Re: Detecting where a coax cable goes to

["Charlie Bress" <cbress@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

<bruno.lerer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1137886728.287403.99300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I have what I think is an unsual question which I couldn't find an
> answer to: in my attic there is a coax splitter with several coax
> outputs to coax cables which snake into the ceiling and disappear in
> the boweles of the house. They are all of the same color and have no
> identifying marks.  In the house itself, there are coax jacks in
> several rooms.
>
> And now the question: is there a way to determine, without buying
> expensive equipment, which cable in the attic leads to which room?
> Since not all coax jacks in the rooms are connected to a tv, it's not
> just a matter of disconnecting one cable after another from the
> splitter and seeing which tv loses its signal.
>

Let's assume there are no other splitters involved.
Forget the battery method.
Go to RadioShack or equivalent and buy a  75 ohm terminator.
If you don't own a test meter, get the cheapest one you can find that
measures resistance.
Disconnect all the sets that are attached to the cable system
Put the terminator on one wall outlet.
At the splitter disconnect, all the cables.
Take the meter and at the splitter end find the cable that measures about 75
ohms between the center pin of the cable connector and the outside of the
cable connector.
Tag both ends of that cable.
Move the terminator to the next wall outlet and repeat.
Having an assistant who can move the terminator around and communicate to
the attic is a great time and effort saver.

Charlie