Insulated Wire (IW) Incorporated, one of the leading manufacturers of low loss microwave coaxial cables, has developed Re-Flex™, a series of cable assemblies that are designed to improve the electrical and mechanical performance over traditional hand-formable designs.
Available in 0.085”, 0.141”, 0.235” and 0.325” diameters (identified as RF085, RF141, RF250 and RF325), IW’s RF cable series offers the advantages of the same lamination process used on our low-loss products. Combined with the same double shield construction plus a solder-free tin/alloy plated outer braid, the Re-Flex™ design provides a re-formable cable that will not develop micro-fractures with repeated flexing, eliminating manufacturability issues associated with conformable style RG cables.
Both RF085 and RF141 are industry-standard line sizes. A wide range of connector types and styles can be used with these cables, including: SMA, TNC, N, SMP, SMPM, 2.92 mm/K™, 2.4 mm, and 1.85 mm/V™, with performance up to 60 GHz. RF250 is commonly used for higher power applications and available with SMA, TNC, N, SC and HN connector options.
Re-Flex™ assemblies can be employed wherever a semi-rigid or conformable cable type is currently used, and with FEP™ jacket available as a standard option, Re-Flex™ provides greater versatility.
Re-Flex™ Starter Kits
For customers who know the advantages of Re-Flex™ over traditional hand-formable and semi-rigid, and to make cable selection easier for those new to our product, IW has announced a new range of Re-Flex™ Starter Kits to facilitate their installation process.
Three kits are currently available with different line sizes.
- CT-1879 (SPSD-TPRF085-XXX-SPSD) direct solder SMA male/male using TPRF085 (RG405 line size)
- CT-1880 (SPSD-TPRF141-XXX-SPSD) direct solder SMA male/male using TPRF141 (RG402 line size)
- CT-1881 (SPSH-TPRF141-XXX-SPSH) shell style SMA male/male using TPRF141 (RG402 line size)
Each kit comprises of seven different assembly lengths 3”, 4”, 5”, 6”, 8”, 9” and 12”, 5 pieces of each, providing the design engineer with a convenient aid for performing cable routing in prototype system builds – the ability to continually re-form Re-Flex™ without the need for custom tooling to shape the cable, and the elimination of debris caused by micro fracturing is a key feature of the Re-Flex™ cable design, and enables the designer to make signal path/layout changes without having to throw product away after using it once. Click here to learn more about Re-Flex Starter Kits.
Click here to learn more about the Re-Flex cable assemblies.
