W&C Terms
ALLRUBBER CABLE
A cable in which all voids between conductors are filled with a rubber compound. This construction gives greater resistance to impact, adds strength, and reduces the tendency to kink. It also reduces flexibility.
AERIAL CABLE
A cable suspended in the air on poles or other overhead structures.
BANDMARKING
A circular band applied at regular intervals to the insulation of a conductor for the purpose of color coding or circuit identification.
AIR SPACED COAX
A coaxial cable in which air is basically the dielectric material. The conductor may be centered by means of a spirally wound synthetic filament, beads, or braided filaments. This construction
BEADED COAX
A coaxial cable in which the dielectric consists of beads made of various materials.
BARECONDUCTOR
A conductor not covered with any insulating material.
AMPLIFIER
A device usually employing electron tubes or transistors to obtain amplification of voltage, current, or power.
BRAID
A fibrous or metallic group of filaments interwoven in cylindrical form to form a covering over one or more wires. It can be made of materials such as cotton, glass, nylon, or copper fibers. Usually fibrous braid is saturated with an impregnant to protect it against moisture and fraying.
AIRCRAFT IGNITION CABLE
A high tension cable designed for use in the ignition systems of internal combustion aircraft engines.
ABRASION MACHINE
A laboratory device for determining the abrasion resistance of wire and cable. The two standard types of machines are the squirrel cage, with square steel bars, and the abrasive grit type.
ARAMID
A lightweight strong heatresistant aromatic polyamide material used in fiber optic strength members.
ARTOS STRIPPER
A machine that will automatically measure to a predetermined length, cut, strip, count, and tie wire in bundles.
ALLOY
A metal made by the fusion of two or more metals.
BOOT
A protective covering over any portion of a cable or conductor in addition to its jacket or insulation.
BATTERY CABLE
A single conductor cable either insulated or uninsulated used for carrying current from batteries to the point where power is needed. May also be used for grounding.
AUTO PRIMARY WIRE
A single or multiconductor wire used for original equipment or replacement on automotive products. Normally low voltage, resistant to oil, acid, and weather.
ALKALI
A soluble salt obtained from the ashes of plants and consisting largely of potassium or sodium carbonate.
BINDER
A spirally served tape or thread used for holding assembled cable components in place awaiting subsequent manufacturing operations.
ANTIOXIDANT
A substance which prevents or slows down oxidation of material exposed to air.
ACCELERATED LIFE TEST
A test in which a cable is subjected to extreme conditions to determine the life of a cable.
BACKBONE
A transmission network that carries information in a fiber optic system. Mainly for indoor applications between floors and areas with different types of cables.
ALS
A type of cable consisting of insulated conductors enclosed in a continuous, closely fitting aluminum tube.
BONDED CONSTRUCTION
A type of insulation construction in which the glass braid and nylon jacket are bonded together as in certain wire sizes of MILDTL5086 Type II.
ALUMINUM CONDUCTOR
A wire or group of wires of aluminum, not insulated from each other, suitable for carrying electrical current.
ANTENNA WIRE
A wire usually of high tensile strength such as Copperweld®, bronze, etc., with or without insulation used as an antenna for radio and electronic equipment. Copperweld® is a trademark of the Copperweld Steel Company.
AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE
Abbreviated AWG. See AWG.
ASG
Abbreviation for Aeronautical Standards Group.
AL/MY
Abbreviation for Aluminum Mylar®. Sometimes called out as ALMY. Mylar® is a trademark of the DuPont de Nemours Co.
ANSI
Abbreviation for American National Standards Institute. A federation of trade, technical, professional organizations, government agencies, and consumer groups. Coordinates standards development and publishes standards. Operates a voluntary certification program. Used to be called the American Standards Association (ASA).
ASTM
Abbreviation for American Society for Testing Materials. An organization that tests materials and attempts to set standards on various materials for industry.
ASME
Abbreviation for American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
ASA
Abbreviation for American Standards Association. Former name of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). See ANSI.
AWG
Abbreviation for American Wire Gauge. The system most commonly used in the United States for describing the size of copper wire. It is based on the circular mil system. One (1) mil equals 0.001 inch. Also referred to as the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) wire gauge.
ASESA
Abbreviation for Armed Services Electro Standards Agency.
BMS
Abbreviation for Boeing Material Specification.
AC
Abbreviation for alternating current. See alternating current. Also abbreviated as ac.
AL
Abbreviation for aluminum.
AMP
Abbreviation for ampere. See Ampere.
am
Abbreviation for amplitude modulation. Also abbreviated as AM.
APPROX.
Abbreviation for approximate.
ATTN.
Abbreviation for attenuation. See attenuation.
BC
Abbreviation for bare copper.
BCCS
Abbreviation for bare copperclad steel.
BerC
Abbreviation for berylliumcopper alloy.
BPS
Abbreviation for bits per second.
BLK
Abbreviation for black.
2BC
Abbreviation for double bare copper shield.
2S
Abbreviation for silverplated copper double shield.
2TC
Abbreviation for tinned copper double shield.
4TC
Abbreviation for tinned copper quadruple shield.
3TC
Abbreviation for tinned copper triple shield.
2SC
Abbreviation for two silverplated copper shields.
ACRS
Aluminum conductor, steel reinforced. Aluminum wires stranded around a steel core. Usually used for high voltage crosscountry transmission lines.
BOND STRENGTH
Amount of adhesion between bonded surfaces, e.g., in cemented ribbon cable.
BALCO®
An alloy of 70% nickel and 30% iron. It is used in devices where selfregulation by temperature is required. Wilbur Driver Company trademark for a resistance wire.
ALUMEL®
An alloy used for thermocouple and thermocouple extension wire. Alumel® is a trademark of the Hoskins Mfg. Co.
ALTERNATING CURRENT
An alternating current is one where the direction of current is reversed at regular intervals. The rate at which reversals occur is expressed in cycles per second (Hertz or Hz). Abbreviated as AC or ac.
BACKSHELL MOLD
An aluminum mold used to mold a rubber or Neoprene® covering over the backshell of a conductor or plug after it is connected to a cable. The compound is usually chemically cured. Neoprene® is a trademark of the DuPont de Nemours Co.
ANNULAR CONDUCTOR
An annular conductor consists of a number of wires stranded in three reverse concentric layers around a saturated hemp core.
AIRCRAFT WIRE
An electrical wire primarily designed for the extreme conditions (temperature, altitude, solvents, fuels, etc.) of airborne equipment.
BONDABLEWIRE
An insulated wire whose surface has been specially treated to make it possible to adhere to other materials such as potting compounds. The term usually refers to extruded PTFE insulated wires. The etching process roughens the surface of the insulation permitting an interlocking effect with potting compounds.
AROMATIC
An organic material composed of benzene in a ring structure.
ARMOR
An outer braid of metal or spiral steel tapes, primarily for the purpose of mechanical protection. Generally placed over the outer sheath.
AEC
Atomic Energy Commission. The government agency which oversees all atomic energy projects.
ANALOG
Being or relative to a mechanism in which data is represented by continuously varying physical quantities. Opposite digital.
B & S GAUGE
Brown and Sharpe wire gauge used for describing different sizes of copper conductors. It is the same as AWG (American Wire Gauge). See AWG.
ACCELERATOR
Chemical additive which hastensa chemical reaction, e.g., a compound added to rubber or Neoprene® mixtures to reduce curing time. Neoprene® is a trademark of the DuPont de Nemours Co.
BELLWIRE
Common term for wire primarily used for making doorbell and thermostat connections.
AWM
Designation for appliance wiring material.
ACR
Designation for cable with corona resisting insulation.
AIEE
Formerly American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Now called the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
BENDING LOSS
In a fiber optic system a form of increased attenuation caused by: a) Having the fiber curved around a restrictive radius of curvature; or b) Micro bends caused by minute distortions in the fiber imposed by externally induced disturbances. Excessive bending loss may result from poor drawing or cable manufacturing technique.
AN
Literally "aircraft number". For example, AN6 signifies a wire size of No. 6 AWG.
ANODE
Positive pole of an electric source. Opposite cathode.
BENDING RADIUS
Radius of curvature around which a fiber is bent under a stated pulling force.
BELT (BELTED TYPE CABLE)
Refers to the number of layers of insulation on a conductor or number of layers of jacket on a cable.
BC
S Abbreviation for double shield; 1 bare copper, 1 silver.
AMPACITY
See current carrying capacity.
ARMATURE WIRE
Stranded annealed copper wire, straight lay, soft loose white cotton braid. It is used for low voltage, high current rotor winding motors and generators. Straight lay permits forming in armature slots and compressibility.
ADMITTANCE
Symbol Y. The reciprocal of impedance.Given by the formula: Y = G + iB where G is the conductance, B the susceptance, and i equals where G is the conductance, B the susceptance, and i equals . Since impedance, Z, is given by:
ABRASION RESISTANCE
The ability of a wire or cable jacket to resist surface wear.
BRASION
The destruction of a material caused by scraping or rubbing against a rough, hard surface.
BASEBAND
The frequency band occupied by all the transmitted modulating signals.
BANDWIDTH
The frequency range of transmitted electrical or optical signals, expressed in Hertz. The greater or higher the bandwidth, the greater the information carrying capacity.
ATTENUATION
The loss of power or signal in a circuit, generally expressed in decibels (dB) per unit length, usually one thousand (1,000) feet. In optical fiber cables, attenuation is the ratio of input power vs. output power, measured in decibels per unit length, usually dB/km. Abbreviated as attn.
BASEPRICE
The price of copper per pound before any adders are applied. To this base price, adders are used to determine price for drawing the copper into a wire and for tinning or insulating the bare copper wire.
BEND RADIUS
The radius of curvature that an optical fiber cable can bend without causing harmful effects on the optical or mechanical performance of the cable.
AUDIO FREQUENCY
The range of frequencies audible to the human ear, approximately 20 to 20,000 Hz.
BRAID ANGLE
The smaller of the two angles formed by the shielding strand and the axis of the cable being shielded.
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
The temperature of a medium (gas or liquid) surrounding an object.
AMPERE
The unit expressing the rate of flow of an electrical current. One ampere is the current flowing through one ohm resistance with one volt potential. Abbreviated asamp.
BANDED CABLE
Two or more cables which have been banded together by stainless steel strapping.
BAUD
Unit of measure for data transmission speed representing bits per second, e.g., 9,600 baud = 9,600 bits per second (bps).
ADHESIESIESIVE
Usually a synthetic material which, when applied to tapes, potting operations, etc., permits materials to be bonded together.
BLASTING WIRE
Wire used for detonating explosives. It is usually a very inexpensively constructed wire.
ANNEALED WIRE
Wire which has been softened by heating and gradually cooling. Also called soft drawn wire.
BRAKE WIRE
Wires used in the manufacture of both home and truck trailers to supply current to the electrical brakes on the equipment.
BRAIDEDWIRE
Woven bare or tinned copper wire used as shielding for wires, cables, and ground wire for batteries or heavy industrial equipment. There are many different types of constructions.
BIAS
a) A voltage applied to a device to establish a reference level for operation. b) A high frequency voltage combined with an audio signal to reduce distortion.
ADAPTER
a) Device used for joining two fiber optic connectors together. b) A device for connecting two parts (of different diameters) of an apparatus.