WCA March 2011

Cable production

Photo credit – GMP Slovakia ❍ ❍

After more than a century as a workhorse of the industry, coaxial cable – or coax – offers as good an example as any of the importance of the speciality reviewed here. Its two conductors share an axis. The first, central, conductor will be a solid wire or a bunch of fine stranded ones, most commonly of copper. A layer of insulation separates it from the second conductor: normally a copper mesh or braided layer. This serves a grounding purpose, essentially absorbing high voltages that might otherwise damage the structure. In addition to its shielding function this is the transmitting layer. The outer ring is a tough, impermeable, durable insulator. That is the basic design. As sound now as it was when introduced in 1880, it has also supported the development of variations (Siamese, Quad Shield, Monster Satellite) that have brought electrical connectivity to a pitch of perfection taken very much for granted by demanding industrial customers worldwide. To the companies profiled in this section, cable making – of coax and a host of others – is a high endeavour that happens also to be all in the day’s work.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2011