SPX 1205CXB High Resolution TDR Cable Fault Locator User Manual

SPX 1205CXB High Resolution TDR Cable Fault Locator

Introduction

Description and Overview
The 1205CXB™ is a High Resolution Cable Fault Locator, also known as a Cable Radar or a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR). The 1205CXB transmits electrical pulses into a cable, and a portion of the pulse energy reflects back from cable imperfections. These can be discontinuities (eg cable joints, changes in cable type or the far end of the cable under test) or faults (typically short circuits, open circuits, water ingress or corroded connections).
The transmitted pulse and the reflected pulse(s) are shown on the display. The time taken by the pulse to travel to the imperfection and back is a measure of the distance to the fault. Position the cursor at the start of the reflected pulse to ensure that the distance to the discontinuity is shown accurately. You may assess the type of imperfection by analyzing the displayed waveform. Reflections from an impedance higher than the characteristic impedance of the cable, and from inductive faults, are upwards. Reflections from an impedance lower than the characteristic impedance of the cable, as well as capacitive faults, are downwards.
NOTE: The 1205CXB has been specially designed to analyze coaxial cables but can be used on any cable that contains at least two conductors or one conductor and a metallic screen.

Velocity of Propagation (VOP)
The properties of the cable, mainly the insulation between the two conductors, greatly affect the velocity of the pulses traveling along the cable. This velocity is known as the Velocity of Propagation (VOP), or Velocity Factor (PVF), while some cable datasheets refer to the Dielectric Constant. The 1205CXB uses this value to calculate distance, so it is important for this to be as accurate as possible.
The 1205CXB can accept user selectable values for the VOP of between 10.0 and 99.9%.
Typical VOPs for some common cable types
The VOP and characteristic impedance values for some common cable types are:

The VOP and characteristic impedance values for some common cable types are:

VOP and V/2
Some users like to use V/2 as an alternative to VOP. V/2 is the speed of the pulse in a cable, in m/µs, halved. There is a direct relationship between VOP and V/2 as shown in the following tables.

System Overview

Front panel

Features

Keypad

C on F i G submenu

6| CUR sor| Select cursor 1 or 2
7| WAVE form| Select move or zoom function for a

waveform

8| MENU| Select units, a pre-loaded cable and

system settings

---|---|---
9| SAVE| Save waveform to 1205CXB’s memory or

USB

10| LOAD| Load a waveform from 1205CXB’s

memory or USB

11| Left, up, down, right arrows| Increase/decrease parameters

Zoom, move waveforms and cursors

12| ENTER| Confirm menu item or waveform

selection

13| ESC ape| Escape, back one step in the menu

Display

Display features

discontinuities

16| Cursor 2| Position for accurate measurement to

discontinuities

17| Launch pulse| The pulse sent out by the TDR
18| Reflected pulse(s)| Pulse(s) reflected by a cable discontinuity
19| Time measurement| Time for the pulse to reach the

discontinuity

---|---|---
20| Distance measurement| Distance along the cable to the

discontinuity

21| dBRL measurements| dB of Return Loss at cursor 1 and 2
22| WAVE form submenu| Use, with the arrow keys, to Zoom and

Move waveforms

23| CUR sor submenu| Select cursor 1 or 2. Move cursors with

left and right arrow keys

24| C on F i G uration submenu| Change selected parameter with arrow

keys

25| Time| Provides time information to stored files
26| Battery status| Shows battery charge

Navigating the Config, Cursor and Waveform submenus
Pressing the buttons (Button 5, 6 or 7) more than once scrolls the highlighter around the Config, Cursor or Waveform submenus to select a parameter or function, which you can then change using the arrow buttons. For details, see the Menu section.
Launch and reflected pulses
The display of the 1205CXB shows a launch pulse at the left hand side of the display and a reflected pulse if any cable imperfections are within range (see “Description” section).  When cursor 2 is positioned at the start of the reflected pulse and the VOP is set correctly, the distance to the imperfection is displayed in the top right hand corner of the display.  Open circuit and high impedance series discontinuities will result in a positive (upward) reflected pulse. Short circuit and low impedance shunt discontinuities will give a negative (downward) reflection.

Basic operation

1. Charge the 1205CXB using the mains charger and cable supplied, via the USB-A port
2. Press the Power button for 2 seconds to power the 1205CXB on
3. Attach the cable for analysis to the BNC connector, either directly or using one of the connection cables supplied
4. Press the button (Button 5) several times until VOP is highlighted. Change this to match the VOP of the cable for analysis using the arrow buttons (Buttons 11).
   • a. The Left and Right arrows and change the VOP by 1%
   • b. The Up and Down arrows and change the VOP by 0.1%
5. Press the button again until Search is highlighted, then press (Button 12)
6. The 1205CXB will search for the most significant discontinuity in the cable and place cursor 2 (Display feature 16) at the start of the reflected pulse
7. You can read the distance to the discontinuity at the bottom of the display (Display feature 20)
8. Press the Power button at any time to turn the 1205CXB off
   NOTE: You can set an Auto Power Off time. For details, see the Menu section

Menu

The menu allows you to choose settings for your measurements and has the following sections:

Technical section

preference
Cable reference| Many| Set the 1205CXB up with an industry standard cable’s settings
Auto search on boot| On, Off| Set the 1205CXB to search your cable for analysis immediately on power up
Live signal check| On, Off| Set the 1205CXB to check for live voltages on your cable for analysis

System section

display to your preference. A lower setting will improve battery life
Auto power off| Off, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2,

2.5 or 3 hours

| Set the 1205CXB to turn off automatically, after a set time to save

battery life

Date & time| Date & time| Saving files with the correct name, derived from the date and time
Factory reset| Yes, no| Reset the 1205CXB to its factory settings

Save and Load waveforms

The 1205CXB allows you to save waveforms and to recall them. You can display recalled waveforms together with live cable waveforms to compare them easily. This can be very useful in cases such as comparing a waveform taken when a cable was installed with a live one when a customer reports a fault.

Save
You can save a waveform at any time, and you can choose where to save it to and in what format. To save a waveform:

1. Press the button (Button 9)
2. Choose one of the following locations with the arrow keys to save the waveform to, and press the button (Button 12) to confirm
   • a. RAM. This is the internal volatile memory, the waveform will be available until you turn the 1205CXB off
   • b. FLASH. This is the internal permanent memory, the waveform will be available permanently
   • c. USB. This is your own USB memory stick that you must plug into the USB port
3. When saving to USB, choose whether to save the waveform as an image (IMG), as data (DATA) or as both types. The file types are:
   • a. *.bmp format for the image file, for easy viewing and sharing
   • b. *.btr for the data file, for further examination and manipulation in Radiodetection’s WaveView™ program. For further details, see the separate WaveView User Guide
4. You will see a notification bar during the save process, followed by a “file saved successfully” message.

Load
You can load a saved waveform at any time, and you can choose where to load it from. To load a waveform:

1. Press the button (Button 10)
2. Using the arrow keys, choose one of the following locations to load the waveform from, and press (Button 12). Note that you will not be able to select an option if there are no saved waveforms there
   • a. RAM. This is the internal volatile memory, any saved waveforms will be available until you turn the 1205CXB off
   • b. FLASH. This is the internal permanent memory
   • c. USB. This is your own USB memory stick
3. Scroll through the list of saved waveforms using the arrow keys, and press the button on the one you want to display. A red check mark denotes the selected file.
4. Press again to confirm the load operation

Displaying loaded waveforms
You can display the loaded waveform, L, on its own or at the same time as the live cable waveform, C. If you look at the two separately, you can also decide whether to have them overlaying or offset from each other. When a loaded waveform is displayed, the 1205CXB also shows its save information at the top right hand side of the display:

• Save location, eg @USB
• File name, eg 20220131_112557
• Save date, eg 01/31/2022
• Pulse width, eg 50ns
• VOP, eg 85.0%
• Output impedance, eg 75Ω

To select how the loaded waveform, L, is displayed, press the button several times until Func is highlighted. Use the left and right arrow keys to scroll through:

• LOAD, shows L on its own
• C&L, shows both L and C
• C-L, shows the difference between C and L
• CABLE, shows C on its own

NOTE: When displaying C&L, press the button to offset the L waveform from C for easy side by side comparison

Deleting waveforms
You can delete a waveform from the on-board FLASH memory at any time. To delete a waveform:

1. Press the button (Button 10)
2. Using the arrow keys, ensure that FLASH is highlighted and press (Button 12).
3. Scroll through the list of saved waveforms using the arrow keys, then press the right arrow key twice so that the green cross is displayed
4. Press to delete the selected waveform

Cable analysis

The Basic operation section above provides a simple introduction to cable analysis and in many cases can deliver enough information for the user. Using the menus more extensively provides engineers and technicians with a very powerful analyzer capable of helping them find a wide variety of cable details such as taps, repeaters and water ingress.

Config menu details
Pressing the button (Button 5) more than once scrolls the highlighter around the Config submenu allowing you to select a parameter or function, and to change it using the arrow buttons:

• Pulse width Vary the pulse width using the arrow buttons. The up and right arrows increase the pulse width, while the down and left arrows decrease it. A wider pulse has more energy, meaning it can travel further along a cable, but a narrow pulse can make it easier to see cable features at shorter distances
• VOP Also see Velocity of Propagation (VOP) above. Change the VOP, otherwise known as the Dielectric, to match the cable under analysis for accurate distance measurement. The left and right arrow buttons change the VOP by 1%. The up and down arrows change the VOP by 0.1%.
• Out Z Match the output impedance of the 1205CXB to the cable for improved signal transfer
• Thres Threshold is the minimum voltage range over which the 1205CXB detects an event. This means that you can set the sensitivity of the unit for the size of fault at which it will place the cursor during an automatic search (see below).
• Avg Set an averaging filter to reduce noise on your signal
• Func your options are to view the following signals:
  • the cable being analyzed (CABLE)
  • a saved waveform (LOAD)
  • the difference between CABLE and LOAD (C-L)
  • CABLE and LOAD at the same time (C&L

NOTE: press the button (Button 13) to offset the two waveforms from each other

• Search Tell the 1205CXB to perform an automatic search

Cursor menu details
Pressing the button (Button 6) more than once toggles between Cursor 1 and Cursor 2. Use the arrow buttons to move the selected cursor to the left or right.

Waveform menu details
Pressing the button (Button 7) more than once toggles between Zoom and Move.

In Zoom mode:

• using the up and down arrow keys changes the zoom in the Y axis
• using the left and right arrow keys changes the zoom in the X axis

In Move mode:

• using the up and down arrow keys moves the waveform in the Y axis
• using the left and right arrow keys moves the waveform in the X axis

Typical waveforms

You will encounter a variety of waveforms during testing because

• there is a huge number of different cable types
• electrical and environmental conditions can change and affect TDR test results, and
• you are likely to test cables with and without faults.

The following are examples of some waveforms that you may meet. Note that every circumstance is different so these are typical examples and may not match exactly what you see.

Return Loss

The 1205CXB provides you with a numerical measurement of the severity of a fault. This is called the Return Loss and it is measured in dB.
Return Loss is a ratio of the amplitudes of the reflected pulse and the transmitted pulse. It is calculated as:

where:

• VO is the amplitude of the transmitted pulse, and
• VR is the amplitude of the reflected pulse
• A severe fault causes a large reflection, making VR relatively high. The dBRL value will therefore be low. A minor fault produces a small reflection, making VR relatively low. The dBRL value in this case will therefore be high.

In summary:

NOTE: the larger the dBRL reading, the smaller the problem and vice versa.
To display the dBRL of a discontinuity, move the cursor to its reflection. Continue to move the cursor over the reflection until the dBRL reaches a minimum, which will usually be at its peak.
NOTE: the position of the cursor for dBRL measurements is different from its position for measuring the distance to the discontinuity.

Reflection Coefficient and VSWR
Users sometimes use alternative measures to show the severity of a fault, including the Reflection Coefficient and Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR). There are direct relations between dBRL and these as shown in the following table and graphs:

WaveView™ PC software

Radiodetection’s WaveView™ software allows you to view, analyse and interpret 1205CXB waveforms on your computer. You can pan and zoom easily for looking at the signals in-depth.
WaveView also lets you add notes and make corrections, such as to the VOP, made in the on-site evaluation.
You can find more detail in the separate WaveView Operation Manual, available from the Radiodetection website www.radiodetection.com. You can also download the WaveView program file from the Radiodetection website.

Ordering Information

accessory
BNC-to-F-type adapter| Contact Radiodetection| Standard accessory
Multi-regional USBA charger| 26/PKS11-USB| Standard accessory
USBA-USBA cable| Contact Radiodetection| Standard accessory
Nylon carry bag| Contact Radiodetection| Standard accessory

Additional information

Specifications
See the separate Technical Specifications document for the most up to date information. You can find this at www.radiodetection.com.

Battery
The 1205CXB contains a Lithium-Ion battery. Charge it using the USB cable and multi-region charger provided.
WARNING: Do not exceed the specified maximum charging current of 2A. See the separete Technical Specifications document for the most up to date information. You can find this at www.radiodetection.com.

Service
The 1205CXB TDR contains no user serviceable items. In the unlikely event of failure, please contact your local representative for details of repair or replacement. In order to maintain the accuracy of this equipment, Radiodetection recommend that you perform an annual calibration and maintenance. Please contact your local representative for details.

Care and maintenance
Ensure you switch the unit off before you perform any care and maintenance tasks.

Cleaning
You may clean the 1205CXB with a soft cloth lightly dampened with soapy water. Remove all soap residue then dry the instrument with a dry cloth.

Compliance
This equipment has been certified to the following Standards / Regulations:

Product| Standards| EU (CE mark)| GB/NI (UKCA mark)| USA (FCC)| Canada (IC)
---|---|---|---|---|---
10/1205CXB TDR| EN 61326-1:2013| Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)

Directive (2014/30/EU)

| Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016|  |
EN 55011:2009/A1:2020
EN 61000-3-2:2014
EN 61000-3-3:2013
EN 55081:2012| Restriction of the use of certain hazardous

substances (RoHS)

Directive (2011/65/EU)

| The Restriction of the Use of Certain

Hazardous Substances in Electrical and

Electronic Equipment

Regulations 2012

|  |
IEC /EN 62321-3-1:2013
ANSI C63.4-2014|  |  | FCC Part 15b

Class A

| CAN ICES-003(A)

NMB-003(A)

26/PSK11-USB

Charger

| EN 55022| Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)

Directive (2014/30/EU)

| Electromagnetic

Compatibility Regulations 2016

|  |
IEC/EN 623368-1:2014| Low voltage| Electrical Equipment

(Safety) Regulations 2016

|  |
IEC/EN 60950-1| (LV) Directive

(2014/35/EU)

Warranty

Subject to the conditions set out herein, Radiodetection Limited expressly and exclusively provides the following warranty to original end user buyers of Radiodetection products.
Radiodetection hereby warrants that its products shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for two years starting from point of sale to end customer. Extensions of this warranty period may be available where the same terms and conditions apply.
Statement of warranty conditions
The sole and exclusive warranty for any Radiodetection product found to be defective is repair or replacement of the defective product at Radiodetection’s sole discretion. Repaired parts or replacement products will be provided by Radiodetection on an exchange basis and will be either new or refurbished to be functionally equivalent to new.
In the event this exclusive remedy is deemed to have failed of its essential purpose, Radiodetection’s liability shall not exceed the purchase price of the Radiodetection product. In no event will Radiodetection be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential or punitive damages (including lost profit) whether based on warranty, contract, tort or any other legal theory.
Warranty services will be provided only with the original invoice or sales receipt (indicating the date of purchase, model name and dealer’s name) within the warranty period. This warranty covers only the hardware components of the Radiodetection product.
Before a unit is submitted for service or repair, under the terms of this warranty or otherwise, any data stored on the unit should be backed-up to avoid any risk of data loss. Radiodetection will not be responsible for loss or erasure of data storage media or accessories.
Radiodetection is not responsible for transportation costs and risks associated with transportation of the product. The existence of a defect shall be determined by Radiodetection in accordance with procedures established by Radiodetection.
This warranty is in lieu of any other warranty, express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This warranty does not cover:

• a. Periodic maintenance and repair or parts replacement due to wear and tear.
• b. Consumables (components that are expected to require periodic replacement during the lifetime of a product such as non-rechargeable batteries, bulbs, etc.).
• c. Damage or defects caused by use, operation or treatment of the product inconsistent with its intended use.
• d. Damage or changes to the product as a result of:

1. Misuse, including treatment resulting in physical, cosmetic or surface damage or changes to the product or damage to liquid crystal displays.
2. Failure to install or use the product for its normal purpose or in accordance with Radiodetection instructions on installation or use.
3. Failure to maintain the product in accordance with Radiodetection instructions on proper maintenance.
4. Installation or use of the product in a manner inconsistent with the technical or safety laws or standards in the country where it is installed or used.
5. Virus infections or use of the product with software not provided with the product or incorrectly installed software.
6. The condition of or defects in systems with which the product is used or incorporated except other ‘Radiodetection products’ designed to be used with the product.
7. Use of the product with accessories, peripheral equipment and other products of a type, condition and standard other than prescribed by Radiodetection.
8. Repair or attempted repair by persons who are not Radiodetection warranted and certified repair houses.
9. Adjustments or adaptations without Radiodetection’s prior written consent, including upgrading the product beyond specifications or features described in the instruction manual, or modifications to the product to conform it to national or local technical or safety standards in countries other than those for which the product was specifically designed and manufactured.
10. Neglect e.g. opening of cases where there are no user-replaceable parts.
11. Accidents, fire, liquids, chemicals, other substances, flooding, vibrations, excessive heat, improper ventilation, power surges, excess or incorrect supply or input voltage, radiation, electrostatic discharges including lightning, other external forces and impacts.

Our Mission
Provide best in class equipment and solutions, to prevent damage to critical infrastructure, manage assets and protect lives.
Our Vision
To be the world’s leader in the management of critical infrastructure and utilities.

Our locations

• USA
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Copyright © 2022 Radiodetection Ltd. All rights reserved. Radiodetection, 1205CXB and Riser Bond are registered trademarks of Radiodetection in the United States and/or other countries. Trademarks and Notices. Due to a policy of continued development, we reserve the right to alter or amend any published specification without notice. This document may not be copied, reproduced, transmitted, modified or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Radiodetection Ltd.

References

• Cable and Pipe Locator Experts | Radiodetection
• Buried Cable and Pipeline locators | Radiodetection
• Cable and Pipe Locator Experts | Radiodetection

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