Shielded cables for wiring inside chassis

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Hi!

I know often it will be smart to use shielded cables for routing signal cables inside the chassis. Endless options of shielding and brand are avalable.

1.) Will any shielding (copper braid vs. copper spiral vs. foil vs. copper spiral with conductive carbon, etc.) be superior in this application?

2.) Are any manufacturers to be preferred. In other words will the same construction, say 22AWG copper conductor with copper spiral shield, be better from Mogami than for example Belden? Or is it just personal taste?

Any recommendations for shielded cables that are easy to strip, easy to solder and easily available?

Many thanks!
 
Inside a chassis:
a] in an analog circuit a copper braid or spiral is better than a foil.
b] in a digital circuit a foil might be better.
c] because the cable will not be repeatedly flexed, a spiral is OK.
d] in a situation like this a cable from any manufacture is OK.
 
The short answer:

Mogami W2330, sold by the foot. There’s also balanced cable, W3222.

Easy to get, strip and solder. I’d start here, and naturally you may evolve to different options but this isn’t the area to think too hard on.

Mogami W2330 Miniature Unbalanced Microphone Cable - Black PER FOOT


Long answer.
The more you build the more you realize it’s about how it handles (flexible or not) and that it’s appropriately sized more than anything else given that it’s suitable for its job.

Mogami makes some inexpensive and good quality cable.

Canare and Belden also make good options.

The blue jeans site has a lot of info on use cases and performance data for various commercially available cables. You can find plenty of model numbers there.

These days however I’ve been using stiffer cabling that will keep its shape especially in tube applications or where careful routing is beneficial either from a safety or performance standpoint.... saves a lot of zip ties.

The mysterious and magical stuff that has a high price and excellent marketing copy often does not excel at being useful in a practical manner (crazy tubing, braiding, cloth sheathing and all that stuff), and of course isn’t a wise use of $.
 
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Mixi said:
also, some cables come with a fixed ohm rating like 50ohm or 70ohm cables. what's the idea behind that?
Google "characteristic impedance". If that makes no sense, then all you need to know is that it is irrelevant for audio apart from the fact that 75 ohm cables will have less capacitance than 50 ohm cables.

thanks for all the replies! what about conductor size - any minimum / maximum requirements or benefits?
Thin enough to bend. Thick enough to solder (depends on your soldering technique).
 
Since you probably don’t know what thick enough to solder and thin enough to bend means in practice, 22awg for internal signal cabling is fairly standard. The Mogami I mentioned above is roughly that, so is Canare GS-4. Try some of each and figure out what’s right for you.

Stuff commonly used for RCA cables like Belden 1694A will make for a really cluttered chassis and is unnecessary. However, try that too if you’d like. The more samples for comparison the more you can make informed decisions.

For carrying power be mindful of voltage and current ratings. This is where utilizing datasheets is key.

Here Belden lays into a couple misconceptions:

Cable Substitution

My personal rule is to not purchase cable that’s not made by a large industrial manufacturer with a high level of control over process and a history of sensible engineering practices. Then, I can ask them what’s right for the job (just email them!), trust their input and I get something I can rely upon in the end. I suggest doing the same- life is easier this way.
 
thanks for all the replies. i'm ordering a few cables from redco as we speak.

spaceistheplace, you mentioned Belden 1694A for interconnects which seems to be a video/broadcast cable. any advantages of using a cable like that over say mogami 2330 or canare rs4 for short run rca interconnects (less than 2 feet)?
 
thanks for all the replies. i'm ordering a few cables from redco as we speak.

spaceistheplace, you mentioned Belden 1694A for interconnects which seems to be a video/broadcast cable. any advantages of using a cable like that over say mogami 2330 or canare rs4 for short run rca interconnects (less than 2 feet)?


In practice? Just the size and durability.

For interconnects I like it to fill the barrel of whatever plug I’m using. With W2330 might look a bit like a child walking around in their parents shoes.

Mogami W2330 is quite small compared to what you may imagine an interconnect cable to be. More suited to a mini plug than an RCA.

It is roughly the size and heft of uncooked udon, if you are familiar.

So it’ll do the job but I’d use one of the more common go-to types like Belden 1694A or Canare GS-6.

Like I said i suggest you get a handful of different competently designed options to experiment with what feels right to TO YOU.

You’ll wind up using it all anyway in one project or another.
 
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