Triplett Fox & Hound HotWire – PN: 3388 - Manual (Page 9)

Page 8
The HotWire can be used to identify, for example, the end of a specific Cable TV wire among a group of
Cable TV wires. However , if the wires are bundled together, crosstalk between the wires can make iden-
tifying a specific wire problematic. The Triplett WireMaster Coax or the Triplett WireMaster Mapper are
better suited to this task, allowing up to 8 wires to be easily identified.
The HotWire can be used to identify LAN cables…. and again crosstalk is a problem if the cables are
bundled together. The Triplett WireMaster Mapper, WireMaster XR-2, XR-5 or the Triplett PairMaster
can used to provide positive identification of LAN cables.
HotWire Technology
The Triplett HotWire is a Radio Frequency (RF) Wire Tracer. RF tracers like the Triplett HotWire share
certain characteristics that can be perplexing to an inexperienced user. While the RF signal provides the
HotWire with the ability to trace AC power wires that are ‘live’, a disadvantage to using the RF signal is its
increased tendency to produce ‘crosstalk’ in adjacent wires and conductors.
Crosstalk is the bleeding of the tracer signal from the ‘target’ wire onto adjacent wires and electrical
conductors. Because the signal is a radio signal… its wants to radiate out of the target wire into the space
around it…. in the same way that a radio signal radiates off of an antenna. Consequently, it’s easy for the
RF signal to crosstalk from the target wire to adjacent wires and conductors. The HotWire works best
when the target wire is ‘in the clear’…. that is, not bundled with other wires or run adjacent to metal pipes
or other metal structures.
If the RF signal is applied to a wire that goes through a conduit with numerous other wires, the signal can
crosstalk onto the other wires, making identification of the target wire difficult (because all of the wires will
have some RF signal on them).
If the target wire is in a metal conduit, the RF signal can crosstalk onto the conduit itself. If this occurs, the
HotWire Hound will trace the path of the conduit, not the wire inside. This is OK if the wire and the conduit
go to the same place. But in some instances, the target wire make take a different path if the conduit has
junction boxes with other wires in it.
Sometimes, a metal conduit may contact a metal structural element (like an I-Beam or metal furnace duct).
In some instances, the RF signal can appear on these other metal structures.