Business activities and summary of significant accounting policies - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2018	Oct. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2016
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Amortization of Intangible Assets		$ 589,000	$ 649,000
Advertising Expense		130,000	156,000
Research and Development Expense		845,000	747,000
Stock based compensation expense		$ 214,000	$ 206,000
Shares excluded from computation of diluted per share amount		737,512	824,441
Subsequent Event [Member]
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Earn-out Payment	$ 800,000
Trademarks [Member]
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived		$ 0	$ 150,000
Cables Unlimited Division [Member]
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Goodwill, Impairment Loss			2,600,000
Cables Unlimited Division [Member] | Trademarks [Member]
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived			150,000
Maximum
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life		5 years
Minimum
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life		3 years
Selling General and Engineering Expenses
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Stock based compensation expense		$ 201,000	178,000
Cost of Sales
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Stock based compensation expense		$ 13,000	$ 28,000