If you haven't worked with scattering or reflection parameter notation before, it opens up a whole new world of insights. Here is a great overview of how to use S-parameters.

If you have any questions on the matter, I'm happy to help. This is stuff every R.F. technician needs to know.


eric

 

One of the more fun tools I've had a chance to use is a RF reflectometer. This device graphs returns (from line discontinuities) over time (which is also distance). As I understand it, it was developed by Ma Bell when they were new to find breaks in coax lines on the ocean floor, hopefully to repair them. This was how long distance used to work. They now have something similar for optical cable, but that's a different story.

 

TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) equipment is now pretty standard in the phone business...both for copper and optical circuits.

You can build a TDR set for coax cable with just a pulse generator and an oscilloscope.

Eric

 

This leads to another thread.

I'll post the link here after I start it.