Archived from groups: comp.dcom.lans.ethernet (
More info?)
In article <1110256475.061246.229280@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"sqrfolkdnc" <carey.schug@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I assume the VERY FIRST thick was traditional black RG-8, the yellow
> and orange came later, else why would they have used the rg-8 spec?
The very first 10 Mb/s coax medium was in fact the custom-designed
yellow (and later, orange) cable; it was never RG-8, or any standard
cable. The electrical and mechanical requirements of the system
precluded off-the-shelf designs. (I personally designed the original
yellow/orange cables; they were manufactured for me by Belden (and
later, many others).
> Yes, I knew the yellow cable was marked for tap points, I thought just
> to enforce the separation, which I figure should not matter if I am not
> trying to get published maximum distance.
The separation and the maximum distance are unrelated phenomenon. The
forced spacing was to prevent lumped capacitive loads on the system,
which could cause unacceptable signal reflections. The maximum cable
length is a function of the resistance of the center conductor, which
affects the carrier-sense and collision-detect thresholds.
If you have few taps (i.e., nowhere near the maximum of 100), the
spacing is not that critical.
> 10broad36 was sharing coax with other signals (TV?) and supposed to go
> 3600 meters, hence the name, but some web documents said it only went
> 1800 meters.
>
It all depends on how you measure it. Remember, 10BROAD36, like most
CATV-style systems, uses a head-end device at the "source" of the cable.
Thus, the maximum range is 1800 m (radius from the headend), or 3600 m
(diameter, or maximum distance between the farthest pair of end
stations); it's the same thing.
> If anybody can help with equpment, I would appreciate it. I'd like to
> get a used vampire tap so I can keep the new one "new". I should be
> able to get started with just the RG-8 (assuming I can make my own
> terminators), and if I can't find yellow/orange, I'll try some local
> radio amateurs I know to get a little from them (On Ebay I can buy 50
> or 250 feet, and just the postage would exceed my budget).
You may have problems trying to use RG-8 or any standard cable with a
vampire tap. The dimensions/geometry are simply wrong. Also, the tap is
designed to work only with a solid center conductor (not stranded) and a
foam dielectric. The standard solid polyethylene dielectric of RG-8 is
much too dense for the tap probe, and the higher dielectric constant
reduces the diameter of the cable, i.e., the tap probe will be too long.
I have a large spool of an early prototype Ethernet cable (from back in
the 1980 timeframe); it is dimensionally correct, but is black instead
of yellow, and has only a single braid/single foil shield (rather than
the double braid/double foil of the real stuff). In fact, it was tests
on this cable that brought me to add the additional shields. Unless you
are local in northern California, the shipping cost would exceed its
value to you.
--
Rich Seifert Networks and Communications Consulting
21885 Bear Creek Way
(408) 395-5700 Los Gatos, CA 95033
(408) 228-0803 FAX
Send replies to: usenet at richseifert dot com