In the event of a cable break or fault, the Viavi DSP-TDR-BASE-WIFI DSP TDR Time Domain Reflectometer with WiFi enables cable service provider maintenance teams and contractors to quickly find the location to get service back online as soon as possible. Since a cable break likely means an outage, pin-pointing it quickly is very important. Length measurement accuracy is also critically important, as often the cable is underground and must be dug out to make the splice. A lack of precision in this measurement means a bigger hole must be dug. A TDR is needed to find breaks and faults, to keep the operator from paying for unnecessary span replacements.

The DSP TDR is designed for field use and has step technology, which enables it to show smaller faults, has no blind spot, and maintains accuracy for detecting impedance over the entire length of the cable. Automatic impedance matching allows for faster trace results without pulse width adjustments. In addition to the ability to find faults closer to the TDR (no blind spot) the TDR has a resolution of less than 1 foot (0.3m). The higher energy step TDR has an improved signal-to-noise ratio and digital averaging, eliminating noise interference, and producing a much more detailed cable image than available with a pulse TDR.

In most cases it's desirable to document the test results for reporting to management or clients. When new cable spans are installed the cable length and performance must be verified and documented. A TDR chart is typically included in documentation for construction to show that an installed span is good. The DSP TDR has WiFi or ethernet connectivity, and data can be uploaded to the cloud-based StrataSync asset and data management database, so no PC software is required. This gives management instant access to the information for better, quicker decision making and, in the case of the contractor, faster payment for services rendered.