Description
Sound Tools XLR Sniffer / Sender Cable Tester
The SoundTool Sniffer and Senders are ‘On the fly’, highly reliable, testers with remote ends used in the field to quickly determine faulty XLR cables and for testing phantom power at various stages and locations. They can also be used to quickly test phantom power on snakes.
Please note: the SoundTools Sniffer and Sender units are not intended to replace a multi-meter during your repair phase. These are designed as a fast way to test for faulty XLR cables and phantom power in the field.
Road-tested in the world’s toughest festival tour environments (and run over with a car, just for kicks), the XLR Sniffer/Sender can take an absolute beating and still survive to get you through the next show.
When you need to know quickly whether it’s the mic or the line, the XLR Sniffer/Sender duo will give you an instant result. Test 50+ channels from a snake system in minutes with the Sniffer unit using phantom power from the console, or use the Sender unit to provide phantom power when needed.
The Sniffer unit has 3 LED lights. When attached to an XLR cable that is powered by a phantom power source (either a console or the Sender unit), the Sniffer will light up in either green or red LEDs to show whether the line is good (all green) or has errors (all red or a combination of red and green). The XLR Sniffer/Sender can even test for a pin 2-3 short. Every unit comes in a sturdy, reusable box with a sticker guide defining the LED readout.
Receive Unit – “Sniffer”
Test Mic lines using standard phantom power
Checks mic line for phantom power
The simplest way to trouble shoot snake systems and long installed cables
Checks all potential faults and wiring problems in XLR lines
Can be used with or without the Send Unit
When used with any standard Phantom Power source, the SoundTools Sniffer indicates faults with the following indications:
Phantom present and all wiring is correct (green, green, green))
3/4″ diameter X 3″ in length
Send Unit – “Sender”
Powered by a 12 volt “car alarm” battery – included!
Extremely long battery life. Months to years on a single battery!
On/Off switch allows storing the Send and Receive units plugged into each other.
No battery drain if unit is left on while not plugged in.
Will not harm microphones or electronics if in inadvertently plugged into a cable with a Mic or console attached to the other end.
Instructions:
There are two basic ways to use the Rat Sniffer.
1) Using the Sniffer and Sender together you would attach them to a mic cable, the sniffer on one end and sender on the other. Turn on the sender and if the three LED’s on the Sniffer illuminate green, the mic cable is good. Any other combo is a fault condition that can be decoded with the included card.
Note: you can attach the sniffer directly to the sender to test them. Also, if the Sender is not attached to anything, the battery will not drain so you can leave it on.
2) You can use the Sniffer without the Sender if you have a console that supplies phantom power. In which case you would use the console as the “Sender” and turn on phantom power, plug a mic cable in to that channel and plug the Sniffer onto the other end of the mic cable.
