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Homemade Network Cable Tracer

Homemade Network Cable Tracer. By: Daniel Brindley. SUMMARY . Motivation for project Intro to my idea for a cable tracer Problem this will hopefully solve Assumptions of audience Solution to problem Assembly and testing of project Results and conclusion. Motivation.

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Homemade Network Cable Tracer

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  1. Homemade Network Cable Tracer By: Daniel Brindley Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  2. SUMMARY • Motivation for project • Intro to my idea for a cable tracer • Problem this will hopefully solve • Assumptions of audience • Solution to problem • Assembly and testing of project • Results and conclusion Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  3. Motivation • Build a device to help clean up wiring closets • Be cost effective • Room for future upgrades • This is a problem in most work places Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  4. Introduction • Maintaining a good network closet can greatly help troubleshooting problems. • Brand name flukes can cost thousands of dollars. • A messy and non labled network closet can cause problems for new employees and for vendors • A well organized network closet reflects on the technology departments image. Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  5. Introduction Continued • It can be beneficial and fun to build your own network cable tracer. • With your own custom made tracer you can incorporate other features. • You get to be creative! Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  6. Problem Statement • Messy Network closets and racks can cause headaches for not only the networking department but for outside vendors as well • A high cost is attached to network fluke devices. • Often times you must receive a quote, price is not given upfront Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  7. Assumptions • User knows basic network layouts • User has seen a messy network closet • User has seen a neat and well organized network closet • User knows basics of soldering Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  8. Proposed Solution • Build your own network cable tracer • What type of items could you build them from? • Window alarm • Self made circuit • Walkie talkies • Multimeter Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  9. Solution Continued • I chose the walkie talkies because of its level of customization and user friendliness • Also pricing is fairly cheap • Acquire a decent set of fairly cheap walkie talkies • You will need a CAT 5 or CAT 6 cable you can cut • You will need to get a soldering iron, flux, and solder Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  10. Solution Continued • Gather wire strippers • Tools to take apart walkie talkie casing • Mine required a torx screwdriver Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  11. Assembly • Disassemble both walkie talkie cases • Cut the antenna off of one of the walkie talkies leaving just about a centimeter • Use the soldering iron to completely remove the antenna from the second walkie talkie Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

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  14. Assembly • Cut a desired length of CAT 5 or CAT 6 cabled to be attached to your walkie talkie • I used about 8 inches • Strip one of the twisted pair wires down to be attached to the board of the walkie talkie • You can use more if you are not going through a switch for better signal • Solder the wire to the board of the walkie talkie using your soldering iron, flux, and solder Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

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  17. Assembly • Reassemble walkie talkie with soldered on CAT cable. • Leave other walkie talkie apart for testing and adjusting • Locate the tuning pot on the walkie talkie and find out how to adjust it • Mine used a small flat head screw driver • Test walkie talkie by hitting the send button on the disassembled walkie talkie Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  18. Testing • If the second walkie talkie can pick up the signal without the wire touching the other walkie talkie you need to tune down the range • Continue trial and error until signal is only received when the walkie talkie is touching the CAT cable • Tuning pot is EXTREMELY sensitive. • Time to test in actual environment Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  19. Testing • For my testing I did not go through a switch as the equipment was not mine and I did not want to break the $6000 equipment • Plug walkie talkie with CAT cable into a network drop • Have some one press the send button as you take the other walkie talkie into the wiring closet. See if you can locate the cable coming from a patch panel using your homemade network cable tracer Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  20. Results • First few times mine was not able to pick up signal at all. • Some adjusting was required • After adjustments every cable I checked was giving off signal, I needed to turn sensitivity back down • Was finally able to get the right settings and pin point the cable I was looking for • Tested again in a different wiring closet that was farther away to test range. • Results were good, I was able to locate the wire in just a few moments Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  21. Conclusion • These results show that you can build your own network cable tracer for around $20 instead of $1000 • You can probably get a more advanced walkie talkie for better results • This would be a great project if you are on a budget and can not yet afford a fluke. While getting your work done at the same time Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  22. Future work • Did not get to test signal with cable actually running through a switch • Future expansions include adding a continuous send button to the walkie talkie so you don’t require two people • Possibly add alligator clips to trace more than just network cables • Add an AUX port to send musical tones, using your phone or mp3 player, over the lines • Build a housing for it to have a rechargeable battery • Adding interchangeable output cables Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  23. Thank You! • You may contact me at brindleydt@gmail.com Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

  24. References • (n.d.). messy wiring closet. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1600&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=S2ai0OdT9W36iM:&imgrefurl=http://www.windowsitpro.com/blog/networking-and-hardware-blog-9/networking/how-messy-is-your-cabling-closet • Iectyx3c. Pocket Cable Tracer. Posted on http://www.instructables.com/id/Cable-Finder/step2/Internal-Mods/ • Curiousinventor. (July 25th, 2007). How and WHY to Solder Correctly. Video posted on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4 • Rick (2002, August 30th). Fox Hound Sniffer Project,  posted on http://www.pic101.com/foxhound/index.html • Tony Van Roon (2000, June). Fox and Hound, wire tracer posted on http://www.sentex.ca/~mec1995/circ/foxhound.html • vegmatic1966. (Aug 9, 2009). Make a wire tracer with some radio parts. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLMg_cq25P8 Eastern Kentucky Univeristy

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