I thought those cheap fiber optic testers from the online marketplace were junk until a hangar fire drill.

We had a surprise drill at the Phoenix base last month and the main comms line went down, so I grabbed a $40 tester from my bag as a last resort. It pinpointed a broken splice in the overhead cable run in under two minutes, saving us a huge headache. What's one tool you doubted that actually saved your skin on the line?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.brooke2mo agoMost Upvoted

My old boss used to call my knockoff cable certifier a toy. That same "toy" found a nasty impedance mismatch in a new hospital wing last Tuesday, right before their inspection. Sometimes the cheap stuff just works.

roberts.jordan1mo ago

Yeah, like what @lopez.brooke said, you just need it to work once. For me it was a no-name punch down tool. The spring in my good one broke on a Friday afternoon with a whole office of new drops to terminate. That ten dollar backup felt flimsy but it got every single one done. It's still in my bag, just in case.

knight.drew2mo ago

Actually read a forum post about those bargain bin toner probes. The guy swore his cheap one found a break in a bundle when the fancy Fluke couldn't isolate it. Makes you reconsider what's actually junk.