May 9, 2014
Beta LaserMike, a leading global provider of precision measurement and control solutions, sees a growing trend among cable producers to automate the quality testing of Category cables. The company’s latest LAN/Data cable testing systems, the new DCM SCS-700 and next-generation DCM ES-2G, effectively meet this demand. These high-performance, bench-top systems enable cable producers to completely automate the testing process, increase productivity, and realise bottom-line benefits.
“Cable producers, cable assemblers, and cable testing organisations alike can’t afford to spend more time than necessary testing cable,” says Richard Snaith, Beta LaserMike’s Sales Director for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India. “In addition, these organisations want to avoid producing cable that does not meet critical quality and performance specifications — which in turn results in costly scrap and rework. Reducing costs and making a profit mean testing more finished quality product in less time. Reducing testing times while achieving optimum accuracy requires optimum efficiency from the equipment and people performing the tests. Our new DCM SCS-700 and ES-2G cable testing systems for LAN/Data cable bring a higher level of precision, performance and quality assurance to cable making and testing organisations. And, this translates into significant time and production savings.”
The new DCM SCS-700 from Beta LaserMike enables cable makers to efficiently test both the high- and low-frequency characteristics of Cat 5e/6/6a cables. The high-frequency (HF) testing range is to 700 MHz. The low-frequency option includes an integrated LCR meter that enables users to test resistance, mutual capacitance and capacitance unbalance at frequencies down to 100 Hz. The low-frequency (LF) testing capability also enables cable makers to test longer cable lengths up to 10 Km and avoid the cutting and scrapping of product to perform required tests. Dual-frequency testing can be performed with a single connection to significantly reduce set-up and testing time. The automated 4-pair switching platform enables HF and LF cable tests to be performed in less than 3 minutes. As with all DCM cable testing systems, the SCS-700 is equipped with easy-to-use test software for comprehensive test data management and reporting.
The latest DCM ES-2G testing platform extends the high-frequency measurement range to test Cat 5e/6/6a/7/7a cables now up to 2.2 GHz. This bench-top system is also optimised to test next-generation 40 Gb/s Cat 8 cables. The base unit includes automatic 4-pair switching and the baluns needed to interface the cable under test to an external vector network analyser for fast cable testing. Testing can be performed in less than 3 minutes. The heart of the system is the software engine that includes a simple, easy-to-use test program with automatic comparison to the test specification, full test reporting and data management.
