VSWR Return Loss Table or Chart

- table showing the conversion between reflected power, VSWR and return loss.

When designing or building an electronic circuit, using radio frequency elements the return loss is of great importance as are the voltage standing wave ratio, and reflection coefficient for the signal. This can be of great importance when using or designing RF equipment.

While it is often necessary to calculate the VSWR or return loss, when undertaking RF design, or maintaining or using RF equipment it can some times be useful to convert between return loss, VSWR and voltage reflection coefficient.

Return Loss (dB) is defined as a ratio of the incoming signal to the same reflected signal as it enters a component. The Return Loss (RL) may also be explained as the difference between the power of a transmitted signal and the power of the signal reflections caused by variations in link and channel impedance. A return loss plot indicates how well the link and channel's impedance matches its rated impedance over a range of frequencies. High return loss values mean a close impedance match, which results in greater differentiation between the powers of transmitted and reflected signals.