VIAVI Home Leakage Test Kit for In-Home Coaxial Leakage and Ingress Detection

The VIAVI Home Leakage Test Kit helps technicians tighten the home coaxial network to reduce intermittent issues caused by signal leakage and ingress, without requiring a dedicated leakage meter. Ingress affects HFC high-speed data services, and much of it originates inside the home, so detecting it during an installation or service call helps avoid repeat visits.

Signal levels in the home coaxial network are lower than outside plant levels, and the move to all-digital services increases the sensitivity required of a leak detector. Monitoring for leakage in both the aeronautical and LTE bands at the same time adds to the challenge. According to VIAVI, laboratory experiments have shown that leaks as low as 0.1 μV/m can allow LTE signals to enter the subscriber network and disrupt cable services, a level beyond the range of conventional signal leakage detectors.

Measurement principle

The kit uses the hand-held, battery-operated Seeker HL In-Home Signal Source. It is connected at the ground block or tap in place of the cable signals and injects two test carriers, one in the aeronautical band and one in the LTE band. This pressurizes the home network and reveals damage or workmanship issues that could lead to ingress from LTE carriers or other ambient RF signals. The source offers two output levels: +60 dBmV for home certification, or +40 dBmV when the subscriber network is too porous to pinpoint the leak location at the higher level.

The leaking signal is detected with a leakage-option equipped VIAVI DSP or VIAVI OneExpert CATV (ONX) meter, or a Seeker HL leakage meter. The meter emits a tone whose pitch rises with received field strength, while a bar graph shows the signal increasing or decreasing. The technician can then fix a loose connection, replace a faulty connector, component or cable, rather than rewiring the entire home.