Fluke IntelliTone - What a God Send :)

[AndyM]

Well today, I finally forked out for a Fluke IntelliTone 200. What a god send!

Background:
My office is made up of several smaller offices, rented out to different clients by the owner. When I first moved in, I was asked to patch all the network ports that were required. Not as easy as one would expect, as the previous owner of the building, had left all the cables in the network room just hanging, and had removed the patch panels!
Before today, the only real way of testing was to snag each one up to a patch panel, then use a cheap Ethernet tester. It worked, but was extremely long winded, and although it worked, I really wasn't happy with the results.
Come today, and I need to find 3 Ethernet cables from a bunch of about 60 that are still hanging. Got the Fluke out, and found and had them all cabled and checked within 15 minutes!

Not the cheapest bit of kit, but it works, and when it works, I'm more than happy to pay the price.

Andy

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

Just wait until you need to trace a live cable back to a switch. That's when it really shows it's worth

 

[altrenda]

it may seem expensive, but what would you pay when you're standing in the wiring closet staring at a mass of spaghetti with no labels and no idea where to start, hoping that you don't have to disconnect every cable one by one to find the problem?

 

[Martyn]

Well today, I finally forked out for a Fluke IntelliTone 200. What a god send!

Background:
My office is made up of several smaller offices, rented out to different clients by the owner. When I first moved in, I was asked to patch all the network ports that were required. Not as easy as one would expect, as the previous owner of the building, had left all the cables in the network room just hanging, and had removed the patch panels!
Before today, the only real way of testing was to snag each one up to a patch panel, then use a cheap Ethernet tester. It worked, but was extremely long winded, and although it worked, I really wasn't happy with the results.
Come today, and I need to find 3 Ethernet cables from a bunch of about 60 that are still hanging. Got the Fluke out, and found and had them all cabled and checked within 15 minutes!

Not the cheapest bit of kit, but it works, and when it works, I'm more than happy to pay the price.

Andy

Where did you buy it from Andy?

 

[AndyM]

Hi Martyn, Got it from RS Components in Corby. Picked it up directly, as it's only half an hours drive from me. I did call them first though, and glad I did, as it had to be transferred from the Nuneaton branch. They have vans going to and from Corby/Nuneaton on a regular basis, and there's no charge, as it's regarded as an internal transfer.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/video-data-voice-wiring-testers/5136479/

Also picked up a copy of their catalogue. Only 3000 pages long! Good door stop when it is superseded lol

Andy

 

[AndyM]

it may seem expensive, but what would you pay when you're standing in the wiring closet staring at a mass of spaghetti with no labels and no idea where to start, hoping that you don't have to disconnect every cable one by one to find the problem?

Very true. When I was working for corporates, we used Fluke equipment all the time. The quality is outstanding, the time it saves is amazing.

I hope it didn't come across as I was complaining about the price - I wasn't. You get what you pay for, and buck for buck, pound for pound, and euro for euro, Fluke has always been at the premium end of the price structure. BUT.... it is worth every penny through and through! If I got a lesser device, then I am sure it would have taken a lot longer than 5 minutes to locate, cable and then test each connection.

Andy

 

[Martyn]

Hi Martyn, Got it from RS Components in Corby. Picked it up directly, as it's only half an hours drive from me. I did call them first though, and glad I did, as it had to be transferred from the Nuneaton branch. They have vans going to and from Corby/Nuneaton on a regular basis, and there's no charge, as it's regarded as an internal transfer.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/video-data-voice-wiring-testers/5136479/

Also picked up a copy of their catalogue. Only 3000 pages long! Good door stop when it is superseded lol

Andy

Decided to buy one from RS, will be here Friday. I've got a couple of cheap ones but going by my Fluke meter I've had since the 90s Fluke are a good choice.

 

[altrenda]

Very true. When I was working for corporates, we used Fluke equipment all the time. The quality is outstanding, the time it saves is amazing.

I hope it didn't come across as I was complaining about the price - I wasn't. You get what you pay for, and buck for buck, pound for pound, and euro for euro, Fluke has always been at the premium end of the price structure. BUT.... it is worth every penny through and through! If I got a lesser device, then I am sure it would have taken a lot longer than 5 minutes to locate, cable and then test each connection.

Andy

I don't think you were complaining. A lot of techs come here looking for free this or low cost that, and it always makes me wonder. If you are going to really be in business, you have to step up and have the right tools for the job. Sometimes you can get by with the cheap ones , but the good ones often cost real money.

And I was speaking from experience. When I used to be a contract tech, I got stuck in a wiring closet for 7 hours. We had no idea how things were connected, and it took forever to sort it out. I would have paid anything right there and then for the right tool just to get out of there. The guy I worked for lost money on that job; there was no way he could charge for how much time he really spent because we didn't have the tools to do it right.