Cable Builders: Any silver-coated center conductor coax you know of? (1 Viewer)

[Bob McElfresh]

Some of the cable vendors offers a silver-coated center-conductor coax. I thought Belden had something like this, but the keyword "Silver" in the Belden Cable Finder does not show any RG6-style cable.

Is there a silver-coated coax that is popular among DIY cable builders? Whats the mfg and part number?

 

[Chu Gai]

Not a cable builder, but perhaps the information below will be useful. These cables are typically used in DS-3 and -4 applications about which you can read on the web. CommScope's site has some information regarding the DS-3 and -4 applications that may suffice for most. I don't know if Canare or Gepco or any other players have similar stuff or are developing it also. I think they're targeting a different market niche.
CommScope
Part#73501M
Impedence75 Ohm
Capacitance17.5 pF/ft
Velocity of Propogation:78%
DCR:
Conductor:39.5 Ohms/1000 ft.
Shield:5.6 Ohm/1000 ft.
SRL:30 dB Min. (15-95 MHz) 100% Sweep Tested
Down 6.79 db/100 ft. @200 MHz
Center Conductor:26 AWG silver plated solid copper
Dielectric:Foamed PE
Shield:Foil: Al/Polyester Tape
100% Coverage
Braid:38 AWG Tinned Copper
92% Coverage
Jacket:Gray PVC
Part#:734S1
Impedence75 Ohm
Capacitance17 pF/ft
Velocity of Propogation:80%
DCR:
Conductor:11.0 Ohms/1000 ft.
SRL:30 dB Min. (5-95 MHz) 100% Sweep Tested
Down 3.44 db/100 ft. @200 MHz
Center Conductor:20 AWG silver plated solid copper
Dielectric:Foamed PE
Shield:Foil: Al/Polyester Tape
100% Coverage
Braid:34 AWG Tinned Copper
80% Coverage
Jacket:Gray PVC
They make other types of silver coated copper too, some 50 ohm stranded stuff
Belden735A1
Belden734D1
Similar specifications to the CommScope. You'll see minor variations in the shielding, small stuff in the velocity of propogation, but for all intents and purposes, we're talking equivalents.
Helix/Hitemp www.drakausa.com
You'll find information on their 734 and 735 series of cables...also largely interchangeable with the above. I believe they deal with sales representatives so I guess if you really had a hankering for their product, you'd need to contact them to see where its available.
Generally speaking I'd look towards contacting the individual companies by phone (toll free #'s can be had at their websites) and speak to someone about where and in what kind of lengths one can obtain their product.
Also for those who are into having cable assemblies made up (talking large quantities here now) numerous places will do that such as www.ekriscable.com with the benefit in many cases that we're dealing with 9000 certs and all that. These custom assemblers will work with people/companies to design cable assemblies to their specifications. Maybe even if the quantity is great enough, changing the braiding just a bit. Product differentiation and that search for "i've got something they don't have" thing you know. I'm sure BetterCables as others has contracted with somebody to OEM their stuff for them.
Hope this helps to some degree.

 

[Kevin Coleman]

Hey guys,
I found some of the Belden Link Removed for 115.00 for 500' shipped.
Kevin C.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Chu - thanks.
Ok Kevin, where did you find it? You KNOW you want to tell us....

 

[Kevin Coleman]

Of course I will tell you guys.
It is at Accu-tech
They have to special order it but the guy I talked to called Belden and then called me back and said they had rolls of 500' in stock at Belden and he could ship one to me for 115.00. Now this is not 3 channel stuff but single channel. You would have to use some techflex to bundle three runs together but even doing that it still comes up a few cents a foot cheaper than Canare V3-5CFB.
My only question is is how would this stuff perform as component video cable compared to the V3-5CFB? The specs don't seem much different.
Kevin C.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

My only question is is how would this stuff perform as component video cable compared to the V3-5CFB? The specs don't seem much different.

Unless you have a very demanding system, my GUESS is that it would be like drinking wine from a Dept. Store wine glass and a Waterford Crystal glass - neither really affects the wine but you have the satisfaction of knowing you have a expensive container.

We should note that the 734D1 is RG59 - I'm not sure which Canare plugs & Dies would be needed for this. Anyone have a cross-reference guide for Canare?

 

[Chu Gai]

I've also seen some Lucent cable out there. Considering that Lucent has taken a beating in its stock prices, there may be some inexpensive stuff out there from companies that Lucent fronted equipment for and then subsequently went belly-up.

 

[Phil A]

For crimp compatability questions, you can send an E-Mail to [email protected] They will answer questions for anything listed in their catalog which includes Canare and some of the Belden stuff. Canare used to have a chart somewhere on their website but it only covered a ltd. amt. of Belden stuff.