I went back and read my manual and my scope operates the same as yours. Probably made in the same factory, lol. The "zoom" mode basically serves the same purpose as a variable sweep setting and you can select whatever part of the waveform you want to magnify.
How exactly do you make a TDR? I know you need a signal generator and an oscilloscope (and a cable to test of course), but how do you actually make it?
This looks like a fun project. I just ordered a couple of the BNC adapters I don't have. I think i'l try it first with my Siglent function generator and then the Schmidt trigger if the rise time is too long.
You need a square wave source with a very low rise time (<5ns) so that the rising edge of the source does not overlap and obscure the rising edge of the reflection. The rise time determines the shortest distance you can measure in a cable.
As the video states you need a fast rise time signal ( about 2ns).
The calibration port on scopes have slow rise times.
You could feed the calibration signal into a Schmitt trigger input gate, however, you might as well copy the circuit the speaker talks about in the video.
I have my probe attached to a 47Ω resistor and the end of a spool of wire. The GND clip from the probe is clipped to the negative terminal of a new 9v battery. I then tap the end of the resistor on the positive terminal of the battery just like in the video, and the o'scope displays the picture above.
Possible reasons:
I dont know what im doing exactly on the o'scope (although I think I set everything correctly)
I used a 47Ω resistor as I do not have a 50Ω
the wire is 20awg on a spool instead of a straightened coax cable
Im using the probe that came with the o'scope instead of a direct bnc connection
Oh. How did he test a single strand coax cable? My spool is actually 4 strands; is that fine? I am only connecting everything to one of the strands, and the other end is open.
Ah, I figured that was how; just wanted to make sure.
Im not sure if any of the 4 strands are "paired"; it is a really old spool and 2 of the strands are white, while the other 2 are black. I use my multimeter to tell which goes to which lol.
So, one strand goes to the o'scope, and a second strand goes to gnd?
Edit:
Also, my 4 strand wire has a ground shield (looks like aluminum foil), and a ground wire too.
So, I tried attaching the ground wire in my cable to the end terminal of the 9v battery, in addition to what I already have. After zooming out quite a bit, I get this: