PIM test equipment offering DTF capability

Anritsu entered the PIM testing market last year demonstrating Distance-to-PIM capability and I understand that a Korean manufacturer started showing a "Distance to faulty PIM" product at CommunicAsia mid 2011.

Kaelus (formerly Summitek Instruments) is now officially in the game with the introduction of Range To Fault - the combination of Return Loss vs. distance and PIM vs. distance in a single measruement.

http://www.kaelus.com/News/Press-Releases/Kaelus-Introduces-Range-To-Fault-(RTF)-Technology/

Regardless of who you purchase from, I believe this technology will greatly speed the time required to perform PIM repairs in the field. It would be great to see testimonials from people using this technology in the field. Please post your experiences!

I am wondering if the Distance To PIM or Range To Fault can identify a problem that isn't present during a static test. For example: I run a static test where nothing is touched or moved. I get a very nice stable reading of -160dBc but when I tap on a connector, intermod is present and I can get either a straight failing reading or a fluctuation of 15 to 20 dB. My question is: Can theses Distance to PIM functions identify that problem without me tapping on the connector?

RTF is a static analysis. It will show you the location of Static PIM sources on the line but does not eliminate the need for dynamic testing. As you have seen, it is very possible to have a problem that does not show itself until you tap. Dynamic testing is the only sure way to find these defects.

Where I have seen RTF to be particularly useful is when you have a static problem somewhere on the line that is non responsive to tapping. It can be very time consuming to find these without RTF.