Re: copper, quality in cables

Per Belden - there is no "better copper" in cat5e cable, it just plain old "BC", bare copper. Thanks all

> I posted this in a network area and didn't get a good > > answer. Maybe here? > > > > Network cables vary. There's cat this and that. A popular > > cable type used today is cat5e. It's a better cable for > > various reasons and is often described as performing better > > because it has "better copper". Better copper? > > > > Isn't all copper used in electronics the same? > > Isn't all just about pure? > > > > I think the "better copper" description means insulation > > and twist differences. Am I correct or is there really > > "better copper"? > > Its not the copper perse', almost all the copper spec's I have read > call for 'electrolytic copper` which is 99.9% pure or better. > In data cable, as frequencies rise, there are differences in > performance due to the physical form of the cable and shielding. There > are certainly differences in the ease of getting a good termination. > This is probably what you are hearing about.
Reply to
hfs2
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"Better Ingredients, Better Pizza"..... Poppa John's

Sales talk is pretty much universal.

Even for Cat5e cables.....

Unbelievable.

Jim Buch

Reply to
jbuch

Weeeelll ....sort of. Standard copper is 99.9 %, good enough to qualify for London Metal Exchange . Much copper is actually refined to 99.99 %, and this goes for a small premium. Maybe $ 50 a tonne or so. Wire rod, used as the basic material for drawing wire from, is almost always that 99.99 % . So it is in fact, both " better than normal copper " and also " standard " . Which is about as confusing as I want to make it on a Saturday afternoon.

Tim Worstall

Reply to
Tim Worstall

Uncle Al's comments are good, and a lot of sales hype goes into the business, especially audio. If there is a real problem, chances are it is with the connector(s). They are put on by machine, and cheaper suppliers will not always calibrate and test properly. Also, In order to attain certain physical properties, such as stiffness and memory(springiness), alloying metals are used. The cheaper suppliers will use El Cheapo recycled brass. Herein lies a problem. The gov't has been going after lead-containing brasses, which are favored for certain machining operations because it makes the brass easier to cut. So many brass suppliers are offering bismuth containing brasses as a replacement. I was at an engineering conference where some engineers were complaining that even a few ppm of bismuth would reduce the electrical transmission properties of copper drastically. So, sales hype aside, it pays to buy a quality product. Belden is one of them, and everything I've bought from them is first class.-Jitney

Reply to
jitney

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