Jumper Wire or Cable Calculator

This tool calculates the maximum length of a short jumper cable used in Radio Frequency circuits.

Enter the highest frequency of operation and the tool will provide the maximum length of the jumper wire.


	

		

Example Applications

Use the square wave harmonics calc to find the highest frequency components. For instance a 125 MHz square wave has frequency components up to 1375 MHz. Plug that number into the calculator and the max jumper cable length is 22 mm.

Find the bandwidth of a signal from its rise time. Use this number in the calculator. For example a signal with rise time of 1 ns has a bandwidth of 350 MHz. At this frequency the jumper length is 86 mm.

In general a jumper wire should have a length = (1/10)*λ, where λ is the minimum wavelength associated with the highest frequency signal on the wire.

Jumper Wire Image from NASA

Related Posts