EoW November 2009

Feature

Photo courtesy of microstudio.net

Testing & measuring T here are several ways of determining how much wire remains on a partially spent spool. Here is one: “Measure a sample length of wire. Then, weigh the whole spool. You must have an equivalent empty spool to know the tare weight that needs to be subtracted.” The company providing this valuable information does not sell scales, or spools, but rather cable testing equipment of the utmost sensitivity and accuracy; and the Counting Scale method does not detain it for very long. It moves quickly to Time-Domain Reflectometry, for multi-conductor cable; to the Volt Ohm Meter (VOM, or multimeter) for both single- and multi-conductor measurement; then to a trio of testers that employ a computer-based scripting feature to perform the wire length calculation in less than three seconds. Here we are in more familiar territory, the decades dissolving behind us. But the charming reminder of the calculations belonging to an earlier age in wire making is a welcome reminder of how much is owed to the testing and measuring professionals represented in the pages of this section.

58

EuroWire – November 2009