T1 Cables -- ESSEX GROUP, INC. T1 cables are designed for two way T1 Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) carrier operation under one cable sheath. The T1 cable design provides superior near end crosstalk loss at 772 kHz compared to the same count cable without the high frequency shield. This permits T1 cables to be used with 100% T1 PCM utilization and maximum repeater spacing. T1 cables are offered in all filled and air core cable designs.

T1C -- ESSEX GROUP, INC. T1C cables are designed for two way T1C Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) carrier operation under one cable sheath. The T1C cable design provides superior near end crosstalk loss at 1.576 kHz compared to the same count cable without the high frequency shield. This permits T1C cables to be used with 100% T1C PCM utilization and maximum repeater spacing. T1C cables are offered in all filled and air core cable designs.

Take-Up -- (1) The process of accumulating wire or cable onto a reel, bobbin or some other type of pack. (2) Also refers to the device utilized for pulling wire or cable through a piece of equipment or machine.

Talk Pairs -- See Tracer Pairs.

Tank Test -- A term used to describe a voltage dielectric test where the specimen to be tested is submerged in a liquid (usually water) and a voltage potential applied between the conductor and the liquid as ground.

Tape -- A relatively narrow, woven or cut, strip of fabric, paper, film or metal material. In telephone cable manufacturing it refers to the shield.

Taped -- Layer wrapping of tapes around a cable or conductor so as to form a cushion, insulation or a seal against material subsequently wrapped.

Tape Cable -- A form of multiple conductor consisting of parallel metal strips imbedded in insulating material. Also called Flat Flexible Cable.

Tape Shields -- Shields constructed from copper and aluminum (either alone or laminated with a dielectric), bimetallic tape (copper/stainless steel/copper), steel and bronze. Tape shields are supplied in two forms, flat and corrugated. See Shield.

Tape Wrap -- A term denoting a spirally or longitudinally applied tape material wrapped around the wire, either insulated or uninsulated, used as an insulation or mechanical barrier.

Tarnish -- A term used to describe a discolored or stained conductor or shield wire caused by exposure to the atmosphere.

Tear Strength -- Force required to initiate or continue a tear in a material under specified conditions.

Tear Test -- A test to determine the tear strength of an insulating material.

Teflon -- DuPont's trademark for tetrafluorethylene, a tough heat and chemical-resistant thermoplastic used as conductor and jacket insulations for plenum cables. Chemical designation is FEP.

Tefzel -- DuPont's trademark for their modified copolymer of ethylene and tetrafluorethylene commercial since 1972. Designed to serve as jacket and conductor insulation for plenum area cables. Chemical designation is ETFE.

Telemetering -- "Measuring at a distance" cable used to transmit recordings of temperature, voltage, current, etc. from remote points.

Telephone Cable -- A multiconductor cable normally made up of twisted pairs for telephone (audio use); usually has several electrical requirements.

Telephone Drop Wire -- Wire used to transmit telephone service into a customer's premises. It may be aerial or buried.

Telephone Premises Wiring Attestation List -- By its First Report and Order, CC Docket No. 81-216, FCC 84-182, released May 18, 1984, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) promulgate rules for the installation of single and two-line "non-system" business and residential premises wiring. The Commission also established a procedure under which wire manufacturers must attest by letter to the FCC that their non-system telephone premises wiring meets part 68 requirements, namely, the 1500-Volt insulation standard. Consumers choosing to perform non-system premises wiring installation will be required to contact the telephone company to report, among other things, the brand name or manufacturer and model number, if any, of the wire they have selected for their installation. Telephone companies are expected to maintain an up-to-date list of approved wire, and the FCC, from time to time, will publish a list of attestation registrants. See Section 68.213, 47 C.F.R. 68.213. ESSEX GROUP, INC. products described included in the FCC's Wiring Attestation List via First Report and Order, CC Docket No. 81-216, released May 18, 1984 or FCC Public Notice No. 5506, dated July 19, 1984, include: ICPI, SW, SWT, SWP and ICPIP products.

Telephone Wire -- This is a very general term, referring to many different types of communication wire. It refers to a class of wires and cables, rather than a specific type.

Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity -- The amount of resistance change of material per degree of temperature rise.

Temperature Rating -- The maximum temperature at which the insulating material may be used in continuous operation without loss of its basic properties.

Temperature Stress -- The maximum stress which can be applied to a material at a given temperature without physical deformation.

Tensile Strength -- A term denoting the greatest longitudinal tensile stress a substance can bear without tearing apart or rupturing.

Tensile Stress -- Force per unit cross-sectional area applied to elongate a material without tearing apart or rupturing.

Tension -- (1) Electric-potential difference. (2) Mechanical stress caused by forces which tend to stretch the material.

Tension Set -- The condition when a plastic material shows permanent deformation caused by a stress, after the stress is removed.

Terminal Block -- An insulating mounting equipped with bending post or quick-clip terminals which are usually factory connected to a stub cable or to wire leads.

Terminals -- Of any equipment or circuit, the screws, soldering lugs or wire wrap pins to which an external circuit can be connected.

Terminated -- (1) The condition of a wire or cable pair which is connected to (terminated on) binding posts or a terminal block. (2) The condition of a circuit which is connected to a network which has the same impedance the circuit would have if it were infinitely long.

Terminating Cable -- A multipaired cable usually with twinned conductors and always with fire resistant insulation that is used primarily between the cable vault and the main distributing frame.

Termination -- The connection of a line to (a) terminal, (b) a distributing frame, (c) a switch, or (d) a matrix.

Thermal Aging -- Exposure to a given thermal condition or a programmed series of conditions for prescribed periods of time.

Thermal Alloying -- The act of uniting two different metals to make one common metal by the use of heat.

Thermal Conductivity -- Ability of a material to conduct heat.

Thermal Expansion -- The expansion of a material when subjected to heat.

Thermal Rating -- The maximum and/or minimum temperature at which a material will perform its function without undue degradation.

Thermal Resistance -- That change in the electrical resistance of a material when subjected to heat. Resistance to heat flow from conductors to outer surface of insulation or sheath in a wire or cable.

Thermal Resistivity -- Thermal resistance of a unit cube of material.

Thermal Shock -- A test to determine the ability of a material to withstand heat and cold by subjecting it to rapid and wide changes in temperature.

Thermal Stress Cracking -- Crazing and cracking of some thermoplastic resins which results from over exposure to elevated temperatures.

Thermocouple -- A device for measuring temperature where two electrical conductors of dissimilar metals are joined at the point of heat application and a resulting voltage difference, directly proportional to the temperature, is developed across the free ends and is measured potentiometrically.

Thermocouple Lead Wire -- Similar to thermocouple wire except the degree of accuracy in temperature measurements is not as high and it is used to transmit thermocouple information to remote indicators.

Thermocouple Wire -- A two conductor cable, each conductor employing a dissimilar metal, made up specifically for temperature measurements.

Thermoplastic -- Plastic insulation that will resoften and distort from its formed shape by heating above a critical temperature peculiar to the material.

Thermosetting -- Plastic insulation that will not resoften or distort from its formed shape by heating until a destructive temperature is reached.

Three-Quarter-Hard-Wire -- As applied to aluminum, wire that has been processed to produce a strength approximately midway between that of half-hard wire and that of hard-drawn wire.

Tie -- An electrical connection or strap.

Tinned Conductor -- A bare copper wire with a thin coating of tin, the tin coating acts as a separator between the copper and insulation. It also facilitates soldering the wire to a terminating connection.

Tinned Wire -- Copper wire used for strapping or in switchboard cables which has been coated or plated with a layer of metallic tin or solder to simplify soldering to terminals.

Tinsel Wire -- A very flexible conductor made by serving one or more very small flat conductors over a fibrous core such as a high tenacity rayon, nylon, fortisan or cotton fibers.

Tip -- (1) The first wire in a pair of wires. (2) That side of a two wire telephone circuit connected to the positive side of a battery at the telephone company's central office. It's comparable to the neutral side of a residential lighting circuit.

Tip Wire -- The first wire of a pair, of which the second wire is call the "ring".

Tolerance -- A specified allowance for deviation in weighing, measuring, etc., for deviations from the standard dimensions or weight.

Toll Cable -- Cable in which there are low capacitance quads or pairs for long distance voice frequency transmission.

Top Coat -- Bare copper strands twisted and then tinned overall.

Torpedo -- A streamlined metal block placed in the path of flow of the plastic material in the heating cylinder of the extruder to speed it into thin layers, thus forcing it into intimate contact with the heating areas.

Torque Test -- A test designed to ascertain the stiffness of a material under given environmental conditions.

Total L/D Ratio -- The distance from the rear edge of the feed opening to the forward end of the barrel bore divided by the bore diameter and expressed as a ratio wherein the diameter is reduced to one such as 15:1 or 20:1.

Tracer Pairs -- In stripe paper and solid color pulp cables, a distinctively colored pair to provide easy identification at the two ends of the reel. Also called Talk Pairs.

Tracer Stripe -- When more than one color coding stripe is required, the first, or widest, stripe is the base stripe, the other, usually narrower stripes, being termed tracer stripes.

Tractor Capstan -- The motivating power for large cables consisting of a nip between two moving endless bolts which grip the cable.

Transducer -- A device for converting mechanical energy to electrical energy.

Transfer Impedance -- For a specified cable length, transfer impedance relates a current on one surface of a shield to the voltage drop generated by this current on the opposite surface of the shield. Transfer impedance is used to determine shield effectiveness against both ingress and egress of interfering signals. Cable shields are normally designed to reduce the transfer of interference--hence, shields with lower transfer impedance are more effective than shields with higher transfer impedance.

Transformer -- (1) An electrical device which changes voltage in direct proportion to currents and inverse proportion to the ratio of the number of turns of its primary and secondary windings. (2) An electrical device which reduces the voltage in electrical wiring to a low voltage in order to operate a dial light. It plugs into an electrical outlet and has externally located low voltage connections which are extended by inside wiring to the telephone set dial light.

Transmission Cables -- Two or more transmission lines. If the structure is flat, it is sometimes called Flat Transmission Cable to differentiate it from a found structure such as a jacketed group of coaxial cables. See Transmission Line.

Transmission Line -- An arrangement of two or more conductors or a wave guide used to transfer signal energy from one location to another.

Transmission Loss -- The decrease or loss in power during transmission of energy from one point to another. Usually expressed in decibels.

Transmitter -- The electronic package that converts electrical energy to light energy in a fiber optic system.

Tray -- A cable tray system is a unit or assembly of units or sections, and associated fittings, made of metal or other noncombustible materials forming a rigid structural system used to support cables. Cable tray systems (previously termed continuous rigid cable supports) include ladders, trough, channels, solid bottom trays and similar structures.

Tray Cable -- A factory-assembled multiconductor control, signal and power cable specifically approved under the National Electric Code for installation of trays.

Treeing -- A term or expression used to describe a deterioration phenomenon in solid dielectric insulations which form branch-like channels in the insulation wall. These channels or trees reduce the dielectric strength and impulse strength of the insulation, ultimately progressing to the point of electrical failure. There are two basic types of trees: (1) Electrical trees and (2) electrochemical trees, commonly called "water trees". All trees form at imperfections in cables, such as voids, contaminants and protrusions from semiconducting conductor and insulation shield layers. Electrical trees grow under high electrical stress in relatively short times, have measurable corona discharge and do not need the presence of water. Electrochemical or water trees require long periods of time at relatively low stress, no corona discharge can be measured, and the presence of water and imperfections in the cable are necessary. Treeing has been a significant problem in the electric utility industry which has thousands of miles of buried cables using a concentric neutral, non-jacketed cable design. This problem has not been significant in the industrial market where only a small portion of cables are used below grade and jacketed type cable designs are used rather than conventional concentric neutral cables. There are several ways to reduce the problems of treeing: (1) Reduce the level of imperfections in cable (voids, contaminants, protrusions), (2) utilize water barriers on cables that will be used where water is present (lead sheath, overall jacket) and (3) use insulations which are inherently more tree-retardant than others (EPR or TR-XLP rather than XLP).

Triad -- A group of three insulated conductors twisted together without (or with) a sheath overall. Usually color coded for identification; also called a triplex.

Triax -- A type of shielded conductor that employs a shield and jacket over the primary insulation plus a second shield and jacket overall. Aside from applications requiring maximum attenuation of radiated signals or minimum pickup of external interference, this cable can also be used to carry two separate signals.

Triaxial -- Refers to cable with three concentrically arranged conductors.

Triaxial Cable -- A cable construction having three coincident axes, such as conductor, first shield and second shield all insulated from one another.

Triboelectric Noise -- Noise generated in a shielded cable due to variations in capacitance between the shield and conductor as the cable is flexed.

Triplex Cable -- A cable having three insulated conductors twisted together without a sheath overall.

Trolley Wire -- A round or shaped, solid, bare, hard conductor ordinarily used to supply current to motors through traveling current collectors located on the trolley. In overhead electric trolley systems, a carbon black or "shoe" rides on the trolley wire. Power travels from the trolley wire through the "shoe" to the motor.

True Concentric -- A true concentric stranding or twisted cable is when each successive layer has a reversed direction of lay from the preceding layer. Trunk Cable -- see Feeder Cable.

Tubed -- The formation of a tube of material over a cable core, which is easily separable from the underlying construction.

Tubing -- A tube of extruded non-supported plastic material.

Turbine -- Converts stored energy in an energy source to generate electricity.

Turn-Key -- A contractual arrangement in which one party designs and installs a system and "turns over the keys" to another party who will operate the system.

Twin Cable -- A cable having two insulated conductors, laid parallel and having a protecting sheath or jacket over them.

Twin Coaxial -- A configuration containing two separate, complete coaxial cables laid parallel or twisted around each other in one complex.

Twin Conductor Cable -- Varies with specification, but sometimes constructed as two conductors included in a circular core of dielectric material and covered over all with a shield and jacket.

Twin Line or Lead -- A type of transmission line which has a solid insulating material, in which the two conductors are placed in parallel to each other and whose impedance is determined by the diameter and spacing of the conductors and the insulating material.

Twin-Lead -- A transmission line having two parallel conductors separated by insulating material. Line impedance is determined by the diameter and spacing of the conductors and the insulating material and is usually 300 ohms for television receiving antennas.

Twisting Pair -- A cable composed of two small insulated conductors, twisted together without a common covering. The two conductors are usually substantially insulated, so that the combination is a special case of a cord; often color-coded.