Time-Domain Reflectometer Measurement of Random Discontinuity Effects on Cable Magnitude Response

Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) is used to specify the structural return loss and structural transmission loss that are caused by the randomly spaced electrically short structural defects that are present in commercially available coaxial cables. The theory for the statistical prediction of these effects is presented and TDR methods for making measurements are described. The results should be of particular interest in telephony and CATV applications.