Cable 101:

Introduction to Belden Wire & Cable Company

Presented By:
Belden Engineering Center Staff

Belden Wire & Cable Company

OVERVIEW

Who is Belden?

Belden is a world leader in the field of signal transmission

and advanced broadcast, professional & commercial A/V,
RF, Networking, and Telecommunication products designing solutions that meet the needs of todays
automotive, commercial, industrial, institutional and military
environments.

Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence: Beldens high

standards for Development, Design, Process, and Mfg.
Methods are subject to continuous development and
improvement.

Technological Leadership: Belden has been committed to

innovation since 1902; our technological expertise is
recognized and in applications worldwide. We lead the way
by developing robust, cost-effective solutions produced by
our advanced manufacturing methods and backed by 100
years of proven reliability.

Global Manufacturing and Support: Belden has more then

5,000 associates and >25 manufacturing facilities spread
over 11 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Estimated revenue for 2010 is $2B.

Who is Belden?

Centers of Excellence: Belden maintains an Engineering

Center in Richmond Indiana which is a world class leader in
wire and cable innovation. In addition, networking
connectivity is centered in Montreal Canada, and copper
connectivity is centered in Horseheads, NY. Cable
engineering is also located in Hong Kong (Asia Pacific) and
Venlo, The Netherlands (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).

Belden Wire & Cable Manufacturing Facilities:

Richmond, IN
Monticello, KY
Leominster, MA
Washington, PA
Nogales, Mexico
Tijuana, Mexico
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Shanghi, Dai Lin, and Hui Zhou China
Venlo, The Netherlands
Budapest, Hungary
Lancashire, UK
Horni Podluzi, Czech Republic
Bagnacavallo, Italy
Gjern, Denmark

Who is Belden?

Other Wire & Cable Brands:

Alpha
LTK
Mohawk
Thermax
West Penn
Duna Kabel
Kabelovna
ITC
Raydex
Poliron

Other Belden Companies

Hirschman Automation and Control
Lumberg Automation
Telecast Fiber Systems
LRC (Snap-N-Seal)
ICM (F-Conn, CablePro)

Innovations in Wire & Cable

1902 Belden Corporation Started.

1905 Beldenamel Flexible enamel insulate wire products.
1910 Rubber insulated wires added to portfolio.
1940s - Belden manufactured strictly war materials by 1942, and its products were
used in tanks, airplanes, mobile radios, submarines, ships, jeeps, and a variety of
other machinery.
1980s Innovations in Cable Shielding techniques lead to providing cabling solutions
for the first computers, and large customers like IBM.
1990s - Innovation in data cables, bonded pairs, and high performance coax
solutions for data networking and HDTV.
2000s Innovations in high speed data cables for 10 Gigibit data solutions.

Belden currently holds over 250 patents related to wire and cable products.

Belden Wire & Cable Company

MARKETS SERVED

Key Customers

Portfolio

Switches

Connectors

Industrial Ethernet

Industrial

switches
Rail-mounted and
rack-mounted
Industrial wireless

connectors
Field bus
components
Belden IBDN
connectors for
enterprise copper
and fiber

Cable

Copper and fiber

optic cable
BondedPair
DataTuff
Brilliance
broadcast cable
Thermax
aerospace cable

Professional Broadcast Systems

Commercial AV Vertical Markets

Casinos
Cruise Ships
Consumer A/V
Theme Parks
Corporate A/V
Movie Theaters
Houses of Worship
Retail/Restaurants
Education
Convention Centers
Stadiums
Auditoriums

Video, Sound, Security

Where are these applications

being installed?

Access Control
CCTV
Fire Alarm
Sound/Intercom

Everywhere!

Residential

Networking / Enterprise

Industrial Vertical Markets

Automotive
Chemical
Food & Beverage
Pulp & Paper
General
Manufacturing

Metals

Petroleum
Pharmaceutical
Semiconductor
Textiles

Belden Wire & Cable Company

Components of Wire and Cable

Conductors
What is a conductor?
A substance that easily transfers electricity
Belden primarily uses copper

Conductors
AWG (American Wire Gauge)

30 AWG

6 AWG

The Richmond wire mill starts with 5/16 copper rod

and draws it down as small as 38 AWG
1 foot of 5/16 rod can make over 1 mile of 38 AWG
wire!

Conductors - Variations
Bare
Coated
Tin, Silver
Stranding
Increases flexibility of finished product
More strands = More flexibility (and more cost)

Insulation
Functions of Insulation
Separates conductors, electrically and physically,
within a cable
Characteristics
Electrical and physical properties important
Can be solid or foamed
Two types of materials- thermoplastic and thermoset

Common Thermoplastic Insulations

PVC
Inexpensive and most common
Can be formulated to have a variety of properties
We use more than 50 different PVCs because of all the
different property combinations- both internal and external
formulations

Used in all types of cables

Common Thermoplastic Insulations

Polyethylene
Used in coax cables
Good electrical properties
Poor flame properties- burns like a candle
Easily foamed

Common Thermoplastic Insulations

FEP (Teflon )
Awesome in most properties
Great Flame Retardancy- used in Plenum applications
Great chemical resistance
Great electrical properties

Very expensive!

Common Thermoset Insulations

Silicone Rubber Ceramifiable makes fire alarm work during fire
Other Rubber and Crosslinked materials
High temperature properties
Great for under-the-hood applications

Good chemical resistance properties

Types of products Lead Wire

Single conductor covered by insulation

Also called hook-up wire

Types of products Multiconductor

Twist together multiple wires

Used for applications with non-stringent electrical

requirements

Types of products Paired Cable

Twist together two wires in a tightly controlled manner

Multiple twisted pair units are cabled together, forming

multipair cables
Great for data cable applications, like Ethernet

Shields

A shield is a conductor that encloses other conductors

to protect against interference

Braid

Foil Shield

Coax
Center conductor and shield share a
common axis

Tightly controlled geometry

Great electrical performance

Jacket
Purpose of Jacket
Physically protects the internal components of the
cable
Appearance is very important- colors
Protects cable from environment
Protects cables from rigors of installation

Common Jacket Materials

PVC- Low cost, most common

CPE- Good for chemical resistance
LSZH- Non-halogen for enclosed spaces- ships, mines
Others- TPU, Rubber, PE, FEP

Belden Wire & Cable Company

Properties of Wire and Cable

Physical Properties
Temperature Rating
Determines cable applications
Under- the-hood, etc

Flame Retardant Properties

Determines where cable
can be installed

Plenum- Air Handling

Riser- Between Floors
General Purpose- Cable Trays
Residential

Physical Properties
Cold Properties
Determines what environments we can use/install
our cables. Can it be installed in Canada in
winter?
UV Resistance
Can the cable be installed
outdoors?
Chemical, Oil, Abrasion
resistance
How well can the jacket
protect the cable from the environment
Flexibility, Flex life

Electrical Performance
How good is the cable at sending a signal?

Electricals - Resistance
Resistance
Opposition to the flow of current
Determined by conductor size
Abbreviated DCR for direct current resistance
Measured in ohms / 1000 ft
Lower is better

10 X 104 = 100,000 ohms

Length of 24 AWG from

Richmond to Albany

Electricals - Capacitance
Capacitance
Opposition to a change in voltage
Determined by cable geometry and dielectric
Measured in pF / ft
Lower is better
Important for analog audio

Low
capacitance

High
capacitance

Electricals - Impedance
Characteristic Impedance
Ratio of voltage to current
Determined by cable geometry and dielectric
Measured in ohms
Match cable impedance to system impedance
Important for high frequency (fast) signals

Electricals - Attenuation

Attenuation
How strong is the signal?
Measured in dB / 100 ft
Lower is better (closer to zero)
Analog
How good does it sound or look?

Digital
Does it work?

Belden Wire & Cable Company

How do you make this stuff?

How to Make Cable

Extrusion

How to Make Cable

Cabling

How to Make Cable

Braiding

Belden Wire & Cable Company

DIFFERENTIATION

Differentiation
What separates Belden from the rest?
Vertically Integrated
Quality Built In
Integrity of Brand and 100 years
10 Year Product Warranty
Innovative Custom Solutions
Belden There Is No Equal

Questions

Thank you for your time!

Questions?