How important is having rugged equipment?

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.

1. 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.
2. Portability: having a small and lightweight unit will allow you to enter into small spaces.
3. 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.
4. External accessories: Avoid products with external pins or accessories that can easily be broken or lost.
5. 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.