Author Topic: heavy walled semi ridged coax  (Read 2899 times)

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Offline qwaarjetTopic starter

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heavy walled semi ridged coax
« on: April 20, 2017, 07:40:59 pm »
Most semi rigid cable like RG401 has a very thin outer copper jacket like .025"  does anyone know of of a semi rigid cable with a way thicker jacket thickens.  I want be able to use a a compression fitting on it without the tube buckling.
 

Offline calexanian

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2017, 08:18:08 pm »
Have had good luck with Times Microwave products. You can use either their fancy clamps and bushings, or use conduit cable gland fittings. For the glands I like Heyco brand. With the glands its all rubber/plastic in contact with the jacket so you don't have to worry about it cutting and shorting.
Charles Alexanian
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Offline qwaarjetTopic starter

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2017, 08:45:05 pm »
This need to be a pressure tight fitting. A watertight cable gland just isn't going to cut it unfortunately. I'm basically trying to make a poor mans pressure rated RF feedthrough
« Last Edit: April 20, 2017, 08:47:19 pm by qwaarjet »
 

Offline calexanian

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2017, 10:25:20 pm »
This need to be a pressure tight fitting. A watertight cable gland just isn't going to cut it unfortunately. I'm basically trying to make a poor mans pressure rated RF feedthrough

Poor man and RF seldom work out.
Charles Alexanian
Alex-Tronix Control Systems
 

Offline qwaarjetTopic starter

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2017, 12:34:54 am »
Well this is a prototype
 

Offline edpalmer42

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2017, 03:17:12 am »
How much pressure are you talking about?

The cable companies use 3/4" 75 ohm coax with a seamless aluminum sheath.  I just checked a datasheet and it showed a sheath thickness of 0.036".

Maybe you should be looking for a bulkhead mounted connector or adapter.  It's easy to find BNC or N connectors that have an o-ring.  It's probably intended for water/dust proofing, but if the pressure isn't too high - maybe.  Another possibility might be an adapter equipped with a mounting flange.  You'd have to figure out a gasket on your own.

Another consideration is the cable itself.  Can gas leak through the cable around the dielectric?

Ed
 

Offline qwaarjetTopic starter

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2017, 03:35:16 am »
The pressure is... high ( like don't want to be in the same room with it), cant go into that much detail unfortunately. There are some connector I found for deep sea applications but the form factor really sucks and the cost and lead time is impractical (mainly lead time). I haven't had any leaks of the cable on early attempts but the possibility of small leaks is acceptable at this stage of development. 
 

Offline metrologist

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2017, 03:42:11 am »
Can you solder the connectors? Maybe you can find some rigid or ruggedized cables, or roll your own from the plumbing department?
 

Offline radar_macgyver

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2017, 03:51:25 am »
Is the application narrow band? A bit Rube-Goldberg, but consider waveguide.
 

Offline qwaarjetTopic starter

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2017, 04:16:56 am »
Can you solder the connectors?
Sure I can solder, cant find a connector that can survive the environment I'm putting it in that cost less than a cheap car and take 12week to arrive though  :'(
Maybe you can find some rigid or ruggedized cables,

I already crushed what I would considered a rugged cable (RG401)
roll your own from the plumbing department?
that was first thing I did but couldn't keep the impedance controlled thus I search for semi ridged coax that could double as a pry bar
 

Offline edpalmer42

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2017, 04:35:08 am »
Feedthrough capacitors with a differential signal?

Glass or plastic covered port with horn antennas on opposite sides?  Modulate your signal onto a microwave carrier and transmit it through the glass.

You're just not giving us enough info to really help.

Ed
 

Offline qwaarjetTopic starter

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2017, 05:37:25 am »
A piece of semi ridged 50ohm works very well for my application the outer jacket is simply too thin on the COTS cables I found so far, it buckles at the compression fitting. That's why I'm trying to find heavy wall. Ideally I would take rg401 and replace the outer jacket with 100mil thick stainless steel
I do feel very sorry for not being able to be more specific about my application, but I appreciate the help this forum gives me since most questions I ask are for weird pieces of unobtanium.
I have severe space restrictions and need broadband performance, waveguides and dielectric windows don't fit and can't take the the pressure. If you have a source for compact impedance controlled feedthroughs that can take very high pressure I would be interested. But the incredibly few I've found so far are very expensive and a multi month lead times and frankly would be a pain to work with since they are made for keeping pressure out not in (see ocean floor equipment) .

 But in general high pressure and RF don't seem to be a common application, vacuum on the other hand there is huge variety of products. And in a past life I had great success using a semi rigid and swag-lock for a  vacuum feedtrough /RF plasma probe
 

Offline slurry

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #12 on: April 21, 2017, 05:58:11 am »
It's really hard to come up with solutions with so little information.
What about semi-rigid inside copper brake tubing?
 

Offline metrologist

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Re: heavy walled semi ridged coax
« Reply #13 on: April 21, 2017, 03:59:41 pm »
Make a cavity for the commercial cable to pass through. Add a second wall around your coax that can take the pressure of your crimps or can be welded itself.

I mean if you took a foot long pipe and epoxied your coax in that, would that be strong enough? Maybe you can use a larger copper pipe with flange connectors soldered onto end caps.

or work on your impedance problem?
 


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