Transmission Lines – Metallic conductor system that is used to guide or transfer electrical energy from

one point to another.

5 losses
1. Coupling loss- occurs whenever a connection is made to or from a transmission line or when two
separate pieces of transmission lines are connected together.
2. Corona - the phenomenon of ionization of surrounding air around the conductor due to which
luminous glow with hissing noise is rise is known as the corona effect.
3. Dielectric heating loss – result from the heating effect on the dielectric material between the
conductors.
4. Conductor loss – it is because current flows through a transmission line and line has a finite
resistance there is an unavoidable power loss. To reduce conductor loss simply shorten the
transmission line or use a larger diameter wire. Conductor loss depends somewhat on frequency
because of a phenomenon called the skin effect.
5. Radiation and Induction losses – both are caused by the fields surrounding the conductors.
Induction losses occur when the electromagnetic field about a conductor cuts through any nearby
metallic object and a current is induced in that object. As a result, power is dissipated in the object
and is lost.
Concentric or Coaxial Transmission Line - Coaxial or concentric conductors are used
for high frequency applications to reduce losses and to isolate transmission paths. The
basic coaxial cable consists of a center conductor surrounded by a concentric
conductor. At high frequencies, the coaxial outer conductor provides
excellent shielding against external interference.
1. Rigid (air) coaxial line – consists of a central, insulated wire (inner conductor) mounted inside a
tubular outer conductor. The spacers are made of pyrex, polystyrene or some other material that has
good insulating characteristics and low electric losses at high frequencies.
2. Solid flexible coaxial line – are made with an inner conductor that consists of flexible wire insulated
from the outer conductor by a solid, continuous insulating material. The outer conductor is made of
metal braid which gives the line flexibility.
Parallel-Conductor Transmission Line
1. Two-Wire Open Line – the line consists of two wires that are generally spaced from 2 to 6 inches
apart by insulating sp27acers. This type of line is most often used for power lines, rural telephone lines,
and telegraph lines.
2. Two-Wire Ribbon (Twin Lead) – commonly used to connect a television receiving antenna to a
home television set. This line is essentially the same as the two-wire open line except that uniform
spacing is assured by embedding the two wires in a low-loss dielectric usually polyethylene.
3. Twisted Pair - the line consists of two insulated wires twisted together to form a flexible line without
the use of spacers. It is not used for transmitting high frequency because of the high dielectric losses
that occur in the rubber insulation.
Transmission Medium (cable)
4. Shielded Twisted Pair – consists of parallel conductors separated from each other and surrounded
by a solid dielectric. The conductors are contained within braided copper tubing that acts as an
electrical shield. The assembly is covered with a rubber or flexible composition coating that protects
the line from moisture and mechanical damage. A twisted pair cable confined in foil or mesh shield
that guards the cable against electromagnetic interference.
5. Unshielded twisted pair - is most certainly by far the most popular cable around the world. UTP
cable is used not only for networking but also for the traditional telephone (UTP-Cat 1). Cable with
wires that are twisted together to reduce noise and crosstalk.
Transmission Line Parameters
1. Velocity factor – ratio of the actual velocity of propagation through a given medium to the velocity
of propagation through free space.
2. Electrical Length – the length of a transmission line relative to the length of the wave propagating
down the line.
3. Reflection – a transmission line phenomena wherein a portion of the incident energy is delivered
back to the source due to impedance mismatched.
4. Reflection coefficient - a vector quantity representing the ratio of reflected voltage to incident
voltage or reflected current to incident current.
5. Standing Waves – an interference pattern that exists (because of impedance mismatched) when
two sets of traveling waves going on opposite direction meets.

*Non-Resonant Transmission Line - defined as a line of infinite length that is terminated with a resistive
load equal to its characteristic impedance
*Resonant line - A transmission line with no reflected power
*Dielectric constant (ϵ r)- is defined as the ratio of the electric permeability of the material to the
electric permeability of free space (i.e., vacuum) and its value can derived from a simplified
capacitor model.
*Propagation constant - used to determine the reduction in voltage or current with distance as a TEM
propagates down a transmission line.

*Unbalanced - one wire is at ground potential while the other is at signal potential.
*Balanced - impedance to ground from each of the two wires is equal and this ensures that the
current in both wires are equal in magnitude but opposite in sign or travel in opposite directions.
*Balun – used to connect a balanced line to unbalanced line.
*Frequency – equals the number of waves that passes a given point per second.
*Guided transmission media – the waves are guided along a physical path; examples of guided
media include phone lines, twisted pair cables, coaxial cables, and optical fibers.
*Unguided transmission media – methods that allow the transmission of data without the use of
physical means to define the path it takes. Data signals that flow through the air. They are not guided
or bound to a channel to follow.
*Matched line – When Zo=ZL, all the incident power is absorbed by the load
*Unmatched or mismatched - When Zo ≠ ZL, some of the incident power is absorbed by the load
and some is returned to the source
*Incident voltage – wave that travels through a transmission line from the generating source towards
the load
*Reflected voltage – in transmission line reflected current and voltage is produced whenever there is
a short or open circuit condition
*Unshielded twisted pair - is most certainly by far the most popular cable around the world. UTP cable
is used not only for networking but also for the traditional telephone (UTP-Cat 1).
*Unguided (wireless) - In unguided media, transmitted data travels through free space in form of
electromagnetic signal. For example, radio waves, lasers, etc.
*Guided (wired) - In guided media, transmitted data travels through cabling system that has a fixed
path. For example, copper wires, fibre optic wires, etc.
*Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) – a scalar quantity that represent the degree of impedance mismatch or
defines as the ratio of the maximum voltage to the minimum voltage or the maximum current to the
minimum current on a TL.
*Quarter - Wave Transformer Matching - a short piece (quarter wavelength) of wire inserted between
the load and the transmission line.
*Infinite Transmission Line Condition - if the transmission is uniform and infinite, the wave in the
+z(forward) direction will continue indefinitely and never return in the -z(reverse) direction.
*Single Stub Matching - TL stubs is simply a piece of additional TL that is placed across the primary line
to the reactive component of the load.
PROPERTIES OF SMITH CHART
1. Normalising impedance
2. Plotting of an Impedance
3. Determination of SWR
4. Determination of r in magnitude and direction
5. Location of voltage maximum and minimum
6. Open and short circuit line
7. Movement along the periphery of the chart