Weapon/Body Cord Tester Feedback Wanted!

[EricS]

Hey All,

I'm starting some preliminary research for a pocket weapon/body cord tester product (similar in concept to those nice little Favero 4-light testers), and I'm interested in any ideas you guys have for the perfect pocket tester.

Now is a good time to loose your tongue and tell me your ideas for features and functions that you'd like to see in a pocket tester. Tell me what you don't like about the existing testers, and what weaknesses you've found. This is your opportunity to influence the design of a new pocket tester!

Don't limit yourself to what you *think* can be implemented in a pocket-sized device. Would you like it to talk? Should it have a built-in tip-tape remover? Can opener? Obnoxious game show buzzer to use on bad referees?

How much would you be willing to pay for such a test box? I am sure everyone wants one for free but we need to remember: there ain't no such thing as a free lunch!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Later,

Eric

[neevel]

The ideal would be a low-range (0-20 ohms) resistance readout, a socket for the weapon-end of the cord (perhaps just a 2-prong, with an adapter dongle for bayonet and others), combined with a way to easily test all direct- and cross- resistances. You could have A,B, and C buttons. Press the A button, you get the A-A resistance, press the B, get B-B resistance, etc. Press A and B together, you'll get the A-B crossover resistance displayed, and so forth.

Even if an actual resistance readout isn't practical, some way of indicating "passing" (i.e., R <= 1 ohm) as opposed to "functional" would be nice-- perhaps a bi-color LED that would show one color for a passing, another for functional-but-not-passing.

The short-break indicators on the Favero are useful and something similar should be included.

-Dave

[veeco]

- Something that works for all socket types
- Can be used to test a weapon without body cord
- can be used to test a wepon without a socket (some kind of alligator clips that you could put on the bare wires)

Neveel's suggestions would be nice too ;-)

[sallearmourer]

You have to ask about cost the body tester I build with Radio Shack Parts run about 100.00 threw in three go anlong meters you looking at 150.00 just to test bodycords.


Tim

[mifencer]

Originally posted by neevel

The short-break indicators on the Favero are useful and something similar should be included.

-Dave

VERY USEFUL. It's pretty annoying to 'fix' a body cord or weapon, test it w/an ohm meter, then bring it to the strip and it has a short somewhere but not a break.

[EricS]

Some good suggestions there!

The short/break indicators are an excellent idea--it's really hard to see certain intermittent signals in foil.

I hadn't thought of making the tester large enough to test a body cord by itself, but that does remain an interesting possibility. Something like the Favero pocket tester is more what I was thinking of.

Of course, most fencers glance askew at the large number of knobs, meters, switches, lights, and connections on many armorer's test boxes. A pocket tester needs to be simple enough for a non-technically inclined fencer to use.

Later,

Eric