Cable Handling - Agilent Technologies N4413A User Manual

Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Care of Test Cable Assemblies
Depending on the connector, over-torque can cause damage to connectors in a variety of ways:
• mushroomed outer interface shells
• mushroomed pin shoulders
• recessed or protruding pins
• recessed or protruding dielectrics
• bent pins
• chipped plating
• coupling nut retaining ring damage
• damage to coupling threads

Cable Handling

The test cables have a 1 inch minimum bend radius. Exceeding this radius can result in poor
measurements and poor repeatability. Be alert to tight bends where they are not necessarily
obvious — like at the end of connector strain relief tubing.
Swept 90° adapters may be used (typically, at the test set front panel) to minimize cable
bending. However, if the adapters are used, they must be in place during the calibration.
Cables are often stored in a coiled configuration. Coiled cable "set" (the tendency to stay
coiled) can occur if the cables are left coiled. Use large coil diameters (one or two feet) to
minimize cable set. Unroll coiled cables prior to use — never just pull out the loops.
Avoid pinching, crushing, or dropping objects on cable assemblies. Dragging a cable over a
sharp edge will tend to flatten one side, and it is highly likely that the minimum bend radius
will be exceeded.
156 Chapter 6