What is a Semi Rigid Coaxial Cable?
Semi Rigid cable is usually made with a sold tube of
metal a dielectric such as Teflon. The most common types of tubes are Copper,
and Aluminum. Copper can come as un-plated copper and Tin plated Copper. The
Aluminum comes as Tin plated. The Tin plating on the Aluminum is to make
soldering possible.
Size does matter 0.034, 0.047, 0.085, 0.141 0.250
inches in Diameter.
The above are common sizes for semi rigid cables. The most
common are 0.047 through 0.250 cable. Many types of connectors are available
for these cables and are commonly stocked for fast delivery. Connector availability can the most important
issue when selecting a cable. The most common cables used are the 0.085 and .141
these have the greatest selection of connectors. The 0.047 and 0.250 are next
in line for connector availability. The 0.034 cable is very uncommon with few
connector options. When selecting a
connector cable combination remember this simple rule: "Small diameter cable small size
connector". Example a MMCX is a
very small connector and 0.14 in OD
would that make sense on 0.250 cable? (Nope) The major drawback of semi rigid
is the number of times the cable can be bent. The material work hardens very
quickly and cannot be bent more than a few times. To extend this bending
Applied Interconnect invented the Polycoating of these cables to extend the
number of bends on the cable and provide an isolated ground.
CU- Stands for Copper or bare copper that has no
plating. Copper cable is becoming more common with the reoccurrence of Tin Whiskers.
TPCU- Stands
for Tin plated Copper.
TPAL- Stands
for Tin plated Aluminum
Polycoated- This
cable is a polyolefin coating. Applied Interconnect also offers a PTFE coating. Applied Interconnect developed this
cable to solve two problems: 1. Tin whiskers on the cable and 2. Flexibility
for a long life of bending.
What is Conformable Coax?
Conformable coax is basically a flex cable with a solder
covering over the braid. This braid allows the cable to be flexed much more
than semi rigid because the stresses are spread over a much larger area. Many
manufacturers manufacture a good conformable coaxial cable. One can flex
conformable coax many times more than Semi-Rigid, over time the braid will
begin to flake off as the metal hardens. To solve this problem Applied
Interconnect developed the polycoating to protect the cable and spread the flexure
over a greater area.
The Belden part
numbers for Conformable Coax are are below:
Belden 1671A (.085 OD)
Belden 1673A (.141 OD)
Polycoated Conformable Coax
All of the above parts can be found and designed at the
www.Onlinecables.com website.
Cable assembly companies, BNC, TNC N-Type,
www.OnlineCables.com
