TEMPO 701K-G/6A Premium Tone and Probe Wire Tracing Kit with ABN Test Clips - Trace Data, Telephone, Coax, Security, Electrical Cables - Professional Grade

Why I reached for this kit

My work often straddles the gray area between structured cabling and everyday service calls: tracing drops in old houses, chasing mislabeled pairs in crowded IDFs, and sorting coax runs that disappear into walls. After yet another day of guessing-and-checking with a bargain tracer, I switched to the Tempo 701K kit. Over several weeks on residential and light commercial jobs, I used it to identify Cat 5e/6 bundles at patch panels, follow coax behind drywall, and pin down security/alarm conductors without tearing into finishes. The short version: it’s a straightforward, pro-grade tone-and-probe that prioritizes the right things—signal strength, ergonomics, and durability—without loading you up with gimmicks.

What’s in the bag

The kit includes two essentials: the 77HP high-power tone generator and the 200EP probe amplifier, plus ABN (bed-of-nails) clips and a soft, rugged pouch. The color-coding, labels, and switchgear are exactly what you want on a tool that gets tossed between a ladder and a laptop: clear, tactile, and hard to misread even in bad lighting. The units feel solid and balanced in the hand, and the controls have positive detents that help prevent accidental changes when the tools ride around in a pouch.

The headline extras—LED headlight on the probe, a headset jack, an external warble select on the tone generator, and a short-circuit beeper—are more than marketing bullet points. They’re small additions that smooth out real-world annoyances.

Setup and first use

Hookup is quick. The ABN clips bite reliably through insulation on telecom pairs, and the alligator backs grab bare conductors or posts without slipping. On structured cabling, I most often clip to a scrap keystone pigtail or use a sacrificial RJ-45 coupler to keep teeth off good copper; either way, I get consistent tone with minimal setup.

On the probe, the volume wheel has enough range to go from quiet office tracing to a mechanical room without needing the headset. The LED headlight sits in the right spot—angled so you don’t cast your own shadow across a patch field while hunting for that faint chirp. I’ve come to rely on it more than I expected, especially peering into cable trays or ceiling spaces.

Tracing performance

Signal strength is where this kit earns its keep. The generator’s high-output mode drives a clear tone through long runs and messy bundles. In a two-story house rewire with a dozen Cat 6 drops, I could walk the patch panel and distinguish the correct conductor even when several lines landed on the same ladder rack. Warble-select helps too: switching to the alternate cadence makes it easier to differentiate “your” tone from other tracers on a shared site.

On coax, a simple F-to-clip pigtail lets the generator push tone past splitters with enough presence to find the right drop behind a wall plate. With security and thermostat wire, the probe head was sensitive enough to follow a conductor through a tight bundle without false positives from adjacent pairs.

The probe audio is loud for its size and stays clean at higher volumes. In a noisy room, I appreciated how the sound doesn’t collapse into distortion when you crank it. It’s not hi-fi—no probe is—but the frequency is tuned for human ears in a way the bargain sets simply don’t get right.

Features that matter in the field

• LED headlight: Genuinely useful, particularly in racks, plenum spaces, and under desks. It eliminates the phone-in-mouth routine.
• Headset jack: If you work in loud spaces or on shared job sites, plugging in becomes your best friend. It also keeps you from broadcasting your hunt to the whole floor.
• Short-circuit beeper: Handy sanity check when you suspect a pinched cable or crossed pair. It’s quick feedback without dragging out a meter.
• External warble-select: Faster than holding a button sequence; flip the switch and go. I use one cadence for identification and the other for confirmatory passes.

Ergonomics and build

Tempo assembles these in the USA, and the fit and finish reflect that. The housings feel robust, the battery doors are secure, and the clip leads are supple enough to route where you want them without fighting memory. The soft case is more protective than it looks; it’s not hard-sided, but it shrugs off daily abuse in a go-bag.

One nit: the document pocket on the back of the pouch is open at the top. Paper manuals like to escape. I added a small strip of hook-and-loop as a flap; problem solved. It’s a minor gripe, but if you keep tone cheat-sheets or site notes back there, plan on a closure.

What it doesn’t do

This is a classic analog tone-and-probe. It doesn’t offer active noise filtering on the probe, nor does it test cable integrity, length, or map pairs like a multifunction verifier. In a very high-noise environment—next to large transformers, VFDs, or bundles sitting on powered PoE midspans—you’ll occasionally wish for a filtered probe. For most low-voltage tracing, though, the raw sensitivity and output get the job done.

Also, while the build is tough, the speaker in any probe is a wear item. Treat the tip and grille with respect, don’t toss it unprotected into a bucket of fittings, and it’ll last. I haven’t had failures, but I wouldn’t expect it to shrug off liquid or fine dust forever.

Battery life and maintenance

Battery life has been solid. With intermittent use over several weeks—multiple days of tracing per week—I didn’t kill a set. The generator’s idle draw is low, and the switches make it obvious when something’s left on. I carry spare batteries as a matter of habit, but I didn’t need them. Routine care is simple: keep the probe tip clean, leads untwisted, and stash the kit in its case between calls.

Real-world use cases I tested

• Sorting unlabeled Cat 6 at a small office: High-output tone cut through a dense patch panel. Warble change plus the probe’s volume sweep made it trivial to pick the right line without misfires.
• Finding coax behind finished walls: With a pigtail, I traced through a passive splitter and landed the correct drop at a plate two rooms away. Tone was audible even near other signal-carrying coax.
• Tracking security/alarm pairs in a legacy can: The ABN clips bit through old insulation cleanly. The short-circuit beeper saved me a trip by flagging a pinched run behind a hinge.

In each scenario, the kit delivered that “this is the one” moment quickly and with less second-guessing than cheaper sets I’ve used.

Value and alternatives

There are fancier tracers with digital filters and combination features, and there are budget models that advertise similar basics for less. The Tempo kit sits in a professional sweet spot: dependable analog performance with practical amenities. Against entry-level tracers, it’s the stronger generator, louder/cleaner probe, and better ergonomics you feel immediately. Against higher-end filtered probes, you give up some noise rejection but keep your wallet and gain simplicity.

If you primarily work in high-interference industrial spaces, a filtered probe might be worth the upgrade. If your day is mostly offices, homes, MDF/IDF closets, and light commercial, this kit is more than sufficient.

Tips for getting the most out of it

• Use the warble toggle as an identification tactic: standard cadence to find, alternate to confirm.
• Don’t clip bed-of-nails to pristine patch cords; use a sacrificial pigtail or coupler.
• In noisy rooms, drop the probe volume and move slowly. A quiet probe near the conductor beats a loud one from a distance.
• Keep the probe tip clean and centered on the bundle; slight changes in angle can sharpen the signal noticeably.
• Remember it’s for low-voltage. Don’t attach the generator to energized mains.

Recommendation

I recommend the Tempo 701K kit to technicians and serious DIYers who need a reliable, pro-grade tone-and-probe for low-voltage work. It traces confidently through real-world obstacles, the ergonomics reduce friction on long days, and the thoughtful touches—LED light, headset jack, short-circuit beep—address common field frustrations. While it lacks an active noise filter and the pouch’s document pocket could use a closure, those are trade-offs I can live with. For the majority of data, telephone, coax, and security tracing tasks, this kit delivers consistent, repeatable results without fuss.