I did a search in this forum but could not confirm from the threads here.

Using a traditional toner, will it work? 9 speakers on one run, all set to 30 watt tap settings.

For Ernie: Atlas Fatp62 (going by memory)

Yes, but they will all tone

cb1, why is that a problem?

FP,
We do it all the time.
What do you want to accomplish?
Understand this about the tone generator: It's a low level audio signal generator with resistance in its output. If you connect that to an 8 ohm speaker, you won't get much volume, since 8 ohms is much less than the output impedance of the toner. But you'll get MORE output when feeding a higher impedance! That's why you'll often have ten 70 volt speakers playing louder than an 8 ohm speaker.

One test: We connect one lead of the tone generator to earth ground, then verify that the speaker wire is not grounded. We can then search around the property with the wand for tone, which tells us where the wiring goes. The wand will find the wire if the wire is not in conduit and the wand is within a foot, usually further, of the wire.

OR: We connect the two tone generator leads to the two speaker wires, which allows us to hear all the speakers that are connected (cb1 presents this as a problem, but I don't see why). With our magnificently calibrated ears, we walk around and do a Nipper* under each speaker to assess the volume as a crude means of ensuring that all the speakers are connected at the same power level.




*do a Nipper: angle our heads so we can hear better.

We are installing them tomorrow and running the wire...and all of them toning would be the desired result of the test. Just wanting to verify that are all connected and will work when we hook up the equipment in mid July

Why would you not use a cheap sound meter. Even the app on a smart phone would work well for this. Not calibrating to a precise level, just making sure all levels are relative to each other.

Walking around doing it by ear would invite flaws. Easy to have a speaker off by 1 tap settings and completely miss it by ear.

This assumes that the wire was also tested and the math done for the current draw. Which would also tell you all the tap settings are correct - per design.

I didnt interpret his comment as a "problem" per say, I read it as just a comment.

From my experience, they gone better than 8ohm speakers. I don't know why someone had to write the equivalent of a grade school essay to basically say yes.

What's that in English?


And you don't EVER have to read anything I write. Oddly, that was the advice given to Mr. Stanley over and over. I don't remember if you were one of the people who gave him that advice.

The reason is to advance everyone's understanding of what we do. You might know everything, but the very fact that this was asked means that not everybody is as advanced as you are.

Ernie, are you using the fox and hound type for this discussion? You mention the wand. As an FYI, I have a toner with hi/low level outs made by Navone Engineering. Not sure they are still around. Works well on all speaker configurations.
Wow, still around. Davidnavone.com
Think I bought mine in the early 90's maybe late 80's.
Listed under tools

Yes. I have never heard universal terms for these things, that everyone understands, particularly calling the wand the toner. It's like calling an IR emitter an "eye" when it outputs light instead of "seeing" light. I was surprised by the term fox and hound when I first heard it some ten years ago, and I'm still not used to it. I have to think every time -- which is the fox, which is the hound?


Right, which is probably what told you fox and hound. By the way, what kind of toner for this purpose is there that's not the two-piece fox and hound?


These have been made for a long long time. In the mid 60s I once found a wand on the grass between the street and the sidewalk. I had zero idea what it was, but the screwdriver soon helped me see it was pretty complicated. Back then, they had not transistorized things. This one was about the same size as today's wands, but it had a couple of very skinny tubes (yes, radio tubes), so skinny that the contacts were pieces of bare wire. Also, a low voltage battery for the filaments and a 90 volt battery for the plate supply were in there. And it was the same size as today's wands!

Clear and concise answer, Thank you

Never heard of a Fox hunt? Hounds chase Foxes.

Does this help?

I've heard of them, yes. They're nothing I think about on a yearly basis, let alone a daily basis.

In a foxhunt the fox moves rapidly and randomly and makes as little sound as possible. With this test method, the fox does not move and its entire intention is to make the hound make noise in a particular way.

In a foxhunt the hounds move as rapidly as possible following the movements of the fox, and the hounds make a lot of noise. In this test mode the hound only makes noise when it is near the fox and that noise varies in loudness in direct relation to its proximity to the fox.

You don't want to see a further breakdown of the ways in which the fox and hound metaphor differ from a foxhunt.

I was thinking about updating the Wikipedia entry for “pedant” with this as an example. Thoughts?

Sounds appropriate.