use this hack on a chosen cable in side and go test the 16 different one outside ^^
Thank you
Amazing. Worked!
Great. I'm glad it helped!
Now I have a use for tin foil other than hats. Thanks!
😆
Great video
Thanks!
Thank you, very useful
Great. I'm glad it helped!
Sweet thanks!
Brilliant! I have some work to do. Thanks.
Hope it works for you!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Low drag high speed. 👍
It is one of the best Wey Thank you
You're welcome!
Smart👍
I just bought a house that I'm pretty sure has at least 30 coax cables running through it - for TVs I guess? Not sure why some rooms need 2, 3 or 4 connectors but this little trick will help me know how to start pulling them out - thanks!
Don’t pull them out. Leave them for future use. I can use coax for many things.
True.
@@brianholz9882 What are some things you can use them for?
@@adamwberanek voice, data, cable, and even run Ethernet through it with a MoCA adapter
@@brianholz9882 okay that's pretty cool, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this all the issues bought has had four different satellite TV services the correct have been cut and who knows what else😔 I noticed where my heating unit is there is a splitter thingy that has to cables going somewhere but nothing running into it. I’m hoping your Handy dandy video solves The mystery so I can plug in my TV Antenna :)
Great. I'm glad it helped!
Can I use multimeter to see if the ethernet cable on 1 end links to the coaxial on the other end, I think there is a convertor adapter connecting both of them or else it is split to merge them for PoE except to coaxial - it is an old camera system and I fluked it but can't find the ethernet connection. And on old DVR cameras mostly is coaxial and wondering if this trick would work or another idea would work.
Good question. I haven't done any work with Ethernet cables so I don't the answer. Sorry. Let me know if you figure out a way. The only thing I would hope is that the coaxial adapter is right behind one of the wall plates. Then you could unhook it and just test both ends of the coaxial.
I’m wondering if a barrel connector could be a substitute for the foil?
I would think metal coax caps could work but the barrel connector won't complete the circuit by itself.
Hey, thanks for this. The tin foil method didnt work for me, but gave me another idea. I had some crocodile clip leads so attached those to a AA battery on one end, then used my meter to measure voltage on the other end. This worked for me.
That's a great idea!
How did you clip it to the double A batteries especially the neg side?
Instead of aluminum foil, just use alligator clips. One clip to the outer connector, and the other on the stinger(copper pin).
That'd be easier. I need to get some alligator clips for my multimeter. It didn't come with any.
If you don't have a coaxial connector on one end of coaxial cable can you tape a ball of aluminum foil to that end so that it attempts to touch the center connector and metal mesh?
Yea in theory that should work too.
If the cable doesn't have the cap i can put one connector on the mesh and another on the copper wire ? and if it has signal on it i should get the beep?
Yea that should work the same way. The cap just makes it easier.
Does that still work if there a splitter on it from your starting point to the end point?
I would think as long as it's all connected it should still work.
Could I use a multimeter to find the main coax cable ? We just moved into a new house and we have a ton of disconnected cables and I’m not even sure what the main cable is to connect to the splitter
I would either trace it from where it enters the house or you could use this trick and find all the ones that are not the main line and then you'll know which one is the main...
How do I know if my coax is running upwards into the attic or down into the crawl space? The coaxial line on the outlet in my office has gone bad and I need to find it and change it out. Help 🤞
You can remove the plate on the wall and see if the cable is running in from the bottom or top which could help. Or just look in your crawlspace/attic. You might also be able to tell if you find outside where the cable comes into your house and whether it goes under from there or up into your attic.
What if you only have a wire no that would go directly into a tv? There’s no coax plate on the wall or anything??
If it's just the bare copper sticking out of the cable then you'll need to put a connector on.
Dope
Thanks
The cable shown @ the 3:32 mark was incorrectly prepped. There shouldn't be any shielding sticking out from the connector. Home Depot and Lowes sell tools that can strip the proper amounts of the different layers to make a solid connection. Compression and crimp connectors are preferred over twist-on. 🙂
Compression and crimp connectors are better no doubt.
Help! I have 11 coax to various places over 3 stories and one feed coax from fios ont. all but 3 have tone?!
I places 3 foil balls as you showed, one on each floor???
Could my coax network be opposite, where 3 with foil get no tone and all others without do get tone?!?!? Help
If 3 of the coax have tone and you're only using one tin foil ball on one coax then I would think those 3 are connected to a splitter somewhere
@@therenodummy each of the 3 had the foil? Strange
@@johngalt156 I don't think I understand what you have going on. What I would do is find the splitter that the main feed connects to. Then I would put one foil ball on one coax at a time until I have mapped all of them.
my multimeter does not beep. Any hints?
Will this method work if there is a splitter between the two ends?
Good question. I haven't tried it but I think it'll still work. If one cable is on a splitter with 2 cables then those 2 cables should make your multimeter buzz.
Okay. I will let you know. I will be giving it a try later today. Thanks for the video.
This does work with splitters in between ends. Also I just used a coax end cap with a Male/Male connector on the end instead of foil. That also works and you don't need to take the wall plate off if trying to find the end of a wall outlet.
Very good. I knew the end caps worked but I didn't show that. I assumed most people don't have any. Thanks for sharing.
"Shorting the conductors"
How about this, connect it to your tv & if you get a signal it works.
Ha. That is true. However I didn't want to carry a TV to every room in my house to map them.
Approximately how many feet of cable can be measured using this method?
I've used this on all the cables that run through a 3 story house. So I imagine the length of cable is pretty significant.
I used this method on a cable I estimate should be at least 30m (100ft). worked perfectly.
🤯
a ball of tin foil! so simple!
It really is. Saved me some money too.
AZ
It's great when you come behind a shitty installer try to re-run cables they decide to zip-tie.
😂 I've had to cut a bunch of zip ties for sure.
@@therenodummy 😆 zip ties every 12 inches...
Every single fitting he shows is sucked out gonna cause ingress/egress …but you do you
I have had live voltage in my coaxial cable
That doesn't sound good. ,😆
@@therenodummy so what do I do
Well, you could have voltage from some sort of signal amplifier or even some detectable voltage from the coaxial running parallel with electrical cables somewhere. If its not a high voltage and causing issues then I wouldn't worry about it.
@@therenodummy it was causing issues with my internet a lot of issues but the coaxial is close to the power lines so il have them move them maybe because I just got the whole house new plugs and grounded them they were old
@@YoungShizzie amp clamp your catv drop just on the input side of the ground block. If you have amperage on it, you likely have a neutral issue.
If you don’t you probably have voltage back feed from a cable box or modem.
Thank you
You're welcome