joel_jones•9d agoProlific Poster

Sat in my van for 10 minutes staring at a coax tester before it clicked

I've been a cable guy for 6 years and always just used the toner to verify signal, never paid attention to the actual dB loss readings on the meter. Last Tuesday in Tulsa I had a job where the modem kept dropping and I finally noticed the return loss was way off on the meter. Any of you guys actually use those readings to find problems or just tone and go like I did?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowan_thomas849d ago

Wait wait wait, six years? Dude, that's insane. I mean, I've been doing this for like a year and a half now and I always check the dB loss readings even if it's just a quick glance before I tone out. Maybe it's just me but catching that return loss early saves me from having to go back to the same house a week later. That Tulsa job sounds like a nightmare if you were staring at the meter and didn't notice it clicking until the end.

ryan_shah389d ago

You ever tried marking the bad spot with a little piece of tape or a sharpie as soon as you see the numbers acting weird? I started doing that after I wasted a whole morning chasing a ghost splitter that was buried in a wall. Saves you from having to stare at the meter the whole time, you can just look for your marks while you walk the line.

parkerbrown9d ago

So you're telling me you've been on the job for a year and a half and you're already smarter than some guy with six years under his belt? Ouch. Honestly, that Tulsa thing was just me being lazy and bored out of my mind. I was probably daydreaming about lunch instead of actually watching the meter like a normal person. But hey, at least I can say I learned my lesson the hard way. Ngl, I respect that you check the return loss right away. It's a smart move. I'm just over here hoping my next bad splice takes me ten minutes instead of a whole afternoon.