How do I know which color wire connects to which pin on the BTA/BTD connector?

Our LabQuest sensors all use BTA/BTD (British Telecom Analog/Digital) cables to connect to a Vernier interface. BTA/BTD connectors have 6 pins and therefore BTA/BTD cables contain 6 wires. If you are building your own sensor to use with a Vernier interface, repairing a broken cable, or using a Analog BTA Cable (CB-BTA), you will need to know which wire in the cable is connected to which pin on the connector. We do not publish wire color-connector pin information because it may vary from cable to cable; we buy cables in bulk and the manufacturer may swap wire colors as needed.

The simplest way to determine which wire is connected to which pin is to use the continuity function on a digital multimeter: touch one multimeter lead to a wire and the other lead to a pin. If the multimeter buzzes, that particular wire is connected to that particular pin.

Published: May 4, 2022. Updated: May 4, 2022.