Abstract: A method of locating the position of a fault on a power transmission line between first and second ends of the line is performed by calculating the complex fault impedance at each of a plurality of assumed fault positions along the length of the line, the fault impedance at each assumed position being calculated utilizing the measurement before and after fault occurrence of the voltage and current at the first end of the line, parameters of the line, and the impedance at the second end of the line; and selecting as the actual fault position the assumed fault position of the plurality of assumed fault positions for which the argument of the complex fault impedance most closely equals zero. The method may be used with single or multi-phase power transmission lines. There is also disclosed a method of determining the form of impedance network at a fault on a multi-phase power transmission line.

Abstract: A system for detecting a fault in a power line (1) includes, in the power line (1), a first circuit (4) capable of attenuating signals within a first frequency band, which is centered on a first frequency, substantially more than it attenuates signals outside the first frequency band, and, a second circuit (5) connected to the power line (1) on one side of the first circuit (4), the second circuit (5) being capable of extracting signals within a second frequency band that includes the first frequency. The relative levels of two signals extracted by the second circuit (5), are detected and signalled, the two signals being at respective frequencies which the first circuit is capable of attenuating by different relative amounts.