What is a Radiating Cable?

Radiating cables are basically Coaxial Cables with slots cut into the outer conductor, which allow controlled levels of electromagnetic energy to be radiated both out of and into the cable.

The RF energy is simultaneously transmitted down radiating cables and radiated from all points along them into the surrounding space.

A radiating cable functions both as a transmission line and as an antenna. The amount of radiation is quantified by the coupling loss. In the tables of the Data Sheets, the coupling loss is defined as the difference between the power transmitted into the cable and the power received by a λ/2-dipole antenna located at a distance of 2 m from the cable. (This definition is taken from IEC-61196-4).

Where do you need Radiating Cables?

Radiating cables are used wherever normal radio communication is difficult or impossible, in particular in communication systems where a antenna would not provide adequate coverage or would be too intrusive. Radiating Cables today are used in a variety of challenging locations, such as in tunnels, underground railways, mines, buildings, oil platforms, warehouses, aircrafts, ships, trains, control & measurement environments, etc.

Difference between Coupled Mode and Radiated Mode:

Coupled Mode Cables are usually constructed of standard 50 Ohm Feeder Coaxial Cables, where the top of the corrugation has been milled off prior to extrusion of the Jacket, whereas Radiated Mode Cables are Coaxial cables, utilising an outer conductor with precision slots punched into them utilising a complex pattern. Radiated Mode Coaxial Cables outperform Coupled Mode Coaxial Cables in every aspect, from Bandwidth, via high Frequency performance to fading.

In particular, the Eupen radiated mode Radiating Cables, utilising a patented Slot design, allow the manufacturing of Radiating Cables, that are tuned to most mobile radio systems standards such as TETRA, TETRAPOL, GSM 900, GSM R, GSM 1800, PCS, DECT, UMTS, WiFi (either at 2.4 GHz or at 5 to 6 GHz), WiMax, etc., to provide very low Coupling Loss and very low field strength fluctuations (fading).

This low fading property of the Eupen Radiating Cables is of utmost importance in today’s High-speed wireless Data Transmissions, as it aides highest possible transmission speed paired with lowest Bit Error Rates (BER)