Marie-Anne Grondin
Marketing Manager
You’ve often heard the expression that test equipment is rugged for the field. But what does this really mean? Is it that important? Well, we had a perfect example of what rugged equipment is recently in Rome, as you can see in the photo.
When it’s time to test, weather can’t hold back a technician who is ready to get the job done. Here are five essential characteristics that your test equipment must have in order to be ready for outside-plant testing.
- Water and dust resistant: Having waterproof equipment is essential for avoiding job delays due to bad weather, conditions and a grimy environment. Testing in a manhole or in the rain occurs often and your equipment needs to be up to the challenge. Make sure your equipment is IEC IP54-rated against dust and water.
- Portability: having a small and lightweight unit will allow you to enter into small spaces.
- Wide touchscreen: Go for an interface that was designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind. A large touchscreen display featuring colored icons and graphics for easy configuration and operation makes it simple to use for both experienced and novice technicians.
- External accessories: Avoid products with external pins or accessories that can easily be broken or lost.
- Connected: A unit that is connected to the cloud or your smart phone makes easy reporting possible; no need for notes or paperwork.
The unit used in Rome in the rainy weather was a MaxTester 635G, which includes all the above criteria that are crucial for making a piece of equipment completely rugged for the field. If you make sure that your next tester has similar characteristics you will be able to test in pretty much any conditions.
