What does "Copper" mean??

[nd925a]

I saw it recommended in the thread "Wireless - Rackmount Transmitter/Receiver set???" and being relatively new to the techie world am confused as to what copper is. If one of the more advanced techies would be kind enough to enlighten me I would be greatful.

[soundlight]

Copper in that context is signal cable.

[MNicolai]

Yes, it refers to copper as an electrical conductor. In this case, longer cable means more copper wiring(longer copper conductors). That is, more wiring intends to shorten and/or eliminate wireless transmissions.


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[Chris15]

I suspect that I am probably the one who originally used the term, so I feel I should explain what I meant by it, building on what Mike and soundlight have said.

Copper has slightly different meaning depending on context. One of them is in relation to computing and networks where it's primarily talking about UTP or STP in your Cat 5 / 5e/ 6 / 7 type cables. This as a contrast to fibre or the hideously unreliable 802.11 a / b / g / n wireless netwroks.

More likely in that thread I'm talking about copper meaning a physical cable, probably a shielded twisted pair balanced audio cable. This compared to a wireless link (using wireless mics or IEM sorts of products) or some form of other solution that dumps audio (or some other form of data) onto ethernet or some other non passive means of transport...

I suspect my initial usage woudl have been a comment along the lines of as always run copper where possible and by that I mean that inherent in anything wireless is the fact that it uses radio. Radio signals get interfered with by an ungoodly number of other things, but most principal of which is other radio signals. Based on this, I can almost guarantee that you will have more issues with a wireless system than the equivalent hard wired alternative.

And to complicate things, a generic reference to copper may not neccessarily involve cables that are made of Copper (Cu, Atomic number 29), for instance in an installed electrical main, the cables may in fact be wholly aluminium and yet might get called copper in much the same way that other specific nomenclature gets generalised - Leko, Kleenex, etc etc.

If you want any further clarification, just ask...

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by Chris15

...If you want any further clarification, just ask...

And here I thought Chris15 meant a member of law enforcement, as in "You'll never take me alive, copper."

[mstaylor]

Another term many use is hard wire instead of wireless.

[Chris15]

Note however that, contextually dependant of course, hard wired can have additional connotations, meaning normally that there is a direct connection onto terminals rather than a plug and socket being involved. This is particularly true of any power discussions, in which case a qualified electrical tradesperson should perform the task...

[MNicolai]

As to prevent more conflicting information from being presented, I think it's safe to say we answered his question. And by answered his question, I mean we all jumped on it with unique answers like a pack of hungry cougars on a minituare poodle.




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[Blah067]

Originally Posted by MNicolai

As to prevent more conflicting information from being presented, I think it's safe to say we answered his question. And by answered his question, I mean we all jumped on it with unique answers like a pack of hungry cougars on a minituare poodle.




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Good one...

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by MNicolai

As to prevent more conflicting information from being presented, I think it's safe to say we answered his question. And by answered his question, I mean we all jumped on it with unique answers like a pack of hungry cougars on a minituare poodle.

Do cougars travel in packs?