What Is A RF Cable?
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
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Peter McNeil | Aug 24, 2022 | Custom Cable Configurator
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.
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.
Custom coaxial cable assembly web page
