Tektronix 1503C, User Manual, Page: 44 / 128

Operator Tutorial
2–2
1503C MTDR User Manual
Getting Started
Let’s start by inspecting a cable. For the next few examples, we will use the 93
10-foot precision test cable provided with the 1503C (Tektronix part number
012-1351-00).
1. Pull on the POWER switch. The instrument will initialize, give instructions for
accessing the menu, and enter normal operation mode.
2. Set the 1503C front-panel controls to:
CABLE Attach 10-ft cable
IMPEDANCE 93
NOISE FILTER 1 avg
VERT SCALE 0.00 dB (default)
DIST/DIV 1 ft/div (0.25 m if using metric)
Vp .84
PULSE WIDTH 2 ns
NOTE
. Vp (velocity of propagation) of the test cable is important for making
accurate distance measurements. If you do not know the Vp factor of a cable,
distance readings will be directly affected. You can get a general idea from the table
on page 1–10 or find the Vp with a sample piece of cable using the procedure on
page 1–10, or use the Cable Information Menu. If it is impossible to obtain the Vp
of the cable, the instrument will still show cable faults, but the distance readings
might be erroneous. The test cable used in this tutorial has a Vp of .84.
O
N
ac 0.00 ft
O
F
F
O
F
F
O
F
F
Figure 2–1: Display Showing 10-ft Cable in Start-Up Conditions
VERT SCALE will already be set to 0.00 dB (default). The cursor will be near the
leading edge of the incident pulse (at the point on the waveform representing the
front panel). Other information displayed includes the type of power used (ac or bat)
and the distance window in the upper right corner of the LCD displays the distance
from the front panel to the cursor (0.00 ft in this case). This data will be displayed
when the instrument is turned on. Switch status and other instrument functions are
also displayed (see Figure 1–4 on page 1–5 for descriptions).