Re: Stumped

2002-10-24 Thread Cortland Richmond

Ken,

You may have a problem using brass. It will have rather higher resistive
loss than copper shielding. Small diameter copper tubing, such as is used
to connect (say) a sink's drinking-water dispenser, is probably a better
choice. In fact, even copper tape should be a good ad-hoc test, and not too
much trouble (other than bleeding all over the floor from cut fingers) to
apply. But do make sure whatever you use is terminated properly at the ends
off the cable under test. 

Cheers,

Cortland

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Ken Javor

I used a probe calibrated to 450 MHz.  I am going to my local hardware 
store, they used to carry copper and brass stock tubing, and I am going to
try your suggestion.  Thank you!

--
>From: Cortland Richmond <72146@compuserve.com>
>To: Ken Javor , ieee pstc list 
>Subject: Re: Stumped
>Date: Tue, Oct 15, 2002, 3:19 PM
>

> It looks like you've answered your own earlier question, Ken; yes, you CAN
> see a difference between a leaky coax and good coax. I don't know that you
> can rely on the usual clamp-on current probe up at 400 MHz, but the
> relative difference tells you a good deal. And at 400 Mhz you only need a
> few feet for most of the power in shield current -- where the leaks end up
> -- to radiate away. You may also have copper losses in the shield -- which
> is not designed to carry signal current, remember -- as well as radiation
> losses through it.
>
> However, 20 dB more than very little is not necessarily a lot. You can
> measure how much is lost to radiation by repeating your original test, but
> this time with a small-diameter - as tight as practical - copper tube
> replacing the braid, making an almost perfect shield. The power lost
> thorough radiation will no longer be dumped to space, and you should see
> that as decreased loss end-to-end.
>
> Cortland
> 

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Cortland Richmond

It looks like you've answered your own earlier question, Ken; yes, you CAN
see a difference between a leaky coax and good coax. I don't know that you
can rely on the usual clamp-on current probe up at 400 MHz, but the
relative difference tells you a good deal. And at 400 Mhz you only need a
few feet for most of the power in shield current -- where the leaks end up
-- to radiate away. You may also have copper losses in the shield -- which
is not designed to carry signal current, remember -- as well as radiation
losses through it.

However, 20 dB more than very little is not necessarily a lot. You can
measure how much is lost to radiation by repeating your original test, but
this time with a small-diameter - as tight as practical - copper tube
replacing the braid, making an almost perfect shield. The power lost
thorough radiation will no longer be dumped to space, and you should see
that as decreased loss end-to-end.

Cortland

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Ken Javor

To try and verify your theory, I set up a signal generator at 100 and 400 
MHz, -20 dBm into 50 Ohms.  I drove a six foot section of RG-58 with bnc
connections, and terminated in a shielded 50 Ohm dummy load.  I repeated the
same measurement using one of my twisted shielded pairs.  I measured
"leakage" current by placing a current probe around first the coax and then
the TSP, sliding the probe up and down the cable looking for maxima.  I did
not see a significant difference at 100 MHz, but at 400 MHz there was 20 dB
more leakage on the TSP than from the coax.  Is it a good assumption that
anything I measure with the current probe is essentially lost in
transmission?

--
>From: Cortland Richmond <72146@compuserve.com>
>To: Ken Javor , ieee pstc list 
>Subject: Re: Stumped
>Date: Tue, Oct 15, 2002, 12:59 PM
>

> Now that I've re-read the message, I see where you are coming from.
>
> I thought you were looking at common-mode loss of the cable (as a whole,
> shield included) *above ground*; you are looking at the center conductor
> common mode with respect to the overshield, almost as a coaxial cable
> itself. Yes, that seems a reasonable impedance for that configuration.
>
> Loss is from the conductor and from the dielectric. You have a relatively
> large, low-loss conductor -- but due to its high capacitance, I'd expect
> dielectric loss to predominate in the setup you are using.
>
> A question about the braid; you said it appears to be Kapton coated.  Could
> it be that braid conductors are not making intimate contact with each
> other? In that case, radiation loss could still be a large part of what you
> saw.
>
>
>
> Cortland
> 

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Ken Javor

The braid looks pretty tight to me, but since real coax is always coated 
with opaque insulation, I can't make a direct comparison.  If it were a
"leaky coax" effect, would I be able to pick that up with a current probe
placed around the cable?  If I compared the current probe reading from a
leaky coax to a good one, could I see the difference that way?

--
>From: Cortland Richmond <72146@compuserve.com>
>To: Ken Javor , ieee pstc list 
>Subject: Re: Stumped
>Date: Tue, Oct 15, 2002, 12:59 PM
>

> Now that I've re-read the message, I see where you are coming from.
>
> I thought you were looking at common-mode loss of the cable (as a whole,
> shield included) *above ground*; you are looking at the center conductor
> common mode with respect to the overshield, almost as a coaxial cable
> itself. Yes, that seems a reasonable impedance for that configuration.
>
> Loss is from the conductor and from the dielectric. You have a relatively
> large, low-loss conductor -- but due to its high capacitance, I'd expect
> dielectric loss to predominate in the setup you are using.
>
> A question about the braid; you said it appears to be Kapton coated.  Could
> it be that braid conductors are not making intimate contact with each
> other? In that case, radiation loss could still be a large part of what you
> saw.
>
>
>
> Cortland
> 

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Cortland Richmond

Now that I've re-read the message, I see where you are coming from. 

I thought you were looking at common-mode loss of the cable (as a whole,
shield included) *above ground*; you are looking at the center conductor
common mode with respect to the overshield, almost as a coaxial cable
itself. Yes, that seems a reasonable impedance for that configuration. 

Loss is from the conductor and from the dielectric. You have a relatively
large, low-loss conductor -- but due to its high capacitance, I'd expect
dielectric loss to predominate in the setup you are using.

A question about the braid; you said it appears to be Kapton coated.  Could
it be that braid conductors are not making intimate contact with each
other? In that case, radiation loss could still be a large part of what you
saw. 



Cortland

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Ken Javor

I measured impedances of 15 - 25 Ohms.  The separation between twisted 
shielded pair center conductor(s) and shield is the thickness of the center
conductors' insulation - very thin.  This makes the capacitance higher than
for 50 Ohm coax.  At the same time the close proximity of center conductors
and shield reduces the inductance, relative to 50 Ohm coax, and since the
impedance is the square root of the ratio of inductance by capacitance, it
seems clear to me that the impedance has to be lower than 50 Ohms.  But the
impedance is not the major issue here.  How am I getting so much loss in the
very thin conductor insulation?  Or is there another loss mechanism of which
I am unaware?

--
>From: Cortland Richmond <72146@compuserve.com>
>To: Ken Javor , ieee pstc list 
>Subject: Re: Stumped
>Date: Tue, Oct 15, 2002, 2:52 AM
>

> Ken, a few thoughts.
>
> Did you account for radiation resistance? You have described not merely a
> single-wire transmission line but ALSO, a fairly good antenna.
>
> The impedance is probably higher than you calculate. A coax cable with the
> same ratio of shield radius (height above ground) to inner conductor size
> will be higher impedance tan your 15-25 ohms. You have greater spacing --
> the ground isn't concentric -- and the impedance HAS to be higher.
>
> For all but the lowest frequencies in the range you mention, the chamber
> prevents current on the cable from flowing as on a transmission line; its
> resonances couple differently to the line than operating over an unenclosed
> ground plane.   But assuming your matching is correct, you SHOULD see only
> a travelling wave on the cable, and current or voltage that does not vary
> along the line (except due to loss). If the match is incorrect, you will
> have standing waves, and this you can confirm pretty easily with a current
> probe. The chamber resonances may obscure this.
>
> It is possible to find loss in common mode simply by measuring common-mode
> current at a peak near one end of a suspended conductor and again at a peak
> near the other end. The location of current nodes will depend (outside a
> chamber!) on wavelength, but the difference between them over length will
> depend on radiation and other losses.
>
> Cortland
> 

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Re: Stumped

2002-10-15 Thread Cortland Richmond

Ken, a few thoughts. 

Did you account for radiation resistance? You have described not merely a
single-wire transmission line but ALSO, a fairly good antenna.

The impedance is probably higher than you calculate. A coax cable with the
same ratio of shield radius (height above ground) to inner conductor size
will be higher impedance tan your 15-25 ohms. You have greater spacing --
the ground isn't concentric -- and the impedance HAS to be higher. 

For all but the lowest frequencies in the range you mention, the chamber
prevents current on the cable from flowing as on a transmission line; its
resonances couple differently to the line than operating over an unenclosed
ground plane.   But assuming your matching is correct, you SHOULD see only
a travelling wave on the cable, and current or voltage that does not vary
along the line (except due to loss). If the match is incorrect, you will
have standing waves, and this you can confirm pretty easily with a current
probe. The chamber resonances may obscure this. 

It is possible to find loss in common mode simply by measuring common-mode
current at a peak near one end of a suspended conductor and again at a peak
near the other end. The location of current nodes will depend (outside a
chamber!) on wavelength, but the difference between them over length will
depend on radiation and other losses.

Cortland

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Re: Stumped (screw shaped inner 'coax' conductor, CEM simulation WAS: TSP or FTP ... )

2002-10-15 Thread Wan Juang Foo

> which means that whatever the impedance actually is, if properly matched,
> mismatch losses may be bounded.

Base on the significant electrical length per turns, I cannot see how
mismatch losses can be 'bounded' especially at 1GHz.  Perhaps at a higher
frequency for a much shorter electrical length LAMBDA.

> If it were "mismatch loss" wouldn't the
> loss be strongly frequency dependent in a periodic fashion?

The usual type of mismatch losses is indeed periodic, for resons to do with
the defined location of the 'mismatch' or 'physical boundary' in the Tx
line.  This physical boundary remains the same as the electrical length of
the cable changes with frequency.

> The losses I
> measured increased with increasing frequency, and the nature of the
increase
> was identical to that specified for the RG-XX coaxial types (with larger
> magnitude as previously noted).

Speaking off the cuff, (I should expect) the twisting profile (number of
twist per unit physical length) would translate to number of 'smooth
humps/bumps' per electrical length to decrease as frequency increases.  :-)
Considering the frequency of interest (80MHz-1GHz in IEC 1000-4-3) there
may not be a substantial number of twist per electrical length.  Due to the
nature of the original intend of the insulation, I expect epsilom_r to be
'resonably' constant.  We may not have to deal with the uncertainty
associated with the dielectric medium.

Making a (hazardous ?) guess, at 1GHz (LAMBDA_0 = 30 cm)
LAMBDA= 30 cm/sqrt_epsilon_r
Assuming epsilon_r =5 (I believe this will not be an unresonable figure),
then
LAMBDA=13.4 cm
I suppose at a twist rate, say 80 t/meters (having no idea about you cable
specs, I pull a figure of approx 12 mm pitch :-)
it is roughly 11 or so t/LAMBDA.  This will probable be closer to be
'distributed'  at 100MHz being then 110 t/LAMBDA.

(Ken, I need to corrected my statement I made a few min earlier ...)

This I suppose needed some kind of MoM simulation to see the loss
characteristics.  I would like to hear from anyone handy with a CEM code
like NEC, but on some hindsight, the proximity effect of the closely spaced
conductors may be a problem for NEC.  I suppose at the lower frequency the
pair of twisted conductor will start to look like a short circuit at 80MHz.
Does anyone out there know of a suitable CEM 'code' or technique to
simulate the EM behaviour of such a conductor?  I think SPICE is out for
this kind of cable.

regards,

Tim Foo






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Re: Stumped (TSP or FTP (Foil screened Twisted Pair) )

2002-10-15 Thread Ken Javor

The cables in question all used braided shield construction and were
aerospace quality.  The individual center conductors are insulated, of
course, but there is nothing else between the insulated wires and the shield
braid.  The shield braid itself appears to be Kapton coated.  It is indeed
true that the twisted pair as a center conductor has an irregular shape
relative to a single coaxial conductor.  However there is an expression for
the characteristic impedance of just such a cable (except for the twist) in
the Reference Handbook for Radio Engineers.  In my 1953 copy this type of
transmission line is termed "wires in parallel - sheath return."  It is a
complex formula but the point is that even with an irregular center
conductor there is a defined transmission line characteristic impedance,
which means that whatever the impedance actually is, if properly matched,
mismatch losses may be bounded.  If it were "mismatch loss" wouldn't the
loss be strongly frequency dependent in a periodic fashion?  The losses I
measured increased with increasing frequency, and the nature of the increase
was identical to that specified for the RG-XX coaxial types (with larger
magnitude as previously noted).  I can send a test data attachment to anyone
interested.
--
>From: "Wan Juang Foo" 
>To: Ken Javor , 
>Subject: Re: Stumped (TSP or FTP (Foil screened Twisted Pair) )
>Date: Mon, Oct 14, 2002, 9:11 PM
>

>
> Ken,
> I am only making a guess in the absence of the cable's specifications.  Is
> your TSP a FTP (Foil screened Twisted Pair) type of cable constructed from
> copper wires coated with polyethylene and wrapped by Mylar tape (a
> transparent and mechanically tough film) between the TP and the screen?  I
> think it is just mismatch losses due to the eccentricity of the cable.
> Imagine what kind of performance one would expect from a coax with an inner
> conductor that exhibit irregular cross sectional radius.
>
> IMHO, it's the inherent 'mismatch' losses of the 'cable' to CM signal.
> Given the inherent twisting (eccentricity) of the conductors within the
> 'screen', it is more like a coax with a screw shaped (how would I describe
> it???) distribution of Zo along the length of the cable.  The TP
> configuration in the CM situation should be low loss only to  circularly
> polarised electromagnetic waves (if there is such a phenomenal in
> electromagnetic propagation within a Tx line).  For propagation modes of
> anything else approaching something that may represent a substantial
> fraction of Lambda would be, (or shall I say, should be) presented (or
> seen) as a lossy line due to the changing cross sectional characteristic of
> a FTP.
>
>>   I expected losses that would be on the same order or lower than
>> that associated with off-the-shelf coax types like RG-58.  Instead my
> losses
>> were dramatically higher.
>
> In terms of CM performance (e.g. input impedance, losses, etc... ), a FTP
> due to it's eccentricity, I suppose cannot be compared to a RG-58.   I have
> come across some FTP with 0.52 mm i.d. copper with a final diameter of 6.1
> mm for the cable.  Let me know if this description fits your bill.  I have
> some information on their fabrication.
>
> Just another of my 2 ¢ ...
>
> regards
>
> Tim Foo
>
>
>
>
>   Ken Javor
>
>emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
>   ce.com>cc:  (bcc: Wan
> Juang Foo/ece/staff/npnet)
>   Sent by:   Subject: Stumped
>
>   owner-emc-pstc@majordo
>
>   mo.ieee.org
>
>
>
>
>
>   10/15/02 05:31 AM
>
>   Please respond to Ken
>
>   Javor
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Forum,
>
> I have made some measurements and gotten results which are at odds with my
> intuition.  I am wondering if someone out there can shed some light on this
> subject.
>
> I was interested in the losses associated with rf traveling on a twisted
> shielded pair cable.  The scenario is that a length of this TSP cable is
> exposed to an rf environment (as in a test chamber during IEC 1000-4-3
> testing) and then the cable penetrates a bulkhead using a grounded
> connector
> that provides excellent shield termination, and the cable continues on the
> other side in the pristine rf environment of a shielded control chamber,
> say
> for several meters.  The question is, how much rf signal is at the final
> destination point vs. at the bulkhead.  The concern is common mode, not
&g

Re: Stumped (TSP or FTP (Foil screened Twisted Pair) )

2002-10-15 Thread Wan Juang Foo


Ken,
I am only making a guess in the absence of the cable's specifications.  Is
your TSP a FTP (Foil screened Twisted Pair) type of cable constructed from
copper wires coated with polyethylene and wrapped by Mylar tape (a
transparent and mechanically tough film) between the TP and the screen?  I
think it is just mismatch losses due to the eccentricity of the cable.
Imagine what kind of performance one would expect from a coax with an inner
conductor that exhibit irregular cross sectional radius.

IMHO, it's the inherent 'mismatch' losses of the 'cable' to CM signal.
Given the inherent twisting (eccentricity) of the conductors within the
'screen', it is more like a coax with a screw shaped (how would I describe
it???) distribution of Zo along the length of the cable.  The TP
configuration in the CM situation should be low loss only to  circularly
polarised electromagnetic waves (if there is such a phenomenal in
electromagnetic propagation within a Tx line).  For propagation modes of
anything else approaching something that may represent a substantial
fraction of Lambda would be, (or shall I say, should be) presented (or
seen) as a lossy line due to the changing cross sectional characteristic of
a FTP.

>   I expected losses that would be on the same order or lower than
> that associated with off-the-shelf coax types like RG-58.  Instead my
losses
> were dramatically higher.

In terms of CM performance (e.g. input impedance, losses, etc... ), a FTP
due to it's eccentricity, I suppose cannot be compared to a RG-58.   I have
come across some FTP with 0.52 mm i.d. copper with a final diameter of 6.1
mm for the cable.  Let me know if this description fits your bill.  I have
some information on their fabrication.

Just another of my 2 ¢ ...

regards

Tim Foo



   
  Ken Javor 
   
  cc:  (bcc: Wan Juang 
Foo/ece/staff/npnet) 
      Sent by:   Subject: Stumped   
   
  owner-emc-pstc@majordo
   
  mo.ieee.org   
   

   

   
  10/15/02 05:31 AM 
   
  Please respond to Ken 
   
  Javor 
   

   

   





Forum,

I have made some measurements and gotten results which are at odds with my
intuition.  I am wondering if someone out there can shed some light on this
subject.

I was interested in the losses associated with rf traveling on a twisted
shielded pair cable.  The scenario is that a length of this TSP cable is
exposed to an rf environment (as in a test chamber during IEC 1000-4-3
testing) and then the cable penetrates a bulkhead using a grounded
connector
that provides excellent shield termination, and the cable continues on the
other side in the pristine rf environment of a shielded control chamber,
say
for several meters.  The question is, how much rf signal is at the final
destination point vs. at the bulkhead.  The concern is common mode, not
differential mode.  Meaning that the twisted pair can be looked at like
coax, with an identical signal on both inner conductors relative to the
shield.  I expected losses that would be on the same order or lower than
that associated with off-the-shelf coax types like RG-58.  Instead my
losses
were dramatically higher.

Following is my measurement technique.










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Stumped

2002-10-14 Thread Ken Javor

Forum,

I have made some measurements and gotten results which are at odds with my
intuition.  I am wondering if someone out there can shed some light on this
subject.

I was interested in the losses associated with rf traveling on a twisted
shielded pair cable.  The scenario is that a length of this TSP cable is
exposed to an rf environment (as in a test chamber during IEC 1000-4-3
testing) and then the cable penetrates a bulkhead using a grounded connector
that provides excellent shield termination, and the cable continues on the
other side in the pristine rf environment of a shielded control chamber, say
for several meters.  The question is, how much rf signal is at the final
destination point vs. at the bulkhead.  The concern is common mode, not
differential mode.  Meaning that the twisted pair can be looked at like
coax, with an identical signal on both inner conductors relative to the
shield.  I expected losses that would be on the same order or lower than
that associated with off-the-shelf coax types like RG-58.  Instead my losses
were dramatically higher.

Following is my measurement technique.

I measured the transmission line impedance of the TSP in the following way.
I tied the center conductors together.  I shorted the center conductors to
the shield at one end, and measured the inductance, using an LCR meter.  I
opened the connection and measured the open circuit capacitance.  The square
root of the l/c ratio is the characteristic impedance.  I built matching
networks to get from 50 Ohms to the measured impedances which ranged from 15
- 25 Ohms for a variety of different cables.  For each cable, I built two
pairs of identical matching networks:

4 each: 50 to RC adapters

I used an HP 4195A network analyzer, over a range of frequencies 0.1 - 500
MHz.  The set up was as follows.  There was 16 dB of pad coming out of the
source (including the 6 dB splitter).  There was 10 dB of pad at the
reference and test ports.  Results showed little evidence of vswr.

Coming out of the source, there is the 6 dB splitter.  Between one port of
the splitter and the reference port, I inserted one pair of the matching
networks:

Splitter output connects to  50 Ohm to RC adapter connects to RC to 50 Ohm
adapter connects to reference port.

I connected the exact same sequence between the other splitter output and
the test port.  The network analyzer displayed the dB ratio of the test port
signal relative to the reference signal.  This would be the difference in
loss between each pair of matching networks.  If I had built them perfectly,
the analyzer should have shown 0 dB difference.  Actual differences were
under 3 dB.

Then I inserted the cable-under-test between the RC connections on the two
matching networks in the test port side.

The loss associated with cable-under-test (CUT) is the difference between
the losses measured with the CUT in place and with the matching networks
directly connected.

The numbers I got were considerably higher than even a high loss coax such
as RG-174.  Because real coax uses a much thicker dielectric material than
just the insulation around a TSP center conductor, my "gut feel" is that
losses should be lower than for 50 Ohm coax.  I expect that materials picked
to be dielectrics for coax have low loss tangents relative to wire
insulation, but I don't have a feel for whether the difference in loss
tangents can make up for the extra thickness of the dielectric in real coax.
Can any one tell me if either my test set up or my expectations are wrong,
and why?

Thank you.

Ken Javor

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