Connections Blog

Galaxy has supplied custom designed cable for 25 years to many different industries. So when a  potential customer called in looking for a custom cable solution for a seismic sensor application, we were confident that would be able to help. The company had previously used an 8 pair Alpha Wire cable which was “working”, but they were finding they needed to repair or replace their equipment due the cable not performing as expected. They were looking for a sensor cable that could work in an outdoor environment and handle vibration more effectively. The cable needed to be thin with a small overall diameter, lightweight and most importantly, rugged.  Signal integrity was also very important to functionality of their equipment. Galaxy was able to work with their engineering staff  to design a new cable that could meet all of their needs.

This new sensor cable was designed with the same gauge size conductors, but with higher strand count. Smaller strands are more resistant to vibration. Another added bonus is that with a higher strand count, the overall cable would be more flexible.  Knowing that that the cable needed an overall shield, we chose a spiral shield with 95% coverage which also kept the cable very flexible. A drain wire was added so that the shield could easily be terminated into their equipment. Galaxy also suggested a staggered lay length for added signal integrity. To address the rugged outdoor application, a polyurethane jacket was added to create a more durable cable for extreme environment use.

Once the design was agreed upon, Galaxy was able to offer a 1,000 foot  prototype run at a lower cost than the cost for 500 feet of the original brand name cable. The customer is now ordering production quantities and has seen significant cost savings by using this newly-designed sensor cable that best suits their application and far surpasses the results they had gotten with the previous cable.

If your company is using a brand name cable and it is working fine, Galaxy can offer an exact equal at a better price point. If you would like to explore making changes to improve the cable you are using, Galaxy has the expertise to help there as well – please contact Galaxy for assistance with custom sensor cables.