On Thursday 14 May 2009, [email protected] wrote:
>Hi
>I want to ask about shielding of cable.
>I am building bigger machine and for my new machine I need extend my
>encoder cable. My encoder cable has DB 15 connector.
>I do not want to cut cable and re-solder all 15 wires. I want to use
>pre-made cable that already has male female connectors so I can use them
>as an extension cord.
>First, can I do that?
>Are there any problems with using extension cable (10 ft) for encoder
>signals?

With adequate shielding I think you can.

>Second question, that extension cable has aluminum wrapping around wires.

ALU wires=Oops. mylar/alu foil=good but see next question.

>That cable does not have shielding like woven wire mesh around aluminum
>wrapping.

Does it have a 'drain wire' that is about 22 or 24 gauge equ in stranded wire 
that can be brought out and tied (soldered) to the appropriate ground point?

At frequencies we deal with, it can be as much as 60db quieter than an 
equivalent 98% braid covered cable.  (That in math terms, is about 1 million 
times quieter, and is because the mylar foil is a 100+ % coverage, not the 
braids 98% at best, and is often 90% or less in cheap cable) This drain wire 
should be electrically bonded (soldered) to the DB15 shell on both ends, 
likewise your existing cable you want to re-use should also show continuity 
from end shell to end shell. I'd scrape it just to see the shielding before 
I'd use it.  No shielding, nope..

Whether you tie that drain wire and the machine end of the DB15 shell to the 
machine depends on how the encoder is covered.  If it is in a metallic housing 
that is not grounded to the machine, then connect the encoder housing to the 
DB15 shell at the machine end.  This would be the ideal situation, but if the 
encoders housing is metallic, and grounded to the machine, you may have to 
opto isolate the encoder signals to get truly clean A-B-Z sigs.  An 
oscilloscope will tell that tale.  Or take more heroic measures to shield the 
spindle motor power & keep its noise under control if that is the primary 
noise src.

>So, do those woven wire mesh around aluminum wrapping important?

Yes, unless they too are alu (test by soldering, if it won't, its alu), which 
would be somewhat less useful than those belly appendages on a boar hog.  You 
should find another brand of cable where that is tinned copper & solderable.  
The alu oxide, forms in .001 second or less when alu is exposed to the oxygen 
in the air, is a very very good insulator, and that is not what you want 
wrapped around that foil supplying its ground.

> Will noise pass through single aluminum wrapping?

With the 'drain wire' well grounded, the isolation will be somewhere in the 
range of 100-110 db. 120 with good terminations.  Std braid only covered coax 
is in the range of 55-65 DB, and the FCC forced the cable companies to replace 
all that 20+ years ago because it leaked so bad.  Those cable operators that 
drug their feet had a dead giveaway, visible to any savvy tech, the channels 
on their system that had local broadcasters on them were unusable because we 
also leaked _into_ their systems.  The cable folks were hard to convince 
locally, particularly when they needed the channel we were on for the last 25 
years, then discovered they could not get rid of the ghosts.  We just as 
firmly replied that it was NOT our problem and that they should tighten up 
their systems to meet the FCC leakage specs, and it came home to roost about a 
year later when the FCC truck came to town and wrote them up a citation for 
every stop the truck made.  Lets just say that Pandora's box was full.  Some 
viewer called them I guess, it sure wasn't us.

Yes, I'm a retired broadcast engineer with a 1st phone from 1962, and have 
been a C.E.T. since 1972. :)

>For the spindle I am using 2.5 hp router. Not many electric power tools
>around.
>That spindle and 3 servomotors.
>
>Thanks
>aram

-- 
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science.


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