View Full Version : Continuity checker.
Dave Lehnert
01-10-2015, 9:49 PM
I Have a continuity checker like the one in the photo below. Nothing fancy, very basic. $3 at the big box store.
Anyone know of one sold like it that also has a tone/ buzzer?
I have a Multimeter with tone but it takes up too much space on my bench when building cables.
http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-f5ce/k2-_22df3627-d97c-4aa3-a8b8-37470a11fe8e.v1.jpg
Lee Schierer
01-11-2015, 10:34 AM
Here is a home made one. Buzzer continuity tester (http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Dirt-Cheap-Continuity-Tester-with-LED-555-IC/)
Tom Stenzel
01-11-2015, 11:31 AM
Another way: Take the brass key off of your Morse Code practice Oscillator and put test leads on it.
Huh, what, doesn't everyone have a Heathkit HD-1416-B sitting on a shelf? ;) What a world, what a world.
How about using something like a Radio Shack piezioelectic buzzer (less than $5) taped to a battery? Add wire and test probes as needed. If it takes up valuable workbench space attach it to a riser. And put it in a nice wood box. :)
-Tom
Marty Gulseth
01-11-2015, 12:26 PM
wow, Tom! Someone else here who remembers Heathkits!
Regards, Marty
Jim Koepke
01-11-2015, 1:57 PM
wow, Tom! Someone else here who remembers Heathkits!
Regards, Marty
We are not all young uns. My oldest brother built his own CW transmitter from a kit back in the 1950s.
Dave, what you may be looking for is a product from Mallory called a Sonalert.
http://www.google.com/search?q=sonalert&client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&oq=&gs_l=
I had a large one with a few old AA batteries taped to the outside that I used for years working on electronics. I used it because it was free to me and the batteries were too weak for the flashlight they were in. I have some of the smaller ones around someplace, but it looks like they may be cheap enough and you may be able to source them inexpensively locally.
jtk
David G Baker
01-11-2015, 2:05 PM
I still have a few somewhere that I haven't used for a while. I loved building their kits when I was much younger. I probably still have the HD-1416-B sitting around as well along with the code training course along with the audio tapes that came with it. Ah, the good old days.
Tom Stenzel
01-11-2015, 4:54 PM
If you decide to build it and go the Radio Shack route search their website for "buzzer". They have several of the piezo type buzzers for less than $5. The Mallory Sonalets are the same type of noisemaker but cost more, are better constructed and have a ridiculous life of 50,000 hours or something like that. I installed several Sonalerts at work for alarm systems and as far as I know none failed in 20+ years.
Places to find them: Computer motherboards but might not be loud enough, microwave ovens, kids toys that have to make a beep now and then,
I have one but the frequency goes up and down like a police siren. If it were a steady tone I'd drop it in the mail. This thread made me go out in the garage and dig through my Junque Pyle.
-Tom
Dave Lehnert
01-11-2015, 6:08 PM
Thanks for all the tips so far.
Jonathan Martell
01-16-2015, 8:20 AM
Here's one someone built. Complete with pictures.
http://www.jestineyong.com/continuity-tester/
I didn't see any commercially available ones out there, as most people have a meter these days.
Matt Meiser
01-16-2015, 8:41 AM
Better hurry if you want to buy something at Radio Shack. I've been in 2 different malls since Christmas and in both the Radio Shack was having a "Clearance" sale on EVERYTHING in the store, not that there was much left. They were using the same signs the liquidators always use.
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