Attenuation (Insertion loss)
Electrical FOR: Conductor $2,460A voltage pulse (or signal) placed on a wire/cable will progressively degrade along a wire/cable length due conductor resistance, dielectric material, temperature, signal frequency, and other factors. In short, attenuation is the loss of signal strength. Those wires/cables with lower attenuation are often preferred as less energy is needed for signal transmission.
The purpose of the attenuation test is to measure the amount of energy lost by transmitting a signal through a cable. The energy lost measurement quantifies the cable's resistance to electrical signal transmission. The pass/fail criteria vary depending on the particular specification and it will identify the acceptable signal strength loss.
The following parameters can be changed for this test, but are not limited to:
- Signal strength
- Frequency range
- Environmental conditions
Procedure
- Perform visual examination of the specimen. Record any anomalies or defects.
- Secure the cable into the test apparatus and connect to signal generator.
- Connect measurement device to the first conductor (if specimen is a multi-wire cable) and the other lead to all remaining shielding and conductors in the cable for each test frequency.
- Record results and repeat Step 3 for all constituent wires in the specimen cable.
- Report the attenuation across the tested frequency domain.
Covered specifications
- EN3475 Method 806
- AS85485 Section 4.7.2
- ASTM D4566 Method 24
- AS6070 Method 5.2.1
- MIL-DTL-24643C Method 4.9.1
- MIL-DTL-17 Method 4.8.8
- MIL-PRF-39012 Method 4.6.24
- MIL-T-81490 Method 4.7.3
- MIL-DTL-24643D Method 4.9.01
- USB 2.0 Method 7.1.17