The meeting of technical committee 46X (communication cables) and subcommittees 46XA (coaxial cables) and 46XC (multicore, multipair and quad data transmission cables), was held last 27-28 April in Milan, Italy.
The following subjects stand out:
1. In the wake of decisions made at the 17-18 November 2016 meeting in London, a presentation was given on the current status of those decisions:
a. EN50290-2-27: documents sent to the TC46X secretary, awaiting feedback;
b. Need for SC46XA to have EXAP rules for coaxial cables: there is still no relevant interest in defining the rules;
c. Testing methods originating from TC20 (EN6OS11 series): SC46XA is currently reviewing its standards and will verify the references made to EN60811;
d. Clarification of reference to the M212 mandate: no developments;
e. Meeting to be held on 12 June in Copenhagen, concerning how to test unscreened cables with the triaxial test setup. This meeting will only make sense if trial data becomes available. The meeting was rescheduled for this coming 31 August.
2. It was reported that TC209 continues work on annex ZZ of EN50083-2.
3. It was reported that work concerning ISO/IEC 1 1801 is in the final phase.
4. The matter of the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive was considered. TC46X and its subcommittees agree that all cables in the scope of TC46X, SC46XA and SC46XC are not covered by those directives. However, transfer impedance, screening attenuation or coupling attenuation will be specified if the cable’s intended application is for use together with equipment under the scope of the RED or EMC directives.
5. It was reported that the CEN-CENELC joint working group on Guarantees of Origin and Energy Certificates is preparing a new work item proposal for EN50290-2-3 1.
6. The possibility, supported by the Frankfurt agreement, of asking IEC TC46 to review the standards for testing methods was discussed, in particular for electric testing methods. It was concluded that for the time being it makes no sense to ‘transfer’ the revisions of CENELEC testing methods unless the IEC reviews the structure of its own standards.
7. To revise the mechanical and environmental testing methods a decision was made to set up a working group. The scope of that working group will be the EN50288-3 and EN20288-4 series.
Meeting of CLC/SC 46XC
1. Progress in the development of standards EN 50288-12-1 and EN50441-5 was reported.
2. Regarding new work to develop/revise, it was communicated that the review of all EN50288 series will begin after July 2017.
3. The intention to adopt IEC61156-1 1 for single pair (RTP) 1GB cables was communicated.
4. In the context of a question from TC 215 WG1, the understanding on the definition of screened cables was debated, with the following definition prevailing: screened cable – cable in which the cable core or all cable elements are covered by a continuous conductive layer.
5. The need to clarify pass/fail criteria regarding EN 50289-4-16 was discussed, although the manner of making that clarification has yet to be decided.
CLC/SC 46XA meeting
1. The current situation regarding the work developed in IEC TC 46/WG 5 (IEC 62153 series) was reported.
2. The current situation regarding the work developed in IEC TC 46/WG 9 (IEC 60966 and IEC 61935 series) was reported. It was noted that China submitted a request for television connection harnesses to be rated A++. It was stated that bad quality harnesses can influence the system’s modulation error rate or carrier-to-noise ratio. Connection techniques between connectors and cable should be taken into account owing to possible problems with reflections/losses of return.
3. The lists of projects and of regulatory follow-up (some review dates were updated) of CLC/SC 46XA were analysed, as listed on the website in April 2017.
4. A white paper from Fachverband Kabel on “Low Fire-hazard Cables Improve Safety” was distributed.
5. A presentation was given on measures associated to EMC gaskets, in accordance with German military standard VG 95214-12 – KS 22 B with controlled pressure.
