Types of Transmission Lines

One of the main problems in the design of a

transmission line is that there shall be as little
loss of energy as possible, either by radiation,
or by heating in resistances or in neighboring
conductors or dielectrics. There are several
types of transmission lines whose losses are
small: (1) the open-wire line consisting of two
parallel wires; (2) the twisted-pair line of two
insulated wires twisted together; (3)
the concentric cable or coaxial line, where a
central wire is mounted along the axis of a
metal tube, (a) with insulating spacers every so
often, (b) with continuous rubber insulation
along the line (usually used with a flexible outer
metal mesh); and (4) a single-wire feeder,

where radiation is kept low by keeping the

current in it small, the ground serving as the
return wire.

Fig. 35 B. A transposed
open-wire transmission line
In order that the losses shall be small,
transmission lines have their go and return
wires very close to each other in comparison
with the wave-length. Then the magnetic and
electric fields of one wire cancel or nearly
cancel those of the other and radiation does not
occur in appreciable amount.
For the open-wire line a spacing of 2 to 6
inches is used, the smaller values at the higher

frequencies.1 In order that the line shall be

electrically symmetrical with respect to its
surroundings, a transposition system is
sometimes used. This is illustrated in Fig. 35 B.
The method proves more useful on longer than
on shorter lines, i.e., when the line has a length
greater than one or two wave-lengths.