OK to use TV coax for microphone?
In article ,
Chris Siz wrote:
I am in the UK and have a 10m length of some cheap TV aerial coax. It
came from a discount store as a TV coax extension cable. I measure the
cable diameter as 4.8mm.
(1) Is it ok to use this sort of coax for a microphone? I don't want
an impaired audio signal. The length I need to use is 3 to 4 metres.
(2) Is it ok for UHF TV or is it actually quite low grade coax and
prone to interference or mess up the aerial signal?
There are a few differences. TV coax will work in some conditions but
not generally.
TV coax is very brittle. The inner wire is copper-plated steel and the
outer shield is aluminum wire and aluminum foil. It will quickly crack
where it meets the connectors.
TV coax may not pass small audio signals well because of its aluminum
shield. Aluminum is extremely reactive so it is always coated with a
thin oxide layer. Higher voltages can spark through it and TV RF can
capacitively couple through it. Microphone signals might become
distorted. Cable for lower frequencies uses copper shielding.
Good microphone and instrument cable has an insulation that drains away
static electrical charges. RF coax can contain electrical charges in
the insulation that causes it to act like condenser microphone.
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