Measure capacitance, inductance and resistance

The resistance value of cables is usually too low to be measured with reasonable priced multimeters - the resistance of the probes will be much higher than the value you want to measure, or the meter resolution. Inductance will also be very low and will ask for a special technique or meter to measure it. Capacitance can be easily measured with pF resolution.

You can find many LCR meters in any price range. For instance, try searching for "LCR meter" in eBay and take a look in whatever price range you're looking for. You will likely find lesser-name Asian-source equipment new and old (20-30 yrs, for instance) Hewlett Packard or similar used.

That said, most of these devices are designed for checking components and circuits, rather than cables. I assume that cables would have relatively low values of all of those parameters, so you would need to make sure your test equipment had range that extended to very low values of resistance, capacitance, and inductance. That might cost a little more money.

Michael

I use the Agilent U1732A for field use. It is a multi-frequency LCR meter. Very accurate and easy to use with 100Hz, 120Hz, 1KHz 10KHz capability. About $400 new with software that loads on your PC. Watch out for the cheap Asian ones on eBay as they are unclear as to their capabilities and forget about calibration.