Glossary of Terms

Glossary Of Terms

Term	Definition
5-Mil Copper	Solid Copper Shield. Provides added electrical protection.
802.14	IEEE's Cable TV MAC and PHY Protocol Working Group.
A	Ampere
ABR	Available Bit Rate.
Abrasion Resistance	Ability of a wire, cable or material to resist surface wear.
Abrasion Stripper	More accurately described as "buffing stripper", which is a motorized device for removing flat cable insulation by means of one or two buffing wheels that melt the insulation and brush it away from the conductors.
AC	Alternating current. Electric current that alternates or reverses polarity in a cyclical manner (e.g. 60 Hertz AC power)
Accelerated Aging	A test that simulates long time environmental conditions in a relatively short time.
ACR	Attenuation Crosstalk Ratio. The difference between attenuation and crosstalk, measured in dB, at a given frequency. Important characteristic in networking transmission to assure that signal sent down a twisted pair is stronger at the receiving end of the cable than are any interference signals imposed on that same pair by crosstalk from other pairs.
ADSL	Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
AES/EBU	Informal name of a digital audio standard established jointly by the AES (Audio Engineering Society) and EBU (European Broadcast Union) organizations.
AF	Audio frequency.
Air Core	Cables that are not gel filled.
Air-Gap Dielectric	A coaxial design in which a monofilament of plastic holds the center conductor in place in a hollow plastic tube allowing the remainder of the dielectric to be air. Typical velocities of up to 84% can be achieved in this design.
Alloy	A combination of two or more different polymers/metals. Usually combined to make use of different properties of each polymer/ metal.
Alpeth	Coated Aluminum Polyethylene. Basic sheath.
Alternating Current (AC)	Electric current that alternates or reverses polarity in a cyclical manner (e.g. 60 Hertz AC power)
AM	Amplitude modulation.
Ambient	Conditions that exist in the environment of the cable. Conditions existing at a test or operating location prior to energizing equipment (e.g.: ambient temperature).
American Wire Gauge (AWG)	A standard for expressing wire diameter. As the AWG number gets smaller, the wire diameter gets larger.
Ampacity	Current handling capability expressed in amperes. The maximum current a conductor can carry without being heated beyond a safe limit.
Ampere	A standard unit of current. Defined as the amount of current that flows when one volt of electromotive force (EMF) is applied across one ohm of resistance. One ampere of current is produced by one coulomb of charge passing a point in one second.
Amplitude	The magnitude of a current or voltage. It can be the maximum, minimum, average, or RMS value of an alternating current (AC) signal. These four magnitudes are the same for a direct current (DC) signal.
Analog	Representation of data by continuously variable quantities as opposed to a finite number of discrete quantities in digital.
Analog Signal	An electrical signal which varies continuously, not having discrete values. Analog signals are copies or representations of other waves in nature. An analog audio signal, for instance, is a representation of the pressure waves which make up audible sound.
Anneal	To soften and relieve strains in any solid material, such as metal or glass, by heating to just below its melting point and then slowly cooling it. Annealing generally lowers the tensile strength of the material, while improving its flex life and flexibility.
ANSI	American National Standards Institute.
ASP	Aluminum Steel Polyethylene. Provides mechanical and electrical protection.
ASTM	The American Society for Testing and Materials, a standards organization which suggests test methods, definitions and practices.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode	The SONET standard for a packet switching technique which uses packets of a fixed length.
ATM	Asynchronous Transfer Mode.
Attenuation	The decrease in magnitude of a signal as it travels through any transmitting medium, such as a cable or circuitry. Attenuation is usually expressed logarithmically as the ratio of the original and decreased signal amplitudes. It is usually expressed in decibels (dB).
Audio	A term used to describe sounds within the range of human hearing (20 Hz to 20 kHz). Also used to describe devices which are designed to operate within this range.
Audio Frequency	Frequencies within the range of human hearing (approximately 20 Hz to 20 kHz).
AWG	American Wire Gage. A wire diameter specification. The smaller the AWG number, the larger the wire diameter.
AWM	Appliance Wiring Material. A UL designation for a type of wire.
Backbone	The cable used to connect all systems of a multi-level distributed system to an intermediate system.
Backshell	Housing on a connector that covers the area where the cable conductors connect to the connector contacts. It can be a metal housing providing continuity of the shield through IDC connectors.
Balanced Line	A cable having two identical conductors which carry voltages opposite in polarity, but equal in magnitude with respect to ground, suitable for differential signal transmission.
Balun	Balanced to unbalanced (Bal-un) transformer used to connect an unbalanced transmission line (i.e. coaxial cable) to a balanced system or cable, or vice versa. It can also provide impedance transformation, as 300 ohm balanced to 75 ohm unbalanced.
Bandwidth	The difference between the upper and lower limits of a given band of frequencies. It is expressed in hertz. The range of frequencies that a transmitted communications signal occupies or that a receiving system can accept. For example, it takes more bandwidth to download a photograph in a second than to download a page of text. Virtual reality and three-dimensional audio/visual presentations require even more.
Baud	Rate of digital transmission equal to the reciprocal of the time of one output signaling element.
Bel	A unit that represents the logarithm of the ratio of two levels. One bel equals the base 10 logarithm of the ratio of two power levels. It is also equal to the base 10 logarithm of square of the ratio of two voltage or current levels, provided the impedances are the same at the two levels. See dB.
Belden	A leading manufacturer of the specialty wire, cable and fiber products needed for new applications in data, audio, video and voice signal transmission, among other things.
Beldfoil	Belden trademark for highly effective electrostatic shield of reinforced metallic foil.
Beldsol	Solderable Belden magnet wire combining insulating films of polyurethane for excellent dielectric characteristics and nylon for mechanical protection.
Belflex®	A premium hybrid matte-finish jacket material that exhibits superior flexibility at low temperatures along with excellent abrasion resistance compared to standard PVC jacketing materials.
Bend Loss	A form of increased attenuation caused by (a) having an optical fiber curved around a restrictive radius of curvature or (b) microbends caused by minute distortions in the fiber imposed by externally induced perturbations.
Bend Radius	Radius of curvature that a flat, round, fiber optic or metallic cable can bend without any adverse effects.
Binder	A tape or thread used for holding assembled cable components in place.
Bit	One binary digit.
Bit Error Rate	The number of errors occurring in a system per unit of time (e.g. bits per second)
Bits Per Second	The number of binary bits that can be transmitted per second (bps) - i.e. Mbps (Mega = million), Gbps (Giga = billion).
BNC	Abbreviation for "Bayonet Neil Concelman". A coaxial cable connector used extensively in video and R. F. applications and named for its inventors.
Bonded	1. Adhesive application of a metallic shielding tape to the dielectric of a coaxial cable to improved electrical performance and ease of connector installation. Also refers to adhesive application of a metallic shielding taper to the jacket of a cable. 2. Steel is bonded to polyethylene with a copolymer adhesive All STALPETH and some ASP cables are bonded. Provides extra strength to jacket, primarily used in underground applications.
Bonded ASP	Aluminum Steel Polyethylene where the steel is bonded to polyethylene for strength. Filled cables for use in ducts.
Bonding	The method used to produce good electrical contact between metallic parts of any device. Used extensively in automobiles and aircraft to prevent static buildup. Also refers to the connectors and straps used to bond equipment.
Booster	An amplifier inserted into a cable to increase the signal amplitude in order to compensate for signal loss due to attenuation. This extends the transmission range of the cable. Transformers may be employed to boost ac voltages. The term booster is also applied to amplifiers used in television receiving antenna systems.
BPS	Bits per second (see).
BPSK	Binary Phase Sift Keying. A type of digital transmission where two phases of the signal are possible to represent binary one and zero.
Braid	A group of textile or metallic filaments interwoven to form a tubular flexible structure which may be applied over one or more wires, or flattened to form a strap.
Braid Angle	The angle between a strand of wire in a braid shield and the longitudinal axis (i.e.axis along the length of the center) of the cable it is wound around.
Breakdown Voltage	The voltage at which the insulation between two conductors will fail and allow electricity to conduct or 'arc'.
Breakout	The point at which a conductor or conductors are separated from a multi-conductor cable to complete circuits at various points along the main cable.
BRI	Basic Rate Interface ISDN.
Broadband	The technique used to multiplex multiple networks on a single cable without interfering with each other. Technologies that allow you to transmit or receive higher volumes of data at higher speeds.
Buffer	A protective coating over an optical fiber.
Buffing Stripper	A motorized device for removing flat cable insulation by means of one or two buffing wheels that melt the insulation and brush it away from the conductors. Also called Abrasion Stripper.
Bunch Strand	Conductors twisted together with the same lay and direction without regard to geometric pattern.
Buried	Cables that are required to go underground.
Bus-bar Wire	Uninsulated tinned copper wire used as a common lead.
Butyl Rubber	A synthetic rubber with good electrical insulating properties.
Byte	A group of eight adjacent binary digits (8 bits).
C	Capacitance (electrical). Celsius (temperature).
Cable	A group of individually insulated conductors or subcomponents twisted helically.
Cable Modem	A device that enables you to hook up your PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at much faster rates than telephone modems and ISDN lines. A strong competitor to DSL telephone service.
Cabling	The grouping or twisting together of two or more insulated conductors or subcomponents to form a cable.
CACSP	Coated Aluminum, Coated Steel, Polyethylene. Provides additional strength and protection.
Canadian Electrical Code (CEC)	Canadian version of the US National Electrical Code (NEC).
CAP	Carrierless Amplitude Phase Modulation.
Capacitance	The ability of a dielectric material between conductors to store energy when a difference of potential exists between the conductors. The unit of measurement is the farad. Cable capacitance is usually measured in picofarads (pF).
Capacitive Crosstalk	Cable crosstalk or interference resulting from the coupling of the electrostatic field of one conductor upon one or more others.
Capacitive Reactance	The opposition to alternating current due to the capacitance of a capacitor, cable, or circuit. It is measured in ohms and is equal to 1/(2pif*C) where pi is approximately 3.1416, f is the frequency in Hz, and C is the capacitance in farads.
Capacitor	Two conducting surfaces separated by a dielectric material. The capacitance is determined by the area of the surfaces, type of dielectric, and spacing between the conducting surfaces.
Carrier Strip	Also referred to as substrate. A film that is on one side of a laminated flat cable.
CASPIC	Coated Aluminum, Coated Steel.
Category	Rating of a local area network (LAN) cable established by TIA/EIA to indicate the level of electrical performance.
Category Cables	Belden manufactures Category 3 to 7 cables, all high performance twisted pair data cables. The higher the category number, the greater the bandwidth. Category 7 is currently the highest performance telecommunication wire available. Ours is certified to applicable UL standards.
CATV	Abbreviation for Community Antenna Television. Cable TV.
CB	Citizens band.
CBR	Constant Bit Rate.
CCTV	Closed-circuit television.
Cellular Polyethylene	Expanded or "foam" polyethylene, consists of individual closed cells of inert gas suspended in a polyethylene medium. The result is a desirable reduction of the dielectric constant compared to solid polyethylene, which decreases attenuation and increases the velocity of propagation.
Center-to-Center Distance	Pitch. Nominal distance from center-to-center of adjacent conductors within a cable. When conductors are flat, pitch is usually measured from the reference edge of a conductor to the reference edge of the adjacent conductor.
Channel	The horizontal cable including the workstation outlet and patch panel in the telecommunications closet plus a maximum combined length of up to ten meters of patch cable at each end (maximum length of 100 meters).
Characteristic Impedance	In a transmission cable of infinite length, the ratio of the applied voltage to the resultant current at the point the voltage is applied. Or the impedance which makes a transmission cable seem infinitely long, when connected across the cable's output terminals.
Chrominance Signal	The portion of a video signal that contains the color information.
Circuit	A system of conducting media designed to pass an electric current.
Circular Mil	Area of a wire that is one-thousandth of an inch (.001 inch, one mil) in diameter. This area is pi/4 of a square mil. The circular mil area (CMA, cmil) equals the diameter in mils squared. By knowing the CMA of various conductors, they can be used to determine what conductivity and gage size various combinations will produce.
Cladding	A low refractive index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber causing the transmitted light to travel down the core and protects against surface contaminant scattering or a layer of metal applied over another. Cladding is often chosen to improve conductivity or to resist corrosion.
CO	Central Office.
Coaxial Cable	A cylindrical transmission line comprised of a conductor centered inside a metallic tube or shield, separated by a dielectric material, and usually covered by an insulating jacket. Used by cable TV companies to distribute signals to homes and businesses. Also used by telephone companies in some applications and by cellular telephone, radio, and television installations.
Coil Effect	The inductive effect exhibited by a spiral-wrapped shield, especially above audio frequencies.
Color Code	A system of different colors or stripes used to identify components of cables such as individual conductors or groups of conductors.
COLS	Commercial Online Service.
Component Video	The unencoded output of a camera, video tape recorder, etc., whereby each red, green, and blue video signal is transmitted down a separate cable (usually coax) to improve picture quality. Can also refer to a video system where the luminance and chrominance video components are kept separate.
Composite Cable	Cable having conductors with two or more AWG sizes or more than one cable type.
Composite Video	The encoded output of a camera, video tape recorder, etc., whereby the red, green, and blue video signals are combined with the synchronizing, blanking, and color burst signals and are transmitted simultaneously down one cable.
Concentric Stranding	A group of uninsulated wires twisted together and containing a center core with subsequent layers spirally wrapped around the core with alternating lay directions to form a single conductor.
Conductivity	The ability of a material to allow electrons to flow, measured by the current per unit of voltage applied. It is the reciprocal of resistivity and is measured in siemens (S) or mhos.
Conductor	A substance, usually metal, used to transfer electrical energy from point to point.
Conduit	A tube of metal or plastic through which wire or cable can be run. Used to protect the wire or cable and, in the case of metal conduit, to contain the fire of a burning wire or cable.
Connector	A device designed to allow electrical flow from one wire or cable to a device on another cable. A connector will allow interruption of the circuit or the transfer to another circuit without any cutting of wire or cable or other preparation.
Copperweld	Trademark of Copperweld Steel Co. for copper-clad steel conductor.
Cord	A very flexible insulated cable.
Core	The light conducting central portion of an optical fiber with a refractive index higher than that of the cladding. The center of a cable construction. Most often applies to a coaxial cable, where the core is the center conductor and the dielectric material applied to it.
Corona	The ionization of gasses about a conductor that results when the potential gradient reaches a certain value.
Coupling	The transfer of energy (without direct electrical contact) between two or more cables or components of a circuit.
Coverage	How well a metal shield covers the underlying surface. Measured in percent.
CPE	Chlorinated polyethylene can be used as either a thermoplastic or thermoset. It is a tough chemical and oil-resistant material and makes an excellent jacket for industrial control cable. As a thermoset, it can be used as an oil resistant cord jacket. Other outstanding properties include low water absorption and superior crush resistance, which are important attributes in industrial control applications.
CPS	Abbreviation for cycles per second. This term has been replace by hertz is common usage.
CPU	Central Processing Unit.
Crosstalk	A type of interference caused by signals from one pair or cable being coupled into adjacent pairs or cables. Can occur with audio, data, or RF signals.
CRT	Cathode Ray Tube.
CSA	Abbreviation for Canadian Standards Association, the Canadian version of the Underwriters Laboratories.
CSMA/D	Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection.
CSR	Customer Service Representative.
CUPIC	Copper.
Current Carrying Capacity	The maximum current a conductor can carry without being heated beyond a safe limit. Ampacity.
Current Loop	A two wire transmit/receive interface.
Current, Alternating (ac)	Electric current that alternates or reverses polarity in a cyclical manner (e.g. 60 Hertz AC power).
Current, Direct (dc)	Electrical current whose electrons flow in one direction only and is generally constant.
Cut-through Resistance	A test to determine the ability of a material to withstand the application of blades or sharp edges without being cut.
D1	A component digital video recording format that conforms to the CCIR-601 standard. Records on 19 mm magnetic tape. (Often used incorrectly to indicate component digital video).
D2	A composite digital video recording format. Records on 19 mm magnetic tape.
D3	A composite digital video recording format. Records on 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) magnetic tape.
Daisy Chain	A cable assembly with three or more termination areas.
Datalene	Belden trademark for foam polyolefin.
DAVIC	Digital Audio Video Council.
dB	Decibel.
DBS	Direct Broadcast Satellite.
DC	Direct current.
DC Resistance	See resistance.
Decibel (dB)	A decibel is one-tenth of a bel and is equal to 10 times the logarithm of the power ratio, 20 times the log of the voltage ratio, or 20 times the log of the current ratio. Decibels are also used to express acoustic power, such as the apparent level of a sound. The decibel can express an actual level only when comparing with some definite reference level that is assumed to be zero dB.
Delay Line	A transmission line or equivalent device designed to delay a wave or signal for a specific length of time.
DEPIC	Dual Expanded Plastic Insulated Conductor (Foam Skin). Decreases outside diameter of cable.
Derating Factor	A multiplier used to reduce the current carrying capacity of conductors in more adverse environments, such as higher temperature, or where multiple conductors are together in one conduit.
DES	Data Encryption Standard.
DHCP	Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.
Dielectric	An insulating (non-conducting) medium. It is the insulating material between conductors carrying a signal in a cable. In coaxial cables it is between the center conductor and the outer conductor. In twisted pair cables it is the insulation between conductors plus any surrounding air or other material.
Dielectric Breakdown	Any change in the properties of a dielectric that causes it to become conductive. Normally a catastrophic failure of an insulation because of excessive voltage.
Dielectric Constant	Also called relative permittivity. That property of a dielectric which determines the amount of electrostatic energy that can be stored by the material when a given voltage is applied to it. Actually, the ratio of the capacitance of a capacitor using the dielectric to the capacitance of an identical capacitor using a vacuum (which has a dielectric constant of 1) as a dielectric. A number which indicates the quality of a material to resist holding an electrical charge when placed between two conductors.
Dielectric Heating	The heating of an insulating material when placed in a radio-frequency field, caused by internal losses during the rapid polarization reversal of molecules in the material.
Dielectric Loss	The power dissipated in a dielectric as the result of the friction produced by molecular motion when an alternating electric field is applied.
Dielectric Strength	The voltage an insulation can withstand before it breaks down. Usually expressed as "volts per mil".
Dielectric Withstand Voltage	The voltage an insulation can withstand before it breaks down. Usually expressed as "volts per mil".
Digital Signal	An electrical signal which possesses two distinct states (on/off, positive/negative).
Dispersion	The cause of bandwidth limitations in an optical fiber. Dispersion causes a broadening of input pulses along the length of the fiber. Two major types are (a) mode dispersion caused by differential optical path lengths in a multimode fiber, and (b) material dispersion caused by a differential delay of various wavelengths of light in a wave guide material.
Distortion	Any undesired change in a wave form or signal.
Distribution Cables	In a CATV system, the transmission cable between the distribution amplifier and the drop cable.
Disturbed Conductor	A conductor that receives energy generated by the field of another conductor or an external source. e.g. the quiet line.
DMT	Discrete Multitone.
DOCSIS	Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (trade mark). Defines interface requirements for cable modems involved in high-speed data distribution over cable television system networks.
Drain Wire	A non-insulated wire in contact with parts of a cable, usually the shield, and used in the termination to that shield and as a ground connection.
Drop Cable	In a CATV system, the transmission cable from the distribution cable to a dwelling.
DSL	Digital Subscriber Line. A technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. A DSL line can carry both data and voice signals, with the data part of the line remaining continuously connected. Currently competes with the cable modem in bringing broadband services to homes and small businesses.
Duobond II	Belden trademark for a laminated shielding tape consisting of heat sensitive adhesive, aluminum foil, polyester or polypropylene, and aluminum foil.
Duofoil	Belden trademark for a shield in which metallic foil is applied to both sides of a supporting plastic film.
DVB	Digital Video Broadcasting.
E	Voltage (electromotive force).
Earth	British terminology for zero-reference ground.
Edge Margin	Margin.
EFP	Electronic Field Production. Video production for commercials, television shows and other non-news purposes done outside the studio.
EIA	Electronic Industries Association (formerly RMA or RETMA).
Elastomer	Any material that will return to its original dimensions after being stretched or distorted.
Electromagnetic	Referring to the combined electric and magnetic fields caused by electron motion through conductors.
Electromagnetic Coupling	The transfer of energy by means of a varying magnetic field. Inductive coupling.
Electron Volt	A measure of the energy gained by an electron passing through an electric field produced by one volt.
Electrostatic	Pertaining to static electricity, or electricity at rest. An electric charge, for example.
Electrostatic Coupling	The transfer of energy by means of a varying electrostatic field. Capacitive coupling.
ELFEXT	Equal Level Far End Crosstalk (dB). A subtraction of attenuation from FEXT. By subtracting the attenuation, ELFEXT negates the effects of attenuation on the interference as it propagates down the cable, thus bringing it to an "equal level".
Elongation	The increase in length of a wire or cable cause by longitudinal tension.
EMF	Electromotive force (voltage).
EMI	Electromagnetic Interference.
Energy	The capability of doing work.
Energy Dissipation	Loss of energy from a system due to the conversion of work energy into an undesirable form usually heat. Dissipation of electrical energy occurs when current flows through a resistance.
ENG	Electronic News Gathering.
EPDM	Ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber. A chemically cross-linked elastomer with good electrical insulating properties and excellent flexibility at high and low temperatures. It has good insulation resistance and dielectric strength, as well as excellent abrasion resistance and mechanical properties. EPDM has better cut-through resistance than Silicone rubber, which it replaces in some applications.
EPR	Ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber. A material with good electrical insulating properties.
Equilay	More than one layer of helically laid wires with the length of the lay the same for each layer.
ETP	Abbreviation for a copper refining process called Electrolytic Tough Pitch. This process produces a conductor that is 99.95% pure copper (per ASTM B115) resulting in high conductivity.
eV	Electron volt.
Expanded Polyethylene	Expanded or "foam" polyethylene, consists of individual closed cells of inert gas suspended in a polyethylene medium, resulting in a desirable reduction of the dielectric constant.
Extruded Cable	Conductors are simultaneously insulated and the cable is formed by a continuous extrusion process.
f	Frequency.
Farad	A unit of capacity that will store one coulomb of electrical charge when one volt of electrical pressure is applied.
FAS	Fire Alarm and Signal Cable, CSA (Canadian Standards Association) Cable Designation.
FAQ	Frequently Asked Question.
FCFC	Abbreviation for flat conductor flat cable.
FDDI	Fiber Distributed Data Interface.
FEC	Forward Error Correction.
Feedback	Energy that is extracted from a high-level point in a circuit and applied to a lower level. Positive feedback reduces the stability of a device and is used to increase the sensitivity or produce oscillation in a system. Negative feedback, also called inverse feedback, increases the stability of a system as the feedback improves stability and fidelity.
Feeder Cable	In a CATV system, the transmission cable from the head end (signal pickup) to the trunk amplifier. Also called a trunk cable.
FEP	Fluorinated ethylene-propylene. A thermo-plastic material with good electrical insulating properties and chemical and heat resistance.
Ferrous	Composed of and/or containing iron. A ferrous metal exhibits magnetic characteristics.
FEXT	Far End Crosstalk. Crosstalk induced on the pairs, measured at the "far" end of the cable, referenced to the near end input signal. Usually expressed in decibels.
Fiber	A single, separate optical transmission element characterized by core and cladding.
Fiber Optics	Light transmission through optical fibers for communication and signaling. A technology that transmits information as light pulses along a glass or plastic fiber. Optical fiber carries much more information than conventional copper wire and is generally not subject to interference. Most telephone company long-distance lines are optical fiber. See RUS 1755.900.
Fiber to the home (FTTH)	A technology that provides voice, data and video services from the phone company's branch office to local customers over an all-fiber optic link. Still in its infancy, FTTH technology is substantially more expensive and labor-intensive to install and maintain than competing technologies.
Field	An area through which electric and/or magnetic lines of force pass.
Filled	Cables that are gel filled.
Fillers	Nonconducting components cabled with the insulated conductors or optical fibers to impart roundness, flexibility, tensile strength, or a combination of all three, to the cable.
Flamarrest	Belden trademark for a plenum grade chloride-based thermoplastic jacketing material with low smoke and low flame spread properties; more flexible than traditional fluorocopolymer jacket materials. Cables jacketed with Flamarrest meet the UL Standard 910, Plenum Cable Flame Test.
Flame Resistance	The ability of a material not to fuel a flame once the source of heat is removed.
Flat Cable	Also referred to as planar and/or ribbon cable. Any cable with two or more parallel conductors in the same plane encapsulated by insulating material.
Flat Conductor	A conductor with a width-to-thickness ratio of arbitrarily 5 to 1 or greater.
Flat Conductor Cable	A flat cable with a plurality of flat conductors.
Flex Life	The qualification of the number of times a cable may bend before breaking.
Flexibility	The ability of a cable to bend in a short radius. The ability of a cable to lay flat or conform to a surface as with microphone cables.
Floating	Referring to a circuit which has no connection to ground.
Fluorocopolymer	Generic term for PVDF.
FM	Frequency modulation.
Foam Polyethylene	Expanded or "foam" polyethylene, consists of individual closed cells of inert gas suspended in a polyethylene medium, resulting in a desirable reduction of the dielectric constant.
FR-TPE	FR-TPE, flame retarded thermoplastic elastomer, is a rubber-like plastic that has properties similar to rubber yet is processed as a thermoplastic. It is used as the insulation and jacket in an all TPE construction which meets UL 13 and 1277 industrial cable requirements. It has good electrical properties, abrasion resistance, colorability and flame retardancy. This compound is ideal for cold weather applications.
FREP	Flame retardant ethylene propylene is a special flame retardant version of EPDM rubber. It is designed for use as an industrial control insulation and has excellent electrical characteristics, deformation resistance, and also meets the flame retardant needs of industrial control cables.
Frequency	The number of times a periodic action occurs in one second. Measured in Hertz.
Frequency Response	The amplitude versus frequency characteristics of a device. Also may refer to the range of frequencies over which the device operates within prescribed performance
Frequency, Power	Normally, the 50 or 60 hertz power used to operate most AC powered equipment. The frequency of AC power supplied by electric utilities companies.
FSK	Frequency Shift Keying.
FTTC	Fiber-to-the-Curb.
Gage	The physical diameter of a wire. A standard for expressing wire diameter. As the AWG number gets smaller, the wire diameter gets larger.
Gain	The increase of voltage, current, or power over a standard or previous reading. Usually expressed in decibels.
Geosol	A solderable, extra tough film insulation developed b Belden for use in geophysical cables and miniature cables.
Giga	One billion.
Gigahertz (GHz)	A unit of frequency equal to one billion hertz.
GND	Ground.
Gopher	Gopher Resistant Copper Alloy. Provides shield and added protection in a single layer.
GOPIC	Gopher.
Graded-Index	A type of optical fiber in which the refractive index of the core is in the form of a parabolic curve, decreasing toward the cladding. This type of fiber provides high bandwidth capabilities.
Ground	An electrical connection between a circuit and the earth. Also refers to a conductor connected to earth. In some instances, can refer to a central metallic point designated as having "zero" potential.
Ground Conductor	A conductor in a transmission cable or line that is grounded.
Ground Loop	A completed circuit between shielded pairs of a multiple pair created by random contact between shields. An undesirable circuit condition in which interference is created by ground currents when grounds are connected at more than one point.
Ground Potential	The potential of the earth. A circuit, terminal, or chassis is said to be at ground potential when it is used as a reference point for other potentials in the system.
H	Symbolic designation for magnetic field intensity. Abbreviation for henrys (unit of inductance).
Halar	Thermoplastic fluoropolymer material with excellent chemical resistance, electrical properties, thermal characteristics, and impact resistance.
Haloarrest I	Haloarrest I is a non-halogenated flame retarded thermoplastic polyolefin with excellent low smoke and flame properties. It is used as a jacket over the XLPE insulated singles (non-XHHW), and the entire construction meets the UL 13 and 1277 specifications as a non-halogenated PLTC/TC cable. Haloarrest I meets the European Specifications on acid gas evolution and % Halogen content. This jacket can also be used with XHHW conductors for wet ratings.
Harness	A flat cable or group of cables, usually with many breakouts with the wire ends prepared for termination or terminated to connectors and ready to install.
HDSL	High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line.
Headroom	The amount by which a cable ACR exceeds the specified requirements. The TIA/EIA 568B standard specifies a minimum of 10 dB of ACR for Category 5e certification at 100 MHz.
Henry	Unit of inductance (H) that will produce a voltage drop of one volt when the current changes at the rate of one ampere per second.
Hertz (Hz)	Unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.
Heterogeneous Insulation	A cable insulating system composed of two or more layers of different insulating materials.
HF	High Frequency. International Telecommunication Union designation for the 3-30 MHz band of frequencies.
HFC	Hybrid Fiber/Coaxial.
High Frequency	International Telecommunication Union designation for the 3-30 MHz band of frequencies.
Homogeneous Insulation	A complete cable insulation structure whose components cannot be identified as layers of different materials.
Hook-Up Wire	Single conductor wire with various types of insulation.
Horizontal Cable	Cable used between the workstation outlet and the telecommunications closet. Limited to 90 meters maximum per TIA/EIA 568B.1.
HSCDS	High-Speed Cable Data Service.
HTML	Hypertext Markup Language.
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
Hum	Term used to describe noise in a audio, video, or other system that comes from 60 Hz power or its harmonic(s). So named for the low-frequency humming sound produced in audio systems. Usually hum is the result of undesired coupling from a 60 Hz source or of inadequate filtering of the DC output of an AC input power supply.
Hypalon