5 conductor coax cable. Can i do this? (1 Viewer)

[CRyan]

Can this be used for long runs as a multiple purpose cable. Thought I could use for standard RGBVH for one run and maybe even 3 for component and 2 for stereo etc in another run. Can this be done or will the cable cause problems when using it for multiple use (audio and video).



Example


Thanks for any input,

C. Ryan

 

[Chu Gai]

More information on the cable can be found here: http://www.inlineinc.com/products/coax/pdf/IN7000FP.pdf
Quoting from the datasheet we have the following.

With a video bandwidth of 130 MHz at 50 feet and 40 MHz at 100 feet, the IN7000FP Series is ideal for short and medium length cable runs with high resolution signals and cable runs up to 200 feet or more when used with lower resolution signals.

If you know the limiting bandwidth of your component you can use the above as a guide for your particular application.

That's real interesting there CRyan. Looks like it's silver plated copper center conductors. If that don't beat all! In fact, the description is somewhat similar to Better Cables products. For component video, they use three lines but if you open the cable up you find that they've cut 2 coaxes down.

To get back to your question, there's no reason why you couldn't use this for video applications provided you take the product's spec's into consideration. I'm unclear what you mean by stereo applications. If you mean using the cable like speaker wire, the answer is not recommended. While you could use the other two center conductors as the + and - for a speaker cable, the 26 gauge is a mite on the thin side.

Bob McElfresh has posted about other products that bundle a variety of different conductors to facilitate home wiring. I believe Belden makes them but I don't recall the specific product ID.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

The cable should work fine as long as your 'audio' application is for line-level signals, not speaker-level.

I've looked into multi-coax bundles for people with projectors. I emailed BlueJeansCables about combining Component, SVideo (using a SVideo breakout "Y" adaptor), and composite into a single, thick cable. Their answer was that such a cable IS possible, but the SVideo is hard to wire (because the RG6 coax is so thick - hence the breakout idea). Also, this many coax's in a single bundle is very thick/stiff/heavy. Many of the little desktop projectors are lightweight in comparison. That cable can likely whip the projector around unless you are careful about strain-relief. (Yes, the PDF file says it's flexable - it might be ok).

The other trick that makes the difference between a so-so and superior video cable is finding a good RCA plug that matches the dimensions of the coax.

Before you buy:

- Call the company and ask if they have a RCA plug compatability chart. This may tell you what Canare RCA plugs fit that coax. If not, ask for a cross-reference chart to Belden coax, then go to the Belden web site and look at it's RCA plug cross-reference chart.

Only after you find a matching RCA plug should you buy the coax. Good cables are a system of good coax and matching RCA plugs.