Type of coax cables used affects their use and longevity. Inferior quality cables can cause greater damage when used commercially on a distribution system. Hence it is important to select the right quality cables to ensure that you do not face any problems in future because of their faulty make. However it becomes really difficult to judge the quality of the cable just based on their manufacturing details as most of the times quantifiable data regarding their performance is not available.
To make things easier you can always rely on different types of cables available to make it easier for you to select the right type of cable based on your requirements. Whenever you need to buy new cable just go through the specifications and you should be able to buy the right type of it. Alphabetically coax cables are of 4 different types A, B, C and D.
Type A: More commonly known as semi-airspaced dielectric coax cables have longitudinal space running through it and so the popular name.
Type B: Though they look similar to type A coax cables, what differentiates them from type A cables is the foam used in their making. They are superior to type A as they last longer and are more robust. Previously manufactured type B cables easily soaked in moisture which ultimately affected their performance, however recent time cables come with a promise of better quality and higher level moisture resistance.
Type C: Popularly sold as “satellite downlead” Type C coax cables consists of low density copper braid and the screen is wrapped in very thin (not visible to the naked eye) silver colored material. Distinct quality of these coax cables is that the dielectric slides easily inside the screen, hence one has to be cautious when installing them.
Type ‘D’: Also known as “low loss cables” to disparate them from other similar cables used in VHF. Though you can find them in white sheath, they basically have brown sheath.
0 comments