SDI BNC Cable Assembly for Studios and OB Vans

Broadcast runs are unforgiving because a fault shows up on air. This SDI BNC cable assembly is built for fixed and semi-fixed video infrastructure: racks and patch panels in a studio, the drum of cable on an outside broadcast vehicle, a stadium bowl where the run is installed once and expected to last for years. Every assembly is terminated with 75 ohm BNC plugs, because impedance mismatch at the connector is the most common cause of a link that works at low rate and falls apart when the rate goes up.

Cable and connector choices

Two coax constructions cover most of the work. Full size 75 ohm coax with a heavier centre conductor suits permanent runs inside a building, where the cable is dressed into tray or conduit and never coiled again. A thinner mini-RG59 style construction suits patching inside a rack, on a camera, or anywhere the cable has to bend tightly and stay light. Tell us which of the two jobs the assembly has to do and we will build to it rather than shipping whichever happens to be on the reel.

Maximum run length and on-site termination

Reach is the question that comes up first, and the honest answer is that it depends on the coax, the connector workmanship and the equipment at both ends. A thicker low loss coax will carry a signal further than a thin patch cable, but the difference only matters if the terminations are clean. For long installed runs we supply cable on the reel with connectors and a crimp set, so a technician can pull the run first and terminate on site to the exact measured length. That avoids the wasted slack of a factory length and removes the coiled excess that tends to collect interference.

Right angle and mixed connector builds

• Straight BNC to straight BNC for rack and patch work
• Right angle BNC where a rack door or a camera body leaves no clearance
• BNC to micro-BNC for compact camera and monitor bodies
• Colour coded boots and printed labels for identifying channels in a dense patch field

Care in service

Do not coil the assembly by wrapping it around an elbow, and keep it out of the path of vehicle wheels on an OB site. Inspect the connector shoulders after a tour; a plug that has been stepped on usually still passes a continuity check but will not hold impedance. On permanent installs, label both ends with the same identifier so a fault can be traced without tone testing the whole rack.

What needs confirming

Return loss, gauge and reach figures for this range come from published competitor data. Before we quote them as specification they need to be measured on our own stock with the connectors we actually fit.

Related Cable Ranges

Signal and Data Cables • Panel Mount Cable • Ethernet Cable Patch Cord