Basic constructions
Wire and cable consists, for the most part, of four basic constructions:
- Single
conductor
- One conductor, bare or insulated.
- Multiconductor
- Multiple
insulated wires
- Twisted pairs
- Two insulated wires usually twisted
together
- Coaxial cable
- Insulated center conductor with a shield
and the jacket overall.
Solid and Stranded
Conductors come in two variations, solid and stranded. Solid (Figure 1) offers a slightly lower resistance. The key to solid conductors is better performance at high frequencies.
Figure 1
Stranded (Figure 2) offers greater flexibility
that is limpness, and greater "flex-life", or flexes until failure.
Figure 2
Multiconductor
As the name implies, multiconductor cables consist of many conductors. (Figure 3.) They are common in control applications but are rarely used for signal applications, and therefore, we will not be focusing on them for this paper.
