Understanding Data & Power Cabling and Accessories

In the communications and networking industries, cabling is an essential but often overlooked aspect of an organization’s network and electronic installations. High quality cabling and LAN accessories ensure that installations are safe and economical. Cabling and cabling products must meet the power and data transmission requirements for a variety of purposes. From control systems to audiovisual systems and computers to communications, cables serve a wide range of industrial needs. Here is a look at how several of these cabling products work:

Cables in the Sky: Precision in Space

Precision operations in the medical, aerospace and defense industries use EFI/RFI shielded trays and Faraday cages to trap and prevent electromagnetic interference and radio-frequency interference from affecting cables. MIL Circulars are high durability cable connectors used in industrial and commercial applications in harsh environments such as industrial robotics, subway trains, machine tools, and heavy vehicles. Most industries use wiring harnesses to secure cables and prevent them from being cut or suffering abrasive damage. With an exponential increase in cabling, harnesses are important in being able to keep cabling compact and well-organized. The 3M MDR Connectors are specialized for use in digital and surveillance cameras and are designed to meet specific standards unique to this form of cabling.

While Aerospace, defense and medical industries require precision cabling products, there are products that find domestic use as well. Almost any industry that requires the use of high quality signal transmission—audio, computing, communications, control and security—use multi-conductor cables to prevent the loss of signal quality. Fiber optic cables are quickly replacing copper wiring specifically in medical, defense, networking and broadcasting. HDTV and broadband Internet are some of the domestic applications of these cables. BX or armored cables are used in light industrial and home electrical wiring that protect wires from wear and the weather in a metal sheath. Though there are several alternatives to BX wiring, it is still popular in home power installations. All 3M MDR Connectors are specialized for use in digital and surveillance cameras and are designed to meet specific standards unique to this form of cabling.

Home and Computers

Home computers use several cables—from modular cables for the PSU (Power Supply Unit) that enables the removal of unused sections of cables and finds application in compact computer assemblies. Gaming and other performance computers use D-subminiature and D-Sub High Density Connectors in video cards, COMM ports, network interfaces and game controller ports. Multi-channel audio recording and video transmission still use D-Subs to support legacy systems. In many cases, when legacy hardware needs to be upgraded or interfaced with more modern systems, an understanding of the RS-232 is important since USB to RS-232 device interfaces form the building blocks of data transfer from legacy devices. Other interfaces that are essential to control and communications systems include the balanced interface RS-422 and V.35 line transmission interface for line speeds of 48kbps. Computers continue to grow in their capability to handle several connected devices—nearly 15 at a time. SCSI makes these possible—providing greater speeds in data transmission and improving the efficiency of computers that handle large volumes of data.

A personal computer is a very good place to find several types of cabling and cabling accessories including ribbon cables that connect internal peripherals, power cables and data transmission cables—CAT5, CAT5e and CAT6 for various levels of data transmission.

Understanding the basic function of each of these cables helps network professionals troubleshoot and maintain a variety of industrial, commercial and specialized high performance systems.

At MJS Designs, we have built custom cables to improve the functionality of many products and to ensure the best usage of voltage for other products.  We are an experienced electro-mechanical assembly service provider in the United States. Contact us today to discuss your cabling needs.