just so i'm clear, i am referring to coax 75ohm type RG6, which is what my tdr is programmed for..
but what are you testing for,
are you hunting to find where the cut exactly is or do you just need a average distance,
also where is the coax now, is it underground, or is it in the walls of your home? or is this just a piece you have laying around?do you have access to both ends of the cable?
bad cable -- which is different from a cut- TEST FOR OHMS
looking for distance of cut -- TDR
finding CUT exact location (on braid)! --- use fox hound (may need to amplify feed tone if you are too far away) - works great on cable though, put black on the braid. tone doesn't bleed well on a good piece of coax.
ALSO if there is just say a large pinhole in braid from removed staple or nail, and not a cut, TDR may not detect it, but bleeding will occur
btw, due to curiosity, i took the liberty of testing TDR on phone wire, seems to work as long as i hookup 2 parallel wires, even on different pairs in strand.
if you are testing center pin the rule of thumb is that dc will not pass through a cut but (AC)RF will... TDR will tell you the distance regardless if there is open or short.