10BASE5 (also known as
thicknet) is the original "full spec" variant of
Ethernet cable, using a stiff, large diameter
coaxial cable with an impedance of 50
ohms and with multiple shielding. The outer sheath is often yellow
polyvinyl chloride so it frequently is just called "yellow cable". The name
10BASE5 is derived from several characteristics of the physical medium. The
10 refers to its transmission speed of 10
Mbps. The
BASE is short for
baseband signalling as opposed to
radio frequency, and the
5 stands for the maximum segment length of 500
metres.
10BASE5 cable is designed to allow transceivers to be added while existing connections are live. This is achieved using a vampire tap - a device which (with sufficient practise) clamps onto the cable, forcing a spike through the outer shielding to contact the inner conductor while other spikes bite into the outer conductor. This is often built into the transceiver and a more flexible multi-wire cable carries the connection between the transceiver and the node.
See also:
Based on material from FOLDOC, used with permission.
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