Re: Fast sampler

On 3/10/25 8:22 AM, john larkin wrote:

On Sun, 9 Mar 2025 19:22:19 -0400, "Tom Del Rosso"
<fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote:
 

Phil Hobbs wrote:

Hi, All,
>
Late last year we did a fast sampler/TDR with nice clean 60 ps edges.
>
We're gearing up to actually sell them, so I did a short technical
writeup on the design, which may be of interest.
>
<https://electrooptical.net/News/a-high-performance-time-domain-reflectometer>
>
Cheers
>
Phil Hobbs

>
Why is a LASER ruler that can measure distances in air with 2mm accuracy
$16,
>
and an OTDR for measuring fiber $600?

 Most rangefinders use sine modulation and measure phase shift, which
doesn't involve picosecond timing or expensive wideband signal
processing. And they report one number, not a graph. OTDRs are much
more complex than rangefinders.
 And the markets are different too.
 

Also, if a range finder fails to display an accurate result it's usually not a big deal. So it doesn't have to be hi-rel or anything. If a TDR like the one I designed fails that can make the evening news. Nobody wants to be on the evening news in a context like that.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/