Humber College Institute of Technology and

Advanced Learning
RF TECHNOLOGY

Coaxial Cable 2
By
Andres Mavare

Professor Carl Hassanali

April 2015
ABSTRACT
i

This report will entails the measurement of the velocity factor and calculation of
dielectric coefficient in different types of coaxial cables using return loss and insertion
loss methods on a network analyzer due to every type of coaxial cable has its own
characteristics that differentiate one from another and suggest which one can be used
for certain type of application or even in which frequency must be used.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES. 3
LIST OF SYMBOLS. 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... 4
INTRODUCTION.. 5
EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS....... 7
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.. 10
CONCLUSION. 14
REFERENCES. 15

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURE 1 Cellular Base Station Components................................... 5

FIGURE 2 Transmitter Section Measurement... 7
FIGURE 3 Receiver Section Measurement 8
FIGURE 4 Isolation Measurement... 9
FIGURE 5 Response Curve for Insertion Loss and Return Loss Transmitter Section10
FIGURE 6 Response Curve for Insertion Loss and Return Loss Receiver Section11
FIGURE 7 Response Curve for Isolation12

TABLE 1 Transmitter Section Results10

TABLE 2 Receiver Section Results11
TABLE 3 Isolation Results12

LIST OF SYMBOLS

dBm ------ Decibels Power Unit

MHz ------ Mega Hertz. Frequency Unit.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
4

The author would like to acknowledge Humber Institute of Technology for providing a
great technological infrastructure that allows students to perform projects in the
laboratories with adequate equipment that makes a good hands on learning experience.
Moreover a thank you to Professor Carl Hassanali who puts great effort on bringing new
knowledge to his students and marking the importance of understand how experiments
made in the laboratory are related with field work in the telecommunication area.

INTRODUCTION

Coaxial Cable is one of the most popular means of electromagnetic propagation if a

round cross-section of the cable is taken it would be found a single center solid wire
symmetrically surrounded by a braided or foil conductor. Between the center wire and
foil is an insulating dielectric. Data is transmitted through the center wire, while the outer
braided layer serves as a line to ground. Both of these conductors are parallel and
share the same axis. This is why the wire is called coaxial! This dielectric has a large
effect on the fundamental characteristics of the cable. There are several types of coaxial
cables that are used for different applications and their properties differentiate one from
another for this report is important to focus on two characteristic on specific, the velocity
factor and the dielectric coefficient.
The coax cable velocity Factor is the speed an electromagnetic wave travels along a
coax cable relative to the speed in a vacuum. The speed at which a signal travels within
a coax cable is not the same as an electromagnetic wave travelling in free space
instead it is affected by the dielectric that is used within the coax cable, and this has the
effect of slowing the signal down.
There is another concept important to determinate velocity factor using the length of the
coax cable and it is the electrical length; one important factor of a coax cable in some
applications is the wavelength of the signals travelling in it. In the same way that the
wavelength of a signal is the speed of light divided by the frequency for free space, the
same is also true in any other medium. As the speed of the wave has been reduced, so
too is the wavelength reduced by the same factor.
Moreover there is a characteristic very important for any coax cable the dielectric
coefficient that is a number relating the ability of a material to carry alternating current to
itself. If resonant lengths of RF coax cable are to be used, then it is necessary to know
the velocity factor of the coax cable. It is often possible to determine this to a sufficient
degree of accuracy from a knowledge of the dielectric material.

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
6

Basically these experiment entails measuring return loss, Insertion Loss and the
Isolation between the ports of a cellular duplexer. It is well known that a duplexer is a
three port device which one of the port is the Tx combiner the second port is the Rx
Multicoupler and the third port is a common antenna for TX and Rx. The objective of the
following experiments is to determinate the values of the band pass filter that divide the
transmission frequency and the receiver frequency. Furthermore the idea is to analyze if
there is an interference between the Tx combiner and the Rx Multicoupler frequencies
measuring the Isolation level between them. For these experiment were used a Network
Analyzer, a Cellular Duplexer (Cellwave #3404007), coaxial cables and RF adapters.
The study of the duplexer was divided in three experiments shown below.
1. Transmitter Band Pass Section Measurement

Fig. 2 Transmitter Section Measurement.

Procedure
Set measure parameter to S11 for Return Loss and S21 to measure

Insertion Loss.
Calibrate network analyzer for 0Db losses from the coaxial cable.
Set up the frequency range from 810 MHz to 910 MHz
Connect the equipment as in Fig. 2 in order to measure the transmitter

band pass section of the duplexer.

Using a marker find two frequencies where power measure for insertion
loss is -3Db.

With another marker find two frequencies where power measure for return

loss is -14Db.
2. Receiver Band Pass Section Measurement.

Fig. 3 Receiver Section Measurement

Procedure
Set measure parameter to S11 for Return Loss and S21 to measure

Insertion Loss.
Calibrate network analyzer for 0Db losses from the coaxial cable.
Set up the frequency range from 810 MHz to 910 MHz
Connect the equipment as in Fig. 3 in order to measure the receiver band

pass section of the duplexer.

Using a marker find two frequencies where power measure for insertion

loss is -3Db.
With another marker find two frequencies where power measure for return

loss is -14Db.
3. Isolation Measurement

Fig. 4 Isolation Measurement

Procedure
Set measure parameter to S21 to measure Insertion Loss.
Calibrate network analyzer for 0Db losses from the coaxial cable.
Connect the equipment as in Fig. 4 in order to measure the isolation

between transmitter and receiver frequencies.

Measure the worst case isolation. This is measuring isolation at the
highest frequency of the low pass section and the lowest frequency of the
high pass section.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

After the experiments the results were tabulated in the following tables bellow.
Results are divided for each set up of the Duplexer, the transmitter section, the
receiver section and the isolation measurement.
Transmitter Section High Band Pass Filter.
Insertion Loss
Return Loss
Low Freq. (-3dB) 867.3 MHz
Low Freq. (-14dB) 869.1 MHz
High Freq. (-3dB) 903 MHz
High Freq.(-14dB) 900.9 MHz
Bandwidth
Bandwidth
35 MHz
31.7 MHz
Table 1. Transmitter Section Results

Fig.5 Response Curve for Insertion Loss and Return Loss Transmitter Section
Receiver Section Low Band Pass Filter.
Insertion Loss
Return Loss
Low Freq. (-3dB) 819.3 MHz
Low Freq. (-14dB) 821.7 MHz
High Freq. (-3dB) 854.73 MHz
High Freq.(-14dB) 852.6 MHz
Bandwidth
Bandwidth
35.4 MHz
31 MHz
Table 2. Receiver Section Results
10

Fig. 6 Curve Response for Insertion Loss and Return Loss Receiver Section.

Isolation Measurement
Low Frequency
854.7 MHz
Isolation
-52dB
Table 3. Isolation Results

High Frequency
867.7 MHz
Isolation
-53dB

11

Fig.7 Curve Response for Isolation between Transmitter and Receiver.

Observations
Now that it is well known that a duplexer allows a radio to transmit and receive data
using a common antenna it easy to treat the circuits inside the duplexer as independent
circuits. It is important to differentiate the frequencies where whether the Tx or Rx work
on. The duplexer will only do its function without noise if there is a range of frequencies
for transmission and reception that is why in each circuits there is a band pass filter that
only allow certain frequencies to go through it. For the Transmitter circuit it is use a high
band pass filter and for the receiver it is use a low band pass filter. The main objective
of this experiments is determinate the bandwidth of these filters in order to do that and
using a network analyzer certain values of cut off frequencies of the filters were
determinate.
In the first experiment the author connected the equipment as in Fig. 2 in order to
measure insertion loss and return loss between the antenna and the transmitter, the
objective was to find the cut off frequencies of the high band pass filter the values of
these frequencies are in Table 1. It is important to mark that these values were measure
12

at point where return loss had a value of -14dB and Insertion loss had a value of -3db
this values of power determinate the low and the high cut off frequency of the band pass
filter as it is shown on Table 1 the bandwidth for return loss and insertion loss are very
similar at 31MHz and 35MHz respectively. Similarly in the second experiment were
made the same measurement for insertion and return loss the difference was that for
the receiver section it was use the low band pass filter, the frequency values are
illustrate in Table 2. It is quite interesting how in the low band pass filter both return and
insertion loss had a bandwidth of approximately 31MHZ and 35MHz the same values
that the high band pass filter had.
In the last experiment was measured the isolation between the transmission port and
the reception port. Isolation was measured in the worst cases this means the highest
frequency of the low band pass filter and the lowest frequency of the high band pass
filter. It can be seem in Table 3 the values measured in these frequencies -52dB and
-53dB respectively both values are low levels of powers which means that the ports are
isolated.
Summarizing it is possible to consider the experiments as successful due to the results
obtained were standard values while working with duplexers and the condition for a
proper function were complied.

CONCLUSION

13

The implementation of the duplexer in Base Station Radio system marked a milestone
in communications development due to this device makes simple the setup of a base
station a posteriori was necessary to have an antenna for transmission and an antenna
for reception but with a duplexer is possible to transmit and receive with a common
antenna using frequency division.
A duplexer in conformed by resonance circuits and band pass filters it is important to
differentiate the circuits for Tx and for Rx each circuits has a band pass filter and
according to the results of the experiment it is possible to say that even though the band
pass filter manage different frequencies they had the same bandwidth of approximately
35 MHz.
In order for the duplexer to work properly there must be complete isolation between its
ports standard values for isolation in a duplexer are up to -80dbm. In addition to that
when working with this device and assuming that it is a three port device for a correct
measure of insertion and return loss it is necessary to put a load of the same value of
the characteristic impedance of the line and the equipment.

REFERENCES

Base Station. Retrieved 07/03 2015. From Vodafone.

14

http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/about/sustainability/mpmh/how_mobiles_
work/base_stations.html

Tomasi, D (2003). Sistemas de Comunicaciones Electrnicas. Phoenix, AZ.

Pearson Prentice Hall.

15