TESTERON Tracker Pro V3 Manual de usuario

I N S T R U C T I O N M A N U A L

Tracker Pro

(Model V3)

Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR)

for metal cable faultfinding and troubleshooting

as well as

for district heating pipelines troubleshooting and monitoring

D I S T R I B U T O R I N T H E E U:

TESTERON

ul. Nowy Rynek 6

62-002 Suchy Las, Poland

tel +48 61 6521235

cell phone. +48 724 565157

e-mail: biuro@testeron.pl

rev. 11-2020-ENG

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual 
 
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Table of Contents 
General Information .......................................................................................................................................4 
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 
2 Tracker Pro’s Key-Features........................................................................................................................................ 4 
3 Tracker Pro’s Typical Field Applications................................................................................................................. 4 
4 Theory of Operation.................................................................................................................................................... 5 
5 Safety Information....................................................................................................................................................... 5 
 
Description .......................................................................................................................................................6 
1 Front Panel ................................................................................................................................................................... 6 
2 Touch Screen................................................................................................................................................................ 6 
3 Intuitive Ease of Use ................................................................................................................................................... 7 
4 Touch & Jump.............................................................................................................................................................. 7 
5 Return Loss .................................................................................................................................................................. 8 
6 Pulse.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9 
7 Vertical Gain ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 
8 Range .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10 
9 Horizontal Position ................................................................................................................................................... 10 
10 VOP (Velocity of Propagation).............................................................................................................................. 10 
10.1 Determine VOP................................................................................................................................................ 10 
10.2 Reducing VOP Error ....................................................................................................................................... 10 
10.3 Set up VOP for the Actual Cable Test........................................................................................................... 10 
11 Filters......................................................................................................................................................................... 11 
12 Auto-Search.............................................................................................................................................................. 12 
13 Menu ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12 
13.1 Internal Software Revision ............................................................................................................................. 12 
13.2 Event Markers.................................................................................................................................................. 12 
13.3 Settings.............................................................................................................................................................. 13 
13.4 Adjusting the Time and Date......................................................................................................................... 14 
13.5 Flip Screen ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 
13.7 IFD Mode (Intermittent Fault Detection) ..................................................................................................... 15 
14 Internal Memory...................................................................................................................................................... 17 
14.1 Storing of Waveforms ..................................................................................................................................... 17 
14.2 Saved Waveforms............................................................................................................................................ 17 
14.3 Procedure of Viewing Saved Waveforms .................................................................................................... 17 
14.4 Editing Comments........................................................................................................................................... 18 
14.5 Deleting of Waveforms from the TDR.......................................................................................................... 18 
14.6 Downloading of Saved Waveforms into a PC ............................................................................................. 19 
14.7 Downloading of Saved Waveforms into a Mobile Device ......................................................................... 20 
 
Charging the Batteries ..................................................................................................................................20 
 
Examples of Waveforms...............................................................................................................................21 
 
TrackerView PC Application to Tracker series TDRs............................................................................24 
1 Availability of TrackerView application................................................................................................................ 24 
2 The screen layout....................................................................................................................................................... 24 
2.1 Upper Tool Bar................................................................................................................................................... 25 
2.2 Comparing waveforms - OVERLAY .............................................................................................................. 26 
2.3 „Mirror Horizontal” Feature............................................................................................................................ 27 
2.4 Info + Communication Control Bar ................................................................................................................ 28 
2.5 Download File from Instrument...................................................................................................................... 28 
2.6 Update Instrument Firmware.......................................................................................................................... 29 
2.7 Distance Scale..................................................................................................................................................... 29 
2.8 Waveform and Cursors..................................................................................................................................... 29 
2.9 Main Control Panel ........................................................................................................................................... 30 
2.10 Full testing screen option ............................................................................................................................... 33 
2.11 Comment Box................................................................................................................................................... 34 
 

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual 
 
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TrackerView Apps for tablets and smartphones.....................................................................................35 
1 Upper Tool Bar .......................................................................................................................................................... 35 
2 Info Screen.................................................................................................................................................................. 36 
3 Distance Scale ............................................................................................................................................................ 36 
4 Waveform and Cursors ............................................................................................................................................ 37 
5 Control Panel ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 
6 Downloading of test data from the Tracker series TDR into a mobile device .................................................. 40 
 
Maintenance ...................................................................................................................................................42 
1 Cleaning...................................................................................................................................................................... 42 
2 Periodic Inspection.................................................................................................................................................... 42 
3 Instrument Disposal.................................................................................................................................................. 42 
 
Service and Warranty....................................................................................................................................42 
 
Technical Data................................................................................................................................................43 
1 Technical Specification ............................................................................................................................................. 43 
2 VOP Value Table for Different Types of Networks to be tested with the TDR ................................................ 44 
 
 

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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1. General Information

1.1 Introduction

The Tracker Pro is a multipurpose metallic time domain reflectometer (TDR). It is a cable fault locator designed

to quickly and easily diagnose metallic cables. The Tracker Pro combines the latest technology and user-friendly

operation, creating a versatile and accurate TDR. It uses square pulse widths with very fast rising and falling

edges. This unique capability creates high frequencies that allow for the most accurate reading of small faults in

the cable even at very short distances less than 1m from the source of the test pulse. At the same time, a

combination of available testing pulse widths allows the user to test cable networks and district heating pipelines

on long distances up to 16km on coax cables or 19km on alarm systems of pipelines.

The Tracker Pro is a product of Springbok Instruments, USA, whose founders created RiserBond over two

decades ago - a world known brand of metallic TDRs. As compared to all existing TDRs, Springbok Instruments

introduces some revolutionary new features as standard: a high resolution color touch LCD screen and the

Tracker Store –a unique system of storing measurement data, each file being a full waveform with all the available

pulse widths regardless of what is on screen.

1.2 Tracker Pro’s Key-Features

•the most modern TDR technology based on high frequency energy test pulses

•locates faults (cable impedance discontinuities) for most of metallic cable types

•long testing range up to 16km on coax cables or 19km on district heating pipelines

•detects faults at very short distances –less than 1m with a 5ns pulse width

•high resolution large color touch LCD screen

•Auto-Search mode for ease of operation

•three measurement cursors and multiple marking system

•intuitive interface combined with accurate diagnose & locating of multiple events on a cable

•unique „one-touch storage of all pulse width” Tracker Store System for 60 cable tests

•IFD mode (Intermittent Fault Detection)

•Bluetooth 4 and USB connectivity to tablets and smartphones

•splash proof USB connection and Tracker View PC software at standard delivery

•updates of the Tracker Pro’s operating system & Tracker View PC software via internet for free

•increased operating time of the internal battery exceeding 9 hours in standard conditions

•rugged and field tested case

1.3 Tracker Pro’s Typical Field Applications

Typical field applications for Tracker Pro TDR include:

➢coax cable TV troubleshooting

➢telecom copper cable faultfinding

➢railway automation cables troubleshooting

➢LV power cable faultfinding

➢district heating network troubleshooting

➢and many more….

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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1.4 Theory of Operation

Tracker Pro was successfully introduced to the world market over 5 years ago. It is a reflectometer designed to

detect and analyze faults on metal cables. It belongs to the group of measurement devices called TDR (Time

Domain Reflectometer). Using time domain reflectometry, or cable radar, the TDR transmits a signal down the

cable. Impedance discontinues along the length of the cable reflect some or all of the signal energy back to the

instrument. These reflections are measured and displayed on the Tracker Pro’s color LCD touch screen as both a

waveform and a numeric distance to the fault.

If the pulse reaches an impedance discontinuity, part or all of the pulse energy is reflected back to the instrument.

If the cable is an open circuit, the reflected pulse will be in-phase (upward reflection) with the output pulse. If the

cable is a short circuit, the reflected pulse will be out-of- phase (downward reflection) with the output pulse. In

either case, a substantial amount of energy will be reflected. If it were possible to have a cable with no loss, all of

the signal energy would be reflected. The incident and the reflected signals would look identical. Inductive faults

and reflections from an impedance higher than the characteristic impedance will be in-phase, or upward.

Capacitive faults and reflections from a lower impedance are out-of-phase, or downward.

The Tracker Pro displays the cable under test as a digitized waveform with a numeric distance readout on the

touchscreen display. The digitized waveform enables the operator to view the signature of the cable in great

detail. An impedance mismatch (opens, shorts or faults of less severity) can be identified and distances to the

faults determined. The Tracker Pro will test all types of metallic paired cables for opens, shorts and impedance

mismatch.

Square Pulses

The Tracker Pro uses square pulse widths with very fast rising and falling edges. This unique capability creates

high frequencies that allow for the most accurate reading of small faults in the cable. Due to high frequency energy

of the pulses, the minimum effective test range of the first 2nsec pulse is less than 0,5m! The combination of

available testing pulse widths for the instrument allows the user to test cable networks and district heating

pipelines on long distances up to 16km on coax cables or 19km on alarm systems of pipelines.

1.5 Safety Information

WARNINGS:

•Review all safety precautions before using.

•Do not operate this instrument near flammable gases or fumes!

•Do not modify any part or accessory of this instrument.

•If the unit is damaged, do not use.

•To avoid electric shock, do not remove covers or any parts of the enclosure!

CAUTION:

As with most electronic equipment, care should be taken not to expose the equipment to extreme temperatures

or humidity. Store the instrument indoors during extreme hot or extreme cold temperatures to insure that your

Tracker Pro will be ready to use. If the instrument is stored overnight in a service vehicle, be certain the instrument

is brought to specified operating temperatures before using.

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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2. Description

2.1 Front Panel

2.2 Touch Screen

Splash-proof

micro-USB socket

BNC socket to connect

test leads or a Coax cable via

BNC/F adapter

ON / OFF

switch

Battery charging

LED indicator

Battery charging

socket

A-2 –a waveform

along the cable

B –Zoom windows

at the cursor positions

C –Functional keys

D –Select keys to all the functions

A-1 –three independent cursors

(red, green and blue)

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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The Tracker Pro touch screen consist of four main parts:

A. A graphical presentation of a waveform along the cable that shows any impedance mismatch of the tested

network (reflections of the test pulse), two independent cursors marked in red and blue and a distance marker

at the upper part.

B. Three ZOOM windows –one for each of the cursor which help to position the given cursor correctly at the

place of the fault (green and blue cursors) or at the start of testing pulse (red cursor).

C. The tool bar of functional keys that enable to:

•chose the proper pulse width to perform the cable test (PULSE)

•chose the level of Vertical Gain (V.GAIN)

•chose the proper test range (RANGE)

•adjust horizontal position of the graph (HORZ POSITION)

•chose the proper VOP setting (VOP)

•chose the proper Filter setting (FILTER)

•activate the function of Auto-Search (AUTO-SEARCH)

•store the measurement into the instrument’s internal memory (STORE)

•recall of the recorded measurement from the instrument’s internal memory (RECALL)

•enter the instrument’s MENU

D. Select keys to choose specific values of the required function

2.3 Intuitive Ease of Use

Due to modern technologies used, including a touch screen LCD of high mechanical resistance, the Tracker Pro

is a friendly to use test-and-measure instrument. Its intuitive ease of use combined with professional faultfinding

reliability can be experienced in the toughest site conditions.

2.4 Touch & Jump

1. Select a cursor to adjust by touching anywhere inside the zoom window

2. Touch along the main waveform to move the cursor to the desired location

3. Fine tune the location of the cursor by touching the arrows inside the zoom window to move the cursor left

and right.

Note: The red cursor is the reference and it is to be set up either at the beginning of the initial pulse (start

of the testing pulse from the instrument) or at the leading edge of the reflection from the point where

the crocodile clips of a test leads are connected to the cable under test).

Position of the red cursor can be stored, e.g. if the user wants to work in the mode of “Cancel test lead length”.

1. Select the red cursor to adjust by touching anywhere inside the red zoom window.

2. Touch along the main waveform to move the cursor to the desired location.

3. Press “Save Location” button

4. The instrument will remember the position of the red cursor at the next switch on of the device.

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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2.5 Return Loss

The green or blue ZOOM windows automatically display the distance between the red and the green or blue

cursor positions. At the same time, the Return Loss value is displayed there in [dB].

In general, Return Loss is the loss of power in the signal returned (reflected from any impedance mismatch in a

transmission line.

Basically, the lower the value of RL, the more severe the fault.

The dBRL value is usually expressed as a ratio in decibels (dB) an it is calculated and displayed to the TDR

user via the equation:

RL (dB) = 20log10(Vo/VΓ)

where:

RL(dB) is the return loss in dB

𝑉𝑂is the transmitted signal amplitude in Volts

𝑉𝑅is the reflected signal amplitude in Volts recorded at the TDR.

See Figure below for the visual TDR representation of these values.

In an ideal world where flawless transmission cables are used, the amount of reflected signal would match

the transmitted signal amplitude resulting in a dBRL reading of 0dB. Actual cables will have a given amount

of attenuation per kilometer that is also dependent on the fundamental frequency of the pulse that is

transmitted by the TDR. The higher the frequency (or inversely the lower the pulse width), the greater the

attenuation over distance will be. Additionally, this means that the shown dBRL value is a combination of

the fault on the cable and the cable attenuation.

Pulse Width

Fundamental

Frequency

2ns

250MHz

5ns

100MHz

20ns

25MHz

50ns

10MHz

100ns

5MHz

300ns

1.67MHz

500ns

1MHz

1000ns

500KHz

2000ns

250KHz

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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2.6 Pulse

Tracker Pro V3 has 9 available testing pulse widths:

2 nsec, 5 nsec, 20 nsec, 50 nsec, 100 nsec, 300ns, 500 nsec, 1000ns and 2000ns .

NOTE: 2 nsec pulse width of the Tracker Pro corresponds to the pulse width of less than 0,5 nsec

that is generated in any other known TDRs from other manufacturers.

The default pulse width for the Tracker Pro is 2 nsec. In order to change it, press the PULSE key and choose the

desired pulse width value on the slide bar below (press the screen on the correct position that corresponds to the

required pulse width). The choice made is presented in a pulse width key, eg. PULSE 50 nsec

NOTE: Always start the fault finding procedure in the shortest pulse width available, as the fault may be

only a short distance away. Use the Range and Vertical Gain controls to locate fault. If the fault is not

located, adjust to the next larger pulse width and retest.

2.7 Vertical Gain

The Vertical Gain control increases or decreases the vertical amplitude of the waveform display. Increasing the

vertical gain of the waveform display allows the user to see smaller reflections or minor faults on the cable

signature.

Tracker Pro has 6 available levels of Vertical Gain control:

1x/4x, 2x/8x, 4x/16x, 8x/32x, 16x/64x and 32x/128x

After the instrument switch on, a default level of Vertical Gain is applied - 1x/4x.

1. In order to change the Vertical Gain, press the V.GAIN key.

2. Select the required level of Gain by choosing the right key . 1x/4x, 2x/8x, 4x/16x, 8x/32x16x/64x or 32x/128x

The default value of the Vertical Gain can be set by the user - just go to MENU and select the required value of

the Vertical Gain at the “Settings” screen.

Tracker Pro TDR Instruction Manual

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2.8 Range

Range, or horizontal zoom, expands and contracts the waveform

from the left side. These are different preset range levels with the

first being the small, seeing up to 20 meters, and last- the largest,

seeing up to 4,000 meters down the cable. Once the proper range

has been selected the cursor zoom windows can be used to see

specific areas in the cable with finer detail.

The default value of the Range can be set by the user - just go to

MENU-Settings and set-up the appropriate position of the slide bar

1. In order to change the testing Range, press the RANGE key.

2. Adjust the required Range by the use of a slide bar.

2.9 Horizontal Position

The horizontal position arrows can be used to scan to the left and right on the cable without changing the range

level. You can use it to view the whole length of the tested network at the chosen pulsewidth in search of unusual

reflections that could be actual faults or expected regular points. The arrows can be held down to continuously

scan along the cable to the desired location.

2.10 VOP (Velocity of Propagation)

The speed of light in a vacuum is 300,000 kilometers per second. This speed is represented by the number 1(100%).

A coaxial cable with a VOP of . 85 would transmit a signal at 85% of the speed of light.

2.10.1 Determine VOP

The VOP number of a cable is determined by the dielectric material that separates the two conductors. In a coaxial

cable, the foam separating the center conductor and the outer sheath is the material determining the VOP. In

twisted pair, the VOP number is determined by the spacing between conductors and the insulation that separates

them.

The VOP of a cable can change with temperature, age and humidity. It can also vary from one manufacturer

and/or cable family and from one run to another. Even new cable can vary as much as +/-3%.

There are several ways to determine the correct VOP. The first is to simply refer to the VOP card provided with

the instrument. Second, consult the manufacturer for the correct VOP of that specific cable. A third way is to

actually determine the VOP from a known cable length:

1. Measure a known cable length, the longer the cable, the more accurate the VOP will be.

2. Correctly place the cursors of the TDR on the output pulse and the reflected pulse (end) of the cable.

3. Change the VOP setting until the “Distance Between Cursors” displays the known length.

2.10.2 Reducing VOP Error

When trying to pinpoint a fault, the most common technique used to reduce VOP error is to test the faulty cable

from both ends.

1. Determine the path of the cable and, therefore, its length

2. Test both ends of the cable to a common point on the cable (fault) with VOP readings

➢If the sum of the two readings is more than the known cable length, reduce the VOP setting and retest

➢If the sum of the two readings is less than the known cable length, increase the VOP setting and retest

3. Continue this method until the sum of the two readings equal the known length of the cable

4. The result will be the correct length readings.

2.10.3 Set up VOP for the Actual Cable Test

After the instrument switch on, a default value of VOP is applied, e.g. 85%

1. In order to change the VOP, press the VOP key.

2. Select the required value VOP by pressing up or down arrows on the screen

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