Such cables are used very often today and you can find such cables almost everywhere. Tracing a cable may be extremely challenging even in your own house. A cable may go from the roof, then go through your rooms before it reaches its destination point. Such cables are often used with TVs or other entertainment systems. The tracing coax cable process may take some time, but luckily there are various solutions provided by companies that can facilitate the whole process and make it a lot easier.

The tracing tools

Before you start the tracing process, you need to prepare the necessary tools. Usually, a coax cable tracer is a small device with various functions, some models may map up to several locations and provide you with various useful information. This kind of devices may go under different names.

To trace the cable you need a probe device and a toner. The list of the necessary tools depends on the cable itself.
If you have many cables to trace and you do not want to get lost – then you should consider using colored tape.

Various cable tracing solutions are not expensive. Different models may come with different accessories and have various additional features that make the whole process easier and faster.

Numerous cables

When you a couple of cables which are connected to various devices and they run to numerous locations in your home, then you should use a cable tester, which will tell you where the cable goes. Such devices have a “sending” function that emits a special signal that goes through the cable. The process is quite simple:

  • Connect the sender device with a jack
  • Test each cable using a speaker module
  • Having connected the right cable, you will hear a tone. That is how simple it is.

Find the cable when its end is available

If you have numerous cables that send signals to numerous devices and you need to find the necessary cable you need to perform a simple process. In this case, you need to use a multimeter and foil:

  • Put some foil in a jack of a cable
  • Test all the cables with the multimeter (it reads ohms)
  • The cable that was shorted out by the piece of foil will be read as “0”. However, experts claim that it may show different results but there is will be one that stands out from other readings and that is the cable you need

Therefore, you do not need to detach the cables and use a tester to find the one you need.

Finding the lost cables

Sometimes, you need to trace cable wire, when you have only one end or a jack without having a possibility to access the other end. In this case, you need to find the cable that runs behind the walls through your house and find the endpoint. In this case, you need to use a toner. The whole process is:

  • Connect a tone generator device to the reachable end of the cable
  • A toner registers the signal emitted by the generator and produces a sound, which helps you find the cable

Tracing challenges

The tracing may be quite challenging. First, you need to determine the case, and then you get the necessary tools to trace the cable. There are various tracing solutions available to you. Understanding your case, you will clearly know how to trace coax cable without spending much time.