Guitar Cable Tester

[Ripdivot]

I recently purchased a programmable looper for my pedal board. This means I had to assemble about 22 patch cables and I wanted to make sure they all worked properly before I installed them. I decided to build a cable tester for the fun of it. This tester can capture very quick open and short circuits in the cable. It is very easy to build. All you need is a plastic enclosure (you can you a metal enclosure but you will need isolated jacks), a couple TRS jacks 1/4", a 9 volt battery and a very easy to build circuit. The tester turns on when you insert a plug into J1 (just like a pedal). The operation of the tester is on the schematic. I hope this is a useful tool for some of you. This tester is for 1/4" unbalanced mono jacks only as I wanted it to be very simple. You can test other unbalanced cables with adapters.

[vigilante397]

That's a neat project Personally I use the continuity tester on my DMM, but since that's what you have here it can be used for more than just cable testing if you have the option to use probes for it rather than just 1/4" jacks.

[GibsonGM]

I like that it will "capture' an intermittent! That's neat...the continuity tester, and I do the same..may not pick up on a very fast open or something.  Good job

[Ripdivot]

That's a neat project Personally I use the continuity tester on my DMM, but since that's what you have here it can be used for more than just cable testing if you have the option to use probes for it rather than just 1/4" jacks.

I have always used a DMM as well in the past. This box makes it much quicker and easier to hold everything which is great when you are making a lot of cables. One of the biggest reasons for designing it was that most DMM's are not quick enough to pick up intermittent open and short connections.

[stallik]

For many years, I've been using a Behringer CT100 cable tester. It was cheaper when I bought it but currently retails for £20 or so. It includes short, disconnect and intermittent testing plus adds a tone generator with 2 frequencies. I really like your circuit Ripdivot but if anyone is considering adding 1/4, 1/8 jacks + xlr's and phono as well as an enclosure, components etc, I wonder if we could build it for as little.

Still like the DIY nature of the project and will probably build one even if I don't need it

[Ripdivot]

For many years, I've been using a Behringer CT100 cable tester. It was cheaper when I bought it but currently retails for £20 or so. It includes short, disconnect and intermittent testing plus adds a tone generator with 2 frequencies. I really like your circuit Ripdivot but if anyone is considering adding 1/4, 1/8 jacks + xlr's and phono as well as an enclosure, components etc, I wonder if we could build it for as little.

Still like the DIY nature of the project and will probably build one even if I don't need it

I was aware of the CT100 and I know it does a lot more than my tester but I am stubborn and had to build my own. I don't think you can build a tester that does what the CT100 does for that price. The CT 100 is about 50.00 here in Canada now. I had all the parts on hand to build this so that is what I did.

[mitchelr]

Is there a pcb layout for this project
Thanks

[Ripdivot]

Is there a pcb layout for this project
Thanks

Sorry, I didn't do a layout, I just wired it up on vero by looking at the schematic.

[Billy_Lunch_Money]

Hi
I just wanted to say thanks for putting the schematic.  Its been a god send.

Oz