# Ribbon cable tester **URL:** \ **Category:** DIY STUFF\ **Created:** [August 11, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/ribbon-cable-tester/1600 "2020-08-11T16:07:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 49
**Author:** ![analogoutput](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/analogoutput/32/29663_2.png) [@analogoutput](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/analogoutput)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/ribbon-cable-tester/1600/49 "2024-01-29T22:44:36Z")
If I were going to do a cable tester over again I might not do it this way. Having a display that says “Cable OK” or “shorted” or “bad cable” with information on which conductor has the problem is kind of cool but really what does anything other than “OK” vs. “Not OK” do for you? If it’s not OK there’s not much you can do about it other than cut off the cable end and put a new connector on and test it again. In that case just a simple circuit that puts current through LEDs and that fails to light some of the LEDs if there is a short or a break tells you “OK” or “not OK” in a much simpler way. See: > [@Simple euro rack cable tester](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/simple-euro-rack-cable-tester/3309): > > This seems to be an elegant and simple solution to the problem of checking for continuity and shorts in a self made euro rack cable. You need only a few passive components: It uses only passive components. You connect the DUT (device under test i.e. your self made cable) between SV2 and SV3 (SV1 is for powering the circuit). Given that all LEDs will form a long chain, their summed forward voltages must not exceed the supply’s voltage (he recommends to not use white or b… --- _[View the full topic](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/ribbon-cable-tester/1600)._