Mohr CT100B Series - Static Charge Precautions

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2. Safety Summary

2.3. Symbols in the Manual

2.4. Symbols on the CT100B

2.5. Static Charge

Any cable or wire can carry a signiﬁcant static electric charge that could damage the sensitive

internal electronics of the CT100B. For this reason, it is essential to discharge the electrical

conductors of any cable or device-under-test (DUT) by shorting them to each other or to earth

ground before connection is made to the CT100B’s sampling circuitry.

CT100B instruments supplied with a front panel BNC test port are equipped with a built-in

internal self-grounding connection that brieﬂy shorts the conductors of the DUT to each other,

dissipating stored charge, before completing the connection to the CT100B’s sensitive internal

sampling circuitry. For this reason, the last cable connection should always be made to the

CT100B test port. For example, if the DUT is a cable assembly, all internal connections within the

cable assembly should be made before connection is made to the CT100B BNC test port. This

ensures that all stored charge in the DUT is discharged during the connection to the CT100B BNC

test port.

Sometimes it is convenient to insert a patch cable between the CT100B BNC test port and the

DUT. In this case, it is recommended that all cable connections, including the connection of the

patch cable to the DUT, be made before connecting the patch cable to the CT100B BNC test port.

Otherwise, the BNC test port self-grounding safety feature is circumvented.

If for some reason the last connection cannot be made at the CT100B test port, then the

conductors of the DUT should be discharged (shorted) manually using an industry-standard

shorting cap termination or equivalent direct electrical connection.

Note that CT100B instruments equipped with SMA or other front panel test ports do not have

internal self-grounding protection. Therefore, when using these instruments, the conductors of the

cable under test/DUT should always be shorted to each other or to earth ground prior to

connection to the CT100B’s test port.

4 CT100B TDR Cable Analyzers Operator’s Manual