Core identification of communication cables
Identification inside a quad
As the name suggests, a quad consists of four wires that together form two communication circuits.
The wires of the same communication circuit are arranged opposite each other in the quad.
Within a quad, the wires are marked using ring marking.
The wire is marked with black markings. The pattern of these markings defines the wire:
Bunch 1:
a-wire: no marking
b-wire: single marking
Bunch 2:
a-wire: double marking with long spacing
b-wire: double marking with short spacing
Identification inside a bunch
The quads are stranded into bunches.
Primary bunch
A primary bunch consists of five quads, which are distinguished by the basic colour of the wires:
1st quad: red
2nd quad: green
3rd quad: grey
4th quad: yellow
5th quad: white
Main bunch
A main bunch consists of 5 or 10 basic bunches, depending on what makes the most sense for the number of cores in the cable.
Stranding of bunches
The bunches are stranded in layers. Whether primary or main bunches are used for layer stranding depends on the number of cores in the cable and the resulting optimal geometry.
If the cable contains more than one bunch, one bunch in each layer is marked with a red spiral (counting bunch), while the other bunches have a white spiral. This system is used for both primary and main bunches.