Measurement of the attenuation coefficient of inhomogeneous dielectric-filled cables using the standing-wave technique

When the standing-wave technique is used to measure the attenuation coefficient of an inhomogeneously filled transmission line terminated by a short circuit, the usual expression for the losses in the termination is incorrect. By use of the perturbation technique, a correction factor to this expression may be obtained, and this is evaluated for three examples of inhomogeneously filled cable.