TIL the original coax cable spec from the 1930s could handle way more than I thought

I was reading up on some old telecom history and found out the first commercial coaxial cable, made by AT&T in 1936, could carry 240 phone calls at once. That blew my mind, thinking about the tiny copper core they were working with back then. It really puts into perspective how far the materials and shielding have come for what we run now. Has anyone else stumbled on a piece of cable history that surprised them?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan_flores1mo ago

Yeah, old specs are wild like that. I found some 1950s military cable that was rated for frequencies we'd barely use now outside of labs. Makes you realize how much of this stuff was solved on paper first.

parker_patel841mo ago

Ever try to run old coax you found in a wall? I had a spool of that thick 70s stuff that still tested fine for basic cable internet, but the connectors were a pain. If you find vintage cable, just check for dry rot on the outer jacket before you trust it with anything important. Sometimes the old shielding holds up better than the plastic around it.