Use of MIL-T-81490 cable in place of a MIL-DTL-17 cable
A common ‘go-to’ cable for RF applications is the MIL-DTL-17 cable. Many of the MIL-DTL-17 cables are rated to 1 GHz, some to 12.4 GHz (like M17/128), and only a couple at 20GHz (e.g. M17/130 and M17/133 – a word of caution with the /130 and /133 constructions: these are unjacketed cables with an exposed external conductor/shield). There is the M17/205 construction that is spec’d for up to 50GHz, but that comes with a caveat: attenuation. The accompanying figure shows the attenuation per 100ft of M17/205 cable; while the attenuation does rise quickly with higher frequencies, the specification does not provide any attenuation limits beyond 10 GHz. Read more