How To use The RF Cable Designer™

by Peter McNeil | Aug 24, 2022

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The Fairview The RF Cable Designer™ is an extremely useful tool for ordering custom coaxial cable assemblies. Instead of having to email or call a technical sales representative to order a specific custom cable assembly, a user can now simply input their desired custom cable parameters and order their cable online. The custom coaxial cables ordered this way usually ship the same day as ordered. Moreover, all of Fairview’s custom cables ordered this way have single heat shrink installed by default at no additional cost.

Using The RF Cable Designer™ is quick and straightforward. Just follow these steps:

Select your desired Connector 1, Connector 2 & Coax Cable parameters in any preferred sequence.
The checkboxes next to the parameters change their status dynamically based on your selections:

Click on the parameter checkbox to lock the value from changing.
Ensure there is no checkbox unselected (white color) next to each Connector and Cable parameter.
Select any additional “Assembly Options”.
Click “Create My Cable Assembly” to proceed to your custom cable’s product page.
On the product page, enter your desired cable length, review pricing & details, then place your order.

Image of The Fairview RF Cable Designer interface

The Fairview RF Cable Designer™ interface

Once an option field is selected and the “lock-in” button is selected, then the remaining customization options that are not compatible with the already locked-in parameters will no longer be selectable. If there is only a single result for a given option, the parameter selection drop-down menu will be grayed and unselectable as will the “lock-in” button.

An important Assembly Option to note is clocking. If multiple right-angle connectors are selected then the clocking becomes essential. A right-angle connector can be clocked at either 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees as indicated in the following image. This is especially significant for semi-rigid or rigid coaxial cable, as the clocking won’t be adjustable after ordering.

Right angle coaxial cable assembly clocking diagram.

Once all of the parameters are selected and locked-in, the large “Create My Cable Assembly” button on the bottom will become functional. If all of the parameters are not selected and the button is clicked, a popup indicating that all the parameters have not been selected will appear.

After successful custom coaxial cable selection occurs a web page will be created for the supplied configuration with a distinct product ID. Now the length and quantity of the custom coaxial cable assemblies can be chosen. Once the “calculate” button is clicked then the pricing for various quantities will appear and an input field denoting the quantity desired will appear along with the “Add to Cart” button.

Image of Custom coaxial cable assembly web page

Custom coaxial cable assembly web page

There are several commonly used methods of carrying electromagnetic energy along conductive pathways. The most common of which for RF applications are RF cable assemblies, such as coaxial cable or twisted pair. The better shielding and lower loss capability of coaxial cable means that for frequencies over a couple hundred-megahertz, coaxial cable assemblies are the most commonly used for high frequency applications from hundreds of megahertz to over 110 GHz. These cables are used in virtually every RF application, from home fixed wireless access to space communications. There are RF cable assemblies made for every environment RF equipment is used, including automotive, train/rail, marine/naval, aerospace, military/defense, and commercial.

RF coaxial cable assemblies are composed of three separate components and the method of attachment between the components. Each coaxial cable assembly has a coaxial cable and two coaxial connectors. The coaxial connectors need to be compatible with the coaxial cable, but not necessarily the same coaxial connector type. A coaxial cable assembly needs to be attached, or otherwise manufactured, in such a way that the coaxiality of the transmission line is maintained throughout the assembly. Coaxiality refers to the alignment of the inner conductor of the cable or connector and the outer shielding of the cable or connector. In some cases, a RF cable assembly may have a connector that is not a coaxial connector, but instead a banana connector or even exposed center conductor for specific use cases.

Coaxial Cables typically have a center conductor, dielectric spacer, an outer conductor, and an outer cable jacket. There may be a variety of additional layers to enhance environmental protection, physical ruggedness, or to enhance electrical performance. Though the most common type of coaxial cable found as cable assemblies is flexible cable, or flex cable, there is also rigid and semi-rigid coaxial cable. These cables tend to exhibit better electrical performance than flexible coaxial cables at the cost of less physical flexibility and the flexibility to be used in a variety of applications. RF Cables may have one of a variety of different connectors, the most common of which are threaded coaxial connector types, such as SMA, N-type, 4.3-10 DIN, 3.5mm, etc. There are also several common types of coaxial connectors that are push-connect, such as SMP, MCX, MMCX, QMA, and others. Bonnet style fittings are also common but are limited in frequency to 2 GHz. Different connectors can be used for each end of the coaxial cable assembly, but it is important to note that the maximum frequency of the cable, and many other of the electrical performance parameters, will be limited by the lowest rated of the coaxial cable assembly components

Peter McNeil | May 30, 2024 | RF Adapters

There are many situations in the laboratory, automated setup, and field where RF coaxial adapters are extremely useful for mating between different coaxial connector types. Installation or test environments where there is a mix of several coaxial connector types is where RF adapter kits shine. An RF Adapter kit is simply a series of RF coaxial adapters that are selected to mate between several key coaxial connector types.

An RF coaxial adapter is simply two coaxial connectors precisely assembled around a common housing with the both center conductors and outer conductors attached. Ideally a coaxial adapter will have minimal insertion loss and very low VSWR. There are high precision coaxial adapters that are generally made for test and measurement applications and offer extremely low insertion loss and VSWR. This is important for test and measurement applications, as any added insertion loss and VSWR can reduce the dynamic range of the overall test system. There are also other specialty RF adapters that include weather seals, are positioned at right angled, are radius right angled, are designed for bulkhead fixturing, or others.

Typically, RF Adapter Kits are combinations of adapters that are commonly used alongside each other. For instance, with millimeter-wave applications, 1.85 mm, 2.4 mm, and 2.92 mm coaxial connectors are very common. Hence, an RF Adapter Kit for millimeter-wave applications will likely include 1.85 mm RF Adapters, 2.4 mm RF Adapters, 2.92 mm RF Adapters, and possibly even 1.0 mm RF Adapters depending on the maximum frequency of the millimeter-wave system.

It is also common to see 3.5 mm and SMA adapters used in many test and measurement applications alongside N-type and BNC adapters. This is because SMA, N-type, 3.5 mm, and BNC are some of the most common coaxial connector types for frequencies below 18 GHz. 3.5 mm coaxial connectors are generally rated to 26.5 Ghz, with a maximum theoretical operating frequency of 34 GHz, however, a coaxial adapter is limited in frequency to the lowest maximum frequency between the two coaxial connector types.

It is also common to have RF adapter kits that are designed to mate between push-connect type coaxial connectors and threaded coaxial connectors for test and measurement applications as well as troubleshooting/maintenance. For example, MCX Adapters that mate to SMA, N-type, BNC, or 3.5 mm are often used for board mount push-connect MCX connectors that are either surface mount or end-launch. These types of low-cost and compact push-connect type connectors are often found on RF and high-speed digital circuit boards as test ports, which is why in quality/verification or rework stations, RF Adapter kits with push-connect to threaded coaxial connector types are very useful.

How To use The RF Cable Designer™

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