RoGeorge
Wow, the cleanest stair-steps reflections I have ever seen!
You are all chasing a Rabbit down a Hole.
Sending a pulse or a signal down a coax ,
50 ohm or what ever. That is not terminated the signal has to go some were .. so it will go backwards. Echo . So there will be a reflection.
There will be a time difference. There fore you will see steps . SWR will not be 1:1 on any open Transmission line .
Pulse . or Square wave . is made up of all waves . and hence it will break down back to a sine.
There is only one true wave form and it a sine .. That why light can't go round corners .without
Reflections call what every you like but its the same.
It's like ripping water when a ripple gets to an edge it bounces back. Whether you see it or not it's there.. And there is never a square wave in Water .. or light etc. etc.
Only thing at the bottom of a Rabbit hole is ...
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Also Notice How the original Author Who Himself said it was Only practical on paper.
As for all Us Nerds . including myself . .
Paper theories are very good as long as they stay in the right place .
You can always work it out with a pencil ... but taking medicine will also work ..
PS. one nanosecond light travels about 0.3 meters measure the distance between the steps
and you will find the refection point in your coax . or the the dialectic failure point .
if the coax is perfect with no defects it will give you the length of the coax being tested.
A tape measure would also work without the complications.
This Method is good for finding bad connections in long data lines and has a high accuracy
to locate the damage section of cable and repair it . used it myself to find bad broken transmission line .. . but it does not prove that a Capacitor charges in steps .
it like a saying a fish does not breath air . No it removes it from the water (H20.)
Still a large Rabbit Hole ..