IDEAL SIGNALTEK User Manual

SIGNALTEK

Cable Performance Tester

Operation Manual

Rev B. JAN 07 IDEAL INDUSTRIES Inc. 1-1

This document conta ins inf ormati on propr iet ary to IDEAL INDUSTRIES, Inc. The information in this document is not to be used or duplicated in any manner without prior written approval from IDEAL INDUSTRIES.

IDEAL INDUSTRIES and the ID EAL INDU STR IES logo ar e registered tr adem arks of IDE AL INDU STRIES.

All other produc t names menti oned i n this book ar e tradem arke d or copyrighted by their res pective manufactur ers.

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IDEAL INDUSTRIES STANDARD WARRANTY POLICY

IDEAL INDUSTRIES w arr ants tha t all SI GNAL TEK Pro ducts manufacture d or proc ured by IDEA L INDU STRIES co nfor m to IDEAL INDUSTRIES’ publishe d s pecific ations and ar e free fr om defects in materials and workmanship for a period of two (2) years from the date of d elivery to the ori ginal Buyer, w hen us ed und er normal oper ating c on diti ons an d with in t he ser vic e c ondit ions f or which they are designed. This warranty is not transferable and does not apply to used or demonstr atio n products.

The obligation of IDEAL INDUS TRIES arisi ng from a Warranty claim shall be l imite d to r epairi ng, or at its op tion, r epl acing without charge, any assem bly or compon ent (except b atteries an d cabl e adapters), which in IDEAL INDUSTRIES’ sole opinion proves to b e defective within th e scop e of t he W arr anty. In the event IDE AL INDUSTRIES is not able to modify, repair o r repl ace nonconforming defective parts or components to a condition as warranted within a reasonable time after receipt thereof, Buyers shall receive cr edit i n the amou nt of the or igin al inv oiced pr ice of the product.

IDEAL INDUSTRIES must be notif ied i n writi ng of th e defect or nonconformity within the Warranty period and the affected Product returned to IDEAL INDUSTRIES’ factory, designat ed Service Provider, or Aut horiz ed Serv ice C ent er withi n thirty (3 0) days after discovery of such defect or nonconformity. Buyer shall prepay shipping charges and insurance for Products returned to IDEAL INDUSTRIES or its designat ed Ser vice Pro vid er for war ranty service. IDEAL IND USTR IES or its des ignat ed Serv ice Pr ovi der shall pay costs for return of Products to Buyer.

IDEAL INDUSTRIES s hall have n o responsi bility f or any def ect or damage caused by im proper stor age, impr oper inst allatio n, unauthorized modification, misuse, neglect, inadequate maintenance, a ccide nt or for a ny Product whic h has bee n repa ired or altered by anyone ot her tha n IDEA L INDU STRIES or its

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authorized repr esenta tive or n ot in accordan ce with i nstructions furnished by IDEAL IN DUST RIES.

The Warranty describ ed above is Buy er’s s ole and exc lusiv e remedy and no other w arranty, whether wr itte n or oral, ex press ed or implied by statute or cour se of deali ng shall a pply. IDEAL INDUSTRIES specific ally d isclai ms the impli ed warrantie s of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. No statement, representati on, agreem ent, or underst anding, or al or wri tten, made by an agent, distribut or, or employe e of IDEAL INDU STRIES, which is not cont ain ed i n the f ore going W arr anty w ill be bi ndin g upon IDEAL INDUSTRIES, unless made in writing and executed by an authorized representative of IDEAL INDUSTRIES. Under no circumstances shall I DEA L INDU STRI ES be l iabl e for any dir ect, indirect, specia l, inc idental , or consequential damages, expenses, or losses, including l oss of pr ofits, b ased on c ontract, tort, or any other legal theory.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents .........................................................................iv

Table of Figures............................................................................vi

1 Introduction.................................................................................1-1

Cable Qualificati on Testin g........... ... ... .......................................1-1

SIGNALTEK Test Functions......................................................1-3

Cable Types................................................................................1-4

Cable types that c an be t ested with SIGNA LTEK:...................1-6

Test Port and C able Ada pters......... . .. .......................................1-6

Standard Accessories ................................................................1-6

Optional Accessories..................................................................1-7

Memory .......................................................................................1-7

Tests:...........................................................................................1-7

Batteries & Power.................................................................... 1-12

Battery Charging Warnings.....................................................1-14

Graphical User I nterfac e Nav igatio n.......................................1-15

User Interface Navigation........................................................ 1-16

2 Setup and Configuration...........................................................2-1

Wire map Display Color Code ...................................................2-1

Autotest Preferences..................................................................2-2

Autotest Modes...........................................................................2-3

Cable Perform ance S etup.... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .......................................2-4

IP Address Setup........................................................................2-6

Ping Setup...................................................................................2-7

Device Defaults...........................................................................2-8

Owner Information......................................................................2-9

Display Preferences ...................................................................2-9

Timeout Options ......................................................................2-10

Measurement Units ................................................................. 2-11

Date and Time......................................................................... 2-11

Cable ID Prefix......................................................................... 2-12

Language................................................................................. 2-13

Restore Factory Defaults ........................................................ 2-13

Updating Firmware.................................................................. 2-14

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3 Test Storage and Management................................................3-1

Using the Job Ta b Fu ncti ons........ . .. .. . .......................................3-1

Printing and Copying to USB Drives .........................................3-2

Direct PC Connection (Windows XP™ only) ............................3-3

Copy to External USB Drive.......................................................3-3

Printing Directly to a USB Printer...............................................3-4

4 Running Autotests.....................................................................4-1

Beginning an Autotest................................................................4-2

Stopping an Autotest..................................................................4-3

Active Link Testing .....................................................................4-3

No-Link Testing...........................................................................4-4

Manual Tests ..............................................................................4-4

5 Test Results................................................................................5-1

Wire map Results.......................................................................5-1

Wire map Testing Activ e LAN Lin ks..........................................5-2

Link Establishment .....................................................................5-2

Bit Error Rate Tests....................................................................5-3

Performance Test Failures.........................................................5-5

6 Fiber Optic Testing ....................................................................6-1

Overview .....................................................................................6-1

Fiber Qualification Abilities......... ... ... ..........................................6-2

Setup and Calibration.................................................................6-4

7 Troubleshooting & Frequently Asked Questions.................7-1

8 Care and Calibration..................................................................8-1

9 Specifications.............................................................................9-1

10 Customer Service ................................................................. 10-1

IDEAL INDUSTRIES World W ide Contac t Inf ormati on.........10-2

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Table of Figures

Figure 1-1 T-568 A/B Color Code ..................................................1-5

Figure 1-2 SIGNALTEK Handsets .................................................1-9

Figure 1-3 Battery Disc harge C haract eristics.............................1-13

Figure 1-4 AutoTest Tab - Active ................................................ 1-16

Figure 1-5 AutoTest Tab - Inactive..............................................1-17

Figure 2-1 Setup Tab......................................................................2-1

Figure 2-2 Wire map Dis play Pre ferenc es.....................................2-2

Figure 2-3 Autotest Pref erences........ ... .........................................2-2

Figure 2-4 Remote Detected..........................................................2-3

Figure 2-5 Active LAN (Link) Detected ..........................................2-3

Figure 2-6 No Link Detected...........................................................2-3

Figure 2-7 Cabl e Perfor manc e Setup............................................2-5

Figure 2-8 VoIP Setup ....................................................................2-6

Figure 2-9 IP Address Se tup.. .. ... .. ... ... ...........................................2-7

Figure 2-10 Ping Setup...................................................................2-8

Figure 2-11 Owner Information ......................................................2-9

Figure 2-12 Display Contrast....................................................... 2-10

Figure 2-13 Timeout Options....................................................... 2-10

Figure 2-14 Measurement Units..................................................2-11

Figure 2-15 Date and Time.......................................................... 2-11

Figure 2-16 Cable ID Prefi x Setup..............................................2-12

Figure 2-17 Language Setup....................................................... 2-13

Figure 2-18 Factory Defaults...................................... .................2-13

Figure 2-19 Firmware Version..................................................... 2-14

Figure 3-1 Job Tab..........................................................................3-1

Figure 3-2 USB Printer Cable.........................................................3-4

Figure 4-1 Autotest Tab ..................................................................4-1

Figure 5-1 Wire map Results..........................................................5-1

Figure 5-2 Link Esta blishm ent Resu lts..........................................5-3

Figure 5-3 Cab le Per for manc e Res ults. .. .......................................5-4

Figure 6-1 SIGNALTEK-FO Top Connectors................................6-2

Figure 6-2 LC-to-SC cable..............................................................6-3

Figure 6-3 SC Coupler......................................... ...........................6-3

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Figure 6-4 Calibration Setup...........................................................6-4

Figure 6-5 Calibr ati on Compl ete Scre en .......................................6-5

Figure 6-6 Fiber Li nk Establis hment............................................. 6-5

SIGNALTEK Operatio n Manual vii

Introduction

SIGNALTEK is a unique cabling tester that offers the user the ability to test the perfor manc e of a wi de rang e of i nsta lled cabl e system characteristics. With S IGNA LTEK, the us er c an v erify network perfor mance, troubles hoot conn ectivity pr oblem s, and view network s peeds t o determ in e if t he instal led c abl e pr ovides the necessary per form ance t o sup port d esired applic ations.

• SIGNALTEK is easy to use. It offers any installer th e ability t o perform cable perf ormanc e tests an d rapidly locat e connectivity issues.

• SIGNALTEK will generate performance repor ts th at can b e viewed and print ed wit h any w eb br owser. N o spec ial soft ware is necessary makin g it easy to view, pr int, an d sh are test data.

• SIGNALTEK can test c able links in one of thr ee c ondit ions: Terminated with the SIGNALTEK remote device; Active LAN Links that term in ate t o a hub, s witc h, or PC; or to a sin gleended link that is not terminated to a device at the opposite end.

• SIGNALTEK uses two test handsets that allow full-duplex performance test ing of cables at Ethern et sp eeds of up t o 1 Gigabit per second (1Gbps).

Cable Qualification Testing

Most cable i nstall ers are f ami liar w ith TIA-568 or IS O- 11801 cabling standards. All c able cer tif icatio n instrum ents such as IDEAL LANTEK Certif iers perf orm m easurem ents to thes e standards at frequency r anges sp ecifie d by thes e sta ndards. The concept behind cert ificat ion t esti ng is that t he ca ble is bei ng test ed to provide supp ort for any com munic ati ons pr otoc ol t hat op erates in a given frequ enc y ra nge. Fo r som e install ations this le vel of

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testing is critical beca use t he ca bling instal ler do es n ot nec essarily know what type s of devi ces ar e goin g to us ed on t he network.

For example, a netw ork that h as been c ertifie d to meet the requirements f or Cat eg ory 5e perf orma nce c an s up port v ario us applications such as 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet, 155Mbps ATM, RS-488, RS-232, and many more. However, it is often the case that in any reside ntial or c ommerc ial n etwork, Ether net devic es wil l be the only typ e us ed.

SIGNALTEK uses the IEEE 802.3 ab (Gigabit Ethernet) standar d as a refere nce for c abl e perf or manc e test ing. Rat her t han a traditional certi ficat ion t est where frequ ency-b ased par ame ters such as Near E nd Cr osstalk ( NEX T) and re turn l oss ar e me asur ed, performance or q ualificat ion t esting , as it is s ometim es calle d, is a Bit Error Rate Test (B ERT). D ata p ackets a re se nt dow n th e cabl e to the remote handset then re-transmitted back to the display handset where t he numb er of lost or err ored pa ckets is co unted. The results are dis pl ayed f or t he us er t o get a n insta nt view of t he cable’s perform ance. A ca ble perf orm ance t est is marked as a “pass” or “fail” based on the I EEE 80 2.3ab param eters wh ich specify the num ber of error pa ckets allowe d in a giv en test tim e.

The IEEE (Institut e of Electr ical and Electr onic Eng ineers) has created a set of standards that allows hardwar e and softwar e to perform over a vari ety of medi a. U nlike the EIA/TIA wh ich s pecifi es cabling limits to s uppor t variou s comm unic atio ns pr otoco ls, t he IEEE creates the actual pr otocols . The 802 struc ture addr esses th e following tra nsmissi on proto cols :

• 802.3 Ethernet over a phys ical medium (tw isted pair )

• 802.4 Token passing over a Bus topology

• 802.5 Token passing over a Ring topology

• 802.11 A family of wireless signaling standards (Wi-Fi)

• 802.12 Shared medi a stan dard t hat w ill supp ort Et her net an d

Token Ring on the s ame phys ical n etwork

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SIGNALTEK Test Functions

SIGNALTEK can perform a var iety of both passive and act ive test s on communications cabl e. The pass iv e tests are th ose w her e SIGNALTEK is co nnecte d to bot h ends of t he c abl ing l ink. Activ e tests are those in which one end of the link is connected to an active network devic e such as a PC, switch, router or othe r device and the opposit e end of the link is co nnect ed t o the SI GNALTE K handset.

• Wire map – D ispl ays t he phys ical p arin g of t he c abl e. A ls o displays the length of e ach pair, t he cond ition of the termination (te rmin ated, ope n, sh orted) and t he del ay skew when a Gigabi t link is establi shed.

• Link Establishm ent – D ispl ays the f astest Ether net s peed t hat SIGNALTEK was able to esta blis h on the li nk. When the li nk is terminated with a SIGNA LTEK remote hands et, Link Establishment will dis play 10, 10 0 or 1000 Mbps dependin g on the quality of the ca bling. When connected to an active LAN link, Link Establishm ent will dis play th e fastes t speed that was negotiated with the remote switch/ hub/NIC.

• Cable Performanc e – Disp lays the BERT dat a results for l inks tested between the SIGNALTEK display and remote handsets. Information dis playe d include s: packet size, t otal nu mber of packets transmitted, number of packets received, number of packets with errors, a nd a percent age bar gr aph of each.

Note: The setup options allow the Cable Performance test to be run with default IEEE

802.3 parameters or customized with a user defined test time a nd f ailur e thr es hold.

• VoIP (Voice over IP) P erf ormanc e – Simila r to t he C able Performance test ex cept t hat the pack ets ar e smaller to accurately simulate VoIP transmissions.

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• Web Performanc e – Per forma nce te st that s imulat es the size and payload of typical internet packets.

• IP Video Performanc e – Perfor mance test th at simulat es the size and payload of typica l IP vi deo applic atio ns.

Note: IP Video is not the same as CATV broadband video. This test is useful to test twi sted pair links that will be used to suppo rt IP cameras for security applications.

• DHCP – When connected to active Ethernet networks the display handset will locate a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Pr otoc ol) ser ver a nd request a n IP addr ess fro m the server. The dat a displaye d is: SIGN ALTEK ’s IP address, IP address of the DH CP s erv er, th e IP address of the ne twork router, IP su bnet, and t he nam e of t he inter net servic e provi der (ISP).

• Ping – Displays the results of the ping test when S IGNA LTE K is connected to an acti ve Ethe rnet n etwor k. T he us er can choose the targe t IP ad dress to ping, t he p acket s ize, the number of packets to send, the delay between packets, and the failur e thr esh old.

Cable Types

SIGNALTEK is comp atib le with a vari ety of cabl e type s an d configuratio ns. Cable Perf orma nce tests can be run on any type of twisted pair cable that s uppo rts Ethernet . S ince 10/100 E thern et requires a minim um of two pairs to operate, ca bles w ith only o ne pair cannot be tested for Ethernet performance, this inc ludes c oax cable types .

When performi ng a Ca ble Per form ance test it is imp ortant t o consider the ph ysic al wiri ng re quirem ents o f Ether net. If the c abl e is not wired in a co mpati ble ma nner, t he C abl e Perfor manc e test will be unabl e to r un s ince an Ether net link can not be establ ished.

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10/100 Ethernet requires two twisted pairs to be terminated to the RJ-45 connector. Each transceiver will transmit on pins 1/2 and receive on pi ns 3/6.

Figure 1-1 T-568 A /B Col or C ode

There is no performanc e differ ence between T5 68-A and T568-B wiring config urati ons. How ever m ost standa rds r ecomm end t he use of the T568-A c onfig urati on si nce it provi des bett er compatibility with telephone wiring used in residential applications.

Gigabit Ethernet (100 0Base- T) oper at es over C ateg ory 5 or bett er cable and utilizes a ll four p airs of th e cable.

Table 1-1 Ether net Sign aling

RJ-45 Pin # 10/100 Mbps 1000Mbps

1 Tx + Bi-Dir A + 2 Tx - Bi-Dir A 3 Rx + Bi-Dir B + 4 Unused Bi-Dir C + 5 Unused Bi-Dir C 6 Rx - Bi-Dir B 7 Unused Bi-Dir D + 8 Unused Bi-Dir D -

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Cable types th at ca n be t ested with SIGNA LTEK:

• CAT 3 UTP

• CAT 3 STP

• CAT 5e UTP

• CAT 5e STP

• CAT 6 UTP

• CAT 6 STP

• CAT 6a UTP

Test Port and Cable Adapters

SIGNALTEK is configur ed to allow testing of th e follow ing interfaces :

• RJ45, 4 pair UTP/STP

• RJ12, 3 pair UTP Telephone wire

• CAT 6a STP

• CAT 7 STP

• USOC (3 pair)

• Single Pair

• RG6

• RG59

• Coaxial Connector Type “ F”

Standard Accessories

• 2 x RJ45 STP Cat 5e patch cord

• 2 x RJ45 to RJ12 silver satin telephone patch cord

• 2 x RJ45 to coaxial “F” adapter cord

• 2 x RJ12 to alligator clip cable

• 2 x RJ45 to RJ12 adapter

• USB “A” to mini “B” cable

• 8 x AA alkaline batteries

• Soft-sided carrying case

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Optional Accesso ries

• 120-240 volt AC power adapter with multi nati onal plugs ( Part Number 4010-00-0136)

Memory

SIGNALTEK test records are stored internally in the display unit and can be copied t o a USB memory driv e. Inter nal m emory capacity is approxi mately 20, 000 re cords. Exter nal mem ory capacity is limited only by the s ize of th e USB me mory driv e.

Stored record fil es can b e copied t o a PC u sing a c ommon USB memory drive device or be transferr ed to the PC from the SIGNALTEK with the provided USB cable.

Tests:

The following t able i ndicat es which t ests c an be r un on a v ariety of cable types .

Note: All cable performance measurements require the presence of at least two pairs of wires terminated in accordance with the TIA-568 A/B wiring configuration. Cable performance tests cannot be run on cables terminated with the USOC wiring c o nfi g uration or on cables with few er than 2 pairs of conductors (i.e. coax, alarm, speaker wire).

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Table 1-2 Cab le Test Abilit y Ch art

Cable Typ es

Data

CAT 5 UTP X X X X X X X X CAT 5e UTP X X X X X X X X CAT 6 UTP X X X X X X X X CAT6a UTP X X X X X X X X CAT 5 STP X X X X X X X X CAT 5e STP X X X X X X X X CAT 6 STP X X X X X X X X CAT 6a STP X X X X X X X X CAT 7 STP X X X X X X X X

Phone CAT 3 - 3 pair X X X X X X X 10/100

Mapping

Shorted Pairs

Opens

Reversed Pairs

Length

Distance to Open

Distance to Short

Cable Performance

(10/100/1 00 0Mb p s)

CAT 3 - 4 pair X X X X X X X X

Coax RG 59/6 X X X X X X

Misc. 2-Wire X X X X X X

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Figure 1-2 SIGNALTEK H andset s

The following t abl e descri bes the function of each button and LED on the SIGNALTEK handsets.

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Table 1-3 Key and LED Functions

Button Function

F1-F4 keys are used t o p erform different functi ons depending on the current scre en. Options f or these ke ys are displ ayed on the LCD above ea ch key.

When pressed, the SIGNALT EK display will automatical ly change to the Autotest tab and begin running an Autotest. Pressing the Aut otest button o n the r emote handse ts will also initiate an Autotest.

Brings up the Manual tab. Individual tests can be selected and run for diagnostics or troubleshooting. Manual tests cannot be stored to memory.

Pressing this button on the remote handset while connected to an active LAN port w ill dis play t he spee d of t he devic e (PC or switch) at the other end of t he link.

Brings up the J ob t ab wh ere t he nam e of eac h job f older and the number of stor ed t ests ar e displ ayed.

The directional keypad and Enter keys are used to navigate around the SIGN ALTE K user int erfac e. W hen t he t ab col or is yellow, the left and ri ght arrow key s are use d to move between the tabs. Pressing up or down scrolls through the options within each tab. To change tabs, make sure to press up or down until the t ab c olor c hanges back to y ellow.

The alpha-num eric k eys ar e us ed to e nter t ext an d numb ers into various f ields i n the SIGN ALTE K user int erf ace. Press ing a key multiple ti mes will cycle thro ugh the let ters an d number on that key. Us e th e left arrow on t he dir ecti onal k ey pad t o backspace and er ase t he cha racter to th e left of t he c ursor.

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The # key also funct ions a s Escape to r eturn to t he pr evious screen.

The power button turns SI GNAL TEK on and off an d also controls the back lig ht brightne ss. To tur n on, pr ess an d release the b utton. To tur n the pow er off, p ress and H OLD the button until the scr een tur ns off, t hen rele ase. Tap t he button to cycle b etween the thre e backl ight bri ghtn ess levels ; High, Low, and Off.

Press and hold for 5 s econ ds to turn off the remote handset.

Remote Handset Functions

LINK LED

LOOPBACK LED

STATUS LED

Indicates the det ection of the S IGNA LTEK dis play or an active LAN device. Lights green when the remote detects that it is connected to the display handset. Lights red when the r emote detects another active LAN devic e such as a switch .

Lights green whe n a cabl e perf orma nce test is running. Indicat es that a li nk is establ ished and the handsets are transmitting data to e ach ot her.

During a test, flashes green to indicate a test is in progress. After a test, l ights g reen to i ndicat e a pass or red to indicate a fail.

When the to an active LAN, the S TATUS LED lig hts red t o

button is pressed whil e conn ected

indicate 10Mbps, flas hes green to indicate 100Mbs, or lights steady green to indicate 1000Mbps.

BATTERY LED

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Lights green, oran ge, or re d to indic ate batt ery charge status.

Batteries & Power

Each SIGNALTEK hands et is power ed by four AA batteri es. Alkaline batteries are included . User s uppli ed NiMH or NiC d rechargeable batter ies may be used i n either handset.

The optional AC-DC power supply may be used to powe r the handsets for extended periods of time.

If using recharge abl e batter ies, th ey m ust be c harge d in an external char ger. Th e Gigabit tra nsceiv er in th e handsets dr aws a considerable am ount of pow er wh en perf ormi ng c abl e tests, therefore high- capacit y NiMH batter ies are r ecomm ended . Bat tery capacities of 2300-25 00mAh will provi de the be st runtime between charges.

Note: The power inpu t por t is only u sed t o provide power to the handsets. It will not charge batteries that are installed in the handsets. This is a safety feature as accidental charging of alkaline batteries can cause the batteries to rupture, possibly damaging th e instr ument or c aus ing bo dily har m.

SIGNALTEK consum es pow er eve n when turn ed off. W hen not used for several days it is recommended that the batteries be removed from the handset to prev ent accidental dr ain. A s an alternative, a sm all piec e of paper or plastic c an be insert ed between one of the b atteri es and a n electri cal c ont act to br eak th e electrical circ uit.

Alkaline batteries can leak when left in an electrical device for an extended period of time. This can cause damage to the electrical circuits in SIGNALTEK. Please take the actions above to prevent dam age to y our t ester.

SIGNALTEK’s battery li fe indicat or is calibr ated for stand ard alkaline (1.5 volt) cel ls. Usi ng rec harge able batt eries will c aus e the

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battery indicator t o behave dif fere ntly t han it does wit h alkali ne batteries becaus e of t he differ ent cel l volta ge and d ischar ge characteristics.

Alkaline batteri es disc har ge in a linear f ashi on an d the battery indicator will gradua lly c hange from gr een t o yellow to re d.

Rechargeabl e batteri es s uch as NiM H have a lo wer star ting voltage (1.2 volts per cel l) and will h old a c onsta nt volt age for most of their life then su ddenly disc harge v ery rapi dly.

When using NiMH batt eri es the i ndic ator w ill rem ain gr een for a short time, and th en tur n yellow for mos t of th e life o f the batt eries. Once the indicat or tur ns red th e pack is n early c om pletely discharged and the test er will turn off very shortl y becaus e of the discharged battery pack.

Figure 1-3 B att ery Di scha rge C har acte risti cs

5.5

4.5

Volts

3.5

0 5 10 15 20

Time

Alkaline NiMH

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Battery Charging Warnings

The DC power input port is not designed to charge batteries that are installed in SIGNALTEK. However, it is possible that a component f ailur e may c ause t he unit to charg e batt eries caus ing the batteries to ru pture, dam aging t he SIGNALTE K or causi ng personal injury.

To prevent accident al ch arging, IDEAL rec ommen ds that t he external power adapter s only b e used w hen batter ies are n ot installed in the tester.

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Graphical User Interface Navigation

When turned on, SIGNALTEK will display the firmware version number then boot up to t he AutoT est tab. T his s ection o f the manual will describe the various screens and the i nformati on displayed in each screen.

There are fo ur prim ary dis play scr eens i n the S IGNALTE K graphical user interface.

• AutoTest – Displays the t ests t hat will be run w hen t he A utotes t button is pr essed. Als o lets t he us er ch oose t he ca ble ID that will be used for the next test. Each time an Autotest is run the results are automatic ally s tored t o t he inter nal m emory in t he active job file.

• Manual – Displays a listin g of tes ts that can be run indiv idually. Selecting a test w ith the u p/down ar rows then pres sing F1 will run a test. Test s run from the Ma nual tab ca nnot be sav ed.

• Job – Displays a listi ng of curr ent job f iles. Jobs can b e added, edited, or delete d. Selectin g a job and pr essing Ent er will display a list of tests stored in that job. Pressi ng Ent er agai n will display the results of individual tests.

• Setup – Displays a listi ng of options for the oper ati on of SIGNALTEK.

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