Triplett Fox & Hound HotWire – PN: 3388 - Manual (Page 4)

Page 3
The Triplett HotWire is a wire tracer for 120VAC and 220VAC circuits. It consists of the HotWire Fox
Transmitter and the HotWire Hound Receiver. The HotWire Fox applies a Radio Frequency (RF) tracing
signal to the wire to be traced, and this RF signal propagates down the wire radiating the signal along the
length of the wire. The HotWire Hound senses the location and strength of this RF signal, and in doing so,
identifies the path of the wire to the user.
The HotWire can also trace other common wires, whether powered or unpowered. For example, it can
trace telephone and cable TV wires, LAN cables, security system wires, and many others. The HotWire
Fox, in addition to generating RF signals, also generates Audio Frequency (AF) signals which can be
sensed with the Triplett Hound, Hound 2, Hound 3, or Hound Jr. In some cases, tracing a wire using the
AF signal is advantageous.
The HotWire Fox also includes a very useful feature called TrueTrace. In situations where it can be used,
it provides positive identification of the wire being traced. This is especially useful in instances where
‘crosstalk’ makes identifying the wire being traced, called the ‘target’ wire, difficult.
The HotWire‘s RF signal can be sensed through most building materials (wood, plaster, drywall,
concrete, brick, etc) and can often be sensed through metal conduit (because the conduit is often poorly
grounded, as far as RF is concerned). The HotWire can even trace shallowly buried underground wires,
like those commonly used for ‘Invisible Fences’, cable television, telephone, or low voltage landscape light-
ing.
The HotWire also includes many other useful features that make it a valuable test tool for many wire
tracing applications.
2: Introduction