Were you holding the probes against the wires with both hands? If so, you were measuring your own resistance - which appears in parallel with the insulation resistance of the cable. You can vary the result a little by adjusting your grip.
4pairs of 0.5mm diameter copper CAT5 have a total copper area of 1.57sqmm.
That is quite low for longer cables. Most Builders would use >0.75sqmm per Flow and Return to a speaker.
If you selected some cheap CAT5 you may have ~1.5sqmm of steel core and <<0.7sqmm of copper plating.
That is quite low for longer cables. Most Builders would use >0.75sqmm per Flow and Return to a speaker.
If you selected some cheap CAT5 you may have ~1.5sqmm of steel core and <<0.7sqmm of copper plating.
I'm sitting on about 1 km of bulk CAT5e, it never occurred to me to braid a bunch of it together and try it with speakers 😵.
Might try that V5.
Without reading 100% of the arguments so far, is the general consensus that each section should use all the conductors in each cable, or separated into solids and dashes?
Might try that V5.
Without reading 100% of the arguments so far, is the general consensus that each section should use all the conductors in each cable, or separated into solids and dashes?
Too many small insulated wires in very close proximity will have relatively high capacitance.
Short cables will reduce this.
A pair of 8cores with one 8core as Flow and one 8core as Return will have less capacitance and more inductance. This is a safer alternative for longer cables.
1km is the standard package for cat5 (actually 3000' = 914.4m) I used 3½ packs for my house and I don't count that as bulk. Peanuts to my supplier.
Short cables will reduce this.
A pair of 8cores with one 8core as Flow and one 8core as Return will have less capacitance and more inductance. This is a safer alternative for longer cables.
1km is the standard package for cat5 (actually 3000' = 914.4m) I used 3½ packs for my house and I don't count that as bulk. Peanuts to my supplier.
Haha, yeah, technically speaking it's not "bulk" I guess, I just call it that because it's just a spool of un-terminated wire.
So, I guess I'll try it the same way they did it in the test. Time to see how many I can jam into a SpeakON connector!
It would appear the answer is 3, comfortably.
I was going to burn this wire for scrap copper, but this is much more amusing. In the words of Photonicinduction, "It's bad boy time, let's see what 'appens if we put a 'af million volts fru et."
I was going to burn this wire for scrap copper, but this is much more amusing. In the words of Photonicinduction, "It's bad boy time, let's see what 'appens if we put a 'af million volts fru et."
I was holding the probes individually in separate hands by their plastic grips. Is there a better way to do this? The way the measured resistance steadily dropped at a decreasing rate sure looked like something ... 'systematic', rather than my own resistance and shifting grip. Thanks!
I have a fairly inexpensive RMS auto-ranging meter that does the same thing measuring impedance. It takes about 3 or 4 seconds before it settles and stops counting.
As long as you aren't touching the probe with your fingers and you've got a solid connection from the probe to the wire (try a gator clip), it should work, although measuring low impedance with a standard meter can be iffy.
"ampacity"
The same term amperitás and the related wattitás have been long existing in the electrical sleng in my language, on the analogy of kapacitás (capacitance) and induktivitás (inductance) 😀
The same term amperitás and the related wattitás have been long existing in the electrical sleng in my language, on the analogy of kapacitás (capacitance) and induktivitás (inductance) 😀
I am using Klein MM200, cheap I believe by professional standards but should be serviceable for the DIYer such as myself and certainly superior to the $9.99 analog throw-away voltmeters I've had in the past. I've never seen the meter need to 'settle' on a reading before.
If I understand correctly, the meter reads resistance by offering a known DC voltage to a test load and compares this with the return voltage. Also isn't impedance at a particular frequency, whereas DC is essentially 0 Hz? And lastly, if the meter is reading "M" and "ohm symbol", wouldn't that be very high?
Thanks for all the replies. I neglected to mention the 4th reason for these was to learn new stuff!
As for Cat5, I' ve tried a lot of versions, twisted, braided, etc. They all sounded better after removing the outer cover.
If you want something easy, try coil wire (magnet wire). Most brands are 99.94% copper. I started with just 16 ga. and them went to 16 + 22 + 28, and then double 16 + 22 + 28. It made for a big cable.
I did try 17.5 ga Cardas and it was not bad.
I ended up with 1.5" copper foil and packing tape, which was polypropylene (since I did not want to spring for Teflon tape) and never went back. I built another set from HD paper carton sealing tape for a friend, and he liked it better than the plastic film (do not use with high power amps).
FYI, I use it on a DHT SE amp and high EF speakers. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy the journey.
If you want something easy, try coil wire (magnet wire). Most brands are 99.94% copper. I started with just 16 ga. and them went to 16 + 22 + 28, and then double 16 + 22 + 28. It made for a big cable.
I did try 17.5 ga Cardas and it was not bad.
I ended up with 1.5" copper foil and packing tape, which was polypropylene (since I did not want to spring for Teflon tape) and never went back. I built another set from HD paper carton sealing tape for a friend, and he liked it better than the plastic film (do not use with high power amps).
FYI, I use it on a DHT SE amp and high EF speakers. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy the journey.
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