British Cables Company

Coaxial Cables

Coaxial Cables

BCC-Security-Tec™ Coaxial Cables

Coaxial cables are designed to carry radio frequency current of a much higher frequency than the 50 or 60 Hz used in low voltage cables. And this requires special construction to prevent power losses. If an ordinary wire is used to carry high frequency currents, the wire acts as an antenna, and the high frequency currents radiate off the wire as radio waves, causing power losses. To prevent this in coaxial cable, one of the conductors is formed into a tube and encloses the other conductor. This confines the radio waves from the central conductor to the space inside the tube.

To prevent the outer conductor, or shield, from radiating, it is connected to electrical ground, keeping it at a constant potential.

The dimensions and spacing of the conductors must be uniform throughout the length of the cable. Any abrupt change in the spacing of the two conductors along the cable tends to reflect radio frequency power back toward the source. This acts as a bottleneck, reducing the amount of power reaching the destination end of the cable.