In article ,
dave wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
dave wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article ,
dave wrote:
I do not schlep gear. I am an RF technician. I play with radios and
antennas and make union scale doing it.
Does that entail more than microphones? Do you repair equipment?
Engineer or build equipment?

Microphones, instrument packs, wireless intercoms, wireless in-ear
monitors, etc.

I do component level troubleshooting and repair.

I am not an engineer. I am a high-school "dropout". That being said,
I design and build RF amplifier systems, spec fixed filters and have
Anatech build them, and tune "agile" cavity bandpass filters. I sweep
cables. I coordinate frequencies for "live" TV shows.

That sounds like a great job. Good for you.

You probably use some kind of TDR to test the cables. Is most of it 75
ohm?

I've never worked with "agile cavity bandpass filters". Sounds
interesting.

I wish we had a TDR. When we get a thousand foot roll of cable we
actually unspool the whole mess to see that it's all there. Oddly
enough, we do have optical TDRs for fiber, but none for copper. I
personally own one, but I don't mingle my tools with the company's.

I use my trusty R&S FSH-313.

A spectrum analyzer with tracking generator is an excellent piece of
diagnostic gear and just the thing to use to tune up circuits.

The Germans build good stuff and R&S is top of the line.

We use these extensively. As soon as we retune them we void the
warranty, but have only lost one so far. We use the 4 cavity model.

http://www.microwavefilter.com/pdffiles/pg20.pdf

They look like tuned cavity filters alright.

I'm really surprised you don't have a TDR for the electrical coax.

Is the copper coax 50 or 75 ohm? Do you use SMA or the type F connectors.

My work is 50 ohm connectors of all types from "V" to "BNC" and the
frequency range of DC to 65 GHz. No optical work at the current job
right now with one exception coming up later this year.

I am currently watching Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers, doing
"Superstition".

My radio on the desk at work can't compete with that.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California