Webb Industries has acquired a Schleuniger MultiStrip 9480 RS cut and strip machine. This fully programmable rotary incision unit allows easy processing of high precision coaxial cables, and is an updated version of a machine that the company has had for some years and is thought to be the only one in South Africa.
Webb says additional features, such as the multi-position cutter head, create a nearly endless range of application possibilities. Also, each machine can be easily interfaced with Schleuniger’s vast line of integrated accessories to create a fully automatic coaxial cable processing production line. One of the accessories Webb uses is a printing unit which automatically labels the coaxial cable assembly according to customers’ specs.
The Schleuniger RS can cut and strip a wide range of diameters from RG214 down to 2 mm shielded coax. “In preparing coaxial assemblies there is a very high premium on accuracy and the Schleuniger has no peer in this regard,” says Webb MD, Paul Richards. He adds that one of Webb’s strengths is its ability to deliver the highest quality bespoke solutions across a wide range of applications and the machine adds huge value in this regard. “For example we can program it to cut antenna cable to different depths – braided shield, foil shield or dielectric – at different distances along the cable according to specifications. The task is performed fast and precisely, producing a world class quality product,” he continues.
Sales on the rise
The company also announced that sales of Times Microwave Systems’ (TMS) high-powered coaxial cable, connectors and assemblies are booming, according to sales manager Lodie Potgieter, who believes that Webb is one of the few companies that is successful in the high-powered coaxial cable market in the southern African region. “While many struggle in this market, we are seeing our customer base grow from month to month, including recent projects where the product will be used in a military application,” he says.
Webb offers a broad range of cables, connectors and assemblies for high-powered RF transmission for a wide range of applications including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), semiconductor manufacturing equipment, flat-panel manufacturing equipment, broadcast and high-power lasers and radar, each with its own electrical and mechanical requirements. Since each application requires a different set of performance characteristics, the company can evaluate trade-offs and supply the best cable for the particular application.
Cables can be supplied with dielectrics of solid PE and PTFE, foam PE and expanded PTFE; outer conductors of round wire, flat wire and composite constructions; and jackets of PE, FEP, PVC, Urethane, Nomex, Kapton and other materials.
Potgieter says that one of Webb’s advantages is that it is able to offer bespoke solutions. “Our capability, along with our principals, to manufacture cables and connectors, and our expertise in assembling and testing them, enable us to design custom cable assemblies for the customer’s specific application. We build to exacting standards; design our cable assemblies for reliability in the most extreme operating conditions; and assemblies can be matched in phase length or supplied in specific electrical lengths with customer-required markings added.”
Potgieter says that although Webb provides precision cable assemblies for microwave applications up to 40 GHz, it also can provide cables and assemblies for high-power, low-frequency applications. “In fact, TMS is the world’s leader in this regard,” he says.
Potgieter explains that at the relatively low frequencies and high powers typically encountered in this wide range of applications, considerations for the best interface selection are very different than in microwave applications. “Impedance uniformity through the interface is not as critical, but high contact forces, low contact resistance and a large interface diameter are very important,” he says. “From a performance point of view, EIA flange connectors are the ideal choice with their bolt-together outer contacts and inside spring finger centre-contacts.”
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