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Topic:
Labelling Patch Cables
This thread has 18 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 07:05
crosen
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I'm curious what convention others use for labelling patch cables.

For example, consider an HDMI cable that runs from the family room cable box to the CBL/SAT input on the family room AVR. And, assume this is in a rack with multiple cable boxes and AVRs.

What would your label say on the cable box side? What would your label say on the AVR side?

I'm of the mind that a patch cable label should have the TO and FROM info on both sides. So, the cable box side would essentially say "MBRCable <-> FRAVR.CBL", and the AVR side would say "FRAVR.CBL <-> MBRCable".

This can lead to some pretty long labels, though, so perhaps it's not always ideal. Thoughts?
If it's not simple, it's not sufficiently advanced.
Post 2 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 08:00
Mac Burks (39)
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We have numbers generated for patch cables but I usually label thing like this...


Family Cable
Family AVR
CBL/SAT IN

Or...when distributing head end sourc s with a matrix switch.

Cable Box 1
DM IN 2

I have also started including electrician number wrap labels. So for example if you have 8 sources connected to 1-8 inputs on a DM switch I would put a 1-8 label depending on where it's connected. This saves me a lot of time when I have to swap out a dead or defective component. I do the same with a patch panel or surge protector. I can unplug it all and not need schematics or spreadsheet to wire things back up. Just connect 1-1 and 2-2.
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Post 3 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 08:08
Fins
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Don’t just label. also document. On the TV or AVR side, put Living Room Cable Box. At the Cable Box, put Living Room or AVR. Then document everything. Create a list for each device (TV, AVR, Matrix, switch, etc) listing what’s connected to each input/output
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.

OP | Post 4 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 08:11
crosen
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On June 19, 2019 at 08:00, Mac Burks (39) said...
We have numbers generated for patch cables but I usually label thing like this...

Family Cable
Family AVR
CBL/SAT IN

So, your labels have 3 rows of text? I guess they are tag style?
If it's not simple, it's not sufficiently advanced.
Post 5 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 10:02
lippavisual
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Create a label sheet.

HDMI cables are typically labeled as HD-01, HD-02, etc.

Control cables similarly like C-01, C-02, etc.

Then on your sheet, you can get as detailed as you want.
Post 6 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 12:48
Mac Burks (39)
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On June 19, 2019 at 08:11, crosen said...
So, your labels have 3 rows of text? I guess they are tag style?

No. Self laminating laser labels made with a spread sheet and standard 8.5x11 sheets. The only cables that have issues with 3 lines are super thin Cat5/6 or mini serial digital cable.

We pretty much just use Speaker Cable/RG6/Cat5 or 6/Fiber/planet waves. Three rows fit on everything. Obviously font is small.

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Post 7 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 13:42
Mac Burks (39)
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I printed a test sheet of labels out. I included grid lines for the sake of this thread. I normally dont have them in there. Its hard to show all 3 lines of text at once but in the first image you can see the edges of lines 1 and 3 with full view of line 2. This is a standard ethernet Cat5e patch cable.



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Post 8 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 13:46
Fins
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On June 19, 2019 at 12:48, Mac Burks (39) said...
No. Self laminating laser labels made with a spread sheet and standard 8.5x11 sheets. The only cables that have issues with 3 lines are super thin Cat5/6 or mini serial digital cable.

We pretty much just use Speaker Cable/RG6/Cat5 or 6/Fiber/planet waves. Three rows fit on everything. Obviously font is small.


Where do you get the labels? I hate using a label maker
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.

Post 9 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 15:11
Mac Burks (39)
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I hate label makers too. On service stuff or small jobs i just type out all the labels i can think of and print them out. On large jobs the labels are generated for me but i hate having to look at spreadsheets and blue prints to see what the hell 101-123 is...so i include my second set of labels to make life easy for us lowly installers.

These laser labels are on the expensive side but they save you a ton of time. Apx $2.25 a sheet when you buy the 100 pack. This page has the different models of label sheets and the downloadable WORD template.

[Link: cableorganizer.com]

DO NOT try and use the downloadable templates. Go here to get an excel version of the template [Link: ncusa.com]

Rather than waste labels practicing...just use normal paper and line them up with a light behind them to see if everything lines up the way you want it to then cut one out and wrap it around a cable to see if all the text can be read.

The LSL-78 is what i got because we use a lot of 2+2+? banana peel cable. The longer laminate area is necessary. If you can get away with smaller labels you can get more labels per sheet. For example if you moved to LSL-77 you could get 42 labels per sheet. Download a few of the templates and print them out to see what size works best for you.
Avid Stamp Collector - I really love 39 Cent Stamps
Post 10 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 16:30
Ernie Gilman
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Mac's is definitely the approach to use if you can print large amounts of labels, in this case full sheets, at a time.

This approach has been around for years. While I was building retail stores in the 80s using DOS programs, we'd create a document with a "page" being about a dozen lines, then print it out on Brady labels using our Okidata pin-feed printer. (Word wouldn't let us do that, but I changed jobs around then, anyway.) When we had to print labels for a retail store with three A/V rooms, it was wonderful to print them all out at once.

Mac's suggestion is great because you can do one page at a time. This means the method is economical most of the time. The few labels you don't print on can be kept for hand-marked labels.
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 11 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 16:41
Mac Burks (39)
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On June 19, 2019 at 16:30, Ernie Gilman said...
Mac's suggestion is great because you can do one page at a time. This means the method is economical most of the time. The few labels you don't print on can be kept for hand-marked labels.

This brings up a good point... NEVER EVER run the sheet through the printer a second time. If the adhesive heats up too much it comes out from behind the label and destroys your printer. This isn't a theory. I have first hand experience with it.

Also...the best pen is a fine tip sharpie. A lot of pens and markers wont work on these labels. I did a job once with a ball point pen. Worked just fine. A few years later i went back and all my labels were blank. The ink vanished.

[Link: officesupply.com]

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Post 12 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 21:31
rpssat
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Sharpie is always good.
Post 13 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 21:32
rpssat
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I need to look into this. Nice tip.
Post 14 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 22:03
cma
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I've seen Sharpies fade over time as well
Post 15 made on Wednesday June 19, 2019 at 22:38
tweeterguy
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If only there was a standard. Spoiler alert, there is:

Here’s an example of TIA 606-B

[Link: graphicproducts.com]

^ this plus heat shrink labels was my preference.
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