Cat6A Rugged Locking Patch Cord, Metal Shell, for Stage and AVoIP

Built for Load-Out, Not for a Rack

Touring and broadcast work destroys ordinary patch leads. Cables are coiled and uncoiled every night, walked on, run across stage edges, and pulled out by the latch rather than the boot. This Cat6A rugged locking patch cord is the answer to that duty cycle: a shielded Category 6A core inside a metal latching shell that locks into the chassis connector instead of relying on the plastic RJ45 tab, which is the part that snaps off first on a normal lead.

Shell and Latch

The plug shell follows the locking RJ45 housing format used across professional audio and video equipment, and is compatible with etherCON-style chassis connectors. The metal shell also completes the screen path, which matters at 10G: a lead whose shield is interrupted at the connector radiates and picks up noise, and in a venue with lighting dimmers and wireless systems nearby, that is what turns a solid link into intermittent dropouts.

Cable Options

• Conductor: Category 6A S/FTP, 23 AWG solid or 26/7 stranded copper depending on length and flex requirement
• Screen: foil per pair plus overall tinned-copper braid
• Bandwidth: 500 MHz design target
• Jacket: black, flexible outdoor-suitable compound
• Lengths: 1 m to 75 m in stepped increments

Where the Length Limit Comes From

10GBASE-T has a 100 m channel budget in structured cabling, and a stage box at the end of a long run also carries the permanent link behind it. Long touring leads therefore need to be treated as part of a channel calculation rather than as an isolated number. Where a single run approaches the limit, a fibre backbone with copper at the ends is usually the more robust design, and we will say so rather than sell a copper lead that will marginal-link on the night.

Handling

• Coil over-under to prevent the cable developing a memory and twisting on the next pull.
• Pull by the shell, never by the cable.
• Inspect the latch and the shell screws during routine maintenance; a loose shell loses the shield path before it loses the link.

Applications

Live sound and touring racks, broadcast studios and OB trucks, Dante, Art-Net and sACN lighting networks, auditoria and houses of worship, and 4K AVoIP distribution over Cat6A infrastructure.

Related Cable Ranges

Signal and Data Cables • Circular M8 M12 Cable • Panel Mount Cable