atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Recommended Probes/Toners

I seem to go thru a filter probe (Tempo 200FP)every 8 months and it is getting expensive. Does anyone have any other probes they really like?

Also looking to replace the Tempo HP toner I have... Looking for high output and might spring for LAN light blinking if the price is right.

Thanks 4 any recommendations.

Aines toners/probes are also very good. That's what the telco's issue.
Jeff

And that's what I use too. :thumb:

Tempo (whatever that is) must be real junk if they only last 8 months.

-Hal

My Tempo probes (progressive electronic) probes seem to lose the ability to pick up tone after about a year. New batteries don't help. I called them for repair, and the repair cost was more than a new one.

The fluke probe is pretty nice.

My tempo probe/toner still work fine, but i'm sure it gets a LOT less use then yours.

Been through 2-sets of batteries and they are about 3 years old.

I like using the Ideal VDV tester as a toner. Works easily for voice, nework and video cabling. You can change which pairs you throw the tone onto at the touch of a button. I include it in the tool kit I give our students at the beginning of the program. I wish I had one when I was still in the field. One drawback is that it doesn't come with aligator clips.

I also have two types of Ideal probes. The basic probe works well enough, but I wouldn't expect it to survive much abuse. I would rather have my old Progressive probe. I also have the Ideal ABS tester, which I do like. You can plug it directly into a jack and listen to dial tone, so it gives you basic butt set functionality. The ABS probe came with a toner that I don't care for and don't use.

My Progressive 77HP toner and 200EP probe are pretty old, maybe 15 years or so. Neither seems to ever need the battery replaced. I have others, but that's my favorite. Left it on a job site one day and found it again about a month later on a return visit, still on and still generating tone! Amazing.

I have a newer Tempo 77HP/6A toner that needs a new battery about once a month. The Fluke Pro3000 toner needs a new battery about once a week (the probe battery lasts forever).

Can't remember the last Tempio (PEI - Progressive)toner or reciever I replaced. Last forever (at&t now issues them in this area). Try the 77GX....has high freq, multiple speeds, works good on CAT cable.

My two cents.....

I've got the same toner/probe as catfish. Only time the toner ate a battery is when I forgot to shut it off in my bag and didn't touch it for 2 months. It still made tone but it was pretty inconsistent at that point

I'm sure this is old news for a lot of you seasoned guys, but this might help out the younger technicians.

When trying to tone out Cat5 wire, the very nature of the wire construction, i.e. the tight twists, will cause the test tone to be very hard to hear with a probe.

To get much better tone, and get the job done more quickly, send the tone on two half-pairs (for instance the tip side of two pairs) instead of a full pair. The unbalance will allow the tone to bleed out along the jacket.

I have a little test cord I made up that has the ability to convert the usual T&R output of my toner, to the above scheme. It allows me to find wires right away in a big bundle of roughed-in wiring, or on a 66 block or jack panel.