98

Data Cabling Terms

American Wire Gauge (AWG): A U.S. standard set of non-ferrous wire conductor sizes. Typical data wiring is AWG number 24, 26 or 28. The higher the gauge number, the smaller the diameter and the thinner the wire. Backshell (Hood): A mechanical backing that is sometimes put onto a connector. The device protects the conductors and can be assembled or injection molded. Commonly used with D-Sub connectors. Cable: A set of insulated wires or conductors within an extruded jacket. Many types of cable utilize shielding around the wires and under the cable jacket. Cable Assembly: A cable that has been terminated with one or more connectors. Conductor: A metal path (usually copper) that passes electricity. When discussing data cabling, "wire" and "conductor" are synonymous. Connector: An electromechanical coupling device that provides an electrical interface that can be mated and unmated. Contact: The specific points of contact within a connector. Contacts can be male (pins) or female (sockets). Contact Resistance: First, resistance is basically the opposition to electron flow in an electrical circuit and connector manufacturers strive to attain the lowest amount of resistance possible for each contact. Contact resistance is the cumulative resistance value for mated contacts. Crimping: A means of securing an electrical contact to a wire using tools that compress the metal contact around the wire. Crosstalk: When unwanted electromagnetic fields from conductors are transferred into adjacent conductors. Crosstalk is controlled by twisting conductors into a pair or separating/shielding conductors. D-Subminiature: A common connector type that utilizes multiple pins and a D shaped housing. Electromagnetic Interference (EMI): Unwanted electrical or electromagnetic energy that causes unwanted responses in electronic equipment. Extrusion: The mechanical process of coating a wire or group of wires with insulating material. Ground: Any zero-voltage point. Earth is considered a zero voltage grounding point. Ground Wire (Drain Wire): An extra conductor (usually a bare wire) added to a cable for connection of the grounding path. Injection Molding: The process used to inject molten polymer into a mold. Connector backshells are often injection molded. Insulation: A material with very high resistivity used to protect conductors. Insulation is usually extruded over the wire or conductor after the drawing process. Shielding: A conductive foil or braid that covers insulated wires in a cable. The shield provides electrical grounding and protection from external electromagnetic interference (EMI). Shielding is also used to control internal electromagnetic radiation. Soldering: A means of securing an electrical contact to a wire by heating an alloy, consisting of tin and lead, also known as "solder". Solid Wire (or Conductor): One strand of wire. Usually less flexible, lower in cost and lower in resistance than stranded wire of the same AWG. Solid wire is typically used in permanent installations where flexing does not occur. Strain Relief: A method of protecting the wire to contact point from flexing or pulling.

Wire Basics:
Typical 24AWG Solid Conductor Wire Typical 24AWG Stranded Conductor Wire (made from 7/32 AWG Wires) PVC insulator PVC insulator

D-Subminiature

Single 24 AWG conductor Common Solid AWG Index Nominal Diameter (Inches) .0403 .0320 .0253 .0201 .0159 .0126 .0100 .0080

7/32 AWG conductor Common Stranded AWG Index Stranding # / AWG 7/36 7/34 10/36 7/32 10/34 7/30 Nominal Diameter (Inches) .015 .019 .021 .024 .024 .030

AWG 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32

AWG 28 26 26 24 24 22

Typical Crimped Contact

Typical Soldered Contact

Stranded wire is pierced by contact.

Solid or stranded wire is bonded to the contact.

Stranded Wire (or Conductor): Multiple small AWG strands of wire that are put together to make a flexible wire with similar electrical properties as a similar solid wire. Stranded wires are usually used in data cabling. Twisted Pair: Two insulated conductors twisted at a fixed rate of twists per unit of length, typically used in balanced circuits where nominal

impedance and crosstalk are critical characteristics. Wire: A conductive material (usually copper) that has been drawn down to a specific size (see wire basics above) and is then coated with an insulating material. A "bare wire" utilizes no insulator coating. Wire Drawing: The mechanical process of making conductors smaller by forcing through dies.

is the difference between Q&A: What assembled and molded cable assemblies?
Assembled cable assemblies use backshells made of plastic or metal to protect the wires at the terminated connector. These assembled shells can be shielded or not shielded. Molded backshells are made from PVC which is melted and injected into a mold.Assembled shells can be disassembled by removing hardware where molded shells cannot.

ASSEMBLED

MOLDED

Q&A:

What is the difference between standard and Hi-density D-Sub configurations?

SHELL SIZE
1
6 9 5

Data Cabling Tutorial

The industry uses 5 different shell sizes; each shell size can have 2 different configurations of pins. Standard configurations are listed on top and Hi-density are listed below.
LEGEND
DB9 HD15 DB37 HD62 DB15 HD26 DB50 HD78 DB25 HD44

1
.494
1
9

SHELL SIZE

2
8 15

SHELL SIZE
.494
1
14

3
13 25

.494

1 1
6 11 5 10 15

9 18

15

.494

10 19 26

.494

16 31 30 44

.494

1.213

1.541

2.088

SHELL SIZE
1
20

4
1
19 37

SHELL SIZE
.494
18 34

5
17 33 50

.605

1
22 43 62

21 42

20 39 59 78

.494

21 40 60

.605

2.729

2.635

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