EEVblog Electronics Community Forum

Electronics => Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff => Topic started by: coppercone2 on May 04, 2021, 06:37:41 am

Title: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: coppercone2 on May 04, 2021, 06:37:41 am
So I have a HP impedance match device that does 135, 600 and 900 Ohms. 600 I kind of get, it seems pretty common,

but what the hell are 135 and 900 ohms used for? Does anyone have a history of these impedance values ? Does anything interesting use them?
Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: bob91343 on May 04, 2021, 05:23:19 pm
I don't think so.  They are probably there because it was easy and makes it look like the unit is more versatile.
Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: Terry Bites on May 04, 2021, 06:38:52 pm
Ask a telephone man: Characteristic impedances of 600 Ω for home wiring and 900 Ω for central office wiring. IDSN filters 135 ohms @40kHz
Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: coppercone2 on May 04, 2021, 08:14:18 pm
why does it change like that? I guess ISDN is more similar to 50 Ohm, but why 900 and 600? Then again the ISDN frequency is really low too, so I have no idea why any of this is done.
Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: srb1954 on May 04, 2021, 08:36:28 pm
why does it change like that? I guess ISDN is more similar to 50 Ohm, but why 900 and 600? Then again the ISDN frequency is really low too, so I have no idea why any of this is done.
The characteristic impedance of a twisted pair telephone cable is typically around the 120-130  \$\Omega\$ range at the higher frequencies where ISDN works. The impedance of a twisted pair cable varies considerably throughout the audio band and is higher at lower frequencies.

The 600 \$\Omega\$ figure was the approximate characteristic impedance for early open wire telephone lines.

Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: coppercone2 on May 05, 2021, 02:31:06 am
why have 2 different types of cable?
Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: srb1954 on May 05, 2021, 07:39:54 am
why have 2 different types of cable?
Open wire lines for putting on top of telephone poles.

Twisted pair cables for burying in the ground.
Title: Re: 135 and 900 ohm devices?
Post by: bsdphk on May 05, 2021, 09:21:24 am
Ask a telephone man: Characteristic impedances of 600 Ω for home wiring and 900 Ω for central office wiring. IDSN filters 135 ohms @40kHz

Given the vintage of these devices, I also have one, it would not have been for ISDN but for carrier systems.