2026-09-23
An RF coaxial cable consists of four parts: the inner conductor, the dielectric insulation, the outer conductor (shield), and the jacket.
Inner conductor: usually solid. Thanks to the skin effect at high frequencies, hollow copper tubes or copper-clad aluminum can be used; copper-clad steel suits user networks without power feed, while copper-clad aluminum is recommended for powered distribution and backbone networks, ensuring transmission performance while reducing weight and cost.
Dielectric: polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, or fluoroplastics may be used; polyethylene is the most common thanks to low loss and good processability.
Outer conductor: serves both loop-conduction and shielding functions, with metal tube, overlapped tape, and braid+tape composite structures.
Jacket: black polyethylene with excellent weather resistance for outdoor cables; light-colored polyethylene for indoor user cables.