After spending just a few minutes with the new CBT-500 Cable Tester from Hosa Technology, the tech director at my home church said, “I need to get one of these for all our campuses.” At just $69.95 list, price shouldn't be an obstacle to getting this vital tool into the hands of trouble-shooters, installers and technicians working in the house-of-worship market.
As one might expect, Hosa Technology says its new CBT-500 Cable Tester is designed to quickly and easily check a variety of cable types, enabling technicians to verify the integrity of a cable before interconnecting equipment. Hosa also says the CBT-500 is ideal for use when preparing for a concert, a studio recording session, or an installation, as well as checking cables afterward in order to ensure working operation the next time.
Sound like something church AV techs—especially those involved in managing portable or satellite campuses—should have at their disposal? We thought so too.
In a multi-site church, or a church with video venues, you're doing a lot of setting up and tearing down, very similar to a rental environment, which puts you in a situation where cables can easily get damaged.
Here's why the new CBT-500 Cable Tester could be an excellent investment for your church. The compact, hand-held unit is capable of testing XLR (three-pin and five-pin), balanced and unbalanced phone (standard guitar-type cable), phono (RCA), Speak-On (with support for two-pole, four-pole, and eight-pole connectors), DIN (multi-pin, including five-pin DIN commonly used for MIDI equipment), Ethernet (RJ-45), and USB Type A to Type B (standard USB to the square USB connector found on most audio interfaces).
We found the Hosa CBT-500 Cable Tester easy to use, and very volunteer-friendly. Its front-panel rotary knob and two rows of eight LED indicators clearly communicate the type of test you're asking the unit to perform, and the results the unit is receiving. The rotary knob on the CBT-500 keeps you on one type of connection, whereas other testers cycle through connections, which can make it hard to test intermittent problems.
It's also the first tester of its kind we've seen with Cat5 connectors. Very cool. However, we were surprised that it does not allow the testing of cables with BNC connectors. Since BNC's are one of the most common types of video cables found in churches, and one of the most common types of cables that churches can make in the field (you don't often make your own USB cables), it seems like an obvious type of connector to include on a cable tester. Not on this version.
Also, the battery compartment (it requires a standard nine-volt batter, which is included) seemed a little loose, but it didn't pose any problems during our evaluation. In fact, overall, the unit seems really durable. The steel case inspires confidence, and the controls and ready outs are clearly labeled.
In the few weeks we've had to evaluate the Hosa CBT-500 Cable Tester, it has proven to be a dependable tool—one that our church plans to deploy across our three campus ministries. Despite one major deficiency (no BNC connectors), it has the most extensive feature set currently on the market, an easy-to-operate, volunteer-friendly interface, and an affordable price tag.
