What is the relationship between Austel and the Australian Communications Authority (ACA)?
Before July 1997, all telecommunications products needed Austel approval, involving an exhaustive and expensive system of testing and approval, which Olex met. Since the disbanding of Austel in 1997 and the establishment of the Australian Communications Authority (ACA), testing has become the responsibility of the manufacturer or supplier. Companies are now issued with an ACA Merchant Number which must appear on all products along with the “A tick” symbol to signify compliance with the ACA requirements. All Olex communication products comply with these regulations and are all marked in this way. In 2005, the Australian Communications and Media Authority took over the ACA. Regulations however have not changed.
What is Olex’s ACA Merchant Number?
Olex’s ACA Merchant Number is N10594.
Where is the Austel approval number?
The Austel approval number has been replaced with the ACA Merchant Number.
Is Figure 8, 24/0.20mm (Olex code JSF.75) 240 volt rated?
Yes. It is rated in accordance with Australian Standard 3191. This product is also approved for use to AS/ACIF S008:2001.
What does the term Extra Low Voltage (ELV) mean?
Extra low voltage is cable that is rated at 50V AC/ 120V DC. This is defined as such in AS/NZS 3000:2000, known as the “Wiring Rules”.
Why is solid copper conductor preferred over copper clad steel conductor in closed circuit television applications?
The copper clad steel conductor was specifically developed for use in coaxial cables intended for RF use. RF implies that the signal being carried by the coax is of “high frequency”. All conductors that carry alternating currents have losses that are associated with the conductor’s resistance. Due to skin effects, the resistance increases when an alternating current flows in it. This effect causes the current to flow more in the outer region of the conductor and not in the centre, and is due to inductive effects. This effect also increases with the magnitude of the frequency of the alternating current. So much so that at RF, only the very thin surface layer is useful for carrying currents.
Therefore, to reduce the cost of the cable, the centre of the conductor is replaced with a low cost material such as steel. Closed circuit television applications employ the base video signal, which consists of alternating currents of much lower frequency than RF. At these frequencies, the skin effect is not as significant so a greater proportion of the conductor can be utilised for carrying the video signal current. Therefore, the solid copper conductor will have a lower loss for video signal when compared to a copper clad conductor, so it is preferred for CCTV applications.