I got the fancy engineering lingo.Shel, on the shorter cables (3m or less) it is best to hang them on the wall. It allows them to straighten naturally and puts less stress on the shield wires inside the cable. (This is particularly true for video cables) This will reduce future tangling. For cables that are instrument specific, you may want to use color-coded labeling tape and mark each "Go-Zinta" and "Go-Zouta".
Bill
Edit: Oops, sorry for the engineer's slang. "Go-Zinta" = Goes into, "Go-Zouta" = Goes out of.
Thanks for this advice, it's useful. I'm guessing you're one tall man. I'm about 1.7m (5'7" ish) and ... trying to get the end of a 3m cable onto a rack, held by the end I assume (perhaps you're draping them)...well I think I'd need arm extensions. . I'm assuming that they need to be doubled in some way.
Thanks.
M