Watching your favorite TV shows or browsing through your favorite net platform at home are certain things we honey and don't tolerate interruptions with.

However, that "no signal" or "no internet connexion" error comes upwardly and nosotros have to brand fixes fast.

The coax cable is a component that is directly responsible for the supply of your signal, merely a lot of people don't know how to diagnose it for bug.

Without wasting time, let's come across how to exam coax cablevision without multimeter.

how to test coax cable without multimeter

What Is A Coax Cablevision?

A coaxial or coax cable is a copper cable used to transmit satellite antenna bespeak, television set and radio signal, and ethernet connectivity between a visitor and its end user.

It is made upwardly of a primary copper cable that is initially surrounded past 1 layer of insulation (dielectric layer) and this insulation is surrounded past a metal mesh or foil used every bit grounding attached to the coax cable connector.

The metallic mesh is then coated past another layer of insulation.

This bulky layer of components helps to prevent electricity from interfering with the bespeak in the coax cable, given the amount of data transferred through it.

There are different types of coaxial cables and connectors, but all these work and may be diagnosed the same fashion.

coax cable

When they develop faults, you experience bad signals on your cable TV, radio, or net modem.

You may use a multimeter to diagnose a coaxial cable for faults by testing out its impedance.

However, the multimeter test isn't comprehensive enough to give you an idea of whether the cable possesses connectivity or non.

For example, a multimeter may bespeak that the cable has the right impedance fifty-fifty when there is a signal leak due to loopholes in its insulation.

This is where other testing methods come in.

Tools Required To Test Coax Cable Without Multimeter

Some of the tools you need to exam a coaxial cablevision in your dwelling house include

  • A compatible modem
  • A coax cable tester, particularly the DSS – 01

How To Examination Coax Cable Without Multimeter

To test a coax cable without a multimeter, you lot either use a coax cable tester to bank check for signals inside the cable or insert it into a modem to test its connectivity. The coax cable tester is the easiest and fastest method of testing for faults inside a coax cable.

We will dive further into each of these steps.

  1. Go A DSS-01 Tester

Using a coaxial cablevision tester is the fastest and most reliable method of checking whether your coax cable carries a connectivity signal or not.

Out of the multiple options in the market place, the DSS-01 provides you with the most accurate results.

Cable TV companies make use a particular indicate frequency to transmit data to your home or office.

The DSS – 01 is a device that utilizes patented applied science to identify this specific indicate frequency and determines if the cable is live with the correct corporeality of connectivity or non.

Unlike the multimeter, a coaxial cable tester gives you results that allow you to accurately diagnose faults in the protective insulation.

You get this device from one of the stores close to you before conveying out the next steps.

  1. Insert Coax Cable Into The Cable Tester

Once you lot have the coax cable tester, you only insert the coax cable into the port provided.

You lot connect the coax cablevision the same way you connect it to the back of your modem or television receiver, which is either by screwing or shoving information technology in.

Ensure the cable sits firmly in place and makes proper contact with the ports of the coax cablevision tester so it reads accurately.

Poor connexion between the cablevision and tester interferes with the diagnosis process, as the coax cable tester doesn't receive total signal frequency.

If the connection seems shaky, adjust it till it is sturdy, then proceed to the next footstep.

  1. Turn On The Coax Cable Tester

For the next stride, you merely turn on the coax cable tester and expect about 10 seconds for it to give a consequence, as simple as that.

  1. Evaluating Coax Cablevision Tester Results

Now, the coaxial cable tester you choose determines how you translate results.

The DSS-01 presents you with a green light if the cablevision is okay and supplies the right amount of signal frequency.

If you have a flashing cherry-red light, the cablevision is either bad or the signal within it is too poor to effectively supply cablevision Television, internet, or radio connectivity.

Some coax cablevision testers additionally work with beeps.

They unremarkably illuminate a light to correspond that there is continuity inside the wire and then beep to show that at that place is a proper level of bespeak frequency inside the cable.

You supercede the coax cablevision if you lot don't become the right indication from the tester you use.

If you still don't get an appropriate result from your new coax cable, yous may so check out your antenna exterior the house if you have one, or contact your Television or cyberspace service supplier.

Using the DSS-01 coax cable tester helps y'all relieve fourth dimension. If you don't have one, nonetheless, you may also use your modem.

Testing A Coax Cable With A Modem

The modem examination is but slap-up if your coax cable supplies internet connectivity, equally a wireless router is more portable than a TV.

In this test, you motility the router to all the cables you wish to test and see if you become an internet connection from the router.

Just like in the previous test, you connect the coax cable to the modem the same way you connect it to any other device, which is by screwing or shoving information technology into the appropriate port.

Once your coax cable makes the correct connection with the modem, you then connect to it to test out its net connectivity.

If you lot go internet access through the modem, then y'all know the coax cablevision is working properly.

testing a coax cable with a modem

On the other hand, if y'all don't receive net connectivity, so the coax cable may be bad and needs to be changed.

There is one thing to notation when testing multiple coax cables using the same modem.

If all the coax cable tests nowadays you lot with no internet connection, then the trouble may be with the modem itself and not the coax cables. Cheque information technology for faults.

If your coaxial cable works with cablevision TV, then you simply connect it to your decoder and check whether you get a signal.

Of course, you lot know you have a signal when your video starts playing smoothly.

Decision

Diagnosing your coaxial cable for faults at home doesn't require you lot to take up multiple complicated steps and procedures. You simply utilize a defended coax cable tester or your decoder/modem to find faults.

The test using a modem takes some fourth dimension to consummate and is visibly more stressful than the test using a coax cable tester.

Oftentimes Asked Questions

How Do I Know If My Coax Cable Is Active?

You insert your cable into the DSS-01 coax cable tester and cheque whether you get a green lite. A red light means the cable is non active. Some testers opt for beeps to show if the cable is agile or not.

How Do I Find A Break In A Coaxial Cable?

A multimeter allows y'all to accurately discover breaks in coax cables. You lot ready the multimeter to measure out capacitance or impedance and apply its probes to get a value from the cable.

Should There Be Voltage On Coax Cable?

A coaxial cable isn't expected to concord any corporeality of voltage. If you get a voltage reading exceeding 50 Ac volts from the cable, then there may exist interference with its signal frequency.

    Alex Klein Author

    Author

    Alex Klein is an electric engineer with more than 15 years of expertise. He is the host of the Electro Academy YouTube aqueduct, which has thousands of subscribers.