Everybody enjoys watching television to some extent, and back in the day, many of us watched movies with VHS players. If you can remember setting up your equipment, you probably remember a single round cable with a pin at the end that screwed into your TV and VHS player. That was a coaxial cable, and you likely asked yourself: how does a coaxial cable work,and what does it do? Keep reading to learn more.
The components of a coaxial cable
Before you can fully understand how a coaxial cable works, you need to know what it is. A coaxial cable has four main parts: the core, an insulator, a shield, and the jacket. The core––similar to a copper Ethernet cable––is a single copper wire. The insulator is there for protection and connection, as it’s dielectric. The shield is usually made of copper as well, reducing or eliminating any electromagnetic interference. Lastly, the jack is usually a hard yet still fairly flexible plastic that protects all the previous layers.
The types of coaxial cables
Most people refer to the cable as a coaxial or coax cable, but some may call them radio guide (RG) or radio frequency (RF) cables as well. Most coax cables used today are RG-series cables. In fact, the most common types are RG-6, RG-11, and RG-59, with some others in the mix for other unique needs. Most people use RG-6 cables to connect their televisions or satellite boxes. However, RG-11 and RG-59 cables can be used for high-definition quality or for industrial uses.
How the cable works
Once you attach the coaxial cable to the device—let’s say your television—the cable becomes live and transfers data from the device to the screen. The data signal travels through the core wire and the shield to become a live picture and audio. Without coaxial cables, much of our daily entertainment wouldn’t be possible. Luckily, many of us only need a coaxial cable to connect our televisions to a satellite provider’s box, as opposed to each individual device. For the most part, everything else connects with an HDMI cable nowadays.
Now that you know how a coaxial cable works, you can double-check that your current cable is in good condition. The only disadvantage of using coaxial cables is that if a single cable goes bad, you lose your connection.
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