Electrical termination

Reflections in analog signal systems cause such effects as video ghosting, or power loss in radio transmitter transmission lines.

The terminator is usually placed at the end of a transmission line or daisy chain bus (such as in SCSI), and is designed to match the AC impedance of the cable and hence minimize signal reflections, and power losses.

Secondary reflections can also occur at the cable starts, allowing interference to persist as repeated echoes of old data.

Transmission line cables require impedance matching to carry electromagnetic signals with minimal reflections and power losses.

Antenna cables are sometimes used for internet connections; however, RG-6 should not be used for 10BASE2 (which should use RG-58) as the impedance mismatch can cause phasing problems with the baseband signal.

The MIL-STD-1553B bus must be terminated at both ends to minimize the effects of signal reflections that can cause waveform distortion and disruption or intermittent communications failures.

Optionally, a high-impedance terminator (1000 to 3000 ohms) may be used in vehicle applications to simulate a future load from an unspecified device.