Re: OT, proper phone wire question?/Twists & Guage ?

[lee <lnx@alltel.net>]

On Tuesday 18 November 2003 15:36, Derrick 'dman' Hudson wrote:
>
> Why are twists so important and why do the faster technologies need
> more twists in the cable?  As an electric signal varies along a pair
> of wires, a magnetic field around the wires is created and then
> collapses.  This field will induce a current in another wire that
> passes through the field.  That induced current is "noise", because it
> intereferes with the electric current (signal) that is intentially
> being sent over that wire.  Twisting the wires reduces the size of the
> generated magnetic field, and also reduces the cable's ability to pick
> up a signal from a nearby magnetic field.
>
> For voice-grade telephone, no twists are needed most of the time.  For
> better signalling and less noise, get more twists.  Using Cat 0 or Cat
> 3 should be fine, but the Cat 3 will cost more money.  You *may* have
> noise problems with Cat 0 which will hurt your ability to connect,
> maintain a connection, and will limit transfer rates.  Basically "more
> is better" when it comes to twists, but also "more costs more".  It's
> up to you to find the desired return-on-investment for cable quality.
>
> HTH,
> -D

Thank you very much for the discussion on twists, I have a question..what 
about actual wire size..cat 3 and 5 are usually 22 or 24 guage..suppose one 
was to use say 18 guage speaker wire..it's twisted(like cat), it's 
unshielded(like cat)..but a bit larger..less resistance is my thinking..where 
am i wrong here..not enuff twists perhaps?

Thank you all very very much for your time..

Lee