Systems and methods employing time domain reflectometry

An apparatus for testing a transmission line for a change in impedance within a group of parallely extending transmission lines, wherein each transmission line comprising first and second conductors, the group of parallely extending transmission lines including a test transmission line and at least one associated transmission line, the apparatus comprising:

• a computing device;
• a pulse generator that generates at least one pulse upon reception of a command signal from the computing device;
• a splitter that receives the at least one pulse from the pulse generator and splits each of the least one pulse into a number of pulses of equal magnitude and form;
• couplings that connect the splitter to the conductor pairs of the test transmission line and at least one associated transmission line, the couplings being capable of simultaneously imposing the number of pulses received from the splitter onto the conductor pairs of the test transmission line and the conductor pairs of the at least one associated transmission line;
• and
• at least one sensor associated with the test transmission line, the sensor capable of sensing a reflected signal resulting from an impedance change along the length of the test transmission line and outputting a signal indicative thereof to the computing device;
• wherein the test transmission line is a single phase of a multi-phase power transmission cable and the at least one associated transmission line comprises the remaining phases of the multi-phase power transmission cable.